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HERODOTUS.
A NEW AND LITERAL VERSION.fYro   the t:et of 3SaeBtr.
WITH
A GEOGRAPHICAL AND GENERAL INDEX.
BY HENRY CARY, M.A.,
WORCESTER COLLEGE, OXFORD.
N.EW  YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
FRANKLIN SQUARE.




Harper's New  Classical Library.
Comprising Literal Translations of
C2ESAR.                    JUVENAL.
VIRGIL.                    XENOPHON.
HORACE.                    HOMER'S ILIAD.
SALLUST.                   HOMER'S ODYSSEY, &eG
CICERO'S ORATIONS.         THUCYDIDES.
CICERO'S OFFICES. &c.      HERODOTUS.
CICERO ON ORATORY, &c.     EURIPIDES. z vols.
TACITUS. 2 vols.           SOPHOCLES.
TERENCE.                   iESCHYLUS.
DEMOSTHENES. 2 vols.
12mo, Muslin, $1 50 a Volume




TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
WHOEVER wishes to become acquainted with the history of the times and countries of which Herodotus
wrote, will read his writings either in the original, or
some translation which may be found to represent his
meaning with the greatest fidelity. Those who wish to
acquire a knowledge of the author himself, other than
that which they may glean from incidental remarks in
his history, will have recourse to some one of the authors who have given an account of his life and writings. These are so numerous, and so easy of access,
that it seems unnecessary, by adding to their number,
to increase the bulk of the present volume.
t will be sufficient to inform the student in what respect the present translation professes to differ from
those which have preceded it. Five have, at intervals,
made their appearance. The first was that by Beloe,
which, though flowing and easy in style, was rather a
translation from an indifferent French version than from
the original Greek. The second, by Littlebury, was a
poor rendering from a bad Latin version.  The third
was a revision of Littlebury's translation, bearing the




vi             TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
appearance of having been made by one who, though
he understood his author, contented himself with merely
removing Littlebury's grosser aults, without attempting
to correct him uniformly and throughout. The fourth
and most elegant version was that by Mr. Isaac Taylor;
which, however, has met with less notice than its merit
deserves, probably owing to the circumstance that the
usually received division by chapters has been departed
from, whereby the facility of reference has been much
diminished, and also because, in too many instances, the
translator has sacrificed the meaning of his author to
purity of thought or elegance of diction. The last English version was that by Laurent, in making which the
translator labored under the twofold disadvantage of being an inaccurate Greek scholar, and a far worse English
one. Nor can the present translator hope to be free
from some defect, equal perhaps in extent to those which
he has pointed out in his predecessors. His object, however, has been to keep as closely to the sense of his author as the idioms of the two languages would allow.
He has adopted throughout the readings of Baehr, and,
except in some few instances, which are pointed out in
the notes, his interpretation also.         H. C.
Oxford, Nov. 10th, 1847.




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HIEROD OTUS.
BOOK  I.  CLIO.'Tins is a publication of the researches of Herodotus of
Halicarnassus, in order that the actions of men may not be
effa 3d by time, nor the great and wondrous deeds displayed 13th by Greeks and barbarians' deprived of renown; and
amo.ig the rest, for what cause they waged war upon each
other.
I  The learned among the Persians assert that the Phoenicians were tle original authors of the quarrel; for that
they having migrated from that which is called the Red Sea
to the Mediterranean,2 and having settled in the country
which they now inhabit, forthwith applied themselves to distant voyages; and that having exported Egyptian and Assyrian merchandise, they touched at other places, and also at
Argos.  Now Argos at that period in every respect surpassed
all those states which are now comprehended under the general appellation of Greece.3 They say that on their arrival
at Argos, the Phcenicians exposed their merchandise to sale,
and that on the fifth or sixth day after their arrival, and when
By barbarians the Greeks meant all who were not sprung from
themselves-all foreigners.
2 The Phoenicians passed over land (see b. VII. c. 89) from the Red
Sea to the Mediterranean, which in the text and in other Grecian writers is called " this sea."
3 The region k: own by the name of Hellas or Greece in the time of
Herodotus was, previous to the Trojan war, and indeed long afterward,
only discriminated by the names of its different inhabitants. Homer
speaks of the Danaans, Argives, Achaians, &c., but never gives these
people the general name of Greeks.-Larclhen.
A.




2                     HERODOTUS.                    [2-4.
they had almost disposed of their cargo, a great number of
women came down to the sea-shore, and among them the
king's daughter, whose name, as the Greeks also say, was Io,
daughter of Inachus.  They add, that while these women
were standing near the stern of the vessel, and were bargaining for such things as most pleased them, the Phoenicians,
having exhorted one another, made an attack upon them;
and that most of the women escaped, but that Io, with some.others, was seized; and that they, having hurried them on
board, set sail for Egypt. 2. Thus the Persians say that lo
went to Egypt, not agreeing herein with the Phoenicians; and
that this was the beginning of wrongs. After this, that certain
Grecians (for they are unable to tell their name), having touched at Tyre in Phoenicia, carried off the king's daughter Europa.
These must have been Cretans.  Thus far they say that they
had only retaliated;4 but that after this the Greeks were guilty
of the second provocation; for that having sailed down in a
vessel of war5 to lEa, a city of Colchis on the river Phasis,
when they had accomplished the more immediate object of
their expedition, they carried off the king's daughter Medea;
and that the king of Colchis, having dispatched a herald to
Greece, demanded satisfaction for the rape, and the restitution
of the princess; but the Greeks replied, that as they of Asia
had not given any satisfaction for the rape of lo, neither
would they give any to them.  3. They say, too, that in the
second generation after this, Alexander, the son of Priam,
having heard of these events, was desirous of obtaining a
wife from  Greece by means of violence, being fully persuaded that he should not have to give satisfaction, for that
the Greeks had not done so. When, therefore, he had carried
off Helen, they say that the Greeks immediately sent messengers to demand her back again, and require satisfaction
for the rape; but that they, when they brought forward
these demands, objected to them the rape of Medea; "that
they who had not themselves given satisfaction, nor made it
when demanded, now wished others to give it to themselves."
4. Thus far then they say that there had only been rapes
from each other; but that after this the Greeks were greatly
4 Literally, "had only done like for like."
6 "In a long vessel." The long vessels were vessels of war; the
round vessels, merchantmen and transports.




5, 6.]                  CLIO. I.                        3
to blame, for that they levied war against Asia before the
Asiatics did upon Europe. Now, to carry off women by violence the Persians think is the act of wicked men, but to trouble one's self about avenging them when so carried off is the
act of foolish ones; and to pay no regard to them when carried off, of wise men: for that it is clear, that if they had not
been willing, they could not have been carried off. Accordingly, the Persians say, that they of Asia made no account of
women that were carried off; but that the Greeks for the
sake of a Lacedaemonian woman assembled a mighty fleet, and
then' having come to Asia overthrew the empire of Priam.
That from this event they had always considered the Greeks
as their enemies: for the Persians claim Asia and the barbarous nations that inhabit it as their own, and consider Europe
and the people of Greece as totally distinct.
5. Such is the Persian account; and to the capture of
Troy they ascribe the commencement of their enmity to the
Greeks. As relates to Io, the Phoenicians do not agree with
this account of the.Persians: for they affirm that they did
not use violence to carry her into Egypt; but that she had
connection at Argos with the master of a vessel, and when she
found. herself pregnant, she, through dread of her parents,
voluntarily sailed away with the Phoenicians, to avoid detection. Such then are the accounts of the Persians and Phcenicians: I, however, am not going to inquire whether the
facts were so or not; but having pointed out the person whom
I myself know to have been the first guilty of injustice toward the Greeks, I will then proceed with my history, touching as -well on the small as the great estates of men: for of
those that were formerly powerful many have become weak,
and some that were powerful in my time were formerly weak.
Knowing therefore the precarious nature of human prosperity,
I shall commemorate both -alike.
6. Croesus was a Lydian by birth, son of Alyattes, and
sovereign of the nations on this side the river Halys.  This
river flowing from  the south6 between the Syrians7 and
Paphlagonians, empties itself northward into the Euxine
Sea. This Croesus was the first of the barbarians whom we
6 The Halys had two branches, one flowing from the east, the other
from the south: Herodotus speaks only of the southern one.
7 Syria was at that'time the name of Cappadocia. See I. 72.




4                     HElODOTUS.                     [7, 8.
know of that subjected some of the Greeks to the payment of
tribute; and formed alliances with others. He subdued the
lonians and iEolians, and the Dorians settled in Asia, and he
formed an alliance with the Lacedaemonians; but before the
reign of Croesus all the Greeks were free; for the incursion
of the. Cimmerians8 into Ionia, which was before the time of
Croesus, was not for the purpose of subjecting states, but an
irruption for plunder. 7. The government, which formerly
belonged to the Heraclida, passed in the following manner to
the family of Croesus, who were called Mermiadae. Candaules,
whom the Greeks call Myrsilus, was tyrant of Sardis, and a
descendant of Alceus, son of Hercules.  For Agron, son of
Ninus, grandson of Belus, great-grandson of Alemus, was
the first of the Heraclidae who became king of Sardis; and
Candaules, son of Myrsus, was the last.  They who ruled
over this country before Agron were descendants of Lydus,
sons of Atys, from whom this whole people, anciently called
Meooniins, derived the name of Lydians. The Heraclidae, descended from a female slave of Jardanus and Hercules, having
been intrusted with the government by these princes, retained
the supreme power in obedience to the declaration of an
oracle: they reigned for twenty-two generations, a space of
five hundred and five years, the son succeeding to the father
to the time of Candaules, son of Myrsus. 8. This Candaules
then was enamoured of his own wife, and being so, thought
that she was by far the most beautiful of all women. Now
being of this opinion - Gyges, son of Dascylus, one of his
body-guard, happened to be his especial favorite, and to him
Candaules confided his most important affairs, and moreover
extolled the beauty of his wife in exaggerated terms. In
lapse of time (for Candaules was fated to be miserable) he addressed Gyges as follows: 6" Gyges, as I think you do not believe me when I speak of my wife's beauty (for the ears of men
are naturally more incredulous than their eyes), you must contrive to see her naked."  But he, exclaiming loudly, answered," Sire, what a shocking proposal do you make, bidding me
behold my queen naked! With her clothes a woman puts off
her modesty. Wise maxims have been of old laid down by
men, from these it is our duty to learn: among them is the
8 The incursion here spoken of occurred in the reign of the Lydian
Ardys. See I. 15, and IV. 12.




9-11.]                 CLIO. I.                       5
following-'Let every man look to the things that concern
himself.' I am persuaded that she is the most beautiful of
her sex, but I entreat of you not to require what is wicked."
9. Saying thus, Gyges fought off the proposal, dreading lest
some harm  should befall himself; but the king answered,
4' Gyges, take courage, and be not afraid of me, as if I desired
to make trial of you by speaking thus, nor of my wife, lest
any harm should befall you from her. For from the outset I
will so contrive that she shall not know she has been seen by
you. I will place you behind the open door of the apartment
in which we sleep; as soon as I enter, my wife will come to
bed; there stands by the entrance a chair  on this she will lay
her garments one by one as she takes them off, and then she
will give you an opportunity to look at her at your leisure;
but when she steps from the chair to the bed, and you are at
her back, be careful that she does not see you as you are going
out by the door." 10. Gyges therefore, finding he could not
escape, prepared to obey. And Candaules, when it seemed to
be time to go to bed, led'him to the chamber, and the lady
soon Afterward appeared, and Gyges saw her enter and lay
her clothes on the chair: when he waslat her back, as the lady
was going to the bed, he crept secretly out, but she saw him
as he was going away. Perceiving what her husband had
done,'she neither cried out through modesty, nor appeared
to notice it, purposing to take vengeance on Candaules;
for among the Lydians and almost all the barbarians, it is
deemed a great disgrace even for a mah to be seen naked.
11. At the time, therefore, having shown no consciousness
of what had occurred, she held her peace, and as soon as it
was day, having prepared such of her domestics as she knew
were most to be trusted, she sent for Gyges. He, supposing
that she knew nothing of what had happened, came when he
was sent for, for he had been before used to attend whenever
the queen sent for him. When Gyges came, the lady thus
addressed him: "Gyges, I submit two proposals to your
choice: either kill Candaules and take possession of me and of
the Lydian kingdom, or expect immediate death, so that you
may not, from your obedience to Candaules in all things,
again see what you ought not. It is necessary, however, that
he who planned this, or that you who have seen me naked,
and have done what is not decorous, should die. Gyges for a




6                    HERODOTUS.                 [C2-14.
time was amazed at what he heard, but afterward he implored her not to compel him to make such a choice. He, however, could not persuade, but saw a necessity imposed on him
either to kill his master Candaules or die himself by the hands
of others; he chose, therefore, to survive, and made the following inquiry: " Since you compel me to kill my master against
my will,-tell me how we shall lay hands on him." She answered, "The assault shall be made.from  the very spot
whence he showed me naked; the attack shall be made on
him.while asleep."  12. When they had concerted their plan,
on the approach of night he followed the lady to the chamber;
then (for Gyges was not suffered to depart, nor was there any
possibility of escape, but either he or Candaules must needs
perish) she, having given him a dagger, concealed him behind the same door; and after this, when Candaules was
asleep, Gyges having crept stealthily up and slain him, possessed himself both of the woman and the kingdom.  Of
this event, also, Archilochus9 the Parian, who lived about
the same time, has made mention in a trimeter Iambic poem.
13. Thus Gyges obtained the kingdom, and was confirmed
in it by the oracle at Delphi. For when the Lydians resented the murder of Candaules, and were up in arms, the
partisans of Gyges and the other Lydians came to the following agreement: that if the oracle should pronounce him king
of the Lydians, he should reign; if not, he should restore
the power to the Heraclidae. The oracle, however, answered
accordingly, and so Gyges became king. But the Pythian
added this, "that the Heraclide should be avenged on the
fifth descendant of Gyges."l  Of this prediction neither the
Lydians nor their kings took any notice until it was actually
accomplished.
14. Thus the Mermnadoe, having deprived the Heraclidme,
possessed themselves of the supreme power.  Gyges, having
obtained the kingdom, sent many offerings to Delphi; for
most of the silver offerings at Delphi are his; and besides the
silver, he gave a vast quantity of gold; and among the rest,
what is especially worthy of mention, the bowls of gold, six
in number, were dedicated by him: these now stand in the
9 Archilochus was one of the earliest writers of Iambics. All that
remains of his is to be met with in Brunck's Analecta.
1 See. 91.




1l-17.]                 CLIO.. T.                       7
treasury of the Corinthians, and are thirty talents in weight;
though, to say the truth, this treasury does not belong to the
people of Corinth, but to Cypselus, son of Eetion. This Gyges
is the first-of the barbarians whom we know of that dedicated
offerings at Delphi; except Midas, son of Gordius, king of
Phrygia, for Midas dedicated the royal throne, on which he
used to sit and administer justice, a piece of workmanship deserving of admiration.  This throne stands in the same place
as the bowls of Gyges.  This gold and silver, which Gyges
dedicated, is by the Delphians called Gygian, from the name
of the donor. Now this prince, when he obtained the sovereignty, led an army against Miletus and Smyrna, and took the
city of Colophon  but as he performed no other great action
during his reign of eight-and-thirty years, we will pass him
over, having made this mention of him.  15. I will proceed
to mention Ardys, the son and successor of Gyges.  He took
Priene, and invaded Miletus. During the time that he reigned
at Sardis, the Cimmerians, being driven from their seats by the
Scythian nomades, passed into Asia, and possessed themselves
of all Sardis except the citadel.
16. When Ardys had reigned forty-nine years, his son
Sadyattes succeeded him, and reigned twelve years; and
Alyattes succeeded Sadyattes.  He made war upon Cyaxares,
a descendant of Deioces, and upon the MIedes. He drove the
Cimmerians out of Asia; took Smyrna, which was founded
from Colophon, and invaded Clazomenm.  From this place he
departed, not as he could wish, but signally defeated.  He
also performed in the course of his reign the following actions
worthy of mention.  17. He continued the war which his
father had begun against the Milesians; and leading his
army against Miletus, he invaded it in the following manner.
When their fruits were ripe on the ground, he led his army
into their territory, attended in his march with pipes, harps,
and flutes, masculine and feminine.  On his arrival in Milesia, he neither demolished nor burned their country houses,
nor forced off the doors, but let them stand as they were; but
when he had destroyed their trees and the fruits on the
ground, he returned home; for the Milesians were masters
of the sea, so that there was no use in the army's besieging
it. And the Lydian king would not destroy their houses,
for this reason, that the Milesians, having those habitations




8                     HERODOTUS.                  [18-21.
might conie out to sow and cultivate the ground, and when
they had cultivated it, he might have something to ravage
when he should invade them  with his army.  18. In this
manner he carried on the war eleven years, during which the
Milesians received two great blows, one in a battle at Limeneion in their own territory, the other in the plain of the
Maander.  Six of these eleven years, Sadyattes, the son of
Ardys, was still king of the Lydians, and during those he
made incursions into the Milesian territory (for this Sadyattes was the person that began the war).  But during
the five years that succeeded the six, Alyattes, the son of Sadyattes, who (as I have before mentioned) received it from
his father, earnestly applied himself to it. None of the lonians, except the Chians, assisted the Milesians in bearing the
burden of this war: they did it in requital for succor they had
received; for formerly the Milesians had assisted the Chians
in prosecuting the war against the Erythraans.  19. In the
twelfth year, when the corn had been set on fire by the
army, an accident of the following nature occurred.  As
soon as the corn had caught fire, the flames, carried by
the wind, caught a temple of Minerva, called Assesian;2 and
the temple, thus set on fire, was burned to the ground. No
notice was taken of this at the time; but afterward, when
the army had returned to Sardis, Alyattes fell sick. When
the disease continued a considerable time, he sent messengers
to Delphi to consult the oracle, either from the advice oof some
friend, or because it appeared right to himself to send and
make inquiries of the god concerning his disorder.   The
Pythian, however, refused to give any answer to lhenes*
sengers when they arrived at Delphi,.jQf   uilt
the temple'of Minerva which they hadse   in
the territory of Milesia.  20. This rely         from the
Delphians; but the Milesians add, th'         e         son
of Cypselus, who was a very intimat l la           asybulus, at that time king of Miletus, havi the answer given to Alyattes, dispatched a messe~/pl i  him
of it, in order that, being aware of it beforehan  h might
form his plans according to present circumstances. This is
the. Milesian account.  21. Alyattes, when the above anAssesus was a small town dependent on Miletus. Minerva had a temple there, and hence took the name of the Assesian Minerva.-Larche;.




22-24.]                CLIO. I.                       9
swer was brought to him, immediately sent a herald to Miletus, desiring him to make a truce with Thrasybulus and the
Milesians till such time as he should have rebuilt the temple.
The herald accordingly went on this mission to Miletus.
But Thrasybulus being accurately informed of the whole
matter, and knowing the design of Alyattes, had recourse to
the following artifice: having collected in the market-place
all the corn that was in the city, both his own and what belonged to private persons, he made a proclamation, that when
h.e gave the signal, all the inhabitants should feast together.
22. Thrasybulus contrived and ordered this, to the end that
the Sardian herald, seeing so great a profusion of corn, and
the people enjoying themselves, might report accordingly
to Alyattes; and so it came. to pass. For when the herald
had seen these things, and delivered to Thrasybulus the message of the Lydian king, he returned to Sardis; and, as I am
informed, a reconciliation was brought about for no other
reason. For Alyattes expecting that there was a great scarcity of corn in Miletus, and that the people were reduced to
extreme distress, received from the herald on his return from
Miletus an account quite contrary to what he expected. Soon
afterward a reconciliation took place between them, on terms
of mutual friendship and alliance. And Alyattes built two
temples to Minerva at Assesus instead of one, and himself
recovered from sickness. Such were the circumstances of
the war that Alyattes made against the Milesians and Thrasybulus.
2.Piriander was the son of Cypselus-he it was who
acqAn   T    Ibulus with the answer of the oracle. Now
Peribd              of Corinth, and the Corinthians say
(anIlthe   a      onfirm their account) that a wonderful
prodigy g          his life-time.  They say that Arion of
Meth.i, _        i second to none of his time in accompanyingt ieI d who was the first, that we are acquaint   lrlll composed, named, and represented the
dithy i lis it Corinth, was carried to Tanarus on the back
of a dolphin.  24. They say that this Arion, having continued
a long time with Periander, was desirous of making a voyage
to Italy and Sicily; and that having acquired great wealth, he
determined to return to Corinth: that he set out from Tarentum, and hired a ship of certain Corinthians, because he put
A 2




10                   HERODOTUS.                   [25, 26.
more confidence in them than in any other nation; but that
these men, when they were in the open sea, conspired together to throw him overboard and seize his money, and he being
aware of this, offered them his money, and entreated them to
spare his life. However, he could not prevail on them; but
the sailors ordered him either to kill himself, that he might
be buried ashore, or to leap immediately into the sea. They
add that Arion, reduced to this strait, entreated them, since
such was their determination, to permit him to stand on the
poop in his full dress and sing, and he promised when he had
sung to make away with himself. The seamen, pleased that
they should hear the best singer in the world, retired from
the stern to the middle of the vessel.  They relate that Arion,
having put on all his robes, and taken his harp, stood on the
rowing benches and went through the Orthian strain; that
when the strain was ended he leaped into the sea as he was,
in his full dress; and the sailors continued their voyage to
Corinth: but they say that a dolphin received him on his
back, and carried him to Taenarus; and that he, having landed, proceeded to Corinth in his full dress, and upon his arrival
there, related all that had happened; but that Periander, giving no credit to his relation, put Arion under close confineYnent, and watched anxiously for the seamen: that when they
appeared, he summoned them, and inquired if they could give
any account of Arion; but when they answered that he was
safe in Italy, and that they had left him flourishing at Tarentum, Arion in that instant appeared before them just as he was
when he leaped into the sea; at which they were so astonished, that being fully convicted, they could no longer deny the
fact. These things'are reported by the Corinthians and Lesbians; and there is a small brazen statue of Arion at Tsenarus,
representing a man sitting on a dolphin.,25. Alyattes the Lydian, having waged this long war against
the Milesians, afterward died, when he had reigned fifty-seven
years.  On his recovery from sickness, he was the second son
of his family that dedicated at Delphi a large silver bowl, with
a saucer of iron inlaid; an object that deserves attention above
all the offerings at Delphi. It was made by Glaucus the Chian,
who first invented the art of inlaying iron.
26. After the death of Alyattes, his son Croesus, who was
then thirty.five years of age, succeeded to the kingdom.




27-29.]                 CLIO. I.                       11
He attacked the Ephesians before any other Grecian people.
The Ephesians then being besieged by him, consecrated their
city to Diana, by fastening a rope from the temple to the wall.
The distance between the old town, which'was then besieged,
and the temple, is seven stadia, Crcesus then attacked these
the first, and afterward the several cities of the lonians and
2Eolians one after another, alleging different pretenses against
different states, imputing graver charges against those in whom
he was able to discover greater causes of blame, and against
some of them alleging frivolous pretenses. 27. After he had
reduced the Grecians in Asia to the payment of tribute, he
formed a design to build ships and attack the Islanders.  But
when all things were ready for the building of ships, Bias of
Priene (or, as others say, Pittacus ofMlitylene), arriving at
Sardis, put a stop to his shipbuilding by making this reply,
when Croesus inquired if he had any news' from Greece: " O
king, the: Islanders are enlisting a large body of cavalry, with
intention to make war upon you and Sardis." Croesus, thinking he had spoken the truth, said, " May the gods put such a
thought into the Islanders, as to attack the sons of the Lydians with horse."  The other answering said, "Sire, you appear to wish above all things to see the Islanders on horseback upon the continent; and not without reason. But what
can you imagine the Islanders more earnestly desire, after
having heard of your resolution to build a fleet in order to attack them, than to catch the Lydians at sea, that they may
revenge on you the cause of those Greeks who dwell on the
continent, whom you hold in subjection?"  It is related that
Croesus was very much pleased with the conclusion, and that
being convinced (for he appeared to speak to the purpose), he
putt a stop to the ship-building, and made an alliance with the
lnians that inhabit the islands.
28. In course of time, when nearly all the nations that
dwell within the river Halys, except the Cilicians and Lycians, were subdued; for Croesus held all the rest in subjection: and they were the following, the Lydians, Phrygians,
Mysians, Mariandynians, Chalybians, Paphlagonians, Thracians, both the Thynians and Bithynians, Carians, Ionians,
Dorians, JEolians, and Pamphylians.  29. When these nations were subdued, and Croesus had added them to the Lydians, all the other wise men of that time, as each had oppor



12                   HERODOTUS.                   [30, 31.
tunity, came from Greece to Sardis, which had then attained
to the highest degree of prosperity; and among them Solon,
an Athenian, who, having made laws for the Athenians at
their request, absented himself for ten years, having sailed
away under pretense of seeing the world, that he might not
be compelled to abrogate any of the laws he had established;
for the Athenians could not do it themselves, since they were
bound by solemn oaths to observe for ten years whatever laws
Solon should enact for them. 30. Solon therefore, having
gone abroad for these reasons, and for the purposes of observation, arrived in Egypt at the court of Amasis, and afterward at that of Croesus at Sardis. On hig arrival he was hospitably entertained by Crmsus, and on the third or fourth day,
by order of the king, Rhe attendants conducted him round the
treasury, and showed him all teir grand and costly contents;
and when he had seen and examined every thing sufficiently,
Croesus asked him this question: " My Athenian guest, your
great fame has reached even to us, as well of your wisdom
as of your travels, how that as a philosopher you have traVeled through various countries for the purpose of observation;
I am therefore desirous of asking you, who is the most happy
man you have. seen "  He asked this question, because he
thought himself the most happy of men. But Solon, speaking the truth freely, without any flattery, answered, "Tellus
the Athenian."  Croesus, astonished at his answer, eagerly:
asked him, "On what account do you deem Tellus the happiest?" He replied, "Tellus, in the first place, lived in a well-'
governed commonwealth; had sons who were virtuous and
good; and he saw children born to them all, and all surviving: in the next place, when he had lived as happily as the
condition of human affairs will permit, he ended his life in a
most glorious manner; for, coming to the assistance of the
Athenians in a battle with their neighbors of Eleusis, he put
the enemy to flight, and died nobly. The Athenians buried
him at the public charge in the place where he fell, and honored him greatly."
31. When Solon had roused the attention of Croesus by
relating many and happy circumstances concerning Tellus,
Croesus, expecting at least to obtain the second place, asked' EitarlpeQoeS. Baehr translates it accurate, diligenter.




32.]                    CLIO. I.                       13
whom he had seen next to him.  "Cleobis," said he, " and
Biton, for they, being natives of Argos, possessed a sufficient
fortune, and had withal such strength of body, that they were
both alike victorious in the public games; and moreover the
following story is related of them: when the Argives were
celebrating a festival of Juno, it was necessary that their
mother should be drawn to the temple in a chariot; but the
oxen did not come from the field in time; the young men
therefore, being pressed for time, put themselves beneath the
yoke, and drew the car in which their mother sat; and having
conveyed it forty-five stades, they reached the temple. After
they had done this in sight of the assembled people, a most
happy termination was put to their lives; and in them the
Deity clearly showed that it is better for a man to die than
to live. For the men of Argos, who stood round, commended
the strength of the youths, and the women blessed her as the
mother of such sons; but the mother herself, transported with
joy both on account of the action and its renown, stood before
the image, and prayed that the goddess would grant to Cleobis
and Biton, her own sons, who had so highly honored her,
the greatest blessing man could receive.  After this prayer,
when they had sacrificed and partaken of the feast, the youths
fell asleep in the temple itself, and never awoke more, but
met with such a termination of life.  Upon this the Argives,
in commemoration of their piety, caused their statues to be
made and dedicated at Delphi."  32. Thus Solon adjudged the
second place of felicity to these youths. But. Croesus, being
enraged, said, " My Athenian friend, is my happiness, then, so
slighted by you as nothing worth, that you do not think me of
so much value as private men?"  He answered, ". (osasho
Uiuire of me G    -ni g.h iuman affairs- of me, who know
thaLiP' l, ljy jia.ways jealous, and delights in ionfusion 
For in lapse of time men are constrained to see many things
they would not willingly see, and to suffer many things they
would not willingly  tffer.  Now I put the term of man's life
at seventy years; these seventy years, then, give twenty-five
thousand two hundred days, without including the intercalary
month; and if we add that month4 to every'other year, in
4 If the first number 25,200 is correct, it follows that the year was
360-days; if the number of intercalary days 1.050 in 70 years, there will
be altogether 26,259, which will give 375 days to the year; so that in




14                    HERODOTUS.                      [32.
order that the seasons arriving at the proper time may agree,
the intercalary months will be thirty-five more in the seventy
years, and the days of these months will be one thousand and
fifty. Yet in all this number of twenty-six thousand two
hundred and fifty days, that compose these seventyiyears, one
day produces nothing exactly the same as another.  Thus,
then, 0 Croesus, man is altogether the sport of fortune. You
appear to me to be master of immense treasures, and king of
many nations; but as relates to what you inquire of me, I
can not say till I hear you have ended your life happily. For
the richest of men is not more happy than he that has a sufficiency for a day, unless good fortune attend him.to the grave,
so that he ends his life in happiness. Many men, who abound
in wealth, are unhappy; and many, who have only a moderate
competency, are fortunate. He that abounds in wealth, and
is yet unhappy, surpasses the other only in two things; but
the other surpasses the wealthy and the miserable in many
things. The former, indeed, is better able to gratify desire,
and to bear the blow of adversity.  But the latter surpasses
him in this; he is not, indeed, equally able to bear misfortune
or satisfy desire, but his good fortune wards off these things
from him; and he enjoys the full use of his limbs, he is free
from disease and misfortune, he is blessed with good children
and a fine form, and if, in addition to all these things, he shall
end his life well, he is the man you seek, and may justly be
called happy; but before he die we ought to suspend our
judgment, and not pronounce him happy, but fortunate. Now
it is impossible for any one man to comprehend all these advantages: as no one country suffices to produce. every thing
for itself, but affords some and wants others, and that which
affords the most is the best; so no human being is in all respects self-sufficient, but possesses one advantage, and is in
need of another; he therefore who has constantly enjoyed the
most of these, and then ends his life tranquilly, this man, in my
judgment, 0 king, deserves the name of happy.  We ought
therefore to consider the end of every thing, in what way it
will terminate; for the Deity having shown a glimpse of
happiness to many, has afterward utterly overthrown them."
spite of the precaution the seasons will be confused. Wyttenbach alters
the number of intercalary months and days to make it agree with truth.
-Larclier.




33-35.]                 CLIO. 1.                     15
33. When he spoke thus to Croesus, Croesus did not confer
any favor on him, and holding him in no account, dismissed
him;  since he considered him a very ignorant man, because he
overlooked present prosperity, and bade men look to the end
of every thing.
34. After the departure of Solon, the indignation of the
gods fell heavy upon Croesus, probably because he thought
himself the most happy of all men. A dream soon. after visited him while sleeping, which pointed out to him the truth
of the misfortunes that were about to befall him in the person
of one of his sons. For Crcesus had two sons, of whom one
was grievously afflicted, for he was dumb; but the other, whose
name was Atys, far surpassed all the young men of his age.
Now the dream intimated to Croesus that he would.,lose this
Atys by a wound inflicted by the point of an iron weapon;
he, when he awoke, and had considered the matter with himself, dreading the dream, provided a wife for his son; and
though he was accustomed to command the Lydian troops, he
did not ever after send him out on that business; and causing
all spears, lances, and such other weapons as men use in war,
to be removed from the men's apartments, he had them laid
up in private chambers, that none of them, being suspended,
might fall upon his son. 35. While Croesus was engaged with
the nuptials of his son, a man oppressed by misfortune, and
whose hands were polluted, a Phrygian by birth, and of royal
family, arrived at Sardis. This man, having come to the palace of Crcesus, sought permission to obtain purification according to the custom of the country. Croesus purified him (now
the manner of expiation is nearly the same among the Lydians
and the Greeks); and when he had performed the usual ceremonies, Creesus inquired whence he came, and who he was;
speaking to him as follows: "Stranger, who art'thou, and
from what part of Phrygia hast thou come as a suppliant to
my hearth? and what man or woman hast thou slain'"  The
stranger answered, "Sire, I am the son of Gordius, son.of
Midas, and am called Adrastus; having unwittingly slain my
own brother, and being banished by my father and deprived of
every thing, I am come hither."  Croesus answered as follows:
"You are born of parents who are our friends, and you.are
come to friends among whor, if you will stay, you shall want
nothing; and by bearing your misfortune as lightly as possi



16                   HERODOTUS.                 [36-39.
ble, you will be the greatest gainer."  So Adrastus took up his
abode in the palace of Crcesus.
36. At this same time a boar of enormous size appeared in
Mysian Olympus, and rushing down from that mountain, ravaged the fields of the Mysians. The Mysians, though they
often went out against him, could not hurt him, but suffered
much from him. At last deputies from the Mysians having come
to Croesus, spoke as follows: " O king, a boar of enormous size
has appeared in our country, and ravages our fields: though we
have often endeavored to take him, we can not. We therefore
earnestly beg that you would send with us your son, and some
chosen youths with dogs, that we may drive him from the country."  Such was their entreaty, but Croesus, remembering the
warning of his dream, answered, " Make no further mention
of my son; for I shall not send him with you, because he is
lately married, and that now occupies his attention; but I will
send with you chosen Lydians, and the whole hunting train,
and will order them to assist you with their best endeavors in
driving the monster from your country."  37. Such was his
answer; and when the Mysians were content with this, the
son of Croesus, who had heard of their request, came in; and
when Croesus refused to send him with them, the youth thus
addressed him. "Father, in time past I was permitted to
signalize myself in the two most noble and becoming exercises
of war and hunting; but now you keep me excluded from
both, without having observed in me either cowardice or want
of spirit. How will men look on me when I go or return from
the forum? What kind of man shall I appear to my fellowcitizens?  What to my newly-married wife?  What kind of
man will she think she has for a partner? Either suffer me,
then, to go to this hunt, or convince me that it is better for
me to do as you would have me."  38. " My son," answered
Crcesus, " I act thus, not because I have seen any cowardice,
or any thing else unbecoming in you; but a vision in a dream
appearing to me in my sleep warned me that you would be
short-lived; and would die by the point of an iron weapon.
On account of this vision, therefore,I hastened your marriage,
and now refuse to send you on this expedition; taking care
to. preserve you, if by any means I can, as long as I live;
for you are my only son; the other, who is deprived of his,
hearing, I consider as lost."  39. The youth answered, "a You




40-43.]                 CLIO. I.                      17
are not to blame, my father, if after such a dream you take
so much care of me; but it is right for me to explain that
which you do not comprehend, and which has escaped your
notice in the dream. You say the dream  signified that I
should die by the point of an iron weapon. But what hand,
or. what pointed iron weapon has a boar, to occasion such
fears in you I- Had it said I should lose my life by a tusk, or
something of like nature, you ought then to have done as you
now do; whereas it said by the point of a weapon; since, then,
we have not to contend against men, let me go."  40. "You
have surpassed me," replied Croesus, " in explaining the import
of the dream; therefore, being overcome by you, I change my
resolution, and permit you to go to the chase."
41. Croesus, having thus spoken, sent for the Phrygian
Adrastus, and, when he came, addressed him  as follows:
"Adrastus, I purified you when smitten by a grievous misfortune, which I do not upbraid you with, and have received
you into my house, and supplied you with every thing necessary. I Now, therefore (for it is your duty to requite me with
kindness, since I have first conferred a kindness on you), I
beg you would be my son's guardian, when he goes to the
chase, and take care that no skulking villains show themselves
in the way to do him harm. Besides, you ought to go for your
own sake, where you may' signalize yourself by your exploits;
for this was the glory of-your ancestors, and you are, besides,
in full vigor."  42. Adrastus answered, " On no other account,
sire, would I have taken part in this enterprise; for it is not
fitting that one in my unfortunate circumstances should join
with his prosperous compeers, nor do I desire to do so; and,
indeed, I have often restrained myself. Now, however, since
you urge me, and I ought to oblige you, for I am bound to
requite the benefits you have conferred on me, I am. ready to
do as you'desire; and riest assured that your son, whom you
bid me take care of, shall, as far as his guardian is concerned,
return to you uninjured."
43. When Adrastus had made this answer to Croesus, they
went away, well provided with chosen youths and dogs: and,
having arrived at Mount Olympus, they sought the wild
beast, and having found him and encircled him around, they
hurled their javelins at him. Among the rest, the stranger,
the same that had been purified of murder, named Adrastus,




18                   HERODOTUS.                  [44-46.
throwing his javelin at the boar, missed him, and struck the
son of Croesus: thus he being wounded by the point of the
lance, fulfilled the warning of the dream. Upon this, some
one ran. off to tell Croesus what had happened, and, having
arrived at Sardis, gave him an account of the action, and of
his son's fate. 44. Croesus, exceedingly distressed by the death
of his son, lamented it the more bitterly, because he fell by the
hand of one whom he himself had purified from blood; and
vehemently deploring his misfortune, he invoked Jove the
Expiator, attesting what he had suffered by this stranger.
He invoked, also, the same deity, by the name of the god of
hospitality and, private friendship: as the god of hospitality,
because, by receiving a stranger into his house, he had unaawares fostered the murderer of his son; as the god of private
friendship, because, having sent him as a guardian, he found
him  his greatest enemy.  45. After this, the Lydians approached, bearing the corpse, and behind it followed the murderer. He, having advanced in front of the corpse, delivered
himself up to Croesus, stretching forth his hands and begging
of him to' kill him upon it; then relating his former misfortune,
and how, in addition to that, he had destroyed his purifier, and
that he ought to live no longer. When Croesus heard this,
though his own affliction was so great, he pitied Adrastus,
and said to him, "You have made me full satisfaction by condemning yourself to die. But you are not the author of this
misfortune, except as far as you were the involuntary agent;
but that god, whoever he was, that long since foreshowed
what was about to happen."  Croesus therefore buried his son
as the dignity of his birth required; but Adrastus, son of Gordius, son of Midas, who had been the murderer of his own
brother, and the murderer of his purifier, when all was silent
round the tomb, judging himself the most heavily afflicted of
all men, killed himself on the tomb. But Croesus, bereaved
of his son, continued disconsolate for two years.
46. Some time after, the overthrow of the kingdom of
Astyages, son of Cyaxares, by Cyrus, son of Cambyses, and
the growing power of the Persians, put an end to the grief
of Croesus; and it entered into his thoughts, whether he could
by any means check the growing power of the Persians before they became formidable. After he had formed this purpose, he determined to make trial as well of the oracles in




47-49.]                 CLIO. I.                      19
Greece as of that in Libya; and sent different persons to
different places, some to Delphi, some to Abae of Phocis, and
some to Dodona; others were sent to. Amphiaraus and Trophonius, and others to Branchida of Milesia: these were the
Grecian oracles to which Crcesus sent to consult. He sent
others also to consult that of Ammon in Libya. And he sent
them different ways, designing to make trial of what the oracles knew; in order that if they should be found to know the
truth, he might send a second time to inquire whether he
should venture to make war on the Persians. 47. He dispatched them to make trial of the oracles with the following orders: that, computing the days from the time of their
departure from Sardis, they should consult the oracles on
the hundredth day,-by asking what Crcesus, son of Alyattes
and king of the Lydians, was then doing; and that they
should bring him  the answer of each oracle in writing.
Now what were the answers given by the other oracles is
mentioned by none; but no sooner had the Lydians entered
the temple of Delphi to consult the god, and asked the question enjoined them, than the Pythian thus spoke in hexameter verse: " I know the number of the sands, and the measure
of the sea; I understand the dumb, and hear him that does
not speak; the savor of the hard-shelled tortoise boiled in
brass with the flesh of lanmb strikes on my senses; brass is
laid beneath it, and brass is put over it."  48. The Lydians,
having written down this answer of the Pythian, returned to
Sardis. And when the rest, who had been sent to other places,
arrived bringing the answers, Croesus, having opened each of
them, examined their contents; but none of them pleased him.
When, however, he heard that from Delphi, he immediately
adored it, and approved of it, being convinced that the oracle
at Delphi alone was a real oracle, because it had discovered
what he had done.  For when he had sent persons to consult
the different oracles, watching the appointed day, he had recourse to the following contrivance: having thought of what
it was impossible to discover or guess at, he cut up a tortoise
and a lamb, and boiled them.himself together in a brazen caldron, and put on it a cover of brass. 49. Such, then, was the
answer given to Crcesus from Delphi: as regards the answer
of the oracle of Amphiaraus, I can not say what answer it gave
to the Lydians, who performed the accustomed rites at the




20                  IHERODOTUS.                   [5o, 51,
temple; for nothing else is related than that he considered this
also to be a true oracle.
50. After this he endeavored to propitiate the god at
Delphi by magnificent sacrifices; for he offered three thousand head of cattle of every kind fit for sacrifice, and having
heaped up a great pile, he burned on it beds of gold and silver,
vials of gold, and robes of purple and garments, hoping by
that'means more completely to conciliate the god; he also
ordered all the Lydians to offer to the god whatever he was
able. When the sacrifice was ended, having melted down a
vast quantity of gold, he cast half-bricks from it; of which the
longest were six palms in length, the shortest three, and in
thickness one palm: their number was one hundred and seventeen: four of these, of pure gold, weighed each two talents
and a half; the other half-bricks of pale gold weighed two
talents each.:He made also the figure of a lion of fine gold,
weighing ten talents.  This lion, when the temple of Delphi
was burned down, fell from the half-bricks, for it had been
placed on them, and it now lies in the treasury of the Corinthians, weighing six talents and a half; for three talents
and a half were melted from it. 51. Croesus, having finished
these things, sent them  to Delphi, and with them  these
following: two large bowls, one of gold, the other of silver:
that of gold was placed on the Pight hand as one enters the
temple, and that of silver on the left; but these also were
removed when the temple was burned down; and the golden
one, weighing eight talents and a half and twelve minae, is
placed in the treasury of Clazomenae; the silver one, containing six hundred amphorae, lies in a corner of the vestibule,
and is used by the Delphians for mixing the wine on the
Theophanian festival.  The Delphians say it was the workmanship of Theodorus the Samian; and I think so too, for
it appears to be no common work. He also sent four casks
of silver, which stand in the treasury of the Corinthians;
and he dedicated two lustral vases, one of gold, the other of
silver: on the golden one is an inscription, OF THE LACEDIEMIONIANS, who say that it was their offering, but
wrongfully, for this also was given by Crcesus: a certain
Delphian made the inscription, in order to please the Lacedaemonians; I know his name, but forbear to mention it.
The boy, indeed, through whose hand the water flows, is their




52-55.]                 CLIO. I.                       21
gift; but neither of the lustral vases.  At the same time
Croesus sent many other offerings without an inscription:
among them  some round silver covers; and, moreover, a
statue of a woman in gold three cubits high, which the
Delphians say is the image of Crcesus's baling-woman; and
to all these things he added the necklaces and girdles of his
wife.
52. These were the offerings he sent to Delphi; and to
Amphiaraus, having ascertained his virtue and sufferings, he
dedicated a shield all of gold, and a lance of solid gold, the
shaft as well as the points being of gold; and these are at
Thebes, in the temple of Ispenian Apollo.
53. To the Lydians appointed to convey these presents
to the temples, Croesus gave it in charge to inquire of the
oracles whether he should make war on the Persians, and if
he should unite any other nation as an ally. Accordingly,
when the Lydians arrived at the places to which they were
sent, and had dedicated the offerings, they consulted the
oracles, saying, " Crcesus, king of the Lydians and of other
nations, esteeming these to be the only oracles among men,
sends these presents in acknowledgment of your discoveries;
and now tasks whether he should lead an army against the
Persians, and whether he should join any auxiliary forces
with his own.'  Such were their questions; and the opinions
of both oracles concurred, foretelling "that if Croesus should
make war on the Persians, he would destroy a mighty empire;" and they advised him to engage the most powerful of
the Grecians in his alliance.  54. When Croesus heard the
answers that were brought back, he was beyond measure delighted with the oracles; and fully expecting that he should
destroy the kingdom of Cyrus, he again sent to Delphi, and
having ascertained the number of the inhabitants, presented
each of them with two staters of gold. In return for this, the
Delphians gave Croesus and the Lydians the right to consult the
oracle before any others, and exemption from tribute, and the
first seats in the temple, and the privilege of being made citizens
of Delphi to as many as should desire it in all future time.
55. Croesus, having made these presents to the Delphians, sent
a third time to consult the oracle; for, after he had ascertained the veracity of the oracle, he had frequent recourse to it.
lis delmand now7  was, whether he should long enjoy the ling



22.HERODOTUS.                   [56, 57.
dom? to which the Pythian gave this answer: " When a mule
shall become king of the Medes, then, tender-footed Lydian,
flee over pebbly Hermus, nor tarry, nor blush to be a coward."
56. With this answer, when reported to him, Crcesus was
more than ever delighted, thinking that a mule should never
be king of the Medes instead of a man, and consequently that
neither he nor his posterity should ever be deprived of the
kingdom. In the next place, he began to inquire carefully
who were the most powerful of the Greeks whom he might
gain over as allies; and on inquiry, found that the Lacedaemonians and Athenians excelled the rest, the former being of
Dorian, the latter of Ionic descent; for these were in ancient
time the most distinguished, the latter being a Pelasgian, the
other an Hellenic nation; the latter had never emigrated, but
the former had very often changed their seat; for under the
reign of Deucalion they inhabited the country of Phthiotis;
and in the time of Dorus, the son of Hellen, the country at
the foot of Ossa and Olympus, called Histimotis: when they
were driven out of Histiaeotis by the Cadmveans, they settled
bn Mount Pydnus, at a place called Macednum; thence they
again removed to Dryopis; and at length, coming into Peloponnesus, were called Dorians.
57. What language the Pelasgians used I can not with
certainty affirm; but, if I may form a conjecture from those
Pelasgians who now exist, and who now inhabit the town of
Crestona above the Tyrrhenians, and who were formerly
neighbors to those now called Dorians, and at that time occupied the country at present called Thessaliotis; and if I
nay conjecture from those Pelasgians settled at Placia and Scylace on the Hellespont, and who once dwelt with the Athenians,5 and whatever other cities, which, though really Pelasgian, have changed their name; if, I say, I may be permitted
to conjecture from these, the Pelasgians spoke a barbarous
language. And if the whole Pelasgian body did so, the Attic
race, being Pelasgic, must, at the time they changed into
Hellenes, have' altered their language; for neither do the
Crestonians use the same language with any of their neighbors, nor do the people of Placia, but both use the same
language; by which it appears they have taken care to pre,
5 For the reason of their separation, see VI. 1.37.




58, 59.]               CLIO. I.                       23
serve the character of the language they brought with them
into those places. 58. The Hellenic race, however, as appears
to, me, from the time they became a people, have used the same
language; though, when separated from the Pelasgians, they
were at first insignificant, yet from a small beginning they
have increased to a multitude of nations, chiefly by a union
with many other barbarous nations. Wherefore it appears to
me that the*Pelasgic race, being barbarous, never increased to
any great extent.
59. Of these nations, then, Croesus learned that the Attic
was oppressed and distracted by Pisistratus, son of Hippocrates,
then reigning in Athens: to this Hippocrates, who was at the
time a private person, and a spectator at the Olymplan games,
a great prodigy occurred; for having killed a victim, the caldrons, which were full of flesh and water, bubbled up without
any fire, and boiled over. Chilon the Lacedemonian, who was
accidentally there, arid saw the prodigy, advised Hippocrates,
first of all, not to marry any woman by whom he might have
children; or, if he was already married, then to put away his
wife; and if he happened to have a son, to disown him. However, Hippocrates, when Chilon gave this advice, would not be
persuaded, and had afterward this same Pisistratus; who, when
a quarrel happened between those who dwelt on the sea-coast
and the Athenians, the former headed by Megacles, son of Alemason, the latter by Lycurgus, son of Aristolaides, aiming at
the sovereign power, formed a third party; and having assembled his partisans under color of protecting those of the
mountains, he contrived this stratagem.  Having wounded
himself and his mules, he drove his chariot into the public
square, as if he had escaped from enemies that designed to
murder him  in his way to the country, and besought the
people to grant him a guard, having before acquired renown
in the expedition against Megara by taldng Nissa,6 and displaying other illustrious deeds. The people of Athens, being
deceived by this, gave him such'f the citizens as he selected,
who were not to be his javelin men, but club-bearers, for they
attended him  with clubs of wood. These men, therefore,
joining in revolt with Pisistratus, seized the Acropolis, and
thereupon Pisistratus assumed the government of the AtheniNisua was the port of the Megarians, about two miles from the city.




24                    HERODOTUS.                    [60, 61.
ans, neither disturbing the existing magistracies, nor altering the laws; but he administered the government according
to the established institutions, ordering it liberally and well.
60. Not long after, the partisans of Megacles and Lycurgus, being reconciled, drove him out.  In this manner Pisistratus first made himself master of Athens, and, his power not
being very firmly rooted, lost it. But those who expelled Pisistratus quarreled anew with one another; ald Megacles,
harassed by the sedition, sent a herald to Pisistratus to ask if
he was willing to marry his daughter on condition of having
the sovereignty.  Pisistratus having accepted the proposal
and agreed to his terms, in order to his restitution, they contrive the most ridiculous project that, I think, was ever
imag;ned, especially zf we consider that the Greeks have
from  old been distinguished from  the barbarians as being
more acute and free from all foolish simplicity, and more particularly as they played this trick upon' the Athenians, who
are esteemed among the wisest of the Grecians.  In the Pxeanean tribe was a woman named Phya, four cubits high, wanting three fingers, and in other respects handsome; having
dressed this woman in a complete suit of armor, and placed
her on a chariot, and having shown her beforehand how to
assume the most becoming demeanor, they drove her to the
city, having sent heralds before, who, on their arrival in the
city, proclaimed what was ordered in these terms: " 0 Athenians, receive with kind wishes Pisistratus, whom Minerva herself, honoring above all men, now conducts back to her own
citadel." Then they went about proclaiming this; and a report was presently- spread among the people that Mlinerva was
bringing back Pisistratus; and the people in, the city, believing
this woman to be the goddess, both adored a human being and
received Pisistratus.
61. Pisistratus, having recovered the sovereignty in the
manner above described, married the daughter of Megacles in
accordance with his agreement. But as he already had grownup sons, and as the Alcmaeonidae were said to be under a curse,7
he, wishing not to have any children by his newly-married
wife, had intercourse with her unnaturally.  The woman at
first kept the, thing a secret, but afterward, whether ques" Se the cause of this, B. V. 71.




62.]                     CLIO.                           25
tioned by her mother or not, she discovered it to her, and she
to her husband.  He felt highly indignant. at being dishonored by Pisistratus, and in his rage instantly reconciled
himself to those of the opposite faction; but Pisistratus,
hearing of the designs.that. were being formed against him,
withdrew  entirely out:of the country, and arriving in Eretria,9 consulted with his sons.  The opinion of Hippias prevailing, to recover the kingdom, they immediately began to
collect contributions from those cities which felt any gratitude
to them  for benefits received; and though many gave large
sums, the Thebans surpassed the rest in liberality. At length
(not to give a detailed account) time passed, and every thing:was ready for.their return, for Argive mercenaries arrived
from Peloponnesus; and a man of Naxos, named Lygdamis,
who had come as a volunteer, and brought both men and
money, showed great zeal in the cause.  62. Having set out
from'Eretria, they came back in the eleventh year of their
exile, and first t of all possessed themselves of Marathon.
While they lay encamped in this place, both their partisans
from: the'city joined them, and others from the various districts, to.lwhom.a tyranny was more welcome than liberty,
crowded to them; thus they were collected together.  The
Athernians of the city, on the other hand, had shown very
Iittle' concern all the time Pisistratus was collecting money, or.even when he took possession of Marathon.  But when they
1heard that he was marching from  Marathon against the
city, they at length went out to resist him; so they marched
with their whole force against the invaders.  In the mean
time Pisistratus's party, having set out from Marathon, advanced toward the city, and arrived in a body at the temple
of the Pallenian' Minerva, and there took up their position.
Here Amphilytus, a prophet of Acarnania, moved by divine
impulse, approached Pisistratus, and pronounced this oracle
in hexameter verse: "'The cast is thrown, and the net
is spread; by the moonlight the tunnies will rush in."
s Schweighseuser translates it " to his former partisans."  See Cary's
Lexicon to Herodotus.
9 There Were two places of this name, one in Thessaly and another
in Eubcea. Pisistratus retired to this last.- Larcher.
Pallene was the name of one of the boroughs of Attica, belonging
to the tribe Antiochides, on the road from Marathon to Athens.
B




26                    HERODOTUS.                  [63-65.
63. He, inspired by the god, uttered this prophecy; and Pisistratus, comprehending the oracle, and saying he accepted
the omen, led on his army.  The Athenians of the city were
then engaged at their breakfast, and some of them, after
breakfast, had betaken themselves to dice, others to sleep; so
that the army of Pisistratus, falling upon them by surprise,
soon put them to flight; and as they were flying, Pisistratus
contrived a clever stratagem to prevent their rallying again,
and that they might be thoroughly dispersed.  He mounted
his sons on horseback and sent them  forward; and they,
having overtaken the fugitives, spoke as they were ordered
by Pisistratus, bidding them be of good cheer, and to depart
every man to his own home.  64. The Athenians yielded a
ready obedience, and thus Pisistratus, having a third time
possessed himself of Athens, secured his power more firmly
both by the aid of auxiliary forces, and by revenues partly
collected at home and partly drawn from  the river'Strymon.2  He also seized as hostages the sons of the Athenians
who had held out against him, and had not immediately fled,
aknd settled them  at Naxos; which island Pisistratus had
formerly subdued, and given in charge to Lygdamis: he,
moreover, purified the island of Delos, in obedience to an
oracle. And he purified it in the following manner: having
dug up the dead bodies, as far as the prospect from  the
temple reached, he removed them to another part of Delos.
Thus Pisistratus ruled despotically over the Athenians; but
of them some had fallen in the battle, and others fled from
their homes with the son of Alcmeon.3
65. Croesus, therefore, was informed that such was, at
that time, the condition of the Athenians; and that the Lacedaemonians, having extricated themselves out of great difficulties, had first gained the mastery over the Tegeans in war;
for during the reign of Leo and Hegesicles, kings of Sparta,
the Lacedaemonians were successful in all other wars, and
were worsted by the Tegeans only. And long beforeltheir
reign they had been governed by the worst laws of almost
any people in Greece, both as regarded their dealings with
one another, and in holding no intercourse with strangers.
2 The country between the Strymon and the Nessus was celebrated
for its mines.-Larcher.
3 legacles.




Q6G.]                   CLIO. I.                       27
But they changed to a good government in the following mani
ner; Lycurgus, a man much esteemed by the Spartans, havy
ing arrived at Delphi to consult the oracle, no sooner entered
the temple, than the Pythian spoke as follows: "Thou art
come, Lycurgus, to my wealthy temple, beloved by Jove and
all that inhabit Olympian mansions: I doubt whether I shall
pronounce thee god or man; but rather god, I think, Lycurgus."  Some men say that, besides this, the Pythian also communicated to him that form of government now established
among the Spartans. But, as the Lacedaemonians themselves
affirm, Lycurgus, being appointed guardian to his nephew Leobotas,4 king of Sparta, brought these institutions from Crete;
for as so.on as he had taken the guardianship, he altered all
their customs, and took care that no one should transgress
them. Afterward he established military regulations, the: enomotire, the triecades, and the syssitia,5 and besides these he
instituted the ephori and senators.  66. Thus, having changed
their laws, they established good institutions in their stead;
and having erected a temple to Lycurgus after his death, they
held him in the highest reverence.  As they had agood soil
and abundant population, they quickly sprang up and flourished.  And now they were no longer content to live in
peace; but proudly considering themselves superior to the
Arcadians, they sent to consult the oracle at Delphi touching the conquest of the whole country of the Arcadians; and
the Pythian gave them this answer: " Dost thou ask of me
Arcadia? thou askest a great deal; I can not grant it thee.
There are many acorn-eating men in Arcadia, who will hinder thee. But I do not grudge thee all; I will give thee
Tegea to dance on with beating of the feet, and a fair plain
to measure out by the rod."  When the Lacedaemonians
heard this answer reported, they laid aside their design against
all Arcadia; and, relying on an equivocal oracle, led an army
against Tegea only, carrying fetters with them, as if they
would surely reduce the Tegeans to slavery.  But being defeated in an engagement, as many of them as were taken alive
were compelled to work, wearing the fetters they had brought,
4 It is generally agreed that the name of Lycurgus's nephew was not
Leobotas, but Charilaus.
For an account of these several institutions, see Smith's Dictionary
of Antiquities.




28                    HERODOTUS.                   [67, 68.
and measuring the lands of the Tegeans with a rod. Those
fetters in which they were bound were, even in my time,
preserved in Tegea, suspended around the temple of Alean
Minerva.
67. In the first war, therefore, they had constantly fought
against the Tegeans with ill success; but in the time of
Croesus, and during the reign of Anaxandrides and Ariston
at Lacedaemon, they had at length become superior in the
war, and they became so in the following manner: when they
had always been worsted in battle by the Tegeans, they sent
to inquire of the oracle at Delphi what god they should
propitiate in order to become victorious over the Tegeans.
The Pythian answered, they should become so when they had
brought back the bones of Orestes, the son of Agamemnon.
But as they were unable to find the sepulchre of Orestes, they
sent again to inquire of the god in what spot Orestes lay interred, and the Pythian gave this answer to the inquiries of
those who came to consult her: " In the level plain of Arcadia lies Tegea, where two winds by hard compulsion blow,
and stroke answers to stroke, and woe lies on woe. There
life-engendering earth contains Agamemnon's son; convey
him home, and you will be victorious over Tegea."  When
the Lacedemonians heard this, they were as far off the discovery as ever, though they searched every where; till Lichas, one of the Spartans who are called Agathoergi, found
it.  These Agathoergi consist of citizens who are discharged
from serving in the cavalry, such as are senior, five in every
year: it is their duty during the year in which they are discharged from the cavalry not to remain inactive, but go to
different places where they are sent by the Spartan commonwealth.  68. Lichas, who was one of these persons, discovered
it in Tegea, both meeting with good fortune and employing
sagacity; for as the Lacedemonians had at that time intercourse with the Tegeans, he, coming to a smithy, looked attentively at the iron being forged, and was struck with wonder when' he saw what was done.  The smith, perceiving his
astonishment, desisted from his work, and said, "O Laconian
stranger, you would certainly have been astonished had you
seen what I saw, since you are so surprised at the working of
iron; for as I was endeavoring to sink a well in this inclosure, in digging, I came to a coffin seven cubits long; and




69.]                   CLIO.                         29
because I did not believe that men were ever taller than they
now are, I opened it, and saw that the body was equal to the
coffin in length, and after I had measured it, I covered it up
again. The man told him what he had seen, but Lichas, reflecting on what was said, conjectured from the words of the
oracle that this must be the body of Orestes, forming his conjecture on the following reasons: seeing the smith's two bellows, he discerned in them the two winds, and in the anvil
and hammer the stroke answering to stroke, and in the iron that
was being forged the woe that lay on woe; representing it in
this way, that iron had been invented to the injury of man.
Having made this conjecture, he returned to Sparta, and gave.the Lacedamonians an account of the whole matter; they,
having brought a feigned charge against him, sent him into
banishment.  He then, going back to Tegea, related his misfortune to the smith, and wished to hire the inclosure from
him, but he would not let it. But in time, when he had persuaded him, he took up his abode there; and having opened
the sepulchre and collected the bones, he carried them away
with him to Sparta. From that time, whenever they made
trial of each other's strength, the Lacedaemonians were by far
superior in war; and the greater part of Peloponnesus had
been already subdued by them.
69. Crcesus being informed of all these things, sent embassadors to Sparta, with presents, and to request their alliance, having given them orders what to say; and when they
were arrived they spoke as follows:   Croesus, king of the
Lydians and of other nations, has sent us' with this message:'O  Lacedaemonians, since the deity has directed me
by an oracle to unite myself to a Grecian friend, therefore
(for I am informed that you are pre-eminent in Greece) I
invite you, in obedience to the oracle, being desirous of becoming your friend and ally, without treachery or guile.'"
Croesus therefore made this proposal by his embassadors. But
the Lacediemonians, who had before heard of the answer given
by the oracle to Crcesus, were gratified at the coming of the
Lydians, and exchanged pledges of friendship and alliance;
and indeed certain favors had been formerly conferred on
them by Croesus; for when the Lacedaemonians sent to Sardis
to purchase gold, wishing to use it in erecting the statue of
Apollo that now stands at Thornax in Laconia, Croesus gave




80                   HERODOTUS.                   [70, 71.
it as a present to them when they were desirous of purchasing it. 70. For this reason, then, and because he had selected them from all the Greeks, and desired their friendship, the
Lacedaemonians accepted his offer of alliance; and in the first
place, they promised to be ready at his summons; and in the
next, having made a brazen bowl, and covered it outside to the
tim with various figures, and capable of containing three hundred amphorae, they sent it to him, being desirous of making
Croesus a present in return. But this bowl never reached
Sardis, for one of the two following reasons: the Lacedemonians say that when this bowl, on its way to Sardis, was off
Samos, the Samians, having heard of it, sailed out in long
ships, and took it away by force. On the other hand, the
Samians affirm, that when the Lacedemonians who were conveying the bowl found they were too late, and heard that
Sardis was taken, and Crcesus a prisoner, they sold the bowl
in Samos, and that some private persons, who bought it, dedicated it in the temple of Juno. And perhaps they who sold it,
when they returned to Sparta, might say that they had been
robbed of it by the Samians. So it is, then, respecting this
bowl.
71. Crcesus then, mistaking the oracle, prepared to invade
Cappadocia, hoping to overthrow Cyrus and the power of the
Persians. While Croesus was preparing for his expedition
against the Persians, a certain Lydian, who before that time
was esteemed a wise man, and on this occasion acquired a very
great name in Lydia, gave him  advice in these words (the
name of this person was Sandanis): "0 king, you are preparing to make war against a people who wear leather
trowsers, and the rest of their garments of leather; who inhabit a barren country, and feed not on such things as they
choose, but such as they can get. Besides, they do not habitually use wine, but drink water; nor have they figs to eat,
nor any thing that is good. In the first place, then, if you
should conquer, what will you take from them, since' they have
nothing?  On the other hand, if you should be conquered,
consider what good things you will lose; for when they have
tasted of our good things, they will become fond of them, nor
will they be driven from them. As for me, I thank the gods
that they have not put it into the thoughts of the Persians
to make war on the Lydians."  In saying this, he did not




72, 73.]                 CLIO. I.                      31
persuade Croesus.  Now before they subdued the Lydians,
the Persians possessed nothing either luxurious or good. 72.
The Cappadocians are by the Greeks called Syrians; these
Syrians, before the establishment of the Persian power, were
subject to the Medes; but then to Cyrus; for the boundary
of the Median empire and the Lydian was the river Halys,
which flows from the mountains of Armenia through Cilicia;
and afterward has the Matienians on the right and the Phrygians on the other side; then passing these and flowing up
toward the north, it skirts the Syrian Cappadocians on one
side, and the Paphlagonians on the left. Thus the river Halys
divides almost the whole of lower Asia, from the sea opposite
Cyprus to the Euxine: this is the isthmus of that whole country: as to the length of the journey, it takes five days for a
well-girt man.6
73. Croesus invaded Cappadocia for the following reasons; as well from a desire of adding it to. his own dominions, as, especially, from his confidence in the oracle, and a
wish to punish Cyrus on account of Astyages; for Cyrus
son of Cambyses, had subjugated Astyages, son of Cyaxares,
who was brother-in-law of Croesus, and king of the Medes.
He had become brother-in-law to Croesus in the following
manner: a band of Scythian nomades having risen in rebellion, withdrew into Media: at that time Cyaxares, son of
Phraortes, grandson of Deioces, ruled over the Medes; he,
at first, received these Scythians kindly, as being suppliants;
so much so, that, esteeming them very highly, he intrusted
some youths to them to learn their language and the use of
the bow. In course of time, it happened that these Scythians, who were constantly going out to hunt, and who always
brought home something, on one occasion took nothing.  On
their returning empty-handed, Cyaxares (for he was, as he
proved, of a violent temper) treated them with most opprobrious language. The Scythians, having met with this treatment from Cyaxares, and considering it undeserved by them,
determined to kill one of the youths that were being educated
under their care; and having prepared the flesh as they used
to dress the beasts taken in hunting, to serve it up to Cyaxares
as if it were game, and then to make their escape iimmedi6 The long flowing dresses of the ancients made it necessary to gird
them up when they wished to move expeditiously.




32                     HERODOTTTS.                   [74, 75
ately to Alyattes, son of Sadyattes, at Sardis.  This was accordingly done; and Cyaxares and his guests tasted of this
flesh; and the Scythians, halving done this, became suppliants
to Alyattes.  74. After this:(for Alyattes refused to deliver
up the Scythians to Cyaxares when he demanded them), war
lasted between the Lydians and the Medes for five years;
during this period the Medes often. defeated the Lydians, and
often the Lydians defeated the Medes; and during this time
they had a kind of nocturnal engagement. In the sixth year,
when they were carrying on the war with nearly equal success, on occasion of an engagement, it happened that in the
heat of the battle day was suddenly turned into night. This
change of the dlay Thales the Milesian had foretold to the
Ionians, fixing beforehand this year as the very period in
which the change actually took place.  The Lydians and
Medes seeing night succeeding in the place of day, desisted
from fighting, and both showed a great anxiety to make peace.
Syennesis7 the Cilician, and Labynetus8 the Babylonian, were
the mediators of their reconciliation; these were they who
hestened the treaty between them, and made a matrimonial
connection; for they persuaded Alyattes to give his daughter
Aryenis in marriage to Astyages, son of Cyaxares; for without strong necessity, agreements are not wont to remain firm.
These nations in their federal contracts observe the same ceremonies as the Greeks; and in addition, when they lhave cut
their arms to the outer skin, they lick up one another's blood.
75. Cyrus had subdued this same Astyages, his grandfather
by the mother's side, for reasons which I shall hereafter relate.9  Crcesus, alleging this against him, sent to consult the
oracle if he should make war on the Persians; and when an
ambiguous answer came back, he, interpreting it to his own
advantage, led his army against the territory of the Persians.
When he arrived at the river Halys, Crcesus transported his
forces, as I believe, by the bridges which are now there. But
the common opinion of the Grecians is, that Thales the MIilesian procured him  a passage; for, while Croesus was in
7 Syennesis seems to have been a name common to the kings of Cilicia. In addition to the one here mentioned, we meet with another in the
time of Darius (V. 118), and a third in the time of Xerxes (VII. 98).
s The same, says Prideaux, with the Nebuchadnezzar of Scripture.
See ch. 121-130.




76, 77.]               CLIO. I.                       33
doubt how his army should pass over the river (for they say
that these bridges were not at that time in existence), Thales,
who was in the camp, caused the stream, which flowed along
the left of the army, to flow likewise on the right; and he
contrived it thus: having begun above the camp, he dug a
deep trench, in the shape of a half moon, so that the river,
being turned into this from its old channel, might pass in the
rear of the camp pitched where it then was, and afterward,
having passed by the camp, might fall into its former course;
so that as soon as the river was divided into two streams, it
became fordable in both. Some say that the ancient channel
of the river was entirely dried up  but this I can not assent
to; for how then could they have crossed it on their return?
76. However, Croesus, having passed the river with his army,
came to a place called Pteria, in Cappadocia: (Now Pteria
is the strongest position of the whole of this country, and is
situated over against Sinope, a city on the Euxine Sea.)
Here he encamped, and ravaged the lands of the Syrians; and
took the city of the Pterians, and enslaved the inhabitants; he
also took all the adjacent places, and expelled the inhabitants,
who had given him no cause for blame. But Cyrus, having
assembled his own army, and having taken with him all who
inhabited the intermediate country, went to meet Croesus.
But before he began to advance, he sent heralds to the Ionians, to persuade them to revolt from Croesus: the Ionians,
however, refused. When Cyrus had come up and encamped
opposite Croesus, they made trial of each other's strength on
the plains of Pteria; but when an obstinate battle took place,
and many fell on both sides, they at last parted on the approach of night, neither having been victorious. In this manner did the two armies engage.
77. But Croesus laying the blame on his own army on
account of the smallness of its numbers, for his forces that
engaged were far fewer than those of Cyrus-laying the blame
on this, when on the following day Cyrus did not attempt to
attack him, he marched back to Sardis, designing to summon
the Egyptians according to treaty, for he had made an alliance with Amasis, king of Egypt, before he had with the
Lacedamonians; and to send for the Babylonians (for he had
made an alliance with them also, and Labynetus at this time
reigned over the Babylonians), and to require the presence of
B 2




34                    HERODOTUS.                   [78, 79.
the Lacedmmonians at a fixed time: having collected these
together, and assembled his own army, he purposed, when
winter was over, to attack the Persians in the beginning of
the spring.  With this design, when he reached Sardis, he
dispatched embassadors to his different allies, requiring them
to meet at Sardis before the end of five months; but the army
that was with him, and that had fought with the Persians,
which was composed of mercenary troops, he entirely disbanded, not imagining that Cyrus, who had come off on such equal
terms, would venture to advance upon Sardis.  78. While
Crcesus was forming these plans, the whole suburbs were filled
with serpents; and when they appeared, the horses, forsaking
their pastures, came and devoured them.  When Croesus beheld this, he considered it to be, as it really was, a prodigy,
and sent immediately to consult the interpreters at Telmessus;
but the messengers having arrived there, and learned from the
Telmessians what the prodigy portended, were unable to report
it to Croesus; for before they sailed back to Sardis, Croesus had
been taken prisoner. The Telmessians had pronounced as follows: " That Croesus must expect a foreign army to invade his
country, which, on its arrival, would subdue the natives; because, they said, the serpent is a son of the earth, but the
horse is an enemy and a stranger." This answer the Telmessians gave to Croesus when he had been already taken, yet
without knowing what had happened with respect to Sardis or
Crcesus himself.
79. But Cyrus, as soon as Crcesus had retreated after
the battle at Pteria, having discovered that it was the intention of Crcesus to disband his army, found, upon deliberation,
that it would be to his advantage to march with all possible
expedition on Sardis, before the forces of the Lydians could
be a second time assembled; and when he had thus determined, he put his plan into practice with all possible expedition; for having marched his army into Lyclia, he brought
this news of his own enterprise to Croesus. Thereupon Crcesus, being thrown into great perplexity, seeing'that matters
had turned out contrary to his expectations, nevertheless drew
out the Lydians to battle; and at that time no nation in Asia
was more valiant and warlike than the Lydians.  Their mode
of fighting was from on horseback; they were armed with
long lances, and managed their horses with admirable address.




80-82.]                 CLIO. L                        35
80. The place where they met was the plain that lies before the city of Sardis, which is extensive and bare; several
rivers, as well as the Hyllus, flowing through it, force a passage into the greatest, called the Hermus, which, flowing from
the sacred mountain of mother Cybele, falls into the sea near
the city of Phocaea.  Here Cyrus, when he saw the Lydians
drawn up in order of battle, alarmed at the cavalry, had recourse to the following stratagem, on the suggestion of Harpagus, a Mede. Having collected together all the camels that
followed his army with provisions and baggage, and having
caused their burdens to be taken off he mounted men upon
them equipped in cavalry accoutrements, and having furnished
them, he ordered them  to go in advance of the rest of his
army against the Lydian horse; and he commanded his infantry to follow the camels, and he placed the whole of his
cavalry behind the infantry.  When all were drawn up in
order, he charged them not to spare any of the Lydians, but to
kill every one they met; but on no account to kill Crcesus,
even if he should offer resistance when taken. Such were the
orders he gave. He drew up the camels in the front of the
cavalry for this reason; a horse is afraid of a camel, and can
not endure either to see its form or to scent its smell: for this
reason, then, he had recourse to this stratagem, that the cavalry
might be useless to Croesus, by which the Lydian expected to
signalize himself. Accordingly, when they joined battle, the
horses no sooner smelt the camels and saw them, than they
wheeled round, and the hopes of Croesus were destroyed.
Nevertheless, the Lydians were not therefore discouraged, but
when they perceived what had happened, leaped from their
horses and engaged with the Persians on foot: at last, when
many had fallen on both sides, the Lydians were put to flight,
and being shut up within the walls, were besieged by the
Persians.
81. Siege was then laid to them; but Croesus, thinking it would last a long time, sent other messengers from
the city to his allies; for those who were before sent requested
them to assemble at Sardis on the fifth month, but he sent
out these last to request them to succor him with all speed,
as he was already besieged.  82. He sent, therefore, to the
rest of his allies, and especially to the Lacedaemonians; but
at that very time the Spartans themselves happened to have a




36                   HERODOTUS.                      [83.
quarrel with the Argians about a, tract called Thyrea; for this
Thyrea, which properly belongs to the territory of Argos, the
Spartans had seized; and, indeed, the country that lies westward as far as Malea, both on the continent and the island
Cythera and the other islands, belongs to the Argians. The
Argians having advanced to the defense of their country which
had been thus seized upon, both parties, upon a conference,
agreed that three hundred men on each side should engage, and
that whichever party was victorious should be entitled to the
disputed territory; but it was stipulated that the main body of
each army should withdraw to their own country, and not remain while the engagement was going on, lest, if the armies
were present, either side, seeing their countrymen in distress,
should come in to their assistance. Having agreed to these
terms, the armies withdrew, and the picked men on each side
remaining behind engaged: they fought with such equal success that, of the six hundred, three men only were left alive; of
the Argians, Alcenor and Chromius, and of the Lacedaemonians,
Othryades; these survived when night came on..The two Argians, thinking themselves victorious, ran to Argos with the
news; but Othryades, the Lacedamonian, having stripped the
corpses of the Argians, and carried their arms to his own camp,
continued at his post. On the next day, both armies, being informed of the event, met again in the same place, and for a time
both laid claim to the victory; the one side alleging that the
greater number of their men survived, the other side urging
that those survivors had fled, and that their countryman had
kept the field and spoiled their dead. At length, from words
they betook themselves to blows; and when many had fallen on
both sides, the Lacedaemonians obtained the victory. From that
time the Argians, cutting off their hair, which they had before
been compelled to wear long, enacted a law, which was confirmed by a curse, that no Argian should suffer his hair to
grow, nor any woman wear ornaments of gold, till they should
recover Thyrea.  On the other hand, the Lacedaemonians
made a contrary law, enjoining all their people to wear long
hair, which they had never done before. As to Othryades,
who was the only one that survived of the three hundred,
they say that, being ashamed to return to Sparta when all
his fellow-soldiers had perished, he put an end to himself at
Thyrea. 83, When the affairs of the Spartans were in this




84, 85.]               CLIO. I.                       37
condition, the Sardian embassador arrived, and requested them
to assist Croesus, who was besieged in Sardis; they, however,
no sooner heard the embassadors' report than they made preparations to succor him. But when they were now prepared to
set out, and their ships were ready, another message reached
them that the citadel of the Lydians was taken, and Croesus
made prisoner; they accordingly, deeming it a great misfortune,
desisted from their enterprise.
84. Sardis was taken in the following manner.  On the
fourteenth day after Croesus had been besieged, Cyrus sent
horsemen throughout his army, and proclaimed that he would
liberally reward the man who should first mount the wall:
upon this, several attempts were made, and as often failed;
till, after the rest had desisted, a Mardian, whose name was
Hyroeades, endeavored to climb up on that part of the citadel
where no guard was stationed, because there did not appear to
be any danger that it would be taken on that part, for on that
side the citadel was precipitous and impracticable. Round
this part alone Meles, a former king of Sardis, had not brought
the lion which his concubine bore to him, though the Telmessians had pronounced that if the lion were carried round the
wall, Sardis would be impregnable; but Meles, having caused
it to be carried round the rest of the wall, where the citadel
was exposed to assault, neglected this, as altogether unassailable and precipitous. This is the quarter of the city that faces
Mount Tmolus.  Now this Hyrceades the Mardian, having
seen a Lydian come down this precipice the day before for a
helmet that was rolled down, and carry it up again, noticed
it carefully, and reflected on it in his mind: he thereupon ascended the same way, followed by divers Persians; and when
great numbers had gone up, Sardis was thus taken, and the
whole town plundered.
85. The following incidents befell Croesus himself. He
had a son, of whom I have before made mention, who was in
other respects proper enough, but dumb. Now, in the time
of his former prosperity, Croesus had done every thing he
could for him, and among other expedients had sent to consult
the oracle of Delphi concerning him'; but the Pythian gave
him this answer: " 0 Lydian born, king of many, very foolish
Croesus, wish not to hear the longed-for voice of thy son
speaking within thy palace: it were better for thee that this




38                    HERODOTUS.                     [86.
should be far off; for he will first speak in an unhappy day."
When the city was taken, one of the Persians, not knowing
Croesus, was about to kill him. Crcesus, though he saw him
approach, from his present misfortune, took no heed of him,
nor did he care about dying by the blow; but this speechless
son of his, when he saw the Persian advancing against him,
through dread and anguish, burst into speech, and said, "Man,
kill not Croesus."  These were the first words he ever uttered;
but from that time he continued to speak during the remainder of his life. 86. So the Persians got possession of Sardis,
and made Crcesus prisoner, after he had reigned fourteen years,
been besieged fourteen days, and lost his great empire, as the
oracle had predicted.  The Persians, having taken him, conducted him to Cyrus; and he, having heaped up a great pile,
placed Croesus upon it, bound with fetters, and with him
fourteen young Lydians, designing either to offer this sacrifice to some god as the first-fruits of his victory, or wishing
to perform a vow'; or perhaps, having heard that Crcesus was
a religious person, he placed him on the pile for the purpose
of discovering whether any deity would save him from being
burned alive. He accordingly did what has been related: it is
added that when Croesus stood upon the pile, notwithstanding
the weight of his misfortunes, the words of Solon recurred
to him, as spoken by inspiration of the Deity, that " no living
man could be justly called, happy."  When this occurred to
him, it is said that, after a long silence, he recovered himself,
and, uttering a groan, thrice pronounced the name of Solon;
that when Cyrus heard him, he commanded his interpreters
to ask Cresus whom it was he called upon; that they drew
near and asked him, but Croesus for some time kept silence;
but at last, being constrained to speak, said, "I named a man
whose discourses I more. desire all tyrants might hear, than
to be possessor of the greatest riches."  When he gave them
this obscure answer, they again inquired what he said; and
when they persisted in their inquiries, and were very importunate, he at length told them that Solon, an Athenian, formerly visited him, and having viewed all his treasures, made
no account of them; telling, in a word, how every thing had
befallen him as Solon had warned him, though his discourse
related to all mankind as much as to himself, and especially
to those who imagine themselves happy.  They say that




87, 88.]               CLIO. I.                       39
Croesus gave this explanation; and that the pile being now
kindled, the outer parts began to burn; and that Cyrus, informed by the interpreters of what Crcesus had said, relented,
and considering that being but a man, he was yet going to
burn another man alive, who had been no way inferior to
himself in prosperity; and, moreover, fearing retribution, and
reflecting that nothing human is constant, commanded the fire
to be.instantly extinguished, and Croesus, with those who
were about him, to b6 taken down; and that they, with all
their endeavors, were unable to master the fire.  87. It is
related by the Lydians, that Croesus, perceiving that Cyrus
had altered his resolution, when he saw  every man endeavoring to put out the fire, but unable to get the better of
it, shouted aloud, invoking Apollo, and besought him, if ever
any of his offerings had been agreeable to him, to protect
and deliver him from the present danger: they report that
he with tears invoked the god, and that on a sudden clouds
were seen gathering in the air, which before was serene,
and that a violent storm burst forth and vehement rain fell
and extinguished the flames; by which Cyrus perceiving
that Croesus was beloved by the gods, and a good man, when
he had had him taken, down from the pile, asked him the following question: " Who persuaded you, Croesus, to invade my
territories, and to become my enemy instead of my friend?"
He answered, "   king, I have done this for your good but
my own evil fortune, and the god of the Greeks who encouraged me to make war is the cause of all. For no man is so
void of understanding as to prefer war before peace; for in the
latter children bury their fathers; in the former; fathers bury
their children. But, I suppose, it pleased the gods that these
things should be so."
88. He then thus spoke; but Cyrus, having set him
at liberty, placed him  by his own side, and showed him
great respect; and both le and all those that were with him
were astonished at what they saw. But Croesus, absorbed in
thought, remained silent; and presently turning round and
beholding the Persians sacking the city of the Lydians, he
said, "Does it become me, O king, to tell you what is passing through my mind, or to keep silent on the. present
occasion 1"  Cyrus bid him  say with confidence whatever
he wished; upon which Croesus asked him, saying, "What




40                   HERODOTUS.                   [89, 90.
is this vast crowd so earnestly employed about "  He answered, "They are sacking your city and plundering your
riches."  "Not so," Croesus replied; "they are neither sacking my city nor plundering my riches, for they no longer
belong to me, but they are ravaging what belongs to you."
89. The reply of Croesus attracted the attention of Cyrus;
he therefore ordered all the rest to withdraw, and asked
Croesus what he thought should be done in the present conjuncture. He answered: "Since the gods have made me
your servant, I think it my duty to acquaint you if I perceive
any thing deserving of remark. The Persians, who are by
nature overbearing, are poor. If, therefore, you permit them
to plunder and possess great riches, you may expect the following results: whoso acquires the greatest possessions, be assured will be ready to rebel. Therefore, if you approve what
Isay, adopt the following plan: place some of your body-guard
as sentinels at every gate, with orders to take the booty from
all those who would go out, and to acquaint them that the
tenth must of necessity be consecrated to Jupiter: thus you
will not incur the odium of taking away their property; and
they, acknowledging your intention to be just, will readily
obey."  90. Cyrus, when he heard this, was exceedingly delighted, as he thought the suggestion a very good one. Having,
therefore, commended it highly, and ordered his guards to do
what Croesus suggested, he addressed Croesus as follows: " Crcesus, since you are resolved to display the deeds and words of
a true king, ask whatever boon you desire on the instant."
"Sir," he answered, "the most acceptable favor you can
bestow upon me is to let me send my fetters to the god of
the Grecians, whom I have honored more than any other
deity, and to ask him if it be his custom to deceive those
who deserve well of"him."  Cyrus asked him what cause he
had to complain, that induced him to make this request: upon
which Croesus recounted to him all his projects, and the answers of the oracles, and particularly the offerings he had
presented; and how he was incited by the oracle to make
war against the Persians. When he had said this, he again
besought him to grant him leave to reproach the god with
these things. But Cyrus, smiling, said, "You shall not only
receive this boon from me, but whatever else you may at any
time desire."  When Crcesus heard this, he sent certain Lyde




91.]                    CLIO. L                        41
ians to Delphi, with orders to lav his fetters at the entrance
of the temple, and to ask the god if he were not ashamed to
have encouraged Croesus by his oracles to make war on the
Persians, assuring him that he would put an end to the power
of Cyrus, of which war such were the first-fruits (commanding
them at these words to show the fetters), and at the same time
to ask if it were the custom of the Grecian gods to be ungrateful.  91. When the Lydians arrived at Delphi, and had delivered their message, the Pythian is reported to have made
this answer: "The god himself even can not avoid the decrees of fate; and Croesus has atoned the crime of his ancestor
in the fifth generational who, being one of the body-guard of
the Heraclidse, was induced by the artifice of a woman to murder his master, and to usurp his dignity, to which he had no
right. But although Apollo was desirous that the fall of Sardis might happen in the time of the sons of Croesus, and not
during his reign, yet it was not in his power to avert the fates;
but so far as he Rlowed they accomplished, and conferred the
boon on him; for he delayed the capture of Sardis for the
space of three years. Let Croesus know, therefore, that he
was taken prisoner three years later than the fates had ordained; and in the next place, he came to his relief when he was
upon the point of being burned alive. Then, as to the prediction of the oracle, Croesus has no right to complain; for Apollo
foretold him that if he made war on the Persians, he would
subvert a great empire; and had he desired to be truly informed, he ought to have sent again to inquire whether his own or
that of Cyrus was meant. But since he neither understood the
oracle; nor inquired again, let him lay the blame on himself.
And when he last consulted the oracle, he did not understand
the answer concerning the mule; for Cyrus was that mule;
inasmuch as he was born of parents of different nations, the
mother superior, but the father inferior. For she was a Mede,
and daughter of Astyages, king of Media; but he was a Persian, subject to the Medes; and though in every respect inferior, he married his own mistress."  The Pythian gave this
answer to the Lydians, and they carried it back to Sardis, and
reported it to Cresus, and he, when he heard it, acknowledged
Crcesus was the fifth descendant of Gyges, if we include the two extremes; for the house of the Mermnadae was as follows: Gyges, Ardys,
Sadyattes, Alyattes, Crcesus. See chap. 13.




42                   HERODOTUS.                   [92, 93.
the fault to be his, and not the god's.  Such is the account of
the kingdom of Croesus, and the first subjection of Ionia.
92. Many other offerings were also consecrated by Croesus
in Greece, besides those already mentioned; for at Thebes
of Beotia there is a golden tripod, which he dedicated to Ismenian Apollo; and in Ephesus, the golden heifers, and several of the pillars; and in the Pronaea at Delphi a large golden shield. All these were in existence in my day; but others have been lost. The offerings he dedicated in Branchis, a
city of the Milesians, were, as I am informed, equal in weight
and similar to those at Delphi. Now the offerings which he
made to Delphi and to Amphiaraus were his own property
and the first-fruits of his patrimonial riches; but the rest were
the produce of the property of an enemy, who, before he came
to the throne, had set up an adverse faction, endeavoring to
raise Pantaleon to the throne: now Pantaleon was the son of
Alyattes, but of the same mother as Cioesus; for Alyattes had
Croesus by a Carian, and Pantaleon by an Ionian woman.
When, therefore, Crcesus, by the will of his father, obtained
the kingdom, he put his opponent to death by tearing his flesh
with a fuller's thistle; and having already vowed all his treasure to the gods, he dedicated it in the manner above described
to the places I have mentioned. And this may suffice respecting the offerings.
93. The Lydian territory does not present many wonders
worthy of description, like some other countries, except the
gold dust brought down from Mount Tmolus. It exhibits,
however, one work the. greatest of all, except those of the
Egyptians and Babylonians.  There is there a monument
to Alyattes, father of Croesus, the basis of which is composed
of large stones, the rest is a mound of earth. This fabric was
raised by merchants, artificers, and prostitutes. On the summit of this monument there remained, even in my day, five
termini, upon which were inscriptions, showing how much of
the work each class executed, and when measured the work
of the females proved to be the greatest. For the daughters
of the Lydian common people all prostitute themselves, for the
purpose of providing themselves with dowries; and they continue to do so until they marry; and they dispose of themselves in marriage. This monument is six stades and two
plethra in circumference, and in breadth thirteen plethra;




94, 95.]               CLIO. I.                      43
contiguous to it is a large lake, which the Lydians say is fed
by perpetual springs, and it is called the Gygean lake. This
may suffice for this subject.
94. The customs of the Lydians differ little from  those
of the Grecians, except that they prostitute their females.
They are the first of all nations we know of that introduced
the art of coining gold and silver; and they were the first retailers. The Lydians themselves say that the games which are
now common to themselves and the Greeks were their invention; and they say they were invented about the time they
sent a colony to Tyrrhenia, of all which they give the following account. During the reign of Atys, son of Manes, king of
Lydia, a great scarcity of corn pervaded all Lydia: for some
time the Lydians supported it with constancy; but When
they saw the evil still continuing, they sought for remedies,
and some devised one thing, some another; and at that time
the games of dice, hucklebones, ball, and all other kinds of
games except draughts, were invented, for the Lydians do not
claim the invention of this last; and having made these inventions to alleviate the famine, they employed them as follows: they used to play one whole day that they might not
be in want of food; and on the next, they ate and abstained
from play; thus they passed eighteen years; but when the
evil did not abate, on the contrary became still more virulent,
their king divided the whole people into two parts, and cast
lots which should remain and which quit the country, and
over that part whose lot it should be to stay he appointed himself king, and over that part which was to emigrate he appointed'his own son, whose name was Tyrrhenus. Those to
whose lot it fell to leave their country went down to Smyrna,
built ships, and, having put all their movables which were of
use on board, set sail in search of food and land, till, having
passed by many nations, they reached the Ombrici, where
they built towns, and dwell to this day. From being called
Lydians, they changed their name to one after the king's son,
who led them out; from him they gave themselves the appellation of Tyrrhenians. The Lydians then were reduced under
the power of the Persians.
95. My history hence proceeds to inquire who Cyrus Was
that overthrew the power of Croesus, and how the Persians
became masters of Asia; in which narration I shall fol



44                    HERODOTUS.                   [96, 97.
low those Persians who do not wish to magnify the actions of
Cyrus, but to relate the plain truth, though I am aware that
there are three other ways of relating Cyrus's history.  After
the Assyrians had ruled over Upper Asia five hundred and
twenty years; the Medes first began to revolt from them; and
they, it seems, in their struggle with the Assyrians for liberty,
proved themselves brave men; and having shaken off the
yoke, became free: afterward the other nations also did the
same as the Medes.  When all throughout the continent were
independent, they were again reduced under a despotic government in the following manner.  96. There was among
the Medes a man famous for wisdom, named Deioces, son of
Phraortes.  This Deioces, aiming at absolute power, had recourse to the following plan.  The Medes were at that time
distributed into villages, and Deioces, who was already highly
esteemed in his own district, applied himself with great zeal
to the exercise of justice; apd this he did, since great lawlessness prevailed throughout the whole of Media, and he
knew that injustice and justice are ever at variance. The
Medes of the same village, observing his conduct, chose him
for their-judge; and he, constantly keeping the sovereign
power in view, showed himself upright and just.  By this
conduct he acquired no slight praise from his fellow-citizens,
so much so that the inhabitants of other villages, hearing
that Deioces was the only one who judged uprightly, having
before met with unjust sentences, when they heard of him
gladly came from  all parts to Deioces, in order to submit
their quarrels to his decision; and at last they would commit
the decision to no one else. 97. In the end, when the number
of those who had recourse to him continually increased as men
heard of the justice of his decisions, Deioces, seeing the whole
devolved upon himself, would no longer occupy the seat where
he used to sit to determine differences, and refused to act as
judge any more, for that it was no advantage to him to neglect his own affairs, and spend the day in deciding the quarrels
of others. Upon this, rapine and lawlessness growing far more
frequent throughout the villages than before, the Medes called
an assembly and consulted together about the present state of
things, but, as I suspect, the partisans of Deioces spoke to the
following purpose: " Since it is impossible for us to inhabit
the country if we continue in our present condition, let up




98, 90.0 CLIO. 1.                                      45
constitute /a king over us, and so the country will be governed by good laws, and we ourselves shall be able to attend
to our business, nor be any longer driven from our homes by
lawlessness."  By some such words they persuaded them to
submit to a kingly government.  98. Upon their immediately
putting the question whom they should appoint king, Deioces
was unanimously preferred and commended; so that at last
they agreed that he should be their king.  But he required
them to build him a palace suitable to the dignity of a king,
and guards for the security of his person.  The Medes accordingly did so; and built him a spacious and strong palace in
the part of the country that he selected, and permitted him to
choose guards for his person out of all the Medes. Being thus
possessed of the power, he compelled the Medes to build one
city, and having carefully adorned that, to pay less attention
to the others.' And as the Medes obeyed him in this also, he
built lofty and strong walls, which now go under the name of
Ecbatana,2 one placed in a circle within the other; and this
fortification is so' contrived that each circle was raised above
the other by the height of the battlements only. The situation of the ground, rising by an easy ascent, was very favorable
to the design.  But that which was particularly attended to
is, that there being seven circles altogether, the king's palace
and the treasury are situated within the innermost of them.
The largest of these walls is about equal in circumference to
the city of Athens.; the battlements of-the first circle are
white, of the second black, of the third purple, of the fourth
blue, of the fifth bright red.  Thus the battlements of all the
circles are painted with different colors; but the two last have
their battlements plaited, the one with silver, the other with
gold.
99. Deioces then built these fortifications for himself,
and round his own palace; and he commanded the rest of the
people to fix their habitations round the fortification; and
when all the buildings were completed, he, for the first time,
established the following regulations: that no man should be
admitted to.the king's presence, but every one should consult
him by means of messengers, and that none should be permitted to see him; and, moreover, that it should be accounted
2 For the Scripture account of Ecbatana, see Judith i. 1-4.




46                   HERODOTUS.                [100-103.
indecency for any to laugh or spit before him. He established such ceremony about his own person, for this reason, that
those who were his equals, and who were brought up with
him, and of no meaner family, nor inferior to him in manly
qualities, might not, when they saw him, grieve and conspire
against him; but that he might appear to be of a different
nature to them who did not see him.  100. When he had
established these regulations, and settled himself in the tyranny, he was very severe in the distribution of justice. And
the parties contending were obliged to send him their case in
writing; and he, having come to a decision on the cases so
laid before him, sent them back again. This, then, was his
plan in reference to matters of litigation; and all other
things were regulated by him; so that, if he received information that any man had injured another, he would presently
send for him, and punish him in proportion to his offense; and
for this purpose he had spies and eaves-droppers in every part
of his dominions.
101. Now Deioces collected the Medes into one nation, and
ruled over that. The following are the tribes of the Medes:
the Busse, Parataceni, Struchates, Arizanti, Budii, and the Magi.
Such are the tribes of the Medes. 102. Deioces had a son,
Phraortes, who, when his father died, after a reign of fifty-three
years, succeeded him in the kingdom; but, having so succeeded, he was not content to rule over the Medes only, but, having made war on the Persians, he attacked them first, and reduced them under the dominion of the Medes. And afterward,
being master of these two nations, both of them powerful, he
subdued Asia, attacking one nation after another, till at last he
invaded the Assyrians, who inhabited the city of Nineveh, and
who had before been supreme, though at that time they were
abandoned by their. confederates (who had revolted), but who
were otherwise in good condition: Phraortes then, having
made war on them, perished with the greater part of his army,
after he had reigned twenty-two years.
103. When Phraortes was dead, Cyaxares his son, grandson of Deioces, succeeded him. He is said to have been more
warlike than his ancestors. He first divided the people of
Asia into cohorts, and first divided them  into spearmen,
archers, and cavalry; whereas before they had been confusedly mixed together. It was he that fought with the Lydians,




104-106.]               CLIO. I.                     47
when the day was turned into night,3 as they were fighting;
and who subjected the whole of Asia above the river Halys.
He assembled the forces of all his subjects, and marched
against Nineveh to avenge his father, and destroy that city.
However, when he had obtained a victory over the Assyrians,
and while he was besieging Nineveh, a great army of Scythians came upon him, under the conduct of their king Madyes,
son of Protothyas.  These Scythians had driven the Cimmerians out of Europe, and pursuing them into Asia, by that
means entered the territories of the Medes. 104. The distance
from the lake Maeotis to the river Phasis and to Colchis is a
journey of thirty days to a well-girt man,4 but th9 route from
Colchis to Media is not long, for there is only one nation, the
Saspires, between them; when one has passed over this, one
finds one's self in Media. The Scythians, however, did not pass
by this way, but turned to the higher road by a much longer
route, having Mount Caucasus on the right,5 and there the
Medes, coming to an engagement with the Scythians, and being
worsted in the battle, lost- their dominion; but the Scythians
became masters of all Asia.  105. From  thence they proceeded to Egypt, and when they reached Palestine in Syria,
Psammitichus, king of Egypt, having met them with presents and prayers, diverted them  from  advancing farther.
In their return, however, they came to Ascalon, a city of
Syria, and when most of them had marched through without doing any injury, some few, who were left behind, pillaged the temple of Celestial Venus. This temple, as I find
by inquiry, is the most ancient of all the temples dedicated
to this goddess; for that in Cyprus was built after this, as
the Gyprians themselves confess; and that in Cythera was
erected by Phoenicians who came from the same part of Syria.
However, the goddess inflicted on the Scythians who robbed
her temple at Ascalon, and on all their posterity, a female
disease; so that the Scythians confess that they are afflicted
with it on this account, and those who visit Scythia may see
in what a -state they are whom the Scythians call Enarees.
106. For twenty-eight years, then, the Scythians governed
Asia, and every thing was overthrown by their licentiousness
and neglect; for, besides, the-usual tribute, they exacted from
3 See chap. 74.               4 See chap. 72, n.
5 See B. IV. chap. 12, and B. VII. chap. 20.




48                    HERODOTUS.                 [107, 108.
each whatever they chose to impose; and, in addition to the
tribute, they rode round the country and plundered them of
all their possessions.  Now Cyaxares and the Medes invited
the greatest part of them to a feast, and having made them
drunk, put them to death; and so the Medes recovered their
former power, and all they had possessed before; and they
took Nineveh (how they took it I will relate in another
work),6 and reduced the Assyrians into subjection, with the
exception of the Babylonian district.  Having accomplished
these things, Cyaxares died, after he had reigned forty years,
including the time of the Scythian dominion.
107, Asyages, the son of Cyaxares, succeeded him in the
kingdom.  He had a daughter, to whom he gave the name of
Mandane.  He dreamed that she made so great a quantity of
water as not only filled his own city, but overflowed all Asia;
and having communicated this dream to those of the Magi
who interpret dreams, he was exceedingly alarmed when informed by them of every particular; and he afterward gave
this Mandane, when arrived at a marriageable age, to no one
of the Medes who was worthy of her, through dread of the
vision; but to a Persian, named Cambyses, whom he found
descended of a good family, and of a peaceful disposition,
deeming him far inferior to a Mede of moderate rank.  108.
In the first year after Mandane was married to Cambyses,
Astyages saw another vision; it appeared to him that a vine
grew up from his daughter's womb, and that the vine covered
all Asia.  Having seen this and communicated it to the
interpreters of dreams, he sent to Persia for his daughter,
who was then near her time of delivery; and upon her arrival he put her under a guard, resolving to destroy whatever should be born of her; for the Magian interpreters had
signified to him from his vision that the issue of his daughter would reign in his stead. /Astyages therefore, guarding
against this, as soon as Cyrus was born, sent for Harpagus,
a kinsman of his, and the most faithful of all the Medes, and
the manager of all his affairs, and. said to him,' Harpagus,
on no account fail to perform the business I now charge you
6 Several passages of our author seem to prove that Herodotus wrote.other histories than those which have come down to us. In the 184th
chapter of this book he speaks of his Assyrian history; in the 161st, of
the 2d of the Libyan.




09, 110.]               CLIO. I.                      49
with; nor expose me to danger by deceiving me; nor, by
preferring another, draw ruin upon thy own head. Take the
child that Mandane has given birth to, carry him to your own
house and kill him, and afterward bury him in whatever way
you think fit."  Harpagus answered, " 0 king, you have
never yet observed any ingratitude in me, and I shall take
care never to offend you for the future.  If, therefore, it is
your pleasure that this thing should be done, it is fitting that
I readily obey'you."  109. Harpagus, having given this
answer, when the child had been put into his hands, adorned
as if for death, returned home weeping; and upon his arrival
he told his wife all that Astyages had said. She asked him,
"What, then, do you purpose to do "  He answered, " Not
as Astyages has commanded; though he should be yet more
outrageous and mad than he is, I will not comply with his
wishes, nor will I submit to him by performing such a murder;
and for many reasons I will not murder the child; both because he is my own relation, and because Astyages is old, and
has no male offspring; besides, if, after his death, the sovereignty should devolve on this daughter, whose son he would now
murder by my means, what else remains for me but the
greatest danger  It is necessary, however, for my safety, that,
the child should die, but as necessary that one of Astyages's
people should be the executioner, and not one of mine."
110. Thus he spoke, and immediately: sent a messenger for
one of Astyages's herdsmen, who he knew grazed his cattle on
pastures most convenient for the purpose, and on mountains
abounding with wild beasts. His name was Mitradates, and he
had married his fellow-servant. The name of the woman to
whom he was married, in the language of Greece, was Cyno,
and in that of the Medes, Spaco, for the Medes call a bitch Spaca. The foot of the mountains at which this herdsman grazed
his cattle lies to the,north of Ecbatana, toward theEuxine
Sea; for the Medic territory on this side toward the Saspires
is very mountainous, lofty, and covered with forests, whereas
all the rest of Media is level. When, therefore, the herdsman,
being summoned in great haste, arrived, Harpagus addressed
him as follows: "Astyages bids thee take this infant, and expose him on the bleakest part of the mountains, that he may
speedily perish; and has charged me th add, that if thou
by any means shouldst save the child, thou shalt die by the
C




50                    HERODOTUS.                [11, 112.
most cruel death; and I am appointed to see the child exposed."  111. The herdsman, having heard these words, took
the infant, returned back by the same way, and reached his.
cottage. It so happened that his own wife, whose confinement
had been daily expected, was brought to bed while he was absent in the city, and each had been in a state of anxiety for
the other; he being alarmed about. his wife's delivery, and
the woman, because Harpagus, who had not been accustomed
to do so, had sent for her husband. When he returned and
came up to her, she seeing him thus unexpectedly, first asked
him why Harpagus had sent for him in such haste.  "Wife,"
said he, "when I reached the city, I saw and heard what
I wish I had never seen, nor had ever befallen our masters.
The whole house of Harpagus was filled with lamentations;
I, greatly alarmed, went in, and as soon as I entered, I saw an
infant lying before me, panting and crying, dressed in gold
and a robe of various colors. When Harpagus saw me, he
ordered me to take up the child directly, and carry him away,
and expose him in the part of the mountain most frequented:
by wild beasts; telling me at the same time that it was
Astyages who imposed this task on me, and threatening the
severest punishment if I should fail to do it..I took up the
infant and carried him  away, supposing him to belong to
one of the servants; for I had then no suspicion whence he
came, though I was astonished at seeing him dressed in gold
and fine apparel, and also at the sorrow which evidently prevailed in the house of Harpagus. But soon after, on my way
home, I learned the whole truth from a servant who accompanied me out of the city, and delivered the -child into my
hands; that he was born of Mandane, Astyages's daughter, and
of Cambyses, son of Cyrus, and that Astyages had commanded
him to be put to death."
112. As the herdsman uttered these last words, he uncovered the child, and showed it to his wife; she, seeing that
the child was large, and of a beautiful form, embraced the
knees of her husband, and with tears besought him by no
means to expose it. He said that it was impossible to do otherwise; for that spies would come.from Harpagus to see the
thing done, and he must himself die the most cruel death if he
should fail to do it. The woman, finding she.could not persuade her husband, again addressed him as follows: " Since,




113, 114.]             CLIO. I.                       51
then, I can not persuade you not to expose the child, do this,
at least, if it is absolutely necessary that he should be seen exposed: now I too have been delivered, and delivered of a stillborn child; then take this and expose it, and let us bring up
the son of Astyages's daughter as our own. Thus you will
neither be convicted of having wronged our masters, nor shall
we have consulted ill for our own interests; for the child that
is dead will have a royal burial, and the one that survives will
not be deprived of life.". 113. The herdsman thought his wife
spoke very much to the purpose, under existing circumstances,
and immediately proceeded to act accordingly. The child that
he had brought for the purpose of putting to death he delivered
to his wife; his own, which was dead, he put into the basket in
which he had brought the other, and having dressed it in all the
finery of the other child, he exposed it in the most desolate part
of the mountains.  On the third day after the infant had been
exposed, the herdsman, having left one of his assistants as a
guard, went to the city, and, arriving at the house of Harpagus,
told him he was ready to show the dead body of the infant.
Harpagus accordingly sent some of the most trusty of his
guards, and by that means saw the body, and buried the herdsman's child.  Thus this child was buried.  The other, who
afterward had the name of Cyrus, was brought up by the
ierdsman's wife, who gave him some other name, and not that
of Cyrus.
114. When the child attained the age of ten years, a
circumstance of the following nature discovered him. He
was playing in the-village in which the ox-stalls were, with
boys of his own age, in the road. I The boys who were playing
chose this reputed son of the herdsman for their king. But he
appointed some of them to build houses, and others to be his
body-guards; one of them to be the king's eye, and to another he gave the office of bringing messages to him, assigning
to each his proper duty. Now one of these boys who was
playing with him, being son of Artembares, a man of rank
among the Medes, refused to obey the orders of Cyrus; he
therefore commanded the others to seize him, and when they
obeyed, Cyrus scourged the boy very severely. But the boy,
as soon as he was let loose, considering that he had been
treated with great indignity, took it very much to heart, and
hastening to the city, complained to his father of the treat



52                    HERODOTUS.                  [115, 116.
ment he had met with from Cyrus; not, indeed, saying from
Cyrus (for he was not yet known by that name), but from
the son of Astyages's herdsman.  Artembares, in a transport
of anger, went immediately to Astyages, and taking his son
with him, said that he suffered treatment that was not to be
borne, adding, "Thus, O  king, are we insulted by your
lave, the son of a herdsman," showing the boy's shoulders.
115.'Astyages having. heard and seen what was done, revolving, on account of the rank of Artembares, to avenge
the indignity offered to the youth, sent for the herdsman and
his son. When both came into his presence, Astyages, looking upon Cyrus, said, "Have you, who are the son of such a
man as this, dared to treat the son of one of the principal persons in my kingdom with such indignity?"  But Cyrus answered, "Sir, I treated him as I did with justice; for the boys
of our village, of whom he was one, in their play made me
their king, because I appeared to them the most fitted. to that
office. Now all the other boys performed what they were ordered,/but he alone refused to obey, and pai1d no attention to
my cpmmands; wherefore he was punished.  If, then, on this
account I am deserving of punishment, here I am, ready to submit to it." / 116. As the boy was speaking thus, Astyages recognized who he was; both the character of his face appeared
like his own, and his answer more free than accorded with his
condition; the time, also, of the exposure seemed to agree with
the age. of the boy. Alarmed at this discovery, he was for
some time speechless; and at last, having with difficulty recovered himself (being desirous of sending Artembares away,
in order that he might examine the herdsman in private), he
said, " Artembares, I will take care that neither you nor your
son shall have any cause of complaint."  Thus he dismissed
Artembares; but the servants, at the command of Astyages,
conducted Cyrus into an inner room; and when the herdsman remained alone, he asked him, in the absence of witnesses, whence he had the boy, and from whose hands he received him? He affirmed that the boy was his own son, and
that the mother who bore him was still living with him.
Astyages told him that he did not consult his own safety
in wishing to be put to the torture; and as he said this, he
made a signal to his guards to seize him.  The man, when
brought to the torture, discovered the whole matter, and be



117-119.]              CLIO. I.                       53
ginning from the outset he went through it, speaking the truth
throughout, and concluded with prayers and entreaties for
pardon. a1,l. Astyages, when the herdsman had confessed the
truth, did not concern himself much about him  afterward;
but attaching great blame to Harpagus, he ordered his guards
to summon him; and when Astyages asked, "Harpagus, by
what kind of death did you dispose of the child which I delivered to you, born of my daughter " Harpagus, seeing
the herdsman present, had not recourse to falsehood, lest he
should be detected and convicted, but said, "   king, when I
had received the infant, I carefully considered how I could act
according to your wish and command, and, without offending
you, I might be free from the crime of murder both in your
daughter's sight and in yours. I therefore acted as follows:
having sent for this herdsman; I gave him the child, saying
that you had commanded him to put it to death; and in sayipg this I did not speak falsely, for such indeed were your
orders. In this manner I delivered the infant to him, charging him to place it in some desert mountain, and to stay and
watch till the child was dead, threatening the severest punishment if he should not fully carry out these injunctions.
When he had executed these orders, and the child was dead, I
sent some of the most trusty of my eunuchs, and by means of
them beheld the body and buried it. This is the whole truth,
O fing, and such was the fate of the child."
118. Thus Harpagus told the real truth; but Astyages,
Qissembling the anger which he felt on account of what had
been done, again, related to Harpagus the whole matter as he
had heard it.from the herdsman; and afterward, when he had
repeated it throughout, he ended by saying that the child was
alive and all was well.  " For," he added, " I suffered much
on account of what had been done regarding this chilt, and
could not easily bear the reproaches of my daughter; therefore, since fortune has taken a more favorable turn; do you,
in the first place, send your own son to accompany the boy I
have recovered; and, in the next place (for I purpose to offer
a sacrifice for the preservation of the child to the gods, to
whom that honor is due), do you be with me at supper.'r
119. Harpagus, on hearing these words, when he had paid
his homage, and had congratulated himself that his fault
had turned to so good account, and that he was invited to




54                   HERODOTUS.                   [120.
the feast under such auspicious circumstances, went to his
own home, and as soon as he entered he sent his only son,
who was about thirteen years of age, and bade him go to
Astyages, and do whatever he should command; and then,
being full of joy, he told his wife what had happened. But
when the son of Harpagus arrived, having slain him and cut
him, into joints, Astyages roasted some parts of his flesh and
boiled others, and having had them well dressed, kept them in
readiness. At the appointed hour, when the other guests and
Harpagus were come, tables full of mutton were placed before
the rest and. Astyages himself, but before Harpagus all the
body of his son; except the head, the hands, and the feet; these
were laid apart in a basket covered over. When Harpagus
seemed to have eaten enough, Astyages asked him if he was.pleased with the entertainment; and when Harpagus replied
that he was highly delighted, the officers appointed for the purpose brought him the head of his son, covered up with the
hands and feet, and standing before Harpagus, they bade him
uncover the basket and take what he chose. Harpagus doing
as they desired, and uncovering the basket, saw the remains of
his son's body, but he expressed no alarm at the sight, and retained his presence of mind; whereupon Astyages asked him
if he knew of what animal he had been eating. He said he
knew very well, and that whatever a king did was agreeable to
him. After he had given this answer he gathered the remains
of the flesh and went home, purposing, as I conjecture, to collect all he could and bury it.
120. Astyages thus punished Harpagus; and then con4sidering what he should do with Cyrus, summoned the Magi,
who had formerly interpreted his dream. When they were
come, Astyages asked them in what way they had interpreted
his yision.. They gave the same answer as before; and said that
if the boy was still alive, and had not already died, he must of
necessity be king. He answered them as follows: "The boy
is and still survives, and while living in the country, the boys
of the village made him king, and he has already performed
all such things as kings really do, for he has appointed guards,
door-keepers, messengers, and all other things in like manner;
and no~ I desire to know to what do these things appear to
you to tend."  The Magi answered, "If the boy be living,
and has already been a king by no settled plan, you may take
~LU~-UY-~VILJNVI 1~-~Li9~/I I  _IVI\. )_CI 3VIII~   ICIy




121,122.]               CLIO. I.                      55
courage on his account and make your mind easy, for he will
not reign a second time; for some of our predictions terminate in trifling results; and dreams, and things like them, are
fulfilled by slight events."  To this Astyages replied, " I too,
O Magi, am very much of the same opinion, that since the
child has been named king, the dream is accomplished, and
that tle boy is no longer an object of alarm'to me; yet consider well, and carefully weigh what will be the safest course
for my family and yourselves."  The Magi answered, " O
king, it is of great importance to us that your empire should
be firmly established, for otherwise it is alienated, passing
over to this boy, who is a Perslan, and we, who are Medes,
shall be enslaved by Persians, and held in no account as being
foreigners; whereas while you, who are of our own country,
are king, we have a share in the government, and enjoy great
honors at your hands. Thus, then, we must on every account provide for your safety and that of your government;
and now, if we saw any thing to occasion alarm, we should tell
you of it beforehand; but now, since the dream has issued in
a trifling event, we ourselves take courage, and advise you to
do the like, and to send the boy out of your sight to his
parents in Persia."  121. When, therefore, Astyages heard
this, he was both delighted, and, having called for Cyrus,
said to him, "Child, I have been unjust to you, by reason of
a vain dream; but you survive by your own destiny. Now
go in happiness to Persia, and I will send an escort to attend you: when you arrive there, you will find a father and
mother very different from the herdsman Mitradates and his
wife."
122. Astyages, having spoken thus, sent Cyrus away, and,
upon his arrival at the house of Cambyses, his parents received him.; and having received him, when they heard who
he was they embraced him  with the greatest tenderness,
having been assured that he had died immediately after his
birth; and they inquired of him by what means his life had
been preserved. He told them, saying, that before he knew
not, but had been, very much mistaken; however, that on
his road he had heard the whole case; for that till that time
he believed he was the son of Astyages's herdsman.  He related that he had been brought up by the herdsman's wife;
and he went on constantly praising her; and Cyno was the




56                   HERODOTUS.                 [123, 124.
chief subject of his talk.  His parents, having taken up this
name (in order that the Persians might suppose that the
child was somewhat miraculously preserved for them), spread
about a report that a bitch had nourished him when exposed; hence this report was propagated. 123. When Cyrus
had reached man's estate, and proved the most manly and beloved of his equals in age, Harpagus paid great court to him,
sending him presents, from his desire to be avenged on Astyages; for he did not see that he himself, who was but a
private man, could be able to take vengeance on Astyages;
perceiving, therefore, that Cyrus was growing up to be his
avenger, he contracted a friendship with him, comparing the
sufferings of Cyrus with his own. And before this he had
made the following preparations.  Seeing Astyages severe in
his treatment of the Medes, Harpagus, holding intercourse
with the chief persons of the nation, one after another, persuaded them that they ought to place him  at their head,
and depose Astyages. When he had effected his purpose in
this respect, and all was ready, -Harpagus, wishing to discover his designs to Cyrus, who resided in Persia, and having no other way left, because the roads were all guarded,
contrived the following artifice. Having cunningly contriyed
a hare, by opening its belly, and tearing off none of the
hair, he put a letter, containing,what he thought necessary to write, into the body; and having sewed.up Lie belly
of the hare, he gave it with some nets to the most trusty of
his servants, dressed as a hunter, and sent him to Persia;
having by word of mouth commanded him to bid Cyrus, as
he gave him the hare, to open it with his own hand, and not
to suffer any one to be present when he did so. 124. This
was accordingly done; and Cyrus, having received the hare,
opened it; and finding the letter which was in it, he read
it.; and it was to the following purport: " Son of Cambyses, seeing the gods watch over you (for otherwise you
could never have arrived at your present fortune), do you
now  avenge yourself on your murderer Astyages; for as
far as regards his purpose you are long since dead, but by
the care of the gods and of me you survive. I suppose you
have been long since informed both what was done regarding yourself, and. what I suffered at the hands of Astyages
because I did not put you to death, but gave you to the




125, 126.]              CLIO. I.                       57
herdsman.  If, then, you will follow my counsel, you shall
rule over the whole territory that Astyages now governs.
Persuade the Persians to revolt, and invade Media; and
whether I or any other illustrious Mede be appointed to command the army opposed to you, every thing will turn out as
you wish; for they, on the first onset, having revolted from
him, and siding with you, will endeavor to depose him.
Since, then, every thing is ready here, do as I advise, and do
it quickly."
125. Cyrus, having received this intelligence, began to
consider by what measures he could best persuade the Persians
to revolt; and after mature consideration, he fixed upon the
following as the most proper; and accordingly he put it in
practice.  Having written such a letter as he thought fit, he
called an assembly of the Persians, and then, having opened
the letter and read it, he said that Astyages had appointed
him general of the Persians: " Now," he continued, "I require you to attend me, every man with a sickle."  Cyrus
then issued such an order. Now the Persians are divided into
many tribes; and some of them  Cyrus assembled together,
and persuaded to revolt from the Medes; these are they upon
whom the rest of the Persians are dependent: the Pasargade,
the Maraphians, and the Maspians: of these the Pasargade are
the most noble; among them is the family of the Achaemenidae,
from which the kings of Persia are descended.  The rest are
as follows: the Panthialeans, the Derusiteans, and the Germanians; these are all husbandmen: the rest are pastoral;
Daians, Mardians, Dropicians, and Sagartians.  126. When
all were come with their sickles, as had been ordered, Cyrus selected a tract of land in Persia, which was overgrown
with briers, and about- eighteen or twenty stadia square,
and directed them  to clear it during the day: when the
Persians had finished the appointed task, he next told them
to come again on the next day, having first washed themselves. In the mean time, Cyrus, having collected together
all his father's flocks and herds, had them killed and dressed, as purposing to entertain the Persian forces, and he
provided wine and bread in abundance.  The next day,
when the Persians were assembled, he made them lie down
on the turf, and feasted them; and after the repast was over,
Cyrus asked them whether the treatment they had re!eived
C2




58                   HERODOTUS.                [127-129.
the day before, or the present, were preferable.  They answered that the difference was great; for on the preceding
day they. had every hardship, but on the present every thing
that was good. Cyrus, therefore, having received this answer,
discovered his intentions, and said," Men of Persia, the case
stands thus: if you will hearken to me, you may enjoy these,
and numberless other advantages, without any kind of servile
labor; but if you will not hearken to me, innumerable hardships like those of yesterday await you. Now, therefore, obey
me, and be free; for I am persuaded I am born by divine
providence to undertake this work; and I deem you to be
men in no way inferior to the Medes, either in other respects
or in war: since, then, these things are so, revolt with all
speed from Astyagds."
127. The Persians then having obtained a leader, gladly
asserted their freedom, having for a long time felt indignant at being governed by the Medes. Astyages, being
informed of what Cyrus was doing, sent a messenger and
summoned him; but Cyrus bade the messenger take back
word " that he would come to him sooner than Astyages desired."  When Astyages heard this, he armed all the Medes;
and, as if the gods had deprived him of understanding, made
Harpagus their general, utterly forgetting the outrage he had
done him. And when the Medes came to an engagement with
the Persians, such of them as knew nothing of the plot, fought;
but others went over to the Persians; and the far greater
part purposely behaved as cowards and fled.  128. The army
of the Medes being thus shamefully dispersed, as soon as the
news was brought to Astyages, he exclaimed, threatening
Cyrus, "Not even so shall Cyrus have occasion to rejoice."
Having so said, he first impaled the Magi, who had interpreted
his dream and advised him to let Cyrus go; then he armed all
the Medes that were left in the city, both young and old; and
leading them out, he engaged the Persians, and was defeated.
Astyages himself was made prisoner, and he lost all the Medes
whom he had led out.  129. Harpagus, standing by Astyages
after he was taken, exulted over him and jeered him; and
among other galling words, he asked him also about the supper
at which he had feasted him with his son's flesh, and inquired
"how he liked slavery in exchange for a kingdom." Astyages,
looking steadfastly on Harpagus, asked in return whether he




130, 131.]                CLIO. I.                          6.
thought himself the author of Cyrus's success.  Harpagus said
he did, for, as he had written, the achievement was justly due
to himself:  Astyages thereupon proved him to be " the weakest and most unjust of all men; the weakest, in giving the
kingdom to another, which he might have assumed to himself,
if indeed he had effected this change; and the most unjust, because he had enslaved the Mledes on account of the supper;
for if it were absolutely necessary to transfer the kingdom to
some one else and not to take it himself, he might, with more justice, have conferred this benefit on some one of the Medes than
on a Persian; whereas now tho Medes, who were not at all in
fault, had become slaves instead of masters, and the Persians,
who before were slaves to the Medes, had now become their
masters."
130. So Astyages, after he had reigned thirty-five years,
was thus deposed; and by reason of his cruelty, the Medes
bent under the Persian yoke after they had ruled over all
Asia beyond the river Halys for the space of one hundred and
twenty-eight years,7 excepting the interval of the Scythian
dominion.  At a later period, however, they repented of what
they had done, and revolted from Darius; but, being conquered
in battle, were again subdued; but now, in the time of Astyages, the Persians, under the conduct of Cyrus, having risen
against the Medes, have from  that time been masters of Asia.
As for Astyages, Cyrus kept him with him till he died, without doing him  any farther injury.  Cyrus therefore,, having
been thus born and educated, came to the throne; and after
these events he conquered Croesus, who gave the first provocation, as I have already related, and having subdued him, he became master of all Asia.
131. The Persians, according to my own knowledge, ob
serve the following customs. It is not their practice to erect
statues, or temples, or altars, but they charge those with f6lly
7 According to Ierodotus, Deioces reigned 53 years,
Phraortes.... 22
Cyaxares.... 40
Astyages..... 3
1500
If from this number we subtract 28, the time that the Scythians reigned, there remain, but 122; so that in all probability a mistake has been
made in the text by some copyist.-Larclicr.




GO                     HIERODOTUS.                 [132, 33.
who do so; because, as I conjecture, they do not think the
gods have human forms, as the Greeks do.  They are accustomed to ascend the highest parts of the mountains, and offer
sacrifice to Jupiter, and they call the whole circle of the heavens by the name of Jupiter.  They sacrifice to the sun and
moon, to the earth, fire, water, and the winds. To these alone
they have sacrificed from  the earliest times; but they have
since learned from the Arabians and Assyrians to sacrifice to
Venus Urania, whom  the Assyrians call Venus Mylitta, the
Arabians, Alitta, and the Persians, 1Mitra.  132. The following is the established mode of sacrifice to the abovementioned deities: they do not erect altars nor kindle fires
when about to sacrifice; they do not use libations, or flutes,
or fillets, or cakes; but when any one wish-es to offer sacrifice to any one of these deities, he leads the victim  to a
clean spot, and invokes the god, usually having his tiara
decked with myrtle.  He that sacrifices is not permitted to
pray for blessings for himself alone; but he is obliged to offer
prayers for the prosperity of all the Persians, and the king,
for he is himself included in the Persians.  When he has cut
the victim into small pieces, and boiled the flesh, he strews
under it a bed of tender grass, generally trefoil, and then lays
all the flesh upon it: when he has put every thing in order,
one of the Magi standing by sings an ode concerning the
original of the gods, which they say is the incantation; and
without one of the Magi it is not lawful for them to sacrifice.  After having waited a short time, he that has sacrificed carries away the flesh and disposes of it as he thinks
fit. 133. It is their custom to honor their birth-day above
all other days; and on this day they furnish their table in a
more plentiful manner than at other times.  The rich then
produce an ox, a horse, a camel, and an ass, roasted whole in
an oven, but the poor produce smaller cattle. They are moderate at their meals, but eat of many after dishes, and those
not served up together.  On this account the Persians say
" that the Greeks rise hungry from  table, because nothing
worth mentioning is brought in after dinner, and that if any
thing were brought in, they would not leave off eating."  The
Persians are much addicted to wine; they are not allowed to
vomit or make water in presence of another.  These customs
are observed to this day.  They are used to debate the most




134-136.]               CLIO. I.                       61
important affairs when  intoxicated; but whatever they
have determined on in such deliberations is, on the following
day, when they are sober, proposed to them  by the master
of the house where they have met to consult;. and if they
approve of it when sober also, then they adopt-it; if not, they
reject it; and whatever they have first resolved on when
sober, they reconsider when intoxicated.  134., When they
meet one another in the streets, one may discover by the
following custom  whether those who meet are equals; for,
instead of accosting one another, they kiss on the mouth;
if one be a little inferior to the other, they kiss the cheek;
but if he be of a much lawer rank, he prostrates himself
before the other.  They honor, above all, those who live
nearest to themselves; in the second degree, those that are
second in nearness; and after that, as they go farther off,
they'honor in proportion; and least of all they honor those
who live at the greatest distance; esteeming themselves to be
by far the most excellent of men in every respect, and that
others make approaches to excellence according to the foregoing gradations, but'that they are the worst who live
farthest from them.  During the empire of the Medes, each
nation ruled over its next neighbor, the Mledes over all, and
especially over those who were nearest to them; these, again,
over the bordering people, and the last, in like manner, over
their next neighbors; and in the same gradations the Persians honor; for that nation went on extending its government and guardianship.  135. The Persians are of all nations most ready to adopt foreign customs; for they weir
the Medic costume, thinking it handsomer than their own;
and in war they use the Egyptian  cuirass; and they
practice all kinds of indulgences with which they become
acquainted; among others, they  have learned fiom  the
Greeks a passion -for boys: they marry, each of them,
many wives, and keep a still greater number of concubines.  136. Next to bravery in battle, this is considered
the greatest proof of manliness, to be able to exhibit many
children; and to such as can exhibit the greatest number,
the king sends presents every year; for numbers are considered strength.  Beginning from  the age of five years to
twenty, they instruct their sons in three things only-to ride,
to use the bow, and to speak truth. Before he is five years




62                    HERODOTUS.                [137-140.
of age, a son is not admitted to the presence of his father, but
lives entirely with the women: the reason of this custom is,
that if he should die in childhood, he may occasion no grief to
his father.
137. Now I much approve of the above custom, as also of
the following, that not even the king is allowed to put any one
to death for a single crime, nor any private Persian exercise
extreme severity against any of his domestics for one fault, but
if, on examination, he should find that his misdeeds are more
numerous and greater than his services, he may, in that case,
give vent to his anger. They say that no one ever yet killed
his own father or mother, but whenever such things have happened they affirm that, if the matter were thoroughly searched
into, they would be found to have been committed by supposititious children, or those born in adultery, for they hold it
utterly impossible that a true father should be murdered by
lhis own son. 138. They are not allowed even to mention the
things which it is not lawful for them to do. To tell a lie is
considered by them the greatest disgrace; next to that, to be
in debt, and this for many other reasons, but especially because
they think that one who is in debt must of necessity tell lies.
Whosoever of the citizens has the leprosy or scrofula, is not
permitted to stay within a town, nor to have communication
with other Persians; and they say that from having committed
some offense against the sun a man is afflicted with these diseases.  Every stranger that is seized with these distempers
many of them even drive out of the country; and they do the
same to white pigeons, making the same charge against them.
They neither make water, nor spit, nor wash their hands in a
river, nor defile the stream with urine, nor do they allow any
one else to do so, but they pay extreme veneration to all
rivers. 139. Another circumstance is also peculiar to them,
which has escaped the notice of the Persians themselves, but
not of us. Their names, which correspond with their personal
forms and their rank, all terminate in the same letter which
the Dorians call San, and the Ionians Sigma;. and if you
inquire into this, you will find that all Persian names, without exception, end in the same letter.  140. These things I
can with certainty affirm to be true, since I myself know them.
But what follows, relating to the dead, is only secretly mentioned, and not openly; viz., that the dead body of a Persian is




141, 142.]              CLIO. I.                      63
never buried until it has been torn by some bird or dog; but
I know for a certainty that the Magi do this, for they do it
openly. The Persians then, having covered the body with
wax, conceal it in the ground. The Magi differ very much
from all other men, and particularly from the Egyptian priests;
for the latter hold it matter of religion not to kill any thing
that has life, except such things,as they offer in sacrifice;
whereas the Magi kill every thing with their own hands, except a dog or a man; and they think they do a meritorious
thing when they kill ants, serpents, and other reptiles, and
birds. And with regard to this custom, let it remain as it existed from the first. I will now return to my former subject.
141. The Ionians and }Eolians, as soon as the Lydians
were subdued by the Persians, sent embassadors to Cyrus at
Sardis, wishing to become subject to him on the same terms
as they had been to Crcesus. But he, when he heard their
proposal, told them this story: " A piper, seeing some fishes
in the sea, began to pipe, expecting that they would come to
shore; but finding his hopes disappointed, he took a castingnet, and inclosed a great number of fishes, and drew them out.
When he saw them leaping about, he said to the fishes,' Cease
your dancing, since when I piped you would not come out and
dance."'  Cyrus told this story to the Ionians and.Eolians,
because the Ionians, when Cyrus pressed them, by his embassador, to revolt from Cresus, refused to consent; and now,
when the business was done, were ready to listen to him. He,
therefore, under the influence of anger, gave them this answer.
But the Ionians, when they heard this message brought back
to their cities, severally fortified themselves with walls, and
met together at the Panionium, with the exception of the
M'ilesians; for Cyrus made an alliance with them  only, on
the same terms as the Lydians had done. The rest of the
Jonians resolved unanimously to send embassadors to Sparta,
to implore them to succor the Ionians.  142. The Ionians,
to whom the Panionium belongs, have built their cities under
the finest sky and climate of the world that we know of; for
neither the regions that are above it, nor those that are below,
nor the parts to the east or west, are at all equal to Ionia;
for some of them are oppressed by cold and rain, others by
heat and drought.  These Ionians do not all use the same language, but have four varieties of dialect. Miletus, the first of




64                    HERODOTUS.                  [143, 144.
them, lies toward the south; next are  Iyus and Priene: these
are situate in Caria, and use the same dialect. The following
are in Lydia: Ephesus, Colophon, Lebedus, Teos, Clazomens,
Phocnea. These cities do not at all agree with those before
mentioned in their language, but they speak a dialect common
to themselves. There are three remaining of the Ionian cities,
of which two inhabit islands, Samos and Chios; and one, Erythrse, is situated on the continent. Now the Chians and Erythraeans use the same dialect, but the Samians have one peculiar to themselves.  And these are the four different forms of
language.
143. Of these Ionians, the Milesians were sheltered from
danger, as they had made an alliance.  The islanders also
had nothing to fear; for the Phoenicians were not yet subject to the Persians, nor were the Persians themselves at
all acquainted with maritime affairs.  Now  the Milesians
had seceded from the rest of thelonians only for this reason,
that, weak. as the Grecian race then was, the Ionian was weakest of all,.and of least account; for, except Athens, there was
no other city of note. The other lonians, therefore, and the
Athenians, shunned the name, and would not be called Ionians; and even now  many of them  appear to me'to be
ashamed of the name. lBut these twelve cities gloried in the
name, and built a temple for their own use, to which they
gave the name of Panionium; and they resolved not to communicate privileges to any other of the lonians; nor, indeed,
have any others, except the Smyrneans, desired to participate
in them.  144. In the same manner, the Dorians of the present Pentapolis,-which was before called Hexapolis, take care
not to admit any of the neighboring Dorians into the temple
at Triopium, but excluded from participation such of their
own community as have violated the sacred laws; for in
the games in honor of Tridpian Apollo, they formerly gave
brazen tripods to the victors; and it was usual for those who
gained them, not to carry them out of the temple, but to dedicate them there to the god: however, a man of Halicarnassus,
whose name was Agasicles, having won the prize, disregarded
their custom, and, carrying away the tripod, hung it up in his
own house.  For this offense, the five cities, Lindus, lalyssus,
Cameirus, Cos, and Cnidus, excluded the sixth city, Halicarnassus, from participation; on them, therefore, they imposed




145-147.]               CLIO. I.                       65
this punishment.  145. The Ionians appear to me to have
formed themselyes into twelve cities, and to have refused to
admit more, for the following reason: because, when they
dwelt in Peloponnesus, there were twelve divisions of them, as
now there are twelve divisions of Achaeans, who drove out the
Ionians.  Pellene is the first toward Sicyon; next, jEgyra
and?Age, in which is the overflowing river Crathis, from
which the river in Italy derived its name; then Bura and
Helice, to which the lonians fled when they were defeated
by the Achmeans; JEgium, Rhypes, Patrees, Pharees, and Olenus, in which is the great river Pirus; lastly, Dyma and Tritawes, the only inland places among them.  146. These now
are the twelve divisions of the Achaeans, which formerly belonged to the lonians; and, on that account, the Ionians erected twelve cities; for to say that these are more properly Ionians, or of more noble origin than other Tonians, would be great
folly, since the Abantes, from Eubcea., who had no connection,
even in name, with Ionia, are no inconsiderable part of this
colony; and Minyan-Orchomenians are intermixed with them,
and Cadclmans, Dryopians, Phocians (who separated themselves from  the rest of their countrymen), and Mlolossians,
Pelasgians of Arcadia, Dorian Epidaurians, and many other
people, are intermixed with them; and those of them who set
out from the Prytaneum of Athens, and who deem themselves
the most noble of the lonians, brought no wives with them
when they came to settle in this country, but seized a number
of Carian women after they had killed their men; and on account of this massacre, these women established a law, and
imposed on themselves an oath, and transmitted it to their
daughters, that they would never eat with their husbands, nor
ever call them by the name of husband, because they had
killed their fathers, their husbands, and their children, and
then, after so doing, had forced them to become their wives.
This was done in Miletus.  147. The Ionians appointed kings/
to govern them; some choosing Lycians, of the posterity of
Glaucus, son of Hippolochus; others Cauconian Pylians, descended from Codrus, son of Melanthus; others, again, from
both those families.  However, they are more attached to the
name of Ionians than any others; let it be allowed, then, that
they are genuine Ionians.  Still, all are lonians who derive
their original from Athens,. and celebrate the Apaturian festi



G6                    IIERODOTUS.                [148-151.
val; but all do so except the Ephesians and Colophonians;
for these alone do not celebrate the Apaturian festival, on
some pretext of a murder.  148. The Panionium is a sacred
place in Mycale, looking to the north, and by the Ionians consecrated in common to Heliconian Neptune; and Mycale is a
headland on the continent, stretching westward'toward Samos.
At this place the lonians, assembling from the various cities,
were accustomed to celebrate the festival to which they gave
the name of Panionia; and not only do the festivals of the
Ionians, but the festivals of all the Greeks terminate, like the
Persian names,8 in the same letter.  These, then, are.the Ionian cities.
149. The following are the IEolian: Cyme, called also
Phriconis, Larisse, Neon-teichos, Temnos, Cilla, Notium,
JEgiroessa, Pitane, JEgaae, Myrina, and Grynia.  These are
eleven of the ancient cities of the 2Eolians; for one of them,
Smyrn,'was taken away from them by the Ionians; for they
too had twelve cities on the continent.  These iEolians have
settled in a more fertile country than the Ionians, but not
equal in climate.  150.. The Eolians lost Smyrna in the following manner. They received into their city certain Colophonians, who were unsuccessful in a sedition and driven from
their country. But, some time after, the Colophonian exiles,
having watched the opportunity while the Smyrnseans were
celebrating a festival to Bacchus outside the walls, shut to the
gates, and seized the city. But when all the ]Eolians came
to the assistance of the Smyrnsaans, an agreement was made
that the Ionians should restore the movable property, and
that the.Eolians should abandon Smyrna.  When the Smyrnaeans did this, the other eleven cities distributed them among
themselves, and gave them  the privilege of citizens.  151.
These, then, are the.Eolian cities on the continent, besides
those settled on Mount Ida; for these are altogether distinct.
But of those that occupy islands, five cities are situated in
Lesbos; for the sixth irr Lesbos, Arisba, the Methymnueans reduced to slavery, although they were of kindred blood; one
city is situated in Tenedos, and another in what are called the
Hundred Islands. Accordingly, the Lesbians and Tenedians,
as well as the lonians of the islands, had nothing to fear; but
8 See ch. 130.




152-154.]               CLIO. I.                      67
all the other cities resolved with one accord to follow the
lonians, wherever they should lead the way.
152. When the embassadors of the Ionians and fEolians
arrived at Sparta (for this was done with all possible speed),
they made choice of a Phocaean, whose name was Pythermus,
to speak in behalf of all; he then, having put on a purple robe,
in order that as many as possible of the Spartans might hear
of it and assemble, and having stood forward, addressed them
at length, imploring their assistance. But the Lacedemonians
would not listen to him, and determined not to assist the
Ionians: they therefore returned home. Nevertheless, the
Lacedaemonians, though they had rejected the Ionian embassadors, dispatched men in a penteconter, as I conjecture, to
keep an eye upon the affairs of Cyrus and Ionia. These men,
arriving in Phocea, sent the most eminent person among them,
whose name was Lacrines, to Sardis, to warn Cyrus., in the
name of the Lacedaemonians, "not to injure any city on the
Grecian territory, for in that case they would not pass it by
unnoticed."  153. When the lerald gave this message, it is
related that Cyrus inquired of the Grecians who were present
who the Lacedemonians were, and how many in number, that
they sent him such a warning.  And when informed, he said
to the Spartan herald, " I was never yet afraid of those who in
the midst of their city have a place set apart in which they
collect and cheat one another by false oaths; and if I continue
in health, not the calamities of the Ionians shall be talked about,
but their own."  This taunt of Cyrus was leveled at the
Grecians in general, who have markets for the purposes of
buying and selling; for the Persians themselves are not accustomed to use markets, nor have they such a thing as a market.
After this, Cyrus, having intrusted Tabalus, a Persian, with the
government of Sardis, and appointed Pactyas, a Lydian, to
bring away the gold, both that belonging to Crcesus and to the
other Lydians, took Criesus with him, and departed for Ecbatana, for from the first he took no account of the lonians.
But Babylon was an obstacle to him, as were also the Bactrians, the Sace, and the Egyptians; against whom he resolved
to lead an army in person, and to send some other general
against the Ionians. 154. But as soon as Cyrus had marched
from Sardis, Pactyas prevailed on the Lydians to revolt from
Tabalus and Cyrus; and going down to the sea-coast with all




68                   HERODOTUS.                 [155, 156.
the gold taken from Sardis in his possession, he hired mercenaries and persuaded the inhabitants of the coast to join him;
and then, having marched against Sardis, he besieged Tabalus,
who was shut up in the citadel.
155. When Cyrus heard this news on his march, he said to
Crcesus, " Croesus, what will be the end of these things? The
Lydians, it seems, will never cease to give trouble to me and
to themselves.  I am in doubt whether it will not be better to
reduce them to slavery; for I appear to have acted like one
who, having killed the father, has spared the children; so I
am carrying away you, who have been something more than a
father to the Lydians, and have intrusted their city to the
Lydians themselves; and then I wonder at their rebellion!"
Now he said what he had in contemplation to do; but Croesus,
fearing lest he should utterly destroy Sardis, answered, " Sir,
you have but too much reason for what you say; yet do not
give full vent to your anger, nor utterly destroy an ancient
city, which is innocent as well of the former as of the present
offense; for of the former I myself was guilty, and now bear
the punishment on my own head; but in the present instance
Pactyas, to whom you intrusted Sardis, is the culprit; let him,
therefore, pay the penalty; but pardon the Lydians, and enjoin them to observe the following regulations, to the end that
they may never more revolt, nor be troublesome to you: send
to them and order them to keep no weapons of war in their
possession; and enjoin them to wear tunics under their cloaks,
and buskins on their feet; and require them to teach their
sons to play on the cithara, to strike the guitar, and to sell by
retail; and then you will soon see them becoming women instead of men, so that they will never give you any apprehensions about their revolting."  156. Crcesus suggested this
plan, thinking it would be more desirable for the Lydians
than that they should be sold for slaves; and being persuaded
that unless he could suggest some feasible proposal, he should
not prevail with him to alter his resolution; and he dreaded
also lest the Lydians, if they should escape the present danger,
might hereafter revolt from the Persians, and bring utter ruin
on themselves. Cyrus, pleased with the expedient, laid aside
his anger, and said that he would follow his advice; then, having sent for Mazares, a Mede, he commanded him to order the
Lydiahs to conform themselves to the regulations proposed by




157-159.]               CLIO. I.                       69
Croesus, and moreover to enslave all the rest who had joined
the Lydians in the attack on Sardis; but by all means to bring
Pactyas to him  alive.  157. Cyrus then, having given these
orders on his way, proceeded to the settlements of the Persians;
but Pactyas, hearing that the army which was coming against
him was close at hand, fled in great consternation to Cyme;
and Mazares the Mede having marched against Sardis with an
inconsiderable. division of Cyrus's army, when he found that
Pactyas and his party were no longer there, in the first place
compelled the Lydians to conform to the injunctions of Cyrus;
and by his order the Lydians completely changed their mode
of life: after this Miazares dispatched messengers to Cyme, requiring them to deliver up Pactyas.  But the Cymenans, in
order to come to a decision, resolved to refer the matter to the
deity at Branchidae, for there was there an oracular shrine,
erected in former times, which all the lonians and AEolians
were in the practice of consulting: this place is situated in
Milesia, above the port of Panormus.9  158. The Cymasans
therefore, having sent persons to consult the oracle at Branchidae, asked "what course they should pursue respecting
Pactyas that would be most pleasing to the gods:" the answer to their question was, that they should deliver up Pactyas to the Persians.  When the Cynseans heard this answer
reported, they determined to give him up; but,'though most of
them came to this determination, Aristodicus, the son of Heraclides, a man of high repute among the citizens, distrusting
the oracle, and suspecting the sincerity of the consulters, prevented them from  doing so; till at last other messengers,
among whom was Aristodicus, went to inquire a second time
concerning Pactyas.  159. When they arrived at- Branchide,
Aristodicus consulted the oracle in the name of all, inquiring
in these words: "' O'king, Pactyas, a Lydian, has come to us
as a suppliant, to avoid a violent death at the hands of the
Persians.  They now demand him, and require the Cymmeans
to give him up. We, however, though we dread the Persian
power, have not yet dared to surrender the suppliant, till it be
plainly declared by thee what we ought to do." Such was the
inquiry of Aristodicus; but the oracle gave the same answer
9 It will be proper to remark that there were two places of that name,
and that this must not be confounded with the port of Panorlmus, in the
vicinity of Ephesus.-Beloe.




70                  IHERODOTUS.                [160 —162.
as before, and bade them surrender Pactyas to the Persians.
Upon this Aristodicus deliberately acted as follows; walking
round the temple, he took away the sparrows and all other
kinds of birds that had built nests in the temple; and while
he was doing this, it is reported that a voice issued from the
sanctuary, and addressing Aristodicus, spoke as follows: " 
most impious of men, how darest thou do this?  Dost thou
tear my suppliants from my temple?"  Aristodicus without
hesitation answered, " O king, art thou then so careful to succor thy suppliants, but biddest the Cymaeans to deliver up
theirs   - The oracle again rejoined: "Yes, I bid you do so;
that, having acted impiously, ye may the sooner perish, and
never more come and consult the oracle about the delivering
up of suppliants."  160. When the Cymsnans heard this last
answer, they, not wishing to bring destruction on themselves
by surrendering Pactyas, or to subject themselves to a siege by
protecting him, sent him away to Mitylene. But the 3litylenmeans, when Mazares sent a message to them requiring them
to deliver up Pactyas, were preparing to do so for some remuneration; what, I am unable to say precisely, for the proposal
was never completed; for the Cymawans, being informed of
what was being done by the Mitylenaeans, dispatched a vessel to
Lesbos, and transported Pactyas to Chios, whence he was torn
by violence from the temple of Minerva Poliuchus by the Chians
and delivered up. The Chians delivered him up in exchange
for Atarneus: this Atarneus was a place. situate in Mysia, opposite Lesbos. In this manner Pactyas fell into the hands of
the Persians; therefore, having got possession of Pactyas, they
kept him under guard in order that they might deliver him up
to Cyrus. And for a long time after this, none of the Chians
would offer barley-meal from Atarneus to any of the gods, or
make any cakes of the fruit that came from thence; but all
the productions of that country were excluded from the temples.
Thus the Chians gave up Pactyas.  161. Mazares, after this,
marched against those who had assisted in besieging Tabalus;
and, in the first place, he reduced the Prienians to slavery, and
in the next overran the whole plain of the Maeander, and gave
it to his army to pillage; and he treated Magnesia in the same
manner; and shortly afterward he fell sick and died.
162. On his death Harpagus came down as his successor in
the command; he also was by birth a Mede, the same whom




163, 164.]              CLIO. I.                       71
Astyages, king of the Medes, entertained at an impious feast,
and who assisted Cyrus in ascending the throne.  This man,
being appointed general by Cyrus on his arrival in Ionia, took
several cities by means of earthworks; for he forced the people to retire within their fortifications, and then, having heaped up mounds against the walls, he carried the cities by storm,
Phocaea was the first place in Ionia that he attacked.
163. These Phocaeans were the first of all the Grecians
who undertook long voyages, and they are the people who
discovered the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian seas, and Iberia, and
Tartessus.l  They made their voyages in fifty-oared galleys,
and not in merchant-ships.2  When they arrived at Tartessus
they were kindly received by the king of the Tartessians,
whose name was Arganthonius; he reigned eighty years over.
Tartessus, and lived to the age of one hundred and twenty.
The Phoceans became such great favorites with him, that he
at first solicited them to abandon Ionia, and to settle in any
part of his territory they should choose; but afterward, finding he could not prevail with the Phocaeans to accept his offer,
and hearing from them the increasing power of the Mede, he
gave them money for the purpose of building a wall round their
city; and he gave it unsparingly, for the wall is not a few
stades in circumference, and is entirely built of large and wellcompacted stone.  164. Now the wall of the Phoceans had
been built in the above manner; but when Harpagus marched
his army against them, he besieged theme having first offered
terms; "that he would be content if the Phocaeans would
throw down only one of their battlements, and consecrate one
house to the king's use."  The Phoceans, detesting slavery,
said "that they wished for one day to deliberate, and would
then give their answer;" but while they were deliberating,
they required him to draw off his forces from the wall. Harpagus said that, "though he well knew their design, yet he
would permit them to consult together." In the interval, then,
during which Harpagus withdrew his army from the wall, the
Phocaans launched their fifty-oared'galleys, and having put
their wives, children, and goods on board, together with the
images from the temples, and other offerings, except works of
1 Tartessus was situated between the two branches of the Bctis (now
Gnadalquiver), through which it discharges itself into the sea.
2 See Note 5, B. I. c. 2.




72                     IIHEODOTUS.                 [1 65 —167.
brass, or stone, or pictures-with these exceptions, having put
every thing on board, and embarked themselves, they set sail
for Chios; and the Persians took possession of Phocaea, abandoned by all its inhabitants.  165. The Phoceans, when the
Chians refused to sell them the CEnyssm islands, for fear they
should become the seat of trade, and their own island be thereby excluded,.thereupon directed their course to Cyrnus; where,
by the admonition of an oracle, they had. twenty years before
built a city, named Alalia.  But Arganthonius was at. that
time dead.  On their passage to Cyrnus, having first sailed
down to Phocea, they put to death the Persian garrison which
had been left by Harpagus to guard the city.  Afterward,
when this was accomplished, they pronounced terrible imprecations on any who should desert the fleet; besides this, they
sunk a mass of red-hot iron, and swore "that they would
never'return to Phomcaa till this burning mass should appear
again."  Nevertheless, as they were on their way toward'Cyrnus, more than one half of the citizens were seized with regret and yearning for their city and dwellings in the country,
and violating their oaths, sailed back to Phocma; but such of
them as kept to their oath weighed anchor and sailed from the
(Enyssm islands.  166. On their arrival at Cyrnus they lived
for five years in common with the former settlers; but as they
ravaged the territories of all their neighbors, the Tyrrhenians
and Carthaginians combined together to make war against
them, each with sixty ships; and the Phocaeans, on their part,
having manned their ships, consisting of sixty in number, met
them in the Sardinian Sea; and having engaged, the Phoceans
obtained a kind of Cadmean victory;3 for forty of their own
ships were destroyed, and the twenty that survived were disabled, for their prows were blunted.  They therefore sailed
back to Alalia, and took on board their wives and children,
with what property their ships were able to carry, and leaving
Cyrnus, sailed to Rhegium^  167. As to the men belonging
to the ships destroyed, most of them fell into the hands' of the
3 A proverbial expression, importing " that the victors suffered more
than the vanquished."
4 I have ventured to depart from the usual rendering of this passage,
even though it has the sanction of Baehr. It is commonly inferred from
the use of the word e2aXov that the Carthaginians and Tyrrhenians
"divided their prisoners by lot."  That word appears to me, however,




168-1 70.]               CLIO. I.                        73
Carthaginians and Tyrrhenians, who took them on shore, and
stoned them  to death.  But afterward, all animals belonging
to the Agyllalans that passed by the spot where the Phocaeans
who had been stoned lay, became distorted, maimed, and crippled, as well sheep as beasts of burden and men. The Agylleans, therefore, being anxious to expiate the guilt, sent to Delphi; and the Pythia enjoined them to use those rites which the
Agyllseans still observe; for they commemorate their death
with great magnificence, and have established gymnastic and
equestrian contests.  This was the fate of these Phoceans;
but the others who fled to Rhegium left that place, and got
possession of that town in the territory of CEnotria, which is
now called Hyela, and they colonized this town by the advice
of a certain Posidonian, who told them the Pythia had directed them to establish sacred rites to Cyrnus, as being a hero, but
not to colonize the island of that name.
168. The Teians also. acted nearly in the same manner as
the Phocoeans; for when Harpagus, by means of his earthworks, had made himself master of their walls, they all went on
board their ships, and sailed away to Thrace, and there settled
in the city of Abdera, which Timesius of Clazomenae having formerly founded, did not enjoy, but was driven out by the Thracians, and is now honored as a hero by the Teians of Abdera.
169. These were the only Ionians who abandoned their
country rather than submit to servitude.  The rest, except
the Milesians, gave battle to IHarpagus, and as well as those
who abandoned their country, proved themselves brave men,
each fighting for his own; but, being defeated and subdued,
they severally remained in their own countries, and submitted
to the commands imposed on-them.  But the Mlilesians, as I
have before mentioned,5 having made a league with Cyrus, remained quiet. Thus, then, was Ionia a second time enslaved;6
and when Harpagus had subdued the Ionians on the continent,
those. that occupied the islands, dreading the same fate, made
their submission to Cyrus.  170. When the Ionians were
only to mean that " they happened to'take them"-" it was their lot to
take them." Indeed, I believe that wherever Herodotus speaks of an
actual casting of lots, he always adds some word that expresses the action or method of allotting, as KZpy  cax6vra, iii. 83;'azaopevovv dc
2cayXcvet, iii. 128; rTOV 7rdaX  axvTra, iv. 94 and 153.
5 Ch. 143.                           6 See ch. 6 and 28.
D




74                   HERODOTUS.                     [171.
brought to this wretched condition, and nevertheless still held
assemblies. at Panionium, I am informed that Bias, of Priene,
gave them most salutary advice, which if they had hearkened
to him, would have made them the most flourishing of all the
Grecians.  He advised " that the Ionians, having weighed anchor, should sail in one common fleet to Sardinia, and then
build one city for all the Ionians: thus, being freed from servitude, they would flourish, inhabiting the most considerable of
the islands, and governing the rest; whereas, if they remained
in Ionia, he saw no hope of recovering their liberty." This was
the advice of Bias, the Prienean, after the Ionians were ruined.
But, before Ionia was ruined, the advice of Thales, the Mile,
sian, who was of Phcenician extraction, was also good. Ha
advised the Ionians to constitute one general council in Teos.
which stands in the centre of Ionia, and that the rest of the
inhabited cities should nevertheless be governed as independent
states. Such was the advice they severally gave.
171. Harpagus, having subdued Ionia, marched against the
Carians, Caunians, Lycians, Ionians, and IEolians.  Of these
the Carians had come from the islands to the continent; for,
being subjects of Minos, and anciently called Leleges, they oce
cupied the islands without paying any tribute, as far as I am
able to discover, by inquiring into the remotest times; but,
whenever he required them, they manned his ships; and as
Minos subdued a large territory, and was successful in war,
the Carians were by far the most famous of all nations in those
times.  They also introduced three inventions which the
Greeks have adopted. For the Carians set the example of
fastening crests upon helmets, and of putting devices on shieldsthey are also the first who put handles to shields; but, until
their time, all who used shields carried them without handles,
guiding them with leathern thongs, having them slung round
their necks and left shoulders. After a long time had elapsed,
the Dorians and Ionians drove the Carians out of the islands,
and so they came to the continent. This, then, is the account
that the Cretans give of the Carians. The Carians themselves,
however, do not admit its correctness, but consider themselves
to be aboriginal inhabitants of the continent, and always to
have gone under the same name as they now do; and, in
testimony of this, they show an ancient temple of Jupiter
Carius at Mylasa, which the Mysians and Lydians share, as




172, 173.]              CLIO. I.                       75
kinsmen to the Carians, for they say that Lydus and Mysus
were brothers to Car.  Now they do share the temple, but
none who are of a different nation, though of the same language with the Carians, are allowed to share it.  172. The
Caunians, in my opinion, are aboriginals, though they say
they are from Crete.  However, they have assimilated their
language to that of the Carians, or the Carians to theirs; for
this I can not determine with certainty. Their customs are
totally distinct from those of other nations, even from the Carians; for they account it very becoming for men, women,
and boys to meet together to drink according to their age
and intimacy. They had formerly erected temples to foreign
deities, but afterward, when they changed their minds (for
they resolved to have none but their own national deities), all
the Caunians armed themselves, both young and old, and,
beating the air with their spears, marched in a body to the
Calindian confines, and said they were expelling strange gods.
They then have such customs.  173. The Lycians were originally sprung from Crete, for in ancient time Crete was en,
tirely in the possession of barbarians. But a dispute having
arisen between Sarpedon and Minos, sons of Europa, respect,
ilg the sovereign power, when Minos got the upper hand in
the struggle, he drove out Sarpedon with his partisans; and
they, being expelled, came to the land of Milyas in Asia; for
the country which the Lycians now occupy was anciently called Milyas; but the Milyans were then called $olymi. So long
as Sarpedon reigned over them, they went by the name of
Termilae, which they brought with them, and the Lycians are
still called by that name by their neighbors. But when Lycus, son of Paidion, who was likewise driven out by his brother iEgeus, came from Athens, the Termilae, under Sarpedon, in
course of time, got to be called Lycians after him. Their customs are partly Cretan and partly Carian; but they have one
peculiar to themselves, in which they differ from all other nations; for they take their name from  their mothers and not
from their fathers; so that if any one ask another who he is,
he will describe himself by his mother's side, and reckon up his
maternal ancestry in the female line. And if a free-born woman marry a slave, the children are accounted of pure birth;
but if a man who is a citizen, even though of high rank, mar



TOI HERODOTUS.                                 [174-176.
ry a foreigner or cohabit with a concubine, the children are
infamous.
174. Now the Carians were subd'ued by H-arpagus without having done any memorable action in their own defense;
and not only the Carians, but all the Grecians that inhabit
those parts, behaved themselves with as little epurage; and
among others settled there are the Cnidians, colonists from
the Lacedemonians, whose territory juts on the sea, and is
called the Triopean; but the region of Bybassus commenced
from the peninsula, for all Cnidia, except a small space, is
surrounded by water (for the Ceramic gulf bounds it on the
north~ and on the south the sea by Syme and Rh6des): now
this small space, which is about five stades in breadth, the
Cnidians, wishing to make their territory insular, designed to
dig through while Harpagus was subduing Ionia; for the
whole of their dominions were within the isthmus; and where
the Cnidian territory terminates toward the continent, there
is the isthmus that they designed to dig through. But as they
were carrying on the work with great diligence, the workmen
appeared to be wounded to a greater extent and in a more
strange manner than usual, both in other parts of the body,
and particularly in the eyes, by the chipping of the rock; they
therefore sent deputies to Delphi to inquire what was the
cause of the obstruction; and, as the Cnidians say, the Pythian answered as follows in trimeter verse: "Build not a
tower on the isthmus, nor dig it through, for Jove would
have made it an island had he so willed."  When the Pythia
had given this answer, the Cnidians desisted from their work,
and surrendered without resistance to Harpagus as soon as
he approached with his army.  175. The Pedasians were
situate inland above Halicarnassus; when any mischief is
about to befall them  or their neighbors, the priestess of Minerva has a long beard: this has three times occurred. Now
these were the only people about Caria who opposed Harpagus for any time, and gave him much trouble by fortifying a
mountain called Lyda.  176. After some time, however, the
Pedasians ivere subdued. The Lycians, when Harpagus marched his army toward the Xanthian plain, went out to meet him,
and, engaging with very inferior numbers, displayed great feats
of valor; but, being defeated and shut up within their city,




'177-179.]             CLIOI..                       77
they collected their wives, children, property, and servants
within the citadel, and then set fire to it and burned it to the
ground. When they had done this, and engaged themselves
by the strongest oaths, all the Xanthians went out and died
fighting. Of the modern Lycians, who are said to be Xanthians, all, except eighty families, are strangers; but these
eighty families happened at the time to be away from home,
and so survived.  Thus I-arpagus got possession of Xanthus
and Caunia almost in the same manner; for the Caunians generally followed the example of the Lycians.
177. Harpagus therefore reduced the lower parts of Asia,
but Cyrus conquered the upper parts, subduing every nation
without exception.  The greatest part of these I shall pass
by without notice; but I will make mention of those which
gave him most trouble, and are most worthy of being recorded.
178. When Cyrus had reduced all the other parts of the
continent, he attacked the Assyrians.  Now Assyria contains many large cities, but the most renowned and the
strongest, and where the seat of government was established
after the destruction of Nineveh, was Babylon, which is of the
following description. The city stands in a spacious plain, and
is quadrangular, and shows a front on every side of one hundred and twenty stades; these stades make up the sum of four
hundred and eighty in the whole circumference. Such is the
size of the city of Babylon. It was adorned in a manner surpassing any city we are acquainted with. In the first place,
a moat deep, wide, and full of water, runs entirely around it;
next, there is a wall fifty royal cubits in breadth, and in height
two hundred; but the royal cubit is larger than the common
one by three fingers' breadth. 179. And here I think I ought
to explain how the earth taken out of the moat was consumed,
and in what manner the wall was built. As they dug the
moat they made bricks of the earth that was taken out, and
when they had moulded a sufficient number they baked them
in kilns. Then, making use of hot asphalt for cement, and
laying wattled reeds between the thirty bottom courses of
bricks, they first built up the sides of the moat, and afterward the wall itself in the same manner; and on the top of
the wall, at the edges, they built dwellings of one story, fronting each other, and they left a space between these dwellings




78                     HERODOTUS.                 [180-182.
sufficient for turning a chariot with four horses.  In the circumference of the wall there were a hundred gates, all of
brass, as also are the posts and lintels.  Eight days' journey
fiom Babylon stands another city, called Is, on a small river
of the same name, which discharges its stream  into the
Euphrates. Now this river brings down with its water many
lumps of bitumen, from whence the bitumen used in the wall
of Babylon was brought.  180. In this manner Babylon was
encompassed with a wall; and the city consists of two divisions, for a river, called the Euphrates, separates it in the
middle: this river, which is broad, deep, and rapid, flows
from Armenia, and falls into the IRed Sea.  The wall, therefore, on either bank, has an elbow carried down to the river;
from thence, along the curvatures of each bank of the river,
runs a wall of baked bricks.  The city itself, which is full of
houses three and four stories high, is cut up into straight
streets, as well all the other as the transverse ones that lead to
the river.  At the end of each street a little gate is formed in
the wall along the river-side, in number equal to the streets;
and they are all made of brass, and lead down to the edge of
the river.  181. This outer wall, then, is the chief defense, but
another wall runs round within, not much inferior to the
other in strength, though narrower.  In the middle of each
division of the city fortified buildings were erected; in one,
the royal palace, with a spacious and strong inclosure, brazengated; and in the other, the precinct of Jupiter Belus, which
in my time was still in existence, a square building of two
stades on every side. In the midst of this precinct is built a
solid tower of one stade both in length and breadth, and on
this tower rose another, and another upon that, to the number
of eight; and an ascent to these is outside, running spirally
round all the towers.  About the fmiddle of the ascent there
is a landing-place and seats to rest on, on which those who go
up sit down and rest themselves; and in the uppermost tower
stands a spacious temple, and in this temple is placed, handsomely furnished, a large couch, and by its side a table of
gold.  No statue has been erected within it, nor does any mortal pass the night there, except only a native woman, chosen
by the god out of the whole nation, as the Chaldeans, who are
priests of this deity, say. 182. These same priests assert,
though I can not credit what they say, that the god himself




183-185.]               CLIO. I.                       79
comes to the temple and reclines on the bed, in the same manner as the Egyptians say happens at Thebes in Egypt, for
there also a woman lies in the temple of Theban Jupiter, and
both are said to have no intercourse with men; in the
same manner also the priestess who utters the oracles at
Patarse in Lycia, when the god is there, for there is not an
oracle there at all times, but when there she is shut up during
the night in the temple with the god. 183. There is also another temple below, within the precinct at Babylon; in it is a
large golden statue of Jupiter seated, and near it is placed a
large table of gold, the throne also and the step are of gold,
which together weigh eight hundred talents, as the Chaldasans
affirm.  Outside the temple is a golden altar, and another
large altar, where full-grown sheep are sacrificed; for on the
golden altar only sucklings may be offered.  On the great
altar the Chaldseans consume yearly a thousand talents of
frankincense when they celebrate the festival of this god.
There was also at that time within the precincts of this
temple a statue of solid gold, twelve cubits high: I, indeed, did
not see it; I only relate what is said by the Chaldaeans. Darius, son of Hystaspes, formed a design to take away this
statue, but dared not do so; but Xerxes, son of Darius, took
it, and killed the priest who forbade him to remove it. Thus,
then, this temple was adorned; and, besides, there are many
private offerings.
184. There were many others who reigned over Babylon,
whom I shall mention in my Assyrian history, who beautified the walls and temples, and among them were two women. The first of these, named Semiramis, lived five generations before the other.  She raised mounds along the plain
which are worthy of admiration; for, before, the river used to
overflow the whole plain like a sea. 185. But the other, who
was queen next after her, and whose name was Nitocris (she
was much more sagacious than the queen before her), in the
first place, left monuments of herself which I shall presently
describe; and, in the next place, when she saw the power of
the Medes growing formidable and restless, and that, among
other cities, Nineveh was captured by them, she took every
possible precaution for her own defense. First of all, with respect to the river Euphrates, which before ran in a straight
line, and which flows through the middle of the city, this, by




80                   HERODOTUS.                     [186.
having channels dug above, she made so winding that in
its course it touches three times at one and the same village
in Assyria: thd name of this village at which the Euphrates
touches is Arderica; and to this day, those who go from our
sea to Babylon, if they travel by the Euphrates, come three
times to this village on three successive days.  She also raised
on either bank of the river a mound, astonishing for its magnitude and height. At a considerable distance above Babylon, she had a reservoir for a lake dug, carrying it out some
distance from the river, and in depth digging down to water,
and in width making its circumference of four hundred and
twenty stades: she consumed the soil from this excavation
by heaping it up on the banks of the river, and when it was
completely dug, she had stones brought, and built a casing to
it all round. She had both these works done, the river made
winding, and the whole excavation a lake, in order that the
current, being broken by frequent turnings, might be more
slow, and the navigation to Babylon tedious, and that after
the voyage a long march round the lake might follow. All
this was done in that part of the country where the approach
to Babylon is the nearest, and where is the shortest way for the
Medes, in order that the Medes might not, by holding intercourse with her people, become acquainted with her affairs.
186. She inclosed herself, therefore, with these defenses by
digging, and immediately afterward made the following addition. As the city consisted of two divisions, which were
separated by the river, during the reign of former kings,
when any one had occasion t', cross from one division to the
other, he was obliged to cross in a boat; and this, in my
opinion, was very troublesome.  She therefore provided for
this; for, after she had dug the reservoir for the lake, she left
this other monument, built by similar toil. She had large
blocks of stone cut, and when they vere ready, and the place
was completely dug out, she turned the whole stream of the
river into the place she had dug: while this was filled, and
the ancient channel had become dry, in the first place, she
lined with burned bricks the banks of the river throughout the
city, and the descents that lead from the gates to the river,
in the same manner as the walls. In the next place, about the
middle of the city she built a bridge with the stones she had
prepared, and bound them together with plates of leaad and




187-189.]              CLIO. I.                      81
iron.  Upon these stones she laid, during the day, square
planks of timber, on which the Babylonians might pass over;
but at night these planks were removed, to prevent people
from crossing by night and robbing one another.  When the
hollow that was, dug had become a lake filled by the river, and
the bridge was finished, she brought back the river to its ancient channel from the lake. And thus, the excavation having been turned into a marsh, appeared to answer the purpose
for which it was made, and a bridge was built for the use of
the inhabitants.
187. This same queen also contrived the following deception.  Over the most frequented gate of the city she
prepared a sepulchre for herself, high up above the gate
itself; and on the sepulchre she had engraved, SHOILD ANY
ONE OF MY SUCCESSORS, KINGS OF BABYLON, FIND HIIMSELF IN
WVANT OF MONEY, LET HIM OPEN THIS SEPULCHRE, AND TAKE
AS MUCH AS HE CHOOSES; BUT IF HE BE NOT IN WANT, LET
HIM NOT OPEN IT, FOR THAT WERE NOT WELL. This monument remained undisturbed until the kingdom fell to Darius;
but it seemed.hard to Darius that this gate should be of no
use, and that when money was lying there, and this money
inviting him to take it, he should not do so; but no use was
made of this gate for this reason, that a dead body was over
the head of any one who passed through it. He therefore
opened the sepulchre, and instead of money, found only the
bod'y, and these words written: HADST THOU NOT BEEN INSATIABLY COVETOUS, AND GREEDY OF THE MOST SORDID GAIN,
THOU WOULDST NOT HAVE OPENED THE CHAMBERS OF THE
DEAD. Such, then, is the account iven of this queen.
188. Cyrus made war against tie son of this queen, who
bore the name. of his father Labynetus, and had the empire of
Assyria. Now when the great king leads his army in person,
he carries with him from home provisions well prepared and
cattle; and he takes with him water from the river Choaspes,
which flows past Susa, of which alone, and no other, the
king drinks.  A  great number of four-wheeled carriages,
drawn by mules, carry the water of this river, after it has
been boiled in silver vessels, and follow him from place to
place wherever he marches. 189. When Cyrus, in his march
against Babylon, arrived at the river Gyndes, whose fountains
are in the Matianian mountains, and which flows through the
D 2




82                   HERODOTUS.                 [190, 191.
land of the Dardanians, and falls into another river, the Tigris; which latter, flowing by the city of Opis, discharges itself into the Red Sea: now, when Cyrus was endeavoring
to cross this river Gyndes, which can be passed only in
boats, one of the sacred white horses, through wantonness,
plunged into the stream, and attempted to swim over, but the
stream having carried him  away and drowned him, Cyrus
was much enraged with the river for this affront, and threatened to make his stream  so weak that henceforth women
should easily cross it without wetting their knees. After this
menace, deferring his expedition against Babylon, he divided
his army into two parts j and having so divided it, he marked
out by lines one hundred and eighty channels, on each side of
the river, diverging every way; then having distributed his
army, he commanded them  to dig. His design was indeed
executed by the great numbers he employed, but they spent
the whole summer in the work.  190. When Cyrus had
avenged himself on the river Gyndes by distributing it into
three hundred and sixty channels, and the second spring began to shine, he then advanced against Babylon. But the
Babylonians, having taken the field, awaited his coming; and
when he had advanced near the city, the Babylonians gave
battle, and, being defeated, were shut up in the city. But as
they had been long aware of the restless spirit of Cyrus, and
saw that he attacked all nations alike, they had laid up provisions for many years, and therefore were under no apprehensions about a siege. On the other hand, Cyrus found himself
in difficulty, since much time had elapsed, and his affairs were
not at all advanced.  191. Whether, therefore, some one else
made the suggestion to him in his perplexity, or whether
he himself devised the plan, he had recourse to the following
stratagem.  Having stationed the bulk of his army near the
passage of the river where it enters Babylon, and again having stationed another division beyond the city, where the
river makes its exit, he gave orders to his forces to enter the
city as soon as they should see the stream fordable. Having
thus stationed his forces and given these directions, he himself marched away with the ineffective part of his army; and
having come to the lake, Cyrus did the same with respect to
the river and the lake as the queen of the Babylonians had
done; for having diverted the river, by means of a canal,




192.]                   CLIO. I.                       83
into the lake, which was before a swamp, he made the ancient channel fordable by the sinking of the river.  When
this took place, the Persians who were appointed to that purpose close to the stream of the river, which had now subsided
to about the middle of a man's thigh, entered Babylon by this
passage. If, however, the Babylonians had been aware of it
beforehand, or had known what Cyrus was about, they would
not have suffered the Persians to enter the city, but would
have utterly destroyed them; for, having shut all the little
gates that lead down to the river, and mounting the walls
that extend along the banks of the river,, they would have
caught them as in a net; whereas the Persians came upon
them by surprise.  It is related by the people who inhabited
this city, that, by reason of its great extent, when they who
were at the extremities were taken, those of the Babylonians
who inhabited the centre knew nothing of the capture (for it
happened to be a festival); but they were dancing at the time,
and enjoying themselves, till they received certain information of the truth.  And thus Babylon was taken for the first
time.7
192. How great was the power of the Babylonians I can
prove by many other circumstances, and especially by the following. The whole territory over which the great king reigns
is divided into districts, for the purpose of furnishing subsistence for him and his army, in addition to the usual tribute;
now, whereas there are twelve months in the year, the Babylonian territory provides him with subsistence for four months,
and all the rest of Asia for the remaining eight. Thus the territory of Assyria amounts to a third part of the power of all
Asia, and the government of this region, which the Persians
call a satrapy, is considerable, since it yielded a full artabe of
silver every day to Tritaechmes, son of Artabazus, who held this
district from the king. The artabe is a Persian measure, containing three Attic chenices more than the Attic medimnus.
And he had a private stud of horses, in addition to those used
in war, of eight hundred stallions, and sixteen thousand mares;
for each stallion served twenty mares.  He kept, too, such a
number of Indian dogs, that four considerable towns in the
plain were exempted from all other taxes, and appointed to
find food for the dogs.  Such Were the advantages accruing
7 It was again taken by Darius.  See Book III. chap. 159.




84                     HERODOTUS.                  [193, 194.
to the governor of Babylon.  193. The land of Assyria is
but little watered by rain, and that little nourishesthe root of
the corn; however, the stalk grows up, and the grain comes to
maturity by being irrigated from the river, not, as in Egypt,
by the river overflowing the fields, but it is irrigated by the
hand and by engines.  For the Babylonian territory, like
Egypt, is intersected by canals, and the largest of these is
navigable, stretching in the direction of the winter sunrise;
and it extends from the Euphrates to another river, the river
Tigris, on which the city of Nineveh stood. This is, of all
lands with which we are acquainted, by far the best for the
growth of corn; but it does not carry any show of producing
trees of any kind, neither the fig, nor the vine, nor the olive;
yet it is so fruitful in the produce of corn, that it yields continually two hundred-fold, and when it produces its best, it yields
even three hundred-fold.  The blades of wheat and barley
grow there to full four fingers in breadth; and though I well
know to what a height millet and sesama grow, I shall not
mention it; for I am well assured that, to those who have
never been in the Babylonian country, what has been said
concerning its productions will appear to many incredible.
They use no other oil than such as is drawn from  sesama.
They have palm-trees growing all over the plain; most of these
bear fruit, from  which they make bread, wine, and honey.
These they cultivate as fig-trees, both in other respects, and
they also tie the fruit of that which the Grecians call the male
palm about those trees that bear dates, in order that the fly,
entering the date, may ripen it, lest otherwise the fruit fall before maturity; for the males have flies in the fruit, just like
wild fig-trees.
194. The most wonderful thing of all here, next to the
city itself, is what I now proceed to describe: their vessels
that sail down the river to Babylon are circular, and made of
leather; for when they have cut the ribs out of willows that
grow in Armenia above Babylon, they cover them with hides
extended on the outside, by way of a bottom; neither making any distinction in the stern, nor contracting the prow, but
making them  circular like a buckler; then having lined this
vessel throughout with reeds, they suffer it to be carried down
by the river, freighted with merchandise; but they chiefly
s That is, southeast.




195, 196.]              CLIO. I.                       85
take down casks of palm wine.  The vessel is steered by two
spars, and two men standing upright, one of whom draws his
spar in and the. other thrusts his out. Some of these vessels are
made very large, and others of a smaller size; but the largest of
them carry a cargo of five thousand talents.  Every vessel has
a live ass on board, and the larger ones more; for after they
arrive at Babylon, and have disposed of their freight, they sell
the ribs of the boat and all the reeds by public auction; then,
having piled the skins on the asses, they return by land to Armenia, for it is not possible by any means to sail up the river
by reason of the rapidity of the current: and for this reason
they make their vessels of skins and not of wood, and at their
return to Armenia with their asses they construct other vessels in the same manner.  Such, then, is the description of
their boats. 195. For their dress, they wear a linen tunic
that reaches down to the feet; over this they put another garment of wool, and over all a short white cloak; they have
sandals peculiar to the country, very like the Bceotian clogs.
They wear long hair, binding their heads with turbans, and
anoint the whole body with perfumes. Every man has a seal,
and a staff curiously wrought; and on every staff is carved
either an apple, a rose, a lily, an eagle, or something of the
kind; for' it is not allowable to wear a stick without a device.
Such, then, is their manner of adorning the body.
196. The following customs prevail among them.  This,
in my opinion, is the wisest, which I hear the Venetians, of
Illyria, also practice.  Once in every year the following
course is pursued in every village. Whatever maidens were
of a marriageable age, they used to collect together and bring
in a body to one place; around them stood a crowd of men.
Then a crier, having made them stand up one by one, offered
them for sale, beginning with the most beautiful; and when
she had been sold for a large sum, he put up another who was
next ii beauty.  They were sold on condition that they should
be married.  Such men among the Babylonians as were rich
and desirous of marrying, used to bid against one another, and
purchase the handsomest; but such of the lower classes as
were desirous of marrying did not require a beautiful form,
but were willing to take the plainer damsels'with a sum of
money; for when the crier had finished selling the handsomest
of the maidens, he made the ugliest stand up, or one that was




86                   HERODOTUS.                [197-199.
a cripple, and put her up to auction, for the person who would
marry her with the least sum, until she was adjudged to the
man who offered to take the smallest sum. This money was
obtained from the sale of the handsome maidens; and thus the
beautiful ones portioned out the ugly and the crippled. A
father was not allowed to give his daughter in marriage to
whom he pleased, neither might a purchaser carry off a maiden without security, but he was first obliged to give security
that he would certainly marry her, and then he might take
her away. If they did not agree, a law was enacted that the
money should be repaid. It was also lawful for any one who
pleased to come from  another village and purchase. Such
was their. best institution; it has not, however, continued to
exist. They have lately adopted another regulation to prevent them from ill-treating the women, or carrying them away
to another city; for now that, since the taking of the city,
they have been harshly treated and ruined in fortune, all the
meaner sort, from want of a livelihood, prostitute their daughters.  197. They have also this other custom, second to the
former in wisdom. They bring out their sick to the marketplace, for they have no physicians; then those who pass by
the sick person confer with him about the disease, to discover
whether they have themselves been afflicted with the same disease as the sick person, or have seen others so afflicted: thus
the passers-by confer with him, and advise him td have recourse to the same treatment as that by which they escaped a
similar disease, or as they have known cure others. And they
are not allowed to pass by a sick person in silence, without inquiring into the nature of his distemper.  198. They embalm
the dead in honey, and their funeral lamentations are like
those of the Egyptians. As often as a Babylonian has had intercourse with his wife, he sits over burning incense, and his
wife does the same in some other place; at break of day both
wash, for they will not touch any vessel till they have washed.
The same practice'is observed by the Arabians.
199. The most disgraceful of the Babylonian customs is the
following: every native woman is. obliged, once in her life, to
sit in the temple of Venus, and have intercourse with some
stranger; and many, disdaining to mix with the rest, being
proud on account of their wealth, come in covered carriages,
and take up their station at the temple with a numerous train




200-202.]               CLIO. I.                       87
of servants attending them. But the far greater part do thus:
mary sit down in the temple of Venus, wearing a crown of
corl round their heads; some are continually coming in, and
others are going out.  Passages marked out in a straight line
lead in every direction through -the women, along which
strangers pass and make their choice.  When a woman has
once Seated herself, she must not return home till some stranger
has thrown a piece of silver into her lap, and lain with her
outside the temple.  He who throws the silver must say thus:
"I beseech the goddess Mlylitta to favor thee;" for the Assyrians call Venus Mylitta. The silver may be ever so small,
for she will not reject it, inasmuch as it is not lawful for her
to do so, for snch silver is accounted sacred. The woman
follows the first man that throws, and refuses no one. But
when she has had intercourse and has absolved herself from
her obligation to the goddess, she returns home; and afterthat time, however great a sum you may give her, you will not
gain possession of her. Those that are endowed with beauty
and symmetry of shape are soon set free; but the deformed
are detained a long time, from inability to satisfy the law, for
some wait for a space of three or four years. In some parts
of Cyprus there is a custom very similar. 200. These cus.
toms, then, prevail among the Babylonians.  There are three
tribes among them that eat nothing but fish; these, when they
have taken and dried them in the sun, they treat in the following manner; they put them  into a mortar, and having
pounded them with a pestle, sift them through a fine cloth;
then, whoever pleases, kneads them into a cake, or bakes them
like bread.
201. When Cyrus had conquered this nation, he was anxious to reduce the Massagetse to subjection.  Now this nation
is said to be both powerful and valiant, dwelling toward the
east and the rising sun beyond the river Araxes, over against
the Issedonians: there are some who say that.this nation is
Scythian.  202. The Araxes is reported by some persons to
be greater, by others less, than the Ister; they say that there
are many islands in it, some nearly equal in size to Lesbos;
and that in them are men who, during the summer, feed upon
all manner of roots, which they dig out of the ground; and
that they store up for food ripe fruits which they find on the
trees, and feed upon these during the winter.  They add




88                    HERODOTUS.                 [203, 204.
that they have discovered other trees that produce fruit of
a peculiar kind, which the inhabitants, when they meet together in companies, and have lit a fire, throw on a fire, as they
sit round in a circle; and that by inhaling the fumes of the
burning fruit that has been thrown on, they become intoxicated by the odor, just as the Greeks do by wine; and that
the more fruit is thrown on, the more intoxicated they become, until they rise up to dance and betake themselves to
singing.  In this manner these islanders are reported to live.
The river Araxes flows from  the Matienian mountains,
whence also springs the river (Gysde.s, which Cyrus distributed into the three hundred ai`[ sixty trenches; and it
gushes out from forty springs, all of which, except one, discharge themselves into fens and swamps, in which it is said
men live who feed on raw fish, and clothe themselves in the
skins of sea-calves; but the one stream  of the Araxes flows
through an unobstructed channel into the Caspian Sea.  The
Caspian is a sea by itself, having no communication with any
other sea; for the whole of that which the Grecians navigate,
and that beyond the Pillars, called the Atlantic, and the Red
Sea, are all one.  203. But the Caspian is a separate sea of itself; being in length a fifteen days' voyage for a rowing boat,
and in breadth, where it is widest, an eight days' voyage. On
the western shore of this sea stretches the Caucasus, which is
in extent the largest, and in height the loftiest of all mountains: it contains within itself many and various nations of
men, who for the most part live upon the produce of wild
fruit-trees. In this country, it is said, there are trees which
produce leaves of such a nature, that by rubbing them and
mixing them  with water the people paint figures on their
garments; these figures, they say, do not wash out, but grow
old with the wool, as if they had been woven in from the
first. (' It is said that sexual intercourse among these people
takes place openly, as with cattle'. >204. The Caucasus, then,
bounds the western side of this sea, which is called the Caspian; and on the east, toward the rising sun, succeeds a plain
in extent unbounded in the prospect. A great portion of this
extensive plain is inhabited by the Massagete, against whom
Cyrus resolved to make war; for the motives that urged and
incited him to this enterprise were many and powerful; first
of all his birth, which he thought was something more than




205-207.]               CLIO. I.                     89
human; and, secondly, the good fortune which had attended
him in his wars; for wherever Cyrus directed his arms, it
was impossible for that nation to escape.
205. A woman whose husband was dead was queen of the
Massagetae; her name was Tomyris; and Cyrus sent embassadors under pretense of wooing her, and made her an offer
of marriage. But Tomyris, being aware that he was not wooing her, but the kingdom of the Massagetae, forbade their approach.  Upon this Cyrus, perceiving his artifice ineffectual,
marched to the Araxes, and openly prepared to make war
on the Massagceta, by throwing bridges over the river, and
building turrets on the boats which carried over his army.
206. While he was employed in this work, Tomyris sent a
herald to him with this message; " King of the Medes, desist
from your great exertions; for you can not know if they will
terminate to your advantage; and having desisted, reign over
your own dominions, and bear to see me governing what is
mine. But if you will not attend to my advice, and prefer
every thing before peace-in a word, if you are very anxious
to make trial of the Massagetae, toil no longer in throwing a
bridge over the river, but do you cross over to our side,
while we retire three days' march from the river; or if you
had rather receive us on your side, do you the like."  When
Cyrus heard this proposal, he called a council of the principal
Persians; and having assembled them, he laid the matter before them, and demanded their opinion as to what he should
do; they unanimously advised him to let Tomyris pass with
her army into his territory.  207. But Croesus the Lydian,
who was present and disapproved this advice, delivered a contrary opinion to that which was put forward, and said:  O0
king, I assured you long ago that, since Jupiter delivered me
into your hands, I would to the utmost of my power avert
whatever misfortune I should see impending over your house;
and my own calamities,9 sad as they are, have been lessons to
me. If you think yourself immortal, and that you command an
army that is so too, it were needless for me to make known to
you my opinion; but if you know that you too are a man, and
that you command such as are men, learn this first of all, that
there is a wheel in human affairs, which, continually revolvThis appears to have been a proverb wraO/feara LaOiriara.




90                    HERODOTUS.                 [208, 209.
ing, does not suffer the same persons to be always successful.
Now, therefore, I hold an opinion touching the matter before
us wliolly at varianc  with that already given; for if we
shall receive the enemy into this country, there is this danger
in so doing, if you are defeated, you will lose, besides, your
whole empire; for it is plain that if the Massagetae are victorious, they will not flee home again, but will march upon your
territories; and if you are victorious, your victory is not so
complete as if, having crossed over into their territory, you
should conquer the Massagetie, and pursue them in their flight;
for I will carry the comparison throughout, it is plain that if
you are victorious over your adversaries you will march directly into the dominions of Tomyris. In addition to what
has been now stated, it were a disgrace and intolerable that
Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, should give way and retreat before
a woman. My opinion therefore is, that you should pass over
and advance as far as they retire; and then, by the following
stratagem, endeavor to get the better of them.  As I hear, the
Massagetse are unacquainted with the Persian luxuries, and
are unused to the comforts of life.  ly opinion then is, that,
having cut up and dressed abundance of cattle, you should lay
out a feast in our camp for these men; and besides, bowls of
unmixed wine without stint, and all other provisions; and
that, having done this, and having left the weakest part of your
army behind, the rest should return again toward the river;
for the Massageta, if I mistake not, when they see so much
excellent fare, will turn to immediately, and after that there
remains for us the display of mighty achievements."
208. Now these two contrary opinions were given. Cyrus,
rejecting the former, and approving that of Cresus, bade
Tomyris retire, for that he would cross over to her.  She
accordingly retired, as she had promised at first. But Cyrus, having placed Croesus in the hands of his son Cambyses, to whom  he also intrusted the kingdom, and having
strictly charged him to honor Croesus, and treat him well, in
case his inroad on the Massagetze should fail-having given
these injunctions, and sent them back to Persia, he himself
crossed the river with his army.  209. When he had passed
the Araxes, and night came on, he saw the following vision,
as he was sleeping in the country of the Massageten. Cyrus
fancied in his sleep that he saw the eldest son of HIystaspes




210, 211.]              CLIO. I.                       91
with wings on his shoulders; and that with one of these he
overshadowed Asia, and with the other Europe.  Now Darius,
who was then about twenty years of age, was the eldest son
of Hystaspes, son of Arsames, one of the Acheemenides; and
he had been left in Persia, for he had not yet attained the age
of military service.  When, therefore, Cyrus awoke, he considered his dream with attention; and as it seemed to him of
great moment, he summoned Hystaspes, and taking him aside,
said, " Hystaspes, your son has been detected plotting against
me and my empire; and I will show you how I know it for a
certainty.  The gods watch over me, and forewarn me of
every thing that is about to befall me. Now, in the past
night, as I was sleeping, I saw the eldest of your sons with
wings on his shoulders, and with one of these he overshadowed
Asia, and Europe with the other; from this vision, it can not
be otherwise than that your son is forming designs against
me; do you, therefore, go back to Persia with all speed, and
take care that, when I have conquered these people and return home, you bring your son before me to be examined."
210. Cyrus spoke thus under a persuasion that Darius was
plotting against him; but the deity forewarned him that he
himself would die in that very expedition, and that his kingdom would devolve on Darius. Hystaspes, however, answered
in these words: " God forbid, 0 king, that a Persian should
be born who would plot against you! But if any such there
be, may sudden destruction overtake him; for you have made
the Persians free instead of being slaves, and instead of being
ruled over by others, to rule over all; but if any vision informs
you that my son is forming any plot against you, I freely surrender him to you to deal with as you please."  Hystaspes,
having given this answer, repassed the Araxes and went to
Persia, for the purpose of keeping his son Darius in custody
for Cyrus.
211. Cyrus, having advanced one day's, march from the
Araxes, proceeded to act according to the suggestion of Croesus. After this, when Cyrus and the effective part of the Persian army had marched back to the Araxes, leaving the ineffective part behind, a third division of the army of the Massagetae attacked those of Cyrus's forces that had been left behind,
and, after some resistance, put them to death.  Then, seeing
the feast laid out, as soon as they had overcome their enemies




92                   HERODOTUS.                [212-214.
they lay down and feasted, and being filled with food and
wine, fell asleep. But the Persians having attacked them,
put many of them to death, and took a still greater number
prisoners, and among them the son of Queen Tomyris, who
commanded the Massagetse, and whose name was Spargapises.
212. She, when she heard what had befallen her army and
her son, sent a herald to Cyrus with the following message:
"Cyrus, insatiate with blood, be not elated with what has
now happened, that by the fruit of the vine, with which ye
yourselves, when filled with it, so rave, that when it descends into your bodies evil words float on your lips-be not
elated that by such a poison you have deceived and conquered my son, instead of by prowess in battle.  Now,
however, take the good advice that I offer you.  iRestore
my son; depart out of this country unpunished for having insolently disgraced' a third division of the army of the
Massagetae. But if you will not do this, I swear by the
sun, the Lord of the Massagetae, that, insatiable as you are,
I will glut you with blood."  213. Cyrus, however,. paid
no attention to this message; but Spargapises, the son- of
Queen Tomyris, as soon as he recovered from the effects of the
wine, and perceived in what a plight he was, begged of Cyrus
that he might be freed from his fetters; but as soon as he
was set free, and found his hands at liberty, he put himself to
death. Such was the end he met with.  214. But Tomyris,
finding Cyrus did not listen to her, assembled all her forces,
and engaged with him. I think that this battle was the most
obstinate that was ever fought between barbarians; and I
am informed that it took place in the following manner: it is
related that, first of all, they stood at a distance and used their
bows, and that afterward, when they had emptied their
quivers, they engaged in close fight with their swords and
spears, and that thus they continued fighting for a long time,
and neither were willing to give way; but at length the MIassagetae got the better, and the greater part of the Persian army
was cut in pieces on the spot, and Cyrus himself killed, after
he had reigned twenty-nine years.  But Tomyris, having
filled a skin with human blood, sought for the body of Cyrus
among the slain of the Persians, and having found it, thrust
the head into the skin, and insulting the dead body, said:
"Thou hast indeed ruined me, though alive and victorious in




215, 216.]                CLIO.                        93
battle, since thou hast taken my son by stratagem; but I will
now glut thee with blood, as I threatened."  Of the many
accounts given of the end of Cyrus, this appears to me most
worthy of credit.
215. The Massagetxe resemble the Scythians in their dress
and mode of living.  They have both horse and foot; for they
have some of each; and bow-men, and javelin-men, who are
accustomed to carry battle-axes.  They use gold and brass for
every thing; for, in whatever concerns spears, and arrow-points,
and battle-axes, they use brass; but for the head, and belts, and
shoulder-pieces, they are ornamented with gold. In like mannerr with regard to the chests of horses, they put on breastplates of brass; but the bridle-bit and cheek-pieces are ornamented with gold. They make no use of silver or iron, for
neither of those metals are found in their country, but they
have brass and gold in abundance.  216. Their manners are
as follows: each man marries a wife, but they use the women
promiscuously; for what the Grecians say the Scythians do, is
a mistake, for they do it not, but the Massagetae; for when a
Massagetan desires to have the company of a woman, he hangs
up his quiver in front of her chariot, and has intercourse with
her without shame. N o particular term of life is prescribed to
them; but when a man has attained a great age, all his kinsmen meet, and sacrifice him, together with cattle of several
kinds; and when they have boiled the flesh, they feast on it.
This death they account the most happy; for they do not eat
the bodies of those who die of disease, but bury them in the
earth, and think it a great misfortune that they dik not reach
the age to be sacrificed.  They sow nothing, but live on cattle
and fish, which the river Araxes yields in abundance, and they
are drinkers of milk.  They worship the sun only of all the
gods, and sacrifice horses to him; and this is the reason of this
custom-they think it right to offer the swiftest of all animals
to the swiftest of all the gods.




BOOK II
EUTERPE.
AFTER the death of Cyrus, Cambyses succeeded to the kingdom. He was son of Cyrus and Cassandane, the daughter of'harnaspes, who having died some time before, Cyrus both
deeply mourned for her himself and commanded all his subjects
to mourn.  Cambyses then, being son of this lady and Cyrus,
considered the Ionians and lolians as his hereditary slaves;
when, therefore, he made an expedition against Egypt, he took
with him others of his subjects, and also some of the Greeks
over whom he bore rule.
2. The Egyptians, before the reign of Psammitichus, considered themselves to be the most ancient of mankind. But
after Psammitichus, having come to the throne, endeavored
to ascertain who were the most ancient, from that time they
consider the Phrygians to have been before them, and themselves before all others. Now, when Psammitichus was unable, by inquiry, to discover any solution of this question,
who were the most ancient of men, he devised the following
expedient. He gave two new-born children of poor parents
to a shepherd, to be brought up among his flocks in the following manner: he gave strict orders that no one should utter
a word in their presence, that they should lie in a solitary
room by themselves, and that he should bring goats to them
at certain times, and that, when he had satisfied them with
milk, he should attend to his other employments. Psammitichus contrived and ordered this for the purpose of hearing
what word the children would first articulate after they had
given over their insignificant mewlings; and such accordingly
was the result; for, when the shepherd had pursued this
plan for the space of two years, one day, as he opened the door
and went in, both the children, falling upon him, and holding




3,4.]                EUTERPE. II.                     95
out their hands, cried "Becos."  The shepherd, when he first
heard it, said nothing; but when this same word was constantly repeated to him whenever he went and tended the
children, he at length acquainted his master, and by his command brought the children into his presence. When Psammitichus heard the same, he inquired what people call any thing
by the name of " Becos;" and on inquiry, he discovered that
the Phrygians call bread by that name. Thus the Egyptians,
convinced.by the above experiment, allowed that the Phrygians were more ancient than themselves.  3. This relation I
had from the priests of Vulcan at Memphis. But the Greeks
tell many other foolish things, and, moreover, that Psammitichus, having had the tongues of some women cut out, then had
the children brought up by these women.  Such is the account they gave of the nurture of the children. I heard
other things alsd at Memphis in conversation with the priests
of Vulcan; and on this very account I went also to Thebes,
and to Heliopolis, in order to ascertain whether they would
agree with the accounts given at Memphis; for the Heliopolitans are esteemed the most learned in history of all the Egyptians. The parts of the narration that I heard concerning divine things I am  not willing to relate, except only their
names, and with these I suppose all men are equally well acquainted; but what more I shall relate of these matters I
shall relate from a necessity to keep up the thread of my story.
4. But as concerns human affairs, they agree with one another in the following account: that the Egyptians were the first
to discover the year, which they divided into twelve parts; and
they say that they made this discovery from the stars; and so
far, I think, they act more wisely than the Grecians, in that
the Grecians insert an: intercalary month every third year, on
account of the seasons; whereas the Egyptians, reckoning
twelve months of thirty days each, add five days each year
above that number, and so with them the circle of the seasons
comes round to the same point. They say, also, that the
Egyptians were the first who introduced the names of the
twelve gods, and that the Greeks borrowed those names from
them; that they were the first to assign altars, images, and
temples to the gods, and to carve the figures of animals on stone;
and most of these things they proved were so in fact. They
added that Menes was the first mortal who reigned over




96                    HE-RODOTUS.                   [5-8.
Egypt, and that in his time all Egypt, except the district of'
Thebes, was a morass, and that no part of the land that now
exists below Lake Myris was then above water: to this place
fiom the sea is a seven days' passage up the river.  5. And
they seemed to me to give a good account of this region. For
it is evident to a man of common understanding, who has not
heard it before, but sees it, that the part of Egypt which the
Greeks frequent with their shipping is land acquired by the
Egyptians and a gift from the river; and the parts above this
lake, during a three days' passage, of which, however, they
said nothing, are of the same description. For the nature of
the soil of Egypt is of this kind; when you are fast sailing to
it, and are at the distance of a day's sail from land, if you cast
the lead you will bring up mud, and will find yourself in eleven
fathoms water: this so far shows that there is an alluvial deposit.
6. The length of Egypt along the sea-coast is sixty schceni,
according as we reckon it to extend from the Plinthinetic bay
to Lake Serbonis, near which Mount Casius stretches: from this
point, then, the length is sixty schoeni. Now all men who are
short of land measure their territory by fathoms; but those who
are less short of land, by stades; and those who have much, by
parasangs; and such as have a very great extent, by schceni.
Now a parasang is equal to thirty stades, and each schoenus,
which'is an Egyptian measure, is equal to sixty stades. So the
whole coast of Egypt is three thousand six hundred stades in
length.  7. From  thence, as far as Heliopolis, inland, Egypt
is wide, being all flat, without water, and a swamp.  The distance to Heliopolis, as one goes up from the sea, is about equal
in length to the road from Athens, that is to say, from the
altar of the twelve gods, to Pisa and the temple of Olympian
Jupiter; for whoever will compare these roads will find, by
computation, that the difference between them is but little,
not exceeding fifteen stades, for the road from Athens to Pisa
is only fifteen stades short of one thousand five hundred
stades; but the road from the sea to Heliopolis amounts to
just that number.  8. From  Heliopolis upward Egypt is
narrow, for on one side the mountain of Arabia extends from
north to south and southwest, stretching up continuously to
that which is called the Red Sea. In this mountain are the
stone quarries which were cut for the pyramids at Memphis;
here, then, the mountain, deviating, turns to the parts above




9 —11.]              EUTERPE. II.                      97
mentioned.  But where its length is the greatest, I have heard
that it is a two months' journey from east to west; and that
eastward its confines produce frankincense. On that side of
Egypt which borders upon Libya extends another rocky mountain, and covered with sand, on which the pyramids stand; and
this stretches in the same direction as that part of the Arabian
mountain that runs southward; so that from Heliopolis, the
territory which belongs to Egypt is not very extensive; but
for four days' sail up the river it is very narrow.  Between
the mountains before mentioned the land is level, and in the
narrowest part appeared to me to be not more than two hundred stades in breadth from the Arabian mrountain to that called the Libyan; but above this Egypt again becomes wide.
Such, then, is the character of this country.  9. From Heliopolis to Thebes is a voyage up of nine days: the length of
this journey is, in stades, four thousand eight hundred and sixty, which amount to eighty-one schceni. Now, if we compute these stades together, the. coast of Egypt, as I before explained, contains, in length, three thousand and six hundred
stades.  How far it is from the sea inland, as far as Thebes, I
will next show, namely, six thousand one hundred and twenty
stades; and from Thebes to the city called Elephantine, one
thousand eight hundred stades.
10. The greater part of all this country, as the priests informed me, and as appeared to me also to be the case, has been
acquired by the Egyptians; for the space between the abovementioned mountains, that are situate beyond the city of Memphis, seem to me to have been formerly a bay of the sea; as is
the case, also, with the parts about Ilium, Teuthrania, Ephesus, and the plain of the Maeander, if I may be permitted to
compare small things with great; for of the rivers that have
thrown up the soil that forms these countries, not one can
justly be brought into comparison, as to size, with any one
of the five mouths of the Nile. But there are other rivers, not
equal in size to the Nile, which have wrought great works:
of these I could mention the names, and among them, one of
the most remarkable is the Achelous, which, flowing through
Acarnania, and falling into the sea, has already converted one
half-of the Echinades islands into continent.  11. There is
also in the Arabian territory, not far from Egypt, branching
from the Red Sea, a bay of the sea, of the length and width
E




98                    IIERODOTUS.                  [12, 13.
I shall here describe.  The length of the voyage, beginning
from the innermost part of this bay, to the broad sea, occupies
forty days for a vessel with oars; and the width, where the
bay is widest, half a day's passage; and in it an ebb and flow
takes place daily; and I am of opinion that Egypt was formerly a similar bay-this stretching from the Northern Sea
toward Ethiopia; and the Arabian Bay, which I am describing, from the south toward Syria —and that they almost perforated their recesses so as to meet each other, overlapping* to
some small extent.  Now if the Nile were to turn its stream
into this Arabian gulf, what could hinder it from being filled
with soil by the river within twenty thousand years? for my
part, I think it would be filled within ten thousand. How,
then, in the time that has elapsed before I was born, might
not even a much greater bay than this have been filled up by
such a great and powerful river?  12. I therefore both give
credit to those who relate these things concerning Egypt, and
am myself persuaded of their truth, when I see that Egypt projects beyond the adjoining land; that shells are found on the
mountains; that a saline humor forms on the surface so as
even to corrode the pyramids; and that this mountain, which
is above Memphis, is the only one in Egypt that abounds in
sand; add to which, that Egypt, in its soil, is neither like
Arabia on its confines, nor Libya, nor Syria (Syrians occupy
the sea-coast of Arabia), but is black and crumbling, as if it
were mud and alluvial deposit, brought down by the river from
Ethiopia; whereas we know that the earth of Libya is reddish,
and -somewhat more sandy, and that of Arabia and Syria is
more clayey and flinty.
13. The priests told me this, also, as a great proof of what
they related concerning this country, that in the. reign of
Mceris, when the river rose at least eight cubits, it irrigated
all Egypt below Memphis; and yet Mceris had not been nine
hundred years dead when I received this information. But
now, unless the river rises sixteen cubits, or fifteen, at least, it
does not overflow the country.  It appears to me, therefore,
that if the soil continues to grow in height in the same proportion, and to contribute in like manner toward its increase,
* I have adopted the meaning given to vrapa; daaovrTa by Liddell
and Scott, instead of the usual interpretation, that " the two bays were
but little distant from each other."




14, 15.]             EUTERPE. II.                     99
those Egyptians below Lake Moeris, who inhabit other districts
and that which is called Delta, must, by reason of the Nile not
overflowing their land, forever suffer the same calamity which
they used to say the Greeks would suffer from; for, having
heard that all the lands of Greece were watered by rain, and
not by rivers, as their own was, they said " that the Grecians
at some time or other would be disappointed in their great
expectations, and suffer miserably from famine;" meaning,
"that if the deity should not vouchsafe rain to them, but visit
them with a long drought, the Greeks must perish by famine,
since they had no other resource for water except from Jupiter
only."  14. Anid the Egyptians are right in saying this to the
Greeks; but now let me state how the matter stands with the
Egyptians themselves: if, as I said before, the land below
Memphis (for this it is that increases) should continue to increase in height in the same proportion as it has in time past,
what else will happen but that the Egyptians who inhabit this
part will starve, if their land-shall neither be watered by rain,
nor the river be able to inundate the  fields?  Now, indeed,
they gather in the fruits of the earth with less labor than any
other people, and than the rest of the Egyptians, for they have
not the toil of breaking up the furrows with the plow, nor
of hoeing, nor of any other work which all other men must
labor at to obtain a crop of corn; but when the river has come
of its own accord and irrigated their fields, and having irrigated them, has subsided, then each man sows his own land
and turns swine into it; and when the seed has been trodden
in by the swine, he afterward waits for harvest-time: then having trod out the corn with his swine, he gathers it in.
15. But if we should adopt the opinion of the Ionians respecting Egypt, who' say that the Delta alone is properly
Egypt, stating that its sea-coast extends from what is called the tower of Perseus to the Tarichaea of Pelusium, forty
schoeni in length; and who say that from'the sea inland it
stretches to the city of Cercasorus, where the Nile divides,
and flows toward Pelusium and Canopus, and who attribute
the rest of Fgypt partly to Libya and partly to Arabia-if
we adopted this account, we should show that the Egyptians
had not formerly any country of their own; for the Delta, as
the Egyptians themselves acknowledge, and as I think, is alluvial, and (if I may so express myself) has lately come to




100                  HERODOTUS.                   [16, 17.
light. If, then, they formerly had no country, how foolish they
were to think themselves the most ancient of all people  nor
was there any use in their having recourse to the experiment
of the children to ascertain what language they would first
speak. For my own part, I am not of opinion that the Egyptians commenced their existence with the country which the
lonians call Delta, but that they always were since men
have been; and that as the soil gradually increased, many of
them remained in their former habitations, and many came
lower down; for, anciently, Thebes was called Egypt, and
is six thousand one hundred and twenty stades in circumference. 16. If, therefore, I judge correctly of these things,
the Ionians are mistaken with respect to Egypt; but if their
opinion is correct, then I will show that neither the Greeks
nor the Ionians themselves know how to reckon, when they
say that the whole earth consists of three divisions, Europe,
Asia, and Libya; for they ought to add a fourth, the Delta of
Egypt, if it be not a part either'of Asia or of Libya; for, by
this account, the Nile does not separate Asia from Libya, but
is divided at the point of Delta, so that it must be between
Asia and Libya. But I will dismiss the opinion of the
Ionians, and proceed to give my own account of the matter.
17. I consider that the whole country inhabited by Egyptians
is Egypt, as that inhabited by Cilicians is Cilicia, and that
by Assyrians, Assyria; and, strictly speaking, I know of no
other boundary to Asia and Libya except the frontier of
Egypt. -But if we follow the opinion received by the Greeks,
we shall suppose that all Egypt, beginning from  the cataracts and the city of Elephantine, is divided into two parts,
and partakes of both names; and that one part belongs to
Libya, and the other to Asia; for the Nile, beginning from
the cataracts, flows to the sea, dividing Egypt in the middle.
Now, as far as the city of Cercasorus, the Nile flows in one
stream, but from that point it is divided into three channels;
and that which runs eastward is called the Pelusiac mouth; another of the channels bends westward, and is called the Canopic
mouth; but the direct channel of the Nile is the following:
descending from above, it comes to the point of the Delta,
and after this it divides the Delta in the middle, and discharges itself into the sea, supplying by this channel not by
any means the least quantity of water, nor that the least re



18-20.]              EUTERPE. I.                      101
nowned; this is called the Sebennytic mouth. There are
also two other mouths, that diverge fiom the Sebennytic and
flow into the sea. To these the following names are given:
to one the Saitic, to the other the Mendesian mouth.  The
3olbitine and Bucolic mouths are not natural, but artificial.
18. My opinion that Egypt is of the extent I have above declared it to be is confirmed by an oracle delivered at Ammon,
which I heard after I had formed my own opinion respecting
Egypt. For the people who inhabit the cities of Marea and
Apis, in the part of Egypt bordering on Libya, deeming
themselves Libyans and not Egyptians, and being discontented
with the institutions regarding victims, were desirous not to
be restricted from the use of cow's flesh, and therefore sent to
Ammon, saying "that they hadl no relation to the Egyptians,
because they lived out of Delta, and did not speak the same
language with them; and desired to be allowed to eat all
manner of food."  The god, however, did not permit them to
do so, saying " that all the country which the Nile irrigated
was Egypt, and that all those were Egyptians who dwell below the city Elephantine, and drink of that river.  Such was
the answer given them.  19. But the Nile, when full, inundates not only Delta, but also part of the country said to belong to Libya and Arabia, to the extent of about two days'
journey on either side, more or less.
Respecting the nature of this river I was unable to gain
any information, either from the priests or any one else. I
was very desirous, however, of learning from them  why the
Nile, beginning at the summer solstice, fills and overflows for
a- hundred days; and when it has nearly completed this number of days, falls short in its stream, and retires; so that it
continues low all the winter, until the return of the summer
solstice. Of these particulars I could get no information from
the Egyptians, though I inquired whether this river have
any peculiar quality that makes it differ in nature from other
rivers.  Being anxious, then, of knowing what was said about
this matter, I made inquiries, and also how it comes to pass
that this is the only one of all rivers that does not send forth
breezes from  its surface.  20. Nevertheless, some of the
Greeks; wishing tb be distinguished for their wisdom, have
attempted to account for these indications in three different
ways: two of these ways are scarcely worth mentioning, ex



102                   HERODOTUS.                   [21-24.
cept that I wish to show what they are.  One of them says
that the Etesian winds are the causL  of the swelling of the
river, by preventing the Nile from discharging itself into the
sea. But frequently the Etesian winds have not blown, yet
the Nile produces the same effects; besides, if the Etesian
winds were the cause, all other rivers that flow opposite to the
same winds must of necessity be equally affected, and in the
same manner as the Nile; and even so much the more, as
they are less and have weaker currents: yet there are many
rivers in Syria and many in Libya which are not all affected
as the Nile is. 21. The second opinidn shows still more ignorance than the former, but, if I may so say, is more marvelous. It says that the Nile, flowing from the ocean, produces
this effect; and that the ocean flows all round, the earth.
22. The third way of resolving this difficulty is by far the
most specious, but most untrue; for by saying that the Nile
flows from melted snow, it says nothing, for this river flows
from Libya through the middle of Ethiopia, and discharges
itself into Egypt; how, therefore, since it runs from a very
hot to a colder region, can it flow from snow?  Many reasons
will readily occur to men of good understanding to show the
improbability of its flowing from snow. The first and chief
proof is derived from the winds, which blow hot from those
regions; the second is, that the country, destitute of rain, is
always free from ice, but after snow has fallen it must of necessity rain within five days; so that, if snow fell, it would
also rain in these regions. In the third place, the inhabitants
become black from the excessive heat; kites and swallows continue there all the year; and the cranes, to avoid the cold of
Scythia, migrate to these parts as winter quarters. If, then,
ever so little snow fell in this country through which the Nile
flows, and from which it derives its source, none of these things
would happen, as necessity proves. 23. But the person who
speaks about the ocean, since he has referred his account to
some obscure fable, produces no conviction at all; for I do not
know any river called the Ocean; but suppose that Homer, or
some other ancient poet, having invented the name, introduced
it into poetry.
24.' Yet if, after I have found fault with the opinions advanced by others, it becomes me to declare my own concerning so obscure a question, I will describe what, in my opinion,




25, 26.]              EUTERPE. IL.                    103
causes the Nile to overflow in summer. During the winter
season, the sun, being driven by storms from his former course,
retires to the upper parts of Libya; this, in few words, comprehends the whole matter; for it is natural that that country which this god is nearest to, and over which he is, should
be most in want of water, and that the native river streams
should be dried up. 25. But, to explain my meaning more at
length, the case is this: the sun, passing over the upper parts
of Libya, produces the following effect: as the air in these regions is always serene, and the soil always hot, since there are
no cold winds passing over, he produces just the same effect
as he usually does in the summer, when passing through the
middle of the firmament; for he attracts the water to himself,
and, having so attracted it, throws it back upon the higher
regions; there the winds, taking it up and dispersing it, melt
it; and therefore, with good reason, the winds that blow from
this country, from the south and southwest, are by far the most
rainy of all. I do not think, however, that the sun on each
occasion discharges the annual supply of water from the Nile,
but that some remains about him.  When, however, the winter grows mild, the sun returns again to the middle of the
heavens, and from that time attracts water equally from all
rivers. Up to this time, those other rivers, having much rainwater mixed with them, flow with full streams; but as the
country has been watered by showers and torn up by torrents,
when the showers fail them, and they are attracted in summer
by the sun, they become weak; but the Nile, being destitute
of rain, and attracted by the sun, is the only river that, with
good reason, flows much weaker than usual at this time than
in summer; for in summer it is attracted equally with all
other waters, but in winter it alone is hard pressed. Thus I
consider that the sun is the cause of these things. 26. The
same cause, in my opinion, occasions also the dryness of the
air in those parts, the sun scorching every thing in his passage:
in consequence of this, heat always prevails in the upper parts
of Libya. But if the order of the seasons were changed, and
that part of the heaven where the north and winter are now
placed could be made the position of the south and mid-day,
and the north were transferred to the south-if such a change
were made, the sun, driven from the middle of the firmament
by the winter and the north wind, would go to the upper parts
of Europe, as he now does through those of Libya; and I sup



104                  HERODOTUS.                  [27-29.
pose he would produce in his passage the same effects on the
Ister which he now does on the Nile. 27. Then, with regard
to the reason why no breezes blow from the Nile, my opinion
is that it is very improbable they should blow from hot countries, for they generally blow from some cold one.
28. But I leave these things as they are, and as they were
at the beginning. With regard to the sources of the Nile, no
man of all the Egyptians, Libyans, or Grecians with whom I
have conversed ever pretended to know  any thing, except
the registrar of Minerva's treasury at Sais in Egypt. He, indeed, seemed to be trifling with me when he said he knew perfectly well; yet his account was as follows: " That there are
two mountains rising into a sharp peak, situated between the
city of Syene in Thebais and Elephantine; the names of these
mountains are, the one Crophi, the other Mophi; that the
sources of the Nile, which are bottomless, flow from between
these mountains, and that half of the water flows over Egypt,
and to the north, the other half over Ethiopia and the south.
That the fountains of the Nile are bottomless, he said, Psammitichus, king of Egypt, proved by experiment; for having caused a
line to be twisted many thousand fathoms in length, he let it
down, but could not find a bottom." Such, then, was the opinion
the registrar gave, if indeed he spoke the real truth, proving, in
my opinion, that there are strong whirlpools and an eddy here;
so that, the water beating against the rocks, a sounCing-line,
when let down, can not reach the bottom. 29. I was unable
to learn any thing more from any one else; but thus much I
learned by carrying my researches as far as possible, having gone
and made my own observations as far as Elephantine, and beyond that obtaining information from hearsay. As one ascends
the river, above the city of Elephantine the country is steep;
here, therefore, it is necessary to attach a rope on both sides
of a boat, as one does with an ox in a plow, and so proceed;
but if the rope should happen to break, the boat is arried away
by the force of the stream. This kind of country lasts for a
four days' passage, and the Nile here winds as much as the
Memander. There are twelve schoeni which it is necessary to
sail through in this manner, and after that you will come to
a level plain, where the Nile flows round an island; its name
is Tachompso. Ethiopians inhabit the country immediately
above Elephantine, and one half of the island; the other half




30.]                 EUTERPE. II.                    105
is inhabited by Egyptians. Near to this island lies a vast
lake, on the borders of which Ethiopian nomades dwell; after
sailing through this lake, you will come to the channel of the
Nile, which flows into it; then you will have to land and travel forty days by the side of the river, for sharp rocks rise in
the Nile, and there are many sunken ones, through which it
is not possible to navigate a boat: having passed this country
in the forty days, you must go on board another boat, and sail
for twelve days, and then you will arrive at a large city called Meroe: this city is said to be the capital of all Ethiopia.
The inhabitants worship no other gods than Jupiter and Bacchus, but these they honor with great magnificence; they
have also an oracle of Jupiter; and they make war whenever
that god bids them by an oracular warning, and against whatever country he bids them.  30. Sailing from this city, you
will arrive at the country of the Automoli in a space of time
equal to that which you took in coming from Elephantine to
the capital of the Ethiopians.  These Automoli are called by
the name of Asmak, which in the language of Greece signifies "those that stand at'the left hand of the king." These,
to the number of two hundred and forty thousand of the Egyptian war-tribe, revolted.to the Ethiopians on the following occasion. In the reign of king Psaiimitichus garrisons were stationed at Elephantine against the Ethiopians, and another at
the Pelusian Daphnae against the Arabians and Syrians, and
another at Marea against Libya; and even in my time garrisons of the Persians are stationed in the same places as they
were in the time of Psammitichus, for they maintain guards at
Elephantine and Daphnae. Now these Egyptians, after they
had been on duty three years, were not relieved; therefore,
having consulted together, and come to a unanimous resolution, they all revolted from Psammitichus, and went to Ethiopia. Psammitichus, hearing of this,, pursued them; and when
he overtook them, he entreated them by many arguments, and
adjured thqm not to forsake the gods of their fathers, and their
children and wives. But one of them is reported to have uncovered his private parts, and to have said, " that wheresoever
these were, there they should find both children and wives."
These men, when they arrived in Ethiopia, offered their services to the king of the Ethiopians, who made them the following recompense.  There were certain Ethiopians disaffected




106                 HERODOTUS.                  L31, 32.
toward him; these he bade them expel, and take possession of
their land: by the settlement of these men among the Ethiopians, the Ethiopians became more civilized, and learned the
manners of the Egyptians.
31. Now for a voyage and land journey of four months,
the Nile is known, in addition to the part of the stream that
is in Egypt; for upon computation, so many months are
known to be spent by a person who travels from Elephantine
to the Automoli. This river flows from the west and the setting of the sun; but beyond this no one is able to speak with
certainty, for the rest- of the country is desert by reason of the
excessive heat. 32. But I have heard the following account
from certain Cyrenaeans, who say that they went to the oracle
of Ammon, and had a conversation with Etearchus, king of the
Ammonians, and that, among other subjects, they happened
to discourse about the Nile-that nobody knew its sources;
whereupon Etearchus said that certain Nasamonians once
came to him: this nation is Libyan, and inhabits the Syrtis,
and the country for no great distance eastward of the Syrtis;
and that when these Nasamonians arrived, and were asked if
they could give any farther information touching the deserts
of Libya, they answered that there were some daring youths
among them, sons of powerful men, and that they, having
reached man's estate, formed many other extravagant, plans,
and, moreover, chose five of their number by lot to explore the
deserts of Libya, to see if they could make any farther discovery than those who had penetrated the farthest. (For as
respects the parts of Libya along the Northern Sea, beginning
from Egypt to the promontory of Solois, where is the extremity of Libya, Libyans and various nations of Libyans reach all
along it, except those parts which are occupied by Grecians
and Phoenicians; but as respects the parts above the sea, and
those nations which reach down to the sea, in the upper parts
Libya is infested by wild beasts; and all beyond that is sand,
dreadfully short of water, and utterly desolate.)  They Jfrther
related, " that when the young men deputed by their companions set out, well furnished with water and provisions,
they passed first through the inhabited country; and having
traversed this, they came to the region infested by wild beasts;
and after this they crossed the desert, making their way toward the west; and when they had traversed much sandy




33, 34.]             EUTERPE. II.                   107
ground, during- a journey of many days, they at length saw
some trees growing in a plain, and that they approached and
began to gather the fruit that grew on the trees; and while
they were gathering, some diminutive men, less than men of
middle stature, came up, and having seized them, carried them
away; and that the Nasamonians did not at all understand
their language, nor those who carried'them off the language
of the Nasamonians. However, they conducted them through
vast morasses, and when they had passed these, they came to
a city, in which all the inhabitants were of the same size as
their conductors, and black in color; and by the city flowed
a great river, running from the west to the. east, and that
crocodiles were seen in it."  33. Thus far I have set forth the
account of Etearchus the Ammonian; to which may be added,
as the Cyrenaans assured me, " that he said the Nasamonians
all returned safe to their own country, and that the men whom
they came to were all necromancers."  Etearchus also conjectured that this river, which flows by their city, is the Nile;
and reason so evinces; for the Nile flows from Libya, and intersects it in the middle; and (as I conjecture, inferring things
unknown from things known) it sets out from a point corresponding with the Ister; for the Ister, beginning from the
Celts and the city of Pyrene, divides Europe in its course;
but the Celts are beyond the pillars of Hercules, and border
on the territories of the Cynesians, who lie in the extremity
of Europe to the westward; and the Ister terminates by flowing through all Europe into the Euxine Sea, where a Milesian
colony is settled- in Istria. 34. Now the Ister, as it flows
through a well-peopled country, is generally known; but no
one is able to speak about the sources of the Nile, because
Libya, through which it flows, is uninhabited and desolate.
Respecting this stream, therefore, as far as I was able to reach
by inquiry, I have already spoken. It, however, discharges itself into Egypt; and Egypt lies, as near as may be, opposite
to the mountains of Cilicia; from whence to Sinope, on the
Euxine Sea, is a five day's journey in a straight line to an
active man; and Sinope is opposite to the Ister, where it discharges itself into the sea. So I think that the Nile, traversing the whole of Libya, may be properly compared with the
Ister. Such, then, is the account that I am able to give respecting the Nile.




108                  HERODOTUS.                  [35-37.
35. I now proceed to give a more particular account of
Egypt. It possesses more wonders than any other country, and
exhibits works greater than can be described, in comparison
with all other regions; therefore more must be said about it.
The Egyptians, besides having a climate peculiar to themselves, and a river differing in its nature from all other rivers,
have adopted customs and usages in almost evqry respect different from the rest of mankind. Among them the women
attend markets and traffic, but the men stay at home and
weave. Other nations, in weaving, throw the wool upward;
the Egyptians, downward. The men carry burdens on their
heads; the women, on their shoulders. The women stand up
when they make water, but the men sit down. They ease
themselves in their houses, but eat out of doors; alleging that
whatever is indecent, though necessary, ought to be done in
private; but what is not indecent, openly. No woman can
serve the office for any god or goddess; but men are employed for both offices. Sons are not compelled to support
their parents unless they choose, but daughters are compelled
to do so, whether they choose or not.  36. In other countries
the priests of the gods wear long hair; in Egypt they have
it shaved. With other men it is customary in mourning for
the nearest relations to have their heads shorn; the Egyptians, on occasions of death, let the hair grow both on the
head and face, though till then used to shave.  Other men
live apart from beasts; but the Egyptians live with them.
Others feed on wheat and barley, but it is a very great disgrace for an Egyptian to make food of them; but they make
bread from spelt, which some call zea. They knead the dough
with their feet, but mix clay and take up dung with their
hands. Other men leave their private parts as they are formed by nature, except those who have learned otherwise from
them; but the Egyptians are circumcised. Every man wears
two garments; the women, but one.  Other men fasten the
rings and sheets of their sails outside; but the Egyptians, inside. The Grecians write and cipher moving the hand from
left to right; but the Egyptians, from right to left; and doing
so, they say they do it right-ways, and the Greeks left-ways.
They have two sorts of letters, one of which is called sacred,
the other common.
37. They are of all men the most excessively attentive t:.




38, 39.]             EUTERPE. II.                   109
the worship of the gods, and observe the following ceremonies. They drink from cups of brass, which they scour every
day; nor is this custom practiced by some and neglected by
others, but all do it. They wear linen garments, constantly
fresh washed, and they pay particular attention to this. They
are circumcised for the sake of cleanliness, thinking it better
to be clean than handsome. The priests shave their whlole
body every third day, that neither lice nor any other impurity
may be found upon them when engaged in the service of the
gods. The priests wear linen only, and shoes of byblus, and
are not permitted to wear any other garments, or other shoes.
They wash themselves in cold water twice every day, and
twice every night; and, in a word, they use a number of ceremonies. On the other hand, they enjoy no slight advantages,
for they do not consume or expend any of their private
property; but sacred food is cooked for them, and a great
quantity of beef and geese is allowed each of thent every day,
ard wine from the grape is given them; but they may not
taste of fish. Beans the Egyptians do not sow at all in their
country, neither do they eat those that happen to grow there,
nor taste them when dressed. The priests, indeed, abhor the
sight of that pulse, accounting it impure. The service of each
god is performed, not by one, but by many priests, of
whom one is chief priest, and when any one of them dies, his
son is put in his place. 38. The male kine they deem sacred
to Epaphus, and to that end prove them  in the following
manner. If the examiner finds one black hair upon him, he
adjudges him to be unclean; and one of the priests appointed
for this purpose makes this examination, both when the animal is standing up and lying down; and he draws out the
tongue, to see if it is pure as to the prescribed marks, which I
shall mention in another part of my history.  He also looks
at the hairs of his tail, whether they grow naturally. If the
beast is found pure in all these respects, he marks it by rolling a piece of byblus round the horns, and then having put on
it some sealing earth, he impresses it with his signet; and so
they drive him away. Any one who sacrifices one that is unmarked is punished with death. In this manner the animal
is proved.  39. The established mode of sacrifice is this: having led the victim, properly marked, to the altar where they
intend to sacrifice, they kindle a fire. Then, having poured




110                  HERODOTUS.                   [40, 41.
wine upon the altar, near the victim, and having invoked
the god, they kill it, and after they have killed it they cut
off the head ~ but they flay the body of the animal; then, having "pronounced many imprecations on the head, they who
have a market and Grecian merchants dwelling among them
carry it there, and having so done, they usually sell it; but
they who have no Grecians among them  throw it into the
river; and they pronounce the following imprecations on the
head: "If any evil is about to befall either those that now
sacrifice, or Egypt in general, may it be averted on this head."
With respect, then, to the heads of beasts that are sacrificed,
and to the making libations of wine, all the Egyptians observe
the same customs in all sacrifices alike; and, from this custom,
no Egyptian will taste of the head of any animal. 40. But a
different mode of disemboweling and burning the victims prevails in different sacrifices. I proceed, therefore, to speak of
the practice with regard to the goddess whom they consider
the greatest, and in whose honor they celebrate the most magnificent festival. When they have flayed the bullocks, having first offered up prayers, they take out all the intestines, and
leave the vitals with the fat in the carcass; and they then cut
off the legs and the extremity of the hip, with the shoulders
and neck, and having done this, they fill the body of the bullock with fine bread, honey, raisins, figs, frankincense, myrrh,
and other perfumes; and after they have filled it with these,
they burn it, pouring on it a great quantity of oil. They sacrifice after they have fasted, and while the sacred things are
being burned they all beat themselves, and when they have
done beating themselves they spread a banquet of what remains
of the victims.
41. All the Egyptians, therefore, sacrifice the pure male
kine and calves, but they are not allowed to sacrifice the females, for they are sacred to Isis; for the image of Isis is
made in the form of a woman with the horns of a cow, as the
Grecians represent Io; and all Egyptians alike pay a far
greater reverence to cows than to any other cattle; so that
no Egyptian man or woman will kiss a Grecian on. the mouth,
or use the knife, spit, or caldron of a Greek, or taste of the
flesh of a. pure ox that has been divided by a Grecian knife.
They bury the kine that die in the following manner: the
females they throw into the river, and the males they sever



42.]                 EUTERPE. II.                    111
ally inter in the suburbs, with one horn, or both, appearing
above the ground for a mark. When it is putrefied and the
appointed time arrives, a raft comes to each city from the
island called Prosopitis: this island is in the Delta, and is
nine schoeni in circumference. Now in this island Prosopitis
there are several cities; but that from which the rafts come
to take away the bones of the oxen is called Atarbechis; in
it a temple of Venus has been erected. From this city, then,
many persons go about to other towns; and having dug up
the bones, all carry them away, and bury them in one place;
and they bury all other cattle that die in the same way that
they do the oxen; for they do hot kill any of them. 42. All
those who have a temple erected to Theban Jupiter, or belong to the Theban district, abstain from sheep, and sacrifice
goats only; for the Egyptians do not all worship the same
gods in the same manner, except Isis and Osiris, who, they
say, is Bacchus; but these deities they all worship in the
same manner.  On the other hand, those who frequent the
temple of Mendes, and belong to the Nendesian district, abstain from goats, and sacrifice sheep. Now the Thebans, and
such as abstain from sheep after their example, say that this
custom was established among them in the following way:
that Hercules was very desirous of seeing Jupiter, but Jupiter was unwilling to be seen by him; at last, however, as
Hercules persisted, Jupiter had recourse to the following contrivance: having flayed a ram, he cut off the head, and held
it before himself, and then having put on the fleece, he in
that form -showed himself to H-ercules. From this circumstance the Egyptians make the image of Jupiter with a ram's
face; and from the Egyptians the Ammonians, who are a
colony of Egyptians and Ethiopians, and who speak a language between both, have adopted the same practice; and, as
I conjecture, the Ammonians from hence derived their name,.
for the Egyptians call Jupiter, Ammon. The Thebans, then,
do not sacrifice rams, but they are for the above reason accounted sacred by them; on one day in the year, however, at
the festival of Jupiter, they kill and flay one ram, and put it
on the image of Jupiter, and then they bring another image
of Hercules to it; when they have done this, all who are in
the temple beat themselves in mourning for the ram, and then
bury him in a sacred vault.




112                   HERODOTUS.                   [43, 44.
43. Of this Hercules I have heard this account, that he is
one of the twelve gods; but of the other Hercules, who is
known to the Grecians, I could never hear in any part of
Egypt.  And that the Egyptians did not derive the name of
Hercules from the Grecians, but rather the Grecians (and especially those who gdve the name of Hercules to the son of Amphitryon) from the Egyptians, I have both many other proofs
to show, and moreover the following, that the parents of this
I-ercules, Amphitryon and Alcmene, were both of Egyptian
descent, and because the Egyptians say they do not know the
names of Neptune and the Dioscuri, and that they have never
been admitted into the number of their gods; yet if they had
derived the name of any deity from the Grecians, they would
certainly have mentioned these above all others, since even at
that. time they made voyages, and some of the Grecians were
sailors, so that I believe, and am persuaded, that the Egyptians must have learned the names of these gods, rather than
that of Hercules.  But Hercules is one of the ancient gods of
the Egyptians; and as they say themselves, it was seventeen
thousand years before the reign of Amsais, when the number
of their gods was increased from eight to twelve, of whom
Hercules was accounted one.  44. And being desirous of obtaining certain information from whatever source I could, I
sailed to Tyre in' Phcenicia, having heard that there was there
a temple dedicated to Hercules; and I saw it richly adorned
with a great variety of offerings, and in it were two pillars,
one of fine gold, the other of emerald stone, both shining exceedinglya at night.  Conversing with the priests of this
god, I inquired how long this temple had been built, and I
found that neither did they agree with the Greeks; for they
said that the temple was built at the time when Tyre was
founded, and that two thousand three hundred years had
elapsed since the foundation of Tyre.  In this city I also saw
another temple dedicated to Hercules by the name of Thasian;
I went therefore to Thasos, and found there a temple of Hercules built by the Phoenicians, who, having set sail in search
of Europa, founded Thasos; and this occurred five generations
before Hercules, the son of Amphitryon, appeared in Greece.
The researches, then, that I have made evidently prove that
* MWyaOoC must be here construed as an adverb; but Baehr thinks
that the text is corrupt.




45 —47.]             EUTERPE. II.                    113
Hercules is a god of great antiquity, and therefore those Grecians appear to me to have acted most correctly, who have
built two kinds of temples sacred to Hercules, and who sacrificed to one as an immortal, under the name of Olympian, and
paid honor to the other as a hero. 45. But the Grecians say
many other things on this subject inconsiderately; for instance,
this is a silly story of theirs which they tell of Hercules: that,
"when he arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians, having crowned
him with a garland, led him in procession, as designing to sacrifice him to Jupiter, and that for some time he remained quiet,
but when they began the preparatory ceremonies upon him at
the altar, he set about defending himself, and slew every one
of them."  Now the Greeks who tell this story appear to me
to be utterly ignorant of the character and customs of the
Egyptians; for how can they who are forbidden to sacrifice
any kind of animal, except swine, and such bulls and calves
as are without blemish, and geese, sacrifice human beings?
Moreover, since Hercules was but one, and, besides, a mere
man, as they confess, how is it probable that he should slay
many thousands?  And in thus speaking of them may I meet
with indulgence both from gods and heroes.
46. The reason why the Egyptians above mentioned. do not
sacrifice the goat, either male or female, is as follows: the
Mendesians consider Pan one of the eight gods, and they say
that these eight existed prior to the twelve gods. And, indeed,
their painters and sculptors represent Pan with the face and
legs of a goat, as the Grecians do; not that they imagine this
to be his real form, for they think him like other gods; but
why they represent him in this way I had rather not mention.
However, the Mendesians pay reverence to all goats, and more
to the males than to the females (and the goatherds who tend
them receive greater honor), and particularly one he-goat, on
whose death public mourning is observed throughout the
whole Mendesian district. In the language of Egypt, both a
goat and Pan are called Mendes; and in my time the following prodigy occurred in this district: a goat had connection
with a woman in open day.'This came to the lkowwledge of
all men.  47. The Egyptians consider the pig to be an impure
beast, and therefore, if a man, in passing by a pig, should touch
him only with his garments, he forthwith goes to the river
and plunges in; and, in the next place, swineherds, although




114:                HIERODOTUS.                   [48, 49.
native Egyptians, are the only men who are not allowed to
enter any of their temples; neither will any man give his
daughter in marriage to one of them, nor take a wife from
among them; but the swineherds intermarry among themselves. The Egyptians, therefore, do not think it right to
sacrifice, swine to any other deities; but to the moon and
Bacchus they do sacrifice them, at the same time, that is, at
the same full moon, and then they eat of the flesh. A tradition is related by the Egyptians in relation to this matter, giving an account why they abhor swine on all other festivals,
and sacrifice them in that; but it is more becoming for me,
though I know it, not to mention it. This sacrifice of pigs to
the moon is performed in the following manner; when the
sacrificer has slain the victim, he puts together the tip of the
tail, with the spleen and the caul, and then covers them with
the fat found' about the belly of the animal; and next he consumes them with fire. The rest of the flesh they eat during
the full moon in which they offer the sacrifices, but in no other day would any one even taste it, The poor among them,
through want of means, form pigs of dough, and, having baked
them, offer them in sacrifice.  48. On the eve of the festival
of Bacchus, every one slays a pig before his door, and then
restores it to the swineherd that sold it, that he may carry it
away. The rest of this festival to Bacchus, except as regards
the pigs, the Egyptians celebrate much in the same manner as
the Greeks do, but only, instead of phalli, they have invented
certain images, as much as a cubit in height, moved by strings,
which women carry about the villages, and which have the
member nodding, in size not much less than the rest of the
body; a pipe leads the way, and the women follow, singing
the praises of Bacchus.  But why it has the member so large,
and moves no other part of the body, is accounted for by a
sacred story. 49. Now Melampus, son of Amytheon, appears
to me not to have been ignorant of this sacrifice, but perfectly well acquainted with it; for Melampus is the person
who first introduced among the Greeks the names and sacrifices of Bacchus, and the procession of the phallus; he did not,
however, fully explain every particular, but other learned persons who lived after him  revealed them  more accurately.
Melampus, then, is the person who introduced the procession
of the phallus in honor of Bacchus, and from him the Greeks




10, 51.]            EUTERPE. II.                    115
having learned it, do as they do. For my part, I think -that
Melampus, being a wise man, both acquired the art of divination, and having learned many other things in Egypt, introduced them among the Greeks, and particularly the worship
of Bacchus, changing only some few particulars; for I can not
admit that the ceremonies adopted in Egypt in honor of this
god, and those among the Greeks, coincide by chance; in that
case they would be conformable to Grecian customs, and not
have been lately introduced; neither can I admit that the
Egyptians borrowed either this or any other usage from the
Greeks. But I am of opinion that Melampus obtained his
information respecting the ceremonies of Bacchus chiefly from
Cadmus the Tyrian, and those who accompanied him from
Phcenicia to the country now called B3eotia.
50. And indeed the names of almost all the gods came from
Egypt into Greece; for that they came from barbarians I
find on inquiry to be the case; and I think they chiefly proceeded from Egypt; for, with the exception of Neptune and
the Dioscuri, as I before mentioned, and Juno, Vesta, Themis,
the Graces; and the Nereids, the names of all the others have
always existed among the Egyptians: in this I repeat what
the Egyptians themselves affirm; but the gods whose names
they say they are not acquainted with, I think, derived their
names from the Pelasgians, with the exception of Neptune;
this god they learned from the Libyans, for no people except
the Libyans originally possessed the name of Neptune, and
they have always worshiped him. Moreover, the Egyptians
pay no religious honor to heroes. 51. These, and other
customs besides, which I shall hereafter mention, the Grecians
received from the Egyptians.  The practice of making the
images of Mercury with the member erect, they did not learn
from the Egyptians, but from the Pelasgians: the Athenians
were the first of all the Greeks who adopted this practice, and
others from them; for the Pelasgians dwelt in the same
country as the Athenians, who were already ranked among
Greeks, whence they also began to be reckoned as Grecians. Whoever is initiated in the mysteries of the Cabiri,
which the Samothracians have adopted from the Pelasgians,
knows what I mean; for these Pelasgians dwelt in the
same country as the Athenians formerly inhabited, Samothrace, and from them the Samothracians learned the mysteries:




116                  IIERODOTUS.                 [52-55.
the -Athenians, therefore, were the first of the Grecians who,
having learned the practice from  the Pelasgians, made the
images of Mercury with the member erect; but the Pelasgians
assign a certain sacred reason for this, which is explained in
the mysteries of Samothrace. 52. Formerly the Pelasgians
sacrificed all sorts of victims to the gods with prayer, as I was
informed at Dodona, but they gave no surname or name to
any of them, for they had not yet heard of them; but they
called them gods, because they had set in order and ruled
over all things. Then, in course of time; they learned the
names of the other gods that were brought from Egypt, and
after some time, that of Bacchus. Concerning the names, they
consulted the oracle of Dodona, for this oracle is accounted
the most ancient of those that are in Greece, and was then the
only one. When, therefore, the Pelasgians inquired at Dodona
"' whether they should receive the names that came from barbarians," the oracle answered " that they should."  From that
time, therefore, they adopted the names of the gods in their
sacrifices, and the Grecians afterward received them from
the Pelasgians.  53. Whence each of the gods sprung,
whether they existed always, and of what form they were,
was, so to speak, unknown till yesterday.  For I am  of
opinion that Hesiod and Homer lived four hundred years before my time, and not more, and these were they who framed
a theogony for the Greeks, and gave names to the gods, and
assigned to them honors and arts, and declared their several
forms. But the poets, said to have been before them, in my
opinion, were. after them. The first part of the above statement is derived from the Dodonaean priestesses; but the latter,
that relates to Hesiod and Homer, I say on my own authority.
54. Concerning the two oracles, one in Greece, the other in
Libya, the Egyptians give the following account. The priests
of the Theban Jupiter say "that two women, employed in
the temple, were carried away from Thebes by certain Phoenicians, and that one of them was discovered to have been sold
into Libya, the other to the Greeks, and that these two
women were the first who established oracles in the nations
above mentioned."  When I'inquired how they knew this for
a certainty, they answered "that they made diligent search
for these women, and were never able to find them, but had
afterward heard the account they gave of them."  55. This.




5 —58.]              EUTERPE. II.                    117
then is the account I heard from the priests at Thebes; but
the prophetesses at Dodona say "that two black pigeons flew
away from Thebes in Egypt; that one of them went to Libya,
and the other to them; that this last, sitting perched on an
oak-tree, proclaimed in a human voice that it was fitting an
oracle should be erected there to Jupiter; and that the people believed this to be a divine message to them, and did accordingly. They add, that the other pigeon, which flew into
Libya, commanded the Libyans to found the oracle of Ammon:" this also belongs to Jupiter. The priestesses of Dodona, of whom the eldest is named Promenia, the second Timarete, and the youngest Nicandra, gave this account; and the
rest of the Dodonaeans engaged in the service of the temple
agreed with them. 56. My opinion of these things is this:
if the Phoenicians did really carry off the women employed
in the temple, and sold the one of them into Libya and the
other into Greece, this last woman, as I think, was sold to
some Thesprotians, in that part which is now called Hellas,
but was forierly called Pelasgia; then, being reduced to
slavery, she erected a temple to Jupiter, under an oak that
grew there; nothing being more natural than that she, who
had been an. attendant in the temple of Jupiter at Thebes,
should retain the memory of it wherever she came. And
after this, when she had learned the Greek language, she instituted an oracle; and she said that her sister in Libya had
been sold by the same Phoenicians by whom she herself was
sold. 57. The women, I conjecture, were called doves by the
Dodonseans because they were barbarians, and they seemed to
them to chatter like birds; but after a time, when the woman
spoke intelligibly to them, they presently reported that the
dove had spoken with a human voice; for as long as she used
a barbarous language, she appeared to them to chatter like a
bird; for how puld a dove speak with a human voice?  But
in saying that the dove was black, they show that the woman
was an Egyptian. The manner in which oracles are delivered
at Thebes in Egypt, and at Dodona, is very similar; and the
art of divination from victims came likewise from Egypt.
58. The Egyptians were also the firstwho introduced public festivals, processions, and solemn supplications; and the
Greeks learned them from them; for these rites appear to have
been established for a very long time, but those in Greece have




118                  HERODOTUS.                  [59-62.
been lately introduced. 59. The Egyptians hold public festivals not only once in a year, but several times: that which
is best and most rigidly observed is in the city of Bubastis,
in honor of Diana; the second, in the city of Busiris, is in
honor of Isis; for in this city is the largest temple of Isis,
and it is situated in the middle of the Egyptian Delta. Isis
is in the Grecian language called Demeter. The third festival is held at Sais, in honor of Minerva; the fourth, at Heliopolis, in honor of the sun; the fifth, at the city of Buto,
in honor of Latona; the sixth, at the city of Papremis, in
honor of Mars.  60. Now, when they are being conveyed to
the city Bubastis, they act as follows: for men and women
embark together, and great numbers of both sexes in every
barge: some of the women have castanets on which they play,
and the men play on the flute during the whole voyage; the
rest of the women and men sing and clap their hands together
at the same time. When, in the course of their passage, they
come to any town, they lay their barge near to land, and do as
follows: some of the women do as I have described; others
shout and scoff at the women of the place; some dance, and
others stand up and pull up their clothes: this they do at every
town by the river side. When they arrive at Bubastis, they
celebrate the feast, offering up great sacrifices; and more wine
is consumed at this festival than in all the rest of the year.
What with men and women, besides children, they congregate,
as the inhabitants say, to the number of seven hundred thousand.  61. I have already related how they celebrate the festival of Isis in the city of Busiris; and besides, all the men and
women, to the number of many myriads, beat themselves after
the sacrifice; but for whom they beat themselves it were impious for me to divulge. All the Carians that are settled in
Egypt do still more than this, in that they cut their foreheads
with knives, and thus show themselves to be ffeigners and not
Egyptians. 62. When they are assembled at the sacrifice in
the city of Sais, they all, on a certain night, kindle a great
number of lamps in the open air around their houses; the
lamps are flat vessels filled with salt and oil, and the wick
floats on the surface, and this burns all night; and the festival
is/thence named "the lighting of lamps." The Egyptians who
do not come to this public assembly observe the rite of sacrifice,
and all kindle lamps, and this not only in Sais, but throughout




63, 64.]             EUTERPE. II.                   119
all Egypt. A religious reason is given why this night is illuminated and so honored. 63. Those who assemble at Heliopolis and Buto perform sacrifices only; but in Papremis they
offer sacrifices and perform ceremonies, as in other places; but,
when the sun is on the decline, a few priests are occupied
about the image, but the greater number stand, with wooden
clubs, at the entrance of the temple, while others, accomplishing their vows, amounting to more than a thousand men, each
armed in like manner, stand in a body on the opposite side.
But the image, placed in a small wooden temple, gilded all
over, they carry out to another sacred dwelling: then the few
who were left about the image draw a four-wheeled carriage,
containing the temple and the image that is in it. But the
priests, who stand at the entrance, refuse to give them admittance; and the votaries, bringing succor to the god, oppose,
and then strike; whereupon an obstinate combat with clubs
ensues, and they break one another's heads, and, as I conjecture, many die of their wounds, though the Egyptians deny
that any one dies. 64. The inhabitants say they instituted
this festival on the following occasion: they say that the
another of Mars dwelt in this temple, and that Mars, who had
been educated abroad, when he reached to man's estate, came,
and wished to converse with his mother; and that his mother's
attendants, as they had never seen him before, did not allow
him to pass them, but repelled him; whereupon he, having
collected men from another city, handled the servants roughly, and got access to his mother. In consequence of this, they
say that they have instituted this combat on this festival in
honor of Mars.
The Egyptians were likewise the first who made it a point
of religion that men should abstain from women in the sacred
precincts, and not enter unwashed after the use of a woman;
for almost all other nations except the Egyptians and Grecians have intercourse in sacred places, and enter them unwashed, thinking mankind to be like other animals; therefore,
since they see other animals and birds coupling in the shrines'
and temples of the gods, they conclude that if this were displeasing to the god, the brute creatures even would not do it.
Now they who argue thus act in a manner that I can not approve. The Egyptians, then, are beyond measure scrupulous' See Book I. ch. 199.




120                   1ERIODOTUS.                  [65, 66.
in all things concerning religion, and especially in the abovementioned particulars.
65. Egypt, though bordering on Libya, does not abound in
wild beasts; but all that they have are accounted sacred, as
well those that are domesticated as those that are not. But,
if I should give the reasons why they are consecrated, I must
descend in my history to religious matters, which I avoid relating as much as I can, and such as I have touched upon in
the course of my narrative I have mentioned from necessity.
They have a custom relating to animals of the following kind.
Superintendents, consisting both of men and women, are appointed to feed every kind separately; and the sonf succeeds
the father in this office. All the inhabitants of the cities perform their vows to the superintendents in the following manner: having made a vow to the god to whom the animal
belongs, they shave either the whole heads of their children,
or a half, or a third part of the head, and then weigh
the hair in a scale against silver, and, whatever the weight
may be, they give to the superintendent of the animals, and
she, in return, cuts up some fish, and gives it as food to the
animals. Such is the usual mode of feeding them.  Should
any one kill one of these beasts, if willfully, death is the punishment; if by accident, he pays such fine as the priests choose
to impose. But whoever kills an ibis or a hawk, whether
willfully or by accident, must necessarily be put to death.
66. Although the domesticated animals are many, they would
be much more numerous were it not for the following accidents which befall the cats. When the females have littered,
they no longer seek the company of the males, and they, being
desirous of having intercourse with them, are not able to do
so, wherefore they have recourse to the following artifice:
having taken the young from the females, and carried them
away secretly, they kill, them, though, when they have killed
them, they do not eat them. The females, being deprived of
their young, and desirous of others, again seek the company of the males; for this animal is very fond of its young.
When a conflagration takes place, a supernatural impulse
seizes on the cats; for the Egyptians, standing at a distance,
take care of the cats, and neglect to put out the fire; but the
cats, making their escape, and leaping over the men, throw
themselves into the fire; and when this happens, great lamenf



67-(69.]             EUTERPE. II.                     121
ations are made among the Egyptians. In whatever house a
cat dies of a natural death, all the family shave their eyebrows only; but if a dog die, they shave the whole body and
the head. 67. All cats that die are carried to certain sacred
houses, where, being first embalmed, they are buried in the
city of Bubastis.  All persons bury their dogs in sacred
vaults within their own city; and ichneumons are buried in
the same inanner as the dogs; but field-mice and hawks
they carry to the city of Buto; the ibis to Hermopolis; the
bears, which are few in number, and the wolves, which are
not much larger than foxes, they bury wherever they are found
lying.
68. The following is the nature of the crocodile. During
the four coldest months it eats nothing, and though it has
four feet, it is amphibious. It lays its eggs on land, and there
hatches them. It spends the greater part of the day on the
dry ground, but the whole night in the river; for the water
is then warmer than the air and dew.  Of all living things
with which we are acquainted, this, from the least beginning,
grows to be the largest; for it lays eggs little larger than
those of a goose, and the young is at first in proportion to the
egg; but when grown up it reaches to the length of seventeen cubits, and even more. It has the eyes of a pig, large
teeth, and projecting tusks, in proportion to the body: it is
the only animal that has no tongue; it does not move the
lower jaw, but is the only animal that brings down its upper
jaw to the under one. It has strong claws, and a skin covered with scales, that can not be brokeni on the back. It is blind
in the water, but very quick-sighted on land; and becauseait
lives for the most part in the water, its mouth is filled with
leeches. All other birds and beasts avoid him, but he is at
peace with the trochilus, because he receives benefit from
that bird; for when the crocodile gets out of the water on
land, and then opens its jaws, which it does most commonly
toward the west, the trochilus enters its mouth and swallows
the leeches: the crocodile is so well pleased with this service
that it never hurts the trochilus.  69. With some of the
Egyptians crocodiles are sacred; with others not, but they
treat them as enemies. Those who dwell about Thebes, and
Lake Mceris, consider them to be very sacred; and they each
cf them train up a crocodile, which is taught to be quite
F




122                   HERODOTUS.                  [70-73.
tame; and they put crystal and gold ear-rings into their ears,
and bracelets on their fore paws; and they give them appointed and sacred food, and treat them  as well as possible while
alive, and when dead they embalm them, and bury them in
sacred vaults. But the people who dwell about the city of
Elephantine eat them, not considering them sacred. They are
not called crocodiles by the Egyptians, but " champse;" the
Ionians gave them the name of crocodiles, because they thought
they resembled lizards, which are also so called, and which are
found in the hedges in their country.  70. The modes of
taking the crocodile are many and various, but I shall only
describe that which seems to me most worthy of relation.
When the fisherman has baited a hook with the chine of a
pig, he lets it down into the middle of the river, and holding
a young live pig on the brink of the river, beats it; the crocodile, hearing the noise, goes in its direction, and meeting with
the chine, swallows it; but the men draw it to land: when it
isdrawn out on shore, the sportsman first of all plasters its
eyes with mud; and having done this, afterward manages it
very easily; but until he has done this, he has a great deal of
trouble.  71. The hippopotamus is esteemed sacred in the district of Papremis, but not so by the rest of the Egyptians.
This is the nature of its shape. It is a quadruped, clovenfooted, with the hoofs of an ox, snub nosed, has the mane of a
horse, projecting tusks, and the tail and neigh of a horse. In
size he is equal to a very large ox: his hide is so thick that
spear-handles are made of it when dry. 72. Otters are also
met with in the river, which are deemed sacred; and among
fisi, they consider that which is called the lepidotus, and the
eel, sacred; these, they say, are sacred to the Nile; and among
birds, the vulpanser.
73. There is also another sacred bird, called the phoenix,
which I have never seen except in a picture; for it seldom
makes its appearance among them, only once in five hundred
years, as the Heliopolitans affirm: they say that it comes on
the death of its sire. If he is like the picture, he is of the following size. and description: the plumage of his wings is
partly golden-colored and partly red; in outline and size he
is very like an eagle. They say that he has the following contrivance, which, in my opinion, is not credible. They say that
he comes from Arabia, and brings the body of his father to




74 —76.]             EUTERPE. II.                     123
the temple of the sun, having inclosed him in myrrh, and there
buries him in the temple. He brings him in this manner: first
he moulds an egg of myrrh as large as he is able to carry; then
he tries to carry it, and when he has made the experiment, he
hollows out the egg, and puts his parent into it, and stops up
with some more myrrh the hole through which he had introduced the body, so when his father is put inside the weight is
the same as before; then, having covered it over, he carries
him to the temple of the sun in Egypt. This, they say, is done
by this bird.
74. In the neighborhood of Thebes there are sacred serpents
not at all hurtful to men: they are diminutive in size, and carry two horns that grow on the top of the head.  When these
serpents die they bury them in the temple of Jupiter; for they
say they are sacred to that god. 75. There is a place in Arabia, situated very near the city of Buto, to which I went on
hearing of some winged serpents; and when I arrived there,
I saw bones and spines of serpents in such quantities as it
would be impossible to describe: there were heaps of these
spinal bones, some large, some smaller, and others still less;
and there were great numbers of them.  The place in which
these spinal bones lie scattered is of the following description:
it is a narrow pass between two mountains into a spacious
plain; this plain is contiguous to the plain of Egypt; it is
reported that, at the beginning of spring, winged serpents fly
from Arabia toward Egypt; but that ibises, a sort of bird,
meet them at the pass, and do not allow the serpents to go by,
but kill them: for this service the Arabians say that the ibis
is highly reverenced by the Egyptians, and the Egyptians
acknowledge that they reverence these birds for this reason.
76. The ibis is of the following description: it is all over a
deep black, it has the legs of a crane, its beak is much curved,
and it is about the size of the crex. Such is' the form of the
black ones that fight with the serpents; but those that are
commonly conversant among men (for there are two species)
are bare on the head and the whole neck, have white plumage
except on the head, the throat, and the tips of the wings and
extremity of the tail; in all these parts that I have mentioned
they are of a deep black; in their legs and beak they are like
the other kind.  The form of the serpent is like that of the




124                   HERODOTUS.                  [77-79.
water-snake; but he has wings without feathers, and as like
as possible to the wings of a bat. This must suffice for the
description of sacred animals.
77. Of the Egyptians, those who inhabit that part of Egypt
which is sown with corn, in that they cultivate the memory of
past events more than any other men, are the best informed of
all with whom I have had intercourse.  Their manner of life
is this.  They purge themselves every month, three days successively, seeking to preserve health by emetics and clysters;
for they suppose that all diseases to which men are subject proceed from the food they use. And, indeed, in other respects,
the Egyptians, next to the Libyans, are the most healthy people in the world, as I think, on account of the seasons, because
they are not liable to change; for men are most subject to disease at periods of change, and, above all others, at the change
of the seasons.  They feed on bread made into loaves of spelt,
which they call cyllestis; and they use wine made of barley,
for they have no vines in that country. Some fish they dry
in the sun, and eat raw, others salted with brine; and of birds
they eat quails, ducks, and smaller birds raw, having first salted them: all other things, whether birds or fishes, that they
have, except such as are accounted sacred, they eat either roasted or boiled.  78. At their convivial banquets, among the
wealthy classes, when they have finished supper, a man carries
round in a coffin the image of a dead body carved in wood,
made as like as possible in color and workmanship, and in size
generally about one or two cubits in length; and showing this
to each of the company, he says, "Look upon this, then drink
and enjoy yourself; for when dead you will be like this." This
practice they have at their drinking parties.
79. They observe their ancient customs, but acquire no
new ones. Among other memorable customs, they have one
song, Linus, which is sung in Phoenicia, Cyprus, and elsewhere; in different nations it bears a different name, but it
agrees so exactly as to be the same which the Greeks sing,
under the name of Linus.  So that among the many wonderful things seen in Egypt, this is especially wonderful, whence"
they got this Linus; for they seem to have sung it from time
immemorial.  The Linus, in the Egyptian language, is called
Maneros; and the Egyptians say that he was the only son of




80-85.]              EUTERPE. II.                     125
the first king of Egypt, and that happening to die prematurely, he was honored by the Egyptians in this mourning dirge;
and this is the first and only song they have.  80. In this
other particular the Egyptians resemble the Lacedaemonians
only among all the Grecians: the young men, when they meet
their elders, give way and turn aside, and when they approach,
rise up from their seats. In the following custom, however,
they do not resemble any nation of the Greeks; instead of addressing one another in the streets, they salute by letting the
hand fall down as far as the knee. 81. They wear linen tunics
fringed round the legs, which they call calasiris, and over these
they throw white woolen mantles; woolen clothes, however,
are not carried into the temples, nor are they buried with them,
for that is accounted profane. In this respect they agree with
the worshipers of Orpheus and Bacchus, who are Egyptians
and Pythagoreans; for it is considered profane for one who is
initiated in these mysteries to be buried in woolen garments,
and a religious reason is given for this custom.
82. These other things were also invented by the Egyptians.  Each month and day is assigned to some particular
god; and according to the day on which each person is born,
they determine what will befall him, how he will die, and what
kind of person he will be. And these things the Grecian poets have made use of. They have also discovered more prodigies than all the rest of the world; for when any prodigy occurs, they carefully observe and write down the result; and if
a similar occurrence should happen afterward, they think the
result will be the same.  83. The art of divination is in this
condition: it is attributed to no human being, but only to some
of the gods; for they have among them an oracle of Hercules,
Apollo, Minerva, Diana, Mars, and Jupiter; and that which
they honor above all others is the oracle of Latona, in the city
of Buto. Their modes of delivering oracles, however, are not
all alike, but differ from each other.. 84. The art of medicine
is thus divided among them: each physician applies himself
to one disease only, and not more. All places abound in physicians; some physicians are for the eyes, others for the head,
others for the teeth, others for the parts about the belly, and
others for internal disorders.
85. Their manner of mourning and burying is as follows.
When in a family a man of any consideration dies, all the




126                  HERODOTUS.                 [86, 87.
females of that family besmear their heads and faces with mud,and then leaving the body in the house, they wander about
the city, and beat themselves, having their clothes girt up,
and exposing their breasts, and all their relations accompany
them. On the other hand, the men beat themselves, being
girt up, in like manner. When they have done this, they carry out the body to be embalmed. 86. There are persons who
are appointed for this very purpose; they, when the dead body
is brought to them, show to the bearers wooden models: of
corpses, made exactly like by painting. And they show that
which they say is the most expensive manner of embalming,
the name of which I do not think it right to mention on such
an occasion;  they then show the second, which is inferior and
less expensive; and then the third, which is the cheapest.
Having explained them all, they learn from them in what way
they wish the body to be prepared; then the relations, when
they have agreed on the price, depart; but the embalmers remaining in the work-shops thus proceed to embalm in the most
expensive manner. First they draw out the brains through
the nostrils with an iron hook, taking part of it out in this
manner, the rest by the infusion of drugs. Then with a sharp
Ethiopian stone they make an incision in the side, and take
out all the bowels; and having cleansed the abdomen and
rinsed it with palm-wine, they next sprinkle it with pounded
perfumes.  Then, having filled'ie belly with pure myrrh
pouhded, and cassia, and other perfumes, frankincense excepted, they sew it up again; and when they have done this,
they steep it in natrum, leaving it under for seventy days; for
a longer time than this it is not lawful to steep it. At the expiration of the seventy days they wash the corpse, and wrap
the whole body in bandages of flaxen cloth, smearing it with
gum, which the Egyptians commonly use instead of glue.
After this the relations, having taken the body back again,
make a wooden case in the shape of a man, and having
made it, they inclose the body; and thus, having fastened it
up, they store it in a sepulchral chamber, setting it upright
against the wall. In this manner, they prepare the bodies
that are embalmed in the most expensive way. 87. Those
who, avoiding great expense; desire the middle way, they prepare in the following manner. When they have charged
their syringes with oil made from cedar, they fill the abdomen




88 —91.]            EUTERPE. II.                     127
of the corpse without making any incision or taking out the
bowels, but inject it at the fundament; and having prevented
the injection from escaping, they steep the body in natrum for
the prescribed number of days, and on the last day they let out
from the abdomen the oil of cedar which they had before injected, and it has such power that it brings away the intestines and vitals in a state of dissolution; the natrum dissolves
the flesh, and nothing of the body remains but the skin and
the bones. When they have done this they return the body
without any farther operation.  88. The third method of
embalming is this, which is used only for the poorer sort:
having thoroughly rinsed the abdomen in syrmaea, they steep
it with natrum for the seventy days, and then deliver it to be
carried away.  89. lBut the wives of considerable persons,
when they die, they do not immediately deliver to be embalmed, nor such women as are very beautiful and of celebrity, but when they have been dead three or four days they
then deliver them to the embalmers; and they do this for the
following reason, that the embalmers may not abuse the bodies
of such women; for they say that one man was detected in
abusing a body that was fresh, and that a fellow-workman informed against him. 90. Should any person, whether Egyptian or stranger, no matter which, be found to have been seized
by a crocodile, or drowned in the river, to whatever city the
body may be carried, the inhabitants are by law compelled to
have the body embalmed, and having adorned it in the handsomest manner, to bury it in the sacred vaults. Nor is it lawful for any one else, whether relations or friends, to touch him;
but the priests of the Nile bury the corpse with their own
hands, as being something more than human.
91. They avoid using Grecian customs, and, in a word,
the customs of all other people whatsoever. All the other
Egyptians are particular in this. But there is a large city
called Chemmis, situate in the Thebaic district, near Neapolis, in which is a quadrangular temple dedicated to Perseus,
the son of Danae; palm-trees grow round it, and the portico
is of stone, very spacious, and over it are placed two large
stone statues. In this inclosure is a temple, and in it is placed
a statue of Perseus. The Chemmite affirm that Perseus has
frequently appeared to them on earth, and frequently within
the temple, and that a sandal worn by him  is sometimes




128                 HIEroDOTUS.                      [92
found, which is two cubits in length; and that after its appearance all Egypt flourishes. This they affirm. They adopt
the following Grecian customs in honor of Perseus: they celebrate gymnastic games, embracing every kind of contest; and
they give as prizes cattle, cloaks, and skins. When I inquired
why Perseus appeared only to them, and why they differed
from the rest of the Egyptians in holding gymnastic games,
they answered "that Perseus derived his origin from their
city; for that Danaus and Lynceus, who were both natives of
Chemmis, sailed from them into Greece;" and, tracing the descent down from them, they came to Perseus; and "that he,
coming to Egypt for the same reason, as the Greeks allege, in
order to bring away the Gorgon's head from Libya, they affirmed that he came to them also, and acknowledged all his
kindred; and that, when he came to Egypt, he was well acquainted with the name of Chemmis, having heard it from his
mother. They add that, by his order, they instituted gymnastic games in honor of him."
92. The Egyptians who dwell above the morasses observe
all these customs; but those who live in the morasses have
the same customs as the rest of the Egyptians, and as in
other-things, so in this, that each man has but one wife, like
the Greeks. But, to obtain food more easily, they have the
following inventions: when the river is full, and has made
the plains like a sea, great numbers of lilies, which the
Egyptians call lotus, spring up in the water. These they
gather and dry in the sun; then having pounded the middle
of the lotus, which resembles a poppy, they make a bread of it
and bake it. The root also of this lotus is fit for food, and is
tolerably sweet, and is round, and of the size of an apple.
There are also other lilies, like roses, that grow in the river,
the fruit of which is contained in a separate pod, that springs
up from the root in form very like a wasp's nest. In this
there are many berries fit to be eaten, of the size of an
olive-stone, and they are eaten both fresh and dried. The
byblus, which is an annual plant, when they have pulled it
up in the fens, they cut off the top of it and put to some
other uses, but the lower part that is left, to the length of
a cubit, they eat and sell. Those who are anxious to eat
the byblus dressed in the most delicate manner, stew it in
a hot pan and then eat it. Some of them live entirely on




93-95.]              EUTERPE. II.                    129
fish, which they catch, and gut, and dry in the sun, and then
cat them dried.
93. Fishes that are gregarious are seldom found in the
rivers, but, being bred in the lakes, they proceed as follows:
when the desire of engendering comes upon them, they swim
out in shpals to the sea; the males lead the way, scattering
the sperm, and the females following swallow it, and are thus
impregnated. When they find themselves full in the sea, they
swim back, each to their accustomed haunts; however, the
males no longer take the lead, but this is done by females:
they, leading the way in shoals, do as the males did before;
for they scatter their spawn by degrees, and the males following devour them; but, from the spawn that escapes and is. not
devoured, the fish that grow up are engendered. Any of these
fish that happen to be taken in their passage toward the sea
are found bruised on the left side of the head; but those that
are taken on their return are bruised on the right; and this
proceeds from the following cause: they swim out to the sea
keeping close to the land on the left side, and when they swim
back again they keep to the same shore, hugging it and touching it as much as possible, for fear of losing their way by the
stream. When the Nile begins to overflow, the hollow parts
of the land and the marshes near the river first begin to be
filled by the water oozing through from the river; and as soon
as they are full, they are immediately filled with little fishes;
the reason of which, as I conjecture, is this: in the preceding
year, when the Nile retreated, the fish that had deposited their
eggs in the marshy ground went away with the last of the waters; but when, as the time came round, the water has risen
again, fishes are immediately produced from these eggs. Thus
it happens with respect to the fishes.
94. The Egyptians who live about the fens use an oil drawn
from the fruit of the sillicypria, which they call cici, and they
make it in the following manner: they plant these sillicypria,
which in Greece grow spontaneous and wild, on the banks of
the rivers and lakes. These, when planted in Egypt, bear
abundance of fruit, though of an offensive smell. When they
have gathered it, some bruise it and press out the oil; others
boil and stew it, and collect the liquid that flows from it; this
is fat, and no less suited'for lamps than olive oil, but it emits
an offensive smell. 95. They have the following contrivance
F 2




130.                 IERODOTUS.                  [96, 97.
to protect themse:)es from the musquitoes, which abound very
much. The towers are of great service to those who inhabit
the upper parts of the marshes; for the musquitoes are prevented by the winds from flying high; but -those who live
round the marshes have contrived another expedient instead of
the towers. Every man has a net, with which in the day he
takes fish, and at night uses it in the following manner: in
whatever bed he sleeps, he throws the net around it, and then
getting in, sleeps under. If he should wrap himself up in his
clothes or in linen, the musquitoes would bite through them,
but they never attempt to bite through the net.
96. Their ships in which they convey merchandise are
hiade of the acacia, which in shape is very like the Cyrenwaan
lotus, and its exudation is gum. From this acacia they cut
planks about two cubits in length, and join them together like
bricks, building their ships in the following manner. They
fasten the planks of two cubits length round stout and long
ties: when they have thus built the hulls, they lay benches
across them. They make no use of ribs, but caulk the seams
inside with byblus. They make only one rudder, and that is
driven through the keel. They use a mast of acacia and sails
of byblus. These vessels are unable to sail up the stream unless a fair wind prevails, but are towed from the shore. They
are thus carried down the stream: there is a hurdle made of
tamarisk, wattled with a band of reeds, and a stone bored
through the middle, of about two talents in weight; of these
two, the hurdle is fastened to a cable, and let down at the
prow of the vessel to be carried on by the stream; and the
stone by another cable at the stern; and by this means the
hurdle, by the stream bearing hard upon it, moves quickly and
draws along "the baris" (for this is the name given to these
vessels), but the stone being dragged at the stern, and sunk
t6 the bottom, keeps the vessel in its course. They have very
many of these vessels, and some of them carry many thousand
talents. 97. When the Nile inundates the country, the cities
alone are seen above its surface, very like the islands in the
JEgean Sea; for all the rest of Egypt becomes a sea, and the
cities alone are above the surface. When this happens, they
navigate no longer by the channel of the river, but across the
plain. To a person sailing from Naucratis to Memphis, the
passage is by the pyramids; this, however, is not the usura




98-100.]             EUTERPE. II.                   131
course, but by the point of the Delta and the city of Cexcasorus; and in sailing from the sea and Canopus to Naucratis
across the plain, you will pass by the city of Anthylla and
that called Archandropolis. 98. Of these, Anthylla, which is
a city of importance, is assigned to purchase shoes for the wife
of the reigning king of Egypt; and this has been so as long
as Egypt has been subject to the Persians.  The other city appears to me to derive its name from the son-in-law of Danaus,
Archander, son of Phthius, and grandson of Achaeus, for it is
called Archandropolis.  There may, indeed, have been another
Archander, but the name is certainly not Egyptian.
99. Hitherto I have related what I have seen, what I
have thought, and what I have learned by inquiry; but from
this point I proceed to give the Egyptian account, according to what I heard, and there is added to it something
also of my own observation.  The priests informed me that
Menes, who first ruled over Egypt, in the first place protected Memphis by a mound; for the whole river formerly ran
close to the sandy mountain on the side of Libya; but Menes,
beginning about a hundred stades above Memphis, filled in
the elbow toward the south, dried up the old channel, and
conducted the river into a canal, so as to make it flow between
the mountains:2 this bend of the Nile, which flows excluded
from its ancient course, is still carefully upheld by the Persians, being made secure every year; for if the river should
break through and overflow in this part, there would be danger lest all Memphis should be flooded. When the part cut
off had been made firm  land by this Menes, who was first
king, he, in the first place, built on it the city that is now
called Memphis; for Memphis is situate in the narrow part
of Egypt; and outside of it he excavated a lake from the
river toward the north and the west; for the Nile itself
bounds it toward the east.  In the next place, they relate
that he built in it the temple of Vulcan, which is vast and well
worthy of mention. 100. After this, the priests enumerated
from a book the names of three hundred and thirty other kings.
In so many generations of men, there were eighteen Ethiopians
and one native queen; the rest were Egyptians.  The name
of this woman who reigned was the same as that of the Babylonian queen, Nitocris: they said that she avenged her brother,
2 That is, those of Arabia and Libya




132                 HERODOTUS.               [101-103.
whom the Egyptians had "slain while reigning over them; and
after they had slain him they then delivered the kingdom to
her, and she, to avenge him, destroyed many of the Egyptians
by stratagem; for having caused an extensive apartment to be
made under ground, she pretended that she was going to consecrate it, but in reality had another design in view, and having invited those of the Egyptians whom she knew to have
been principally concerned in the murder, she gave a great banquet, and when they were feasting, she let in the river upon
them through a large concealed channel. This is all they related of her, except that when she had done this she threw
herself into a room full of ashes, in order that she might escape
punishment. 101. Of the other kings they did not mention
any memorable deeds, nor that they were in any respect renowned, except one, the last of them, Mceris; but he accomplished some memorable works, as the portal of Vulcan's temple, facing the north wind, and dug a lake (the dimensions of
which I shall describe hereafter), and built pyramids in it, the
size of which I shall also mention when I come to speak of the
lake itself. He, then, achieved these several works, but none
of the others achieved any thing.
102. Having, therefore, passed them by, I shall proceed to
make mention of the king that came after them, whose name
was Sesostris. The priests said that he was the first who, setting out in ships, of war3 from the Arabian Gulf, subdued those
nations that dwell by the Red Sea, until, sailing onward, he
arrived at a sea which was not navigable on account of the
shoals; and afterward, when he came back to Egypt, according to the report of the priests, he assembled a large army,
and marched through the continent, subduing every nation
that he fell in with; and whenever he met with any who
were valiant, and who were very ardent in defense of their
liberty, he erected columns in their territory, with inscriptions
declaring his own name and country, and how he had conquered them by his power; but when he subdued any
cities without fighting and easily, he made inscriptions on
columns in the same way as among the nations that had
proved themselves valiant, and he had besides engraved or
them the secret parts of a woman, wishing to make it known
that they were cowardly. 103. Thus doing,"he traversed the
3 See Book I. chap. 2, note'




104, 105.]          EUTERPE. II.                     133
continent, until, having crossed from Asia into Europe, he
subdued; the Scythians and Thracians: to these the Egyptian army appears to me to have reached, and no farther; for
in their country the columns appear to have been erected,
but nowhere beyond them. From thence, wheeling round, he
went back again; and when he arrived at the river. Phasis,
I am unable after this to say with certainty whether king
Sesostris himself, having detached a portion of his army, left
them there to settle in that country, or whether some of the
soldiers, being wearied with his wandering expedition, of
their own accord remained by the river Phasis. 104. For
the Colchians were evidently Egyptians, and I say this having
myself observed it before I heard it from others; and as it
was a matter of interest to me, I inquired of both people,
and the Colchians had more recollection of the Egyptians
than the Egyptians had of the Colchians; yet the Egyptians
said that they thought the Colchians were descended from the
army of Sesostris; and I formed my conjecture, not only because they are swarthy and curly-headed, for this amounts to
nothing, because others are so likewise, but chiefly from the
foflowing circumstances, because the Colchians, Egyptians,
and Ethiopians are the only nations of the world who, from
the first, have practiced circumcision; for the Phoenicians,
and the Syrians in Palestine, acknowledge that they learned
the custom from the Egyptians; and the Syrians about Thermodon and the river Parthenius, with their neighbors the
Macrones, confess that they very lately learned the same custom
from the Colchians:  And these are the only nations that are
circumcised, and thus appear evidently to act in the same manner as the Egyptians. But of the Egyptians and Ethiopians,
I am unable to say which learned it from the other, for it is
evidently a very ancient custom. And this appears to me. a
strong proof thatthe Phoenicians learned this practice through
their intercourse with the Egyptians, for all the Phoenicians
who have any commerce with Greece no longer imitate the
Egyptians in this usage, but abstain from circumcising their
children. 105. I will now mention4 another fact respecting
the Colchians, how they resemble the Egyptians. They alone
and the Egyptians manufacture5 linen in the same manner; and
the whole way of living, and the language, is similar in both
* " Come, now, I will also mention."  5 See chap. 35.




134                  HERODOTUS.                [106-108.
nations; but the Colchian linen is called by the Greeks Sardonic, though that which comes from Egypt is called Egyptian.  106. As to the pillars which Sesostris, king of Egypt,
erected in the different countries, most of them are evidently
no longer in existence, but in Syrian Palestine I myself saw
some still remaining, and the inscriptions before mentioned
still on them, and the private parts of a woman. There are
also in Ionia two images of this king, carved on rocks, one on
the way from Ephesia to Phocaea, the other from Sardis to
Smyrna. In both places a man is carved, four cubits and a
half high, holding a spear in his right hand, and in his left a
bow, and the rest of his equipment in unison, for it is partly
Egyptian and partly Ethiopian; from one shoulder to the
other across the breast extend sacred Egyptian characters engraved, which have the following meaning: "I ACQUIRED TrIS
REGION BY MY OWN SHOULDERS."  Who or whence he is he does
not here show, but has elsewhere made known. Some, however, who have seen these monuments, have conjectured them
to be images of Memnon, herein being very far from the truth.
107. The priests said, moreover, of this Egyptian Sesostris,
that returning and bringing with him many men from the nations Whose territories he had subdued, when he arrived at the
Pelusian Daphne, his brother, to whom he had committed the
government of Egypt, invited him to an entertainment, and
his sons with him, and caused wood to be piled up round the
house, and having caused it to be piled up, set it on fire; but
that Sesostris, being informed of this, immediately consulted
With his wife, for he took his wife with him; and she advised
him to extend two of his six sons across the fire, and form a
bridge over the burning mass, and that the rest should step
on them and make their escape. Sesostris did so, and two of
his sons were in this manner burned to death, but the rest, together with their father, were saved.  108. Sesostris having
returned to Egypt, and taken revenge on his brother, employed the multitude of prisoners whom he brought from
the countries he had subdued in the following works: these
were the persons who drew the huge stones which, in the
time of this king, were conveyed to the temple of Vulcan;
they, too, were compelled to dig all the canals now seen in
Egypt; by their involuntary labor they made Egypt, which
before was throughout practicable for horses and carriages,




109-1 1.]            EUTERPE. II.                    135
unfit for these purposes; for from that time Egypt, though it
was one level plain, became impassable for horses or carriages;
and this is caused by the canals, which are numerous and in
every direction.  But the king intersected the country for
this reason: such of the Egyptians as occupied the cities not
on the river, but inland, when the river receded, being in
want of water, were forced to use a brackish beverage which
they drew6 from wells; and for this reason Egypt was intersected. 109. They said also that this king divided the country among all the Egyptians, giving an equal square allotment to each; and from thence he drew his revenues, having
required-them to pay a fixed tax every year; but if the river
happened to take away a part of any one's allotment, he was
to come to him and make known what had happened; whereupon the king sent persons to inspect and measure how much
the land was diminished, that in future he might pay a proportionate part of the appointed tax.  Hence land-measuring
appears to me to have had its beginning, and to have passed
over into Greece; for the pole7 and the sun-dial, and the division of the day into twelve parts, the Greeks learned from
the Babylonians.  110. This king, then, was the only Egyptian that ruled over Ethiopia, and he left as memorials before
Vulcan's temple statues of stone, two of thirty cubits, himself and his wife; and his four sons, each of twenty cubits.
A long time after, the priest of Vulcan would not suffer Darius the Persian to place his statue before them, saying " that
deeds had not been achieved by him equal to those of Sesostris the Egyptian; for that Sesostris had subdued other nations, not fewer than Darius had done, and the Scythians
besides; but that Darius was not able to conquer the Scythians; wherefore it was not right for one who had not surpassed him in achievements to place his statue before his
offerings."  They relate, however, that Darius pardoned these
observations.
111. After the death of Sesostris, they said that his son
Pheron succeeded to the kingdom; that he undertook no military expedition, and happened to become blind through the
following occurrence: the river having risen to a very great
6 Literally, "using it from wells."
7 l6og here means " a concave dial," shaped like the vault of heaven. See B3aehr.




136                  HERODOTUS.                     [112.
height for that time, to eighteen cubits, when it overflowed
the fields, a storm of wind arose, and the river was tossed
about in waves; whereupon they say that the king with
great arrogance laid hold of a javelin, and threw it into the
midst of the eddies of the river, and that immediately afterward he was seized with a pain in his eyes, and became
blind. He continued blind for ten years; but in the eleventh
year an oracle reached him from the city of Buto, importing
"that the time of his punishment was expired, and he should
recover his sight by washing his eyes with the urine of a
woman who had had intercourse with her own husband only,
and had known no other man. He therefore made trial of
his own wife first, and afterward, when' he did not recover
his sight, he made trial of others indifferently; and at length,
having recovered his sight, he collected the women of whom
he had made trial, except the one by washing with whose
urine he had recovered his sight, into one city, which is now
called Erythrebolus, and when he had assembled them  together he had them all burned, together with the city; but
the woman, by washing in whose urine he recovered his sight,
he took to himself to wife. Having escaped from this calamity in his eyes, he dedicated other offerings throughout all
the celebrated temples, and, what is most worthy of mention,
he dedicated to the temple of the sun works worthy of admiration, two stone obelisks, each consisting of one stone,
and each a hundred cubits in length and eight cubits in
breadth.
112. They said that a native of Memphis succeeded him
in the kingdom, whose name in the Grecian language is Proteus: there is to this day an inclosure sacred to him at Memphis, which is very beautiful and richly adorned, situated to
the south side of the temple of Vulcan. Tyrian Phcenicians
dwell round this inclosure, and the whole tract is called the
Tyrian camp.8 In this inclosure of Proteus is a temple which
is called after the foreign Venus; and I conjecture that this
is the temple of Helen, the daughter of Tyndarus, both because I have heard that Helen lived with Proteus, and,also
because it is named from the foreign Venus; for of all the
other temples of Venus, none is any where called by the name
8 In chap. 154 we meet with "the camp of the lonians and Ca.
rians."




113-115.]            EUTERPE. II.                    137
of foreign.  113. When I inquired about Helen, the priests
told me that the case was thus: that when Paris had carried
Helen ~off from Sparta, he sailed away to his own country,
and when he was in the lEgean,- violent winds drove him out
of his course into the Egyptian sea, and from thence (for the
gale did not abate) he came to^Egypt, and in Egypt to that
which is now called the Canopic mouth of the Nile, and to
Taricheae..On that shore stood a temple of Hercules, which
remains to this day; in which, if the slave of any person whatsoever takes refuge, and has sacred marks impressed on him,
so devoting himself to the god, it is not lawful to lay hands on
him. This custom continues the same to my time as it was
from the first. The attendants of Paris, therefore, when informed of the custom that prevailed respecting the temple,
revolted from him, and, sitting as suppliants of the god, accused Paris with a view to injure him, relating the whole
account, how things stood with regard to Helen, and his
injustice toward Menelaus.  These accusations were made to
the priests, and the governor of that mouth, whose name was
Thonis.  114. Thonis having heard this, immediately sends a
message to Proteus at Memphis, to the following effect: " A
stranger of Trojan race has arrived, after having committed a
nefarious deed in Greece; for having beguiled the wife of his
own host, he has brought her with him, and very greattreasures, having been driven by winds to this land. Whether,
then, shall we allow him to depart unmolested, or shall we
seize what he has brought with him?"  Proteus sends back
a messenger with the following answer: " Seize this man,
whoever he may be, that has acted so wickedly toward his
host, and bring him to me, that I may know what he will
say for himself."  115. Thonis, having received this message, seizes Paris, and detains his ships; and then sent him
up to Memphis with Helen and his treasures, and, besides, the
suppliants also.  When all were carried up, Proteus asked
Paris who he was, and whence he had sailed; and he gave
him an account of his family, and told him the name of his
country, and, moreover, described his voyage and from whence
he had set sail.  Then Proteus asked him whence he got
Helen; and when Paris prevaricated in his account, and did
not speak the truth, they who had become suppliants accused
him, relating the whole account of his crime. At last Proteus




138                  HERODOTUS.                     [116.
pronounced this judgment, saying, "If I did not think it of
great moment not to put any stranger to death who, being
prevented by the winds from pursuing his course, has come to
my territory, I would take vengeance on you on behalf of the
Grecian, you basest of men, who, after you had met with hospitable treatment, have committed the most nefarious deed;
you seduced the wife of your host, and this did not content
ou, but, having excited her passions,9 you have taken her
away by stealth.  Nor even did this content you, but you
have also robbed the house.of your host and come hither with
the spoils; now therefore, since I deem it of great moment not
to put a stranger to death, I will not suffer you to carry away
this woman or this treasure, but I will keep them for your
Grecian host until he please to come himself and take them
away; as for you and your shipmates, I bid you depart out
of my territory to some other within three days; if not, you
shall be treated as enemies."
116. The priests gave this account of the arrival of Helen
at the court of Proteus.  And Homer appears to me to have
heard this relation; but it was not equally suited to epic
poetry as the other which he has made use of, wherefore he
has rejected it, though he has plainly shown that he was acquainted with this account also.  And this is evident, since
he has described in the Iliad (and has nowhere else retraced
his steps) the wanderings of Paris, how, while he was carrying off Helen, he was driven out of his course, and wandered
to other places, and how he arrived at Sidon of Phoenicia;
and he has mentioned it in the exploits of Diomede; his verses
are as follows: " Where were the variegated robes, works of
Sidonian women, which god-like Paris himself brought from
Sidon, sailing over the wide sea, along the course by which
he conveyed high-born Helen."' HIe mentions it also in the
Odyssey, in the following lines: c Such well-chosen drugs
had the daughter of Jove, of excellent quality, which Polydamna gave her, the Egyptian wife of Thonis, where the
fruitful earth produces many drugs, many excellent when
mixed, and many noxious."2  Menelaus also says the following to Telemachus: "The gods detained me in Egypt,
Literally, " having raised the wings."
Iliad, vi. 289.            2 Odyssey, iv. 227.




117-119.]           EUTERPE. II.                     139
though anxious to return hither, because I did not offer perfect hecatombs to them."3  He shows in these verses that he
was acquainted with the wandering of Paris in Egypt; for
Syria borders on Egypt, and the Phoenicians, to whom Sidon
belongs, inhabit Syria.  117. From these verses, and this first
passage especially, it is clear that Homer was not the author of
the Cyprian verses, but some other person; for in the Cyprian
verses it is said that Paris reached Ilium from Sparta on the
third day, when he carried off Helen, having met with a favorable wind and a smooth sea; whereas Homer, in the Iliad,
says that he wandered far, while taking her with him. And
now I take my leave of Homer and the Cyprian verses.
118. When I asked the priests whether the Greeks tell an
idle story about the Trojan war or not, they gave me the following answer, saying that they knew it by inquiry from Menelaus himself: That, after the rape of Helen, a vast army of
Grecians came to the land of Teucria to assist Menelaus; and
that, when the army had landed and pitched their camp, they
sent embassadors to Ilium, and that Menelaus himself went
with them. When they reached the walls, they demanded the
restitution of -Helen, and the treasures that Paris had stolen
from him, and satisfaction for the injuries done: that the'l Trojans told the same story then and ever after, both when put to
the oath and when not swearing, that they had neither Helen
nor the treasures about which they were accused, but that they
were all in Egypt; and that they could not with justice be
answerable for what Proteus, the Egyptian king, had in his
possession. But the Greeks, thinking they were derided by
them, therefore besieged them until they took their city. When,
however, after they had taken the fortifications, Helen was
nowhere found, but they heard the same story as before, then
they gave credit to the first account, and sent Menelaus
himself to Proteus.  119. When Menelaus reached Egypt,
he sailed up to Memphis, and related the real truth.  He
both met with very hospitable entertainment, and received
back Helen unharmed, and, besides, all his treasures. fMenelaus, however, though he met with this treatment, behaved
very iniquitously to. the Egyptians; for, when he was desirous of sailing away, contrary winds detained him; and
3 Odyssey, iv. 351.




140                   HERODOTlUS                      L120.
when this continued the same for a long time, he had recourse
to a nefarious expedient; for having taken two children of the
people of the country, he sacrificed them;4 but afterward,
when it was discovered that he had done this deed, he was
detested and persecuted by the Egyptians, and fled with his
ships to Libya.  Whither he bent his course from thence the
Egyptians were unable to say; but of the above particulars
they said they knew some by inquiry, and others, having taken
place among themselves, they were able, from their own knowledge, to speak of with certainty. 120. These things the priests
of the Egyptians related, and I myself agree with the account
that is given respecting Helen, from the following considerations. If Helen had been in Ilium, she would have been
restored to the Grecians, whether Paris were willing or not;
for surely Priam  could not have been so infatuated, nor the
others his relatives, as to be willing to expose their own persons, their children, and the city to danger, in order that Paris
might cohabit with Helen.  But even if at first they had taken this resolution, yet, seeing that many of the other Trojans
perished whenever they engaged with the Greeks, and that
on every occasion when a battle took place, two or three, or
even more, of Priam's own sons fell, if we may speak on the
authority of the epic poets  when such things happened, I
think that, if Priam  himself were cohabiting with Helen,
he would have restored her to the Greeks in order to be delivered from  such present evils.  Neither would the kingdom  devolve upon Paris, so that when Priam was now old,
the administration of affairs should fall upon him; but Hector, who was both older and more a man than he was,
would succeed to the throne on the death of Priam; nor did
it become him  to give way to his brother when acting unjustly, and this, too, when through his means so many evils
were falling on himself, and on all the rest of the Trojans.
But, indeed, they had it not in their power to restore Helen,
nor, when they spoke the truth, did the Greeks give credit to
them; Providence ordaining, as I am of opinion, that they, by
utterly perishing, should make it clear to all men, that for
great crimes great punishments at the hands of the gods are
4 Literally, "he made victims of them:" by Evroua are meant "victims slain to appease the infernal deities,"




121.J               EUTERPE. II.                    141
in store. Thus these things have been related as they appear
to me.
121. The priests also informed me that Rhanmpsinitus succeeded Proteus in the kingdom: he left as a monument the
portico of the temple of Vulcan, fronting to the west; and he
erected two statues before the portico, twenty-five cubits high.
Of these, the one standing to the north the Egyptians call Summer, and that to the south Winter; and the one that they call
Summer they worship and do honor to, but the one called
Winter they treat in a quite contrary way.
1. This king, they said, possessed a great quantity of
money, such as no one of the succeeding kings was able to
surpass, or even nearly come up to; and he, wishing to
treasure up,his wealth in safety, built a chamber of stone,
of which one of the walls adjoined the outside of the palace.
But the builder, forming a plan against it, devised the following contrivance; he fitted one of the stones so that it might
be easily taken out by two men, or even one. When the
chamber was finished, the king laid up his treasures in it; but
in course of time, the builder, findingohis end approaching, called his sons to him, for he had two, and described to them how
(providing for them that they might have abundant sustenance)
he had contrived when building the king's treasury; and having clearly explained to them every thing relating to the removal of the stone, he gave them its dimensions, and told them,
if they would observe his instructions, they would be stewards
of the king's riches. H-e accordingly died, and the sons were
not long in applying themselves to the work; but having
come by night to the palace, and having found the stone in
the building, they easily removed it, and carried off a great
quantity of treasure.  2. When the king happened to open
the chamber, he was astonished at seeing the vessels deficient
in treasure; but he was not able to accuse any one, as the,seals were unbroken, and the chamber well secured. When,
therefore, on his opening it two or three times, the treasures
were always evidently diminished (for the thieves did not
cease plundering), he adopted the following plan: he ordered
traps to be made, and placed them round the vessels in which
the treasures were.. But when the thieves came as before,
and one of them had entered, as soon as he went near a vessel he was straightway caught in the trap; perceiving, there



142                   HERODOTUS.                    [121.
fore, in what a predicament he was, he immediately called to
his brother, and told him what had happened, and bade him
enter as quick as possible and cut off his head, lest, if he was
seen and recognized, he should ruin him  also: the other
thought that he spoke well, and did as he was advised; then,
having fitted in the stone, he returned home, taking with him
his brother's head. 3. When day came, the king, having entered the chamber, was astonished at seeing the body of the
thief in the trap without the head, but the chamber secure,
and without any means of entrance or exit. In this perplexity he contrived the following plan: he hung up the body of
the thief from the wall, and having placed sentinels there, he
ordered them to seize and bring before him whomsoever they
should see weeping or expressing commiseration at the spectacle. The mother was greatly grieved at the body being suspended, and coming to words with her surviving son, commanded him, by any means he could, to contrive how he
might take down and bring away the corpse of his brother;
but, should he neglect to do so, she threatened to go to the
king, and inform him that he had the treasures. 4. When
the mother treated her/surviving son harshly, and when, with
many entreaties, he was unable to persuade her, he contrived
the following plan: having got some asses, and having filled
some skins with wine, he put them on the asses, and then
drove them along; but when he came near the sentinels that
guarded the suspended corpse, having drawn out two or threR
of the necks of the skins that hung down, he loosened them;
and when the wine ran out, he beat his head, and cried out
aloud, as if he knew not to which of the asses he should turn
first: but the sentinels, when they saw wine flowing in abund.
ance, ran into the road, with vessels in their hands, caught
the wine that was being spilled, thinking it all their own gain;
but the man, feigning anger, railed bitterly against them all;
however, as the sentinels soothed him, he at length pretended
to be pacified, and to forego his anger; at last he drove his
asses out of the road, and set them to rights again. When
rmore conversation passed, and one of the sentinels joked with
him and moved him to laughter, he gave them another of the
skins; and they, just as they were, lay down and set to to
drink, and joined him to their party, and invited him to stay
and drink with them: he was persuaded, forsooth, and re



121.]                EUTERPE. II.                   143
mained with them; and as they treated him kindly during
the drinking, he. gave them  another of the skins; and the
sentinels, having taken very copious draughts, became exceedingly drunk, and, being overpowered by the wine, fell asleep
on the spot where they had been drinking. But he, as the
night was far advanced, took down the body of his brother,
and, by way of insult, shaved the right cheeks of all the sentinels; then, having laid the corpse on the asses, he drove home,
having performed his mother's injunctions.  5. The king,
when he was informed that the body of the thief had been
stolen, was exceedingly indignant, and, resolving by any
means to find out the contriver of this artifice, had recourse,
as it is said, to the following plan, a design which to me
seems incredible: he placed his own daughter in a brothel,
and ordered her to admit all alike to her embraces, but before
they had intercourse with her to compel each one to tell her
what he had done during his life most clever and most wicked,
and whosoever should tell her the facts relating to the thief,
she was to seize; and not suffer him to escape. When, therefore, the daughter did what her father commanded, the thief,
having ascertained for what purpose this contrivance was had
recourse to, and being desirous to outdo the king in craftiness,
did as follows: having cut off the arm of a fresh corpse at the
shoulder, he took it with him, under his cloak; and having
gone in to the king's daughter, and being asked the same questions as all the rest were, he related that he had done the most
wicked thing when he cut off his brother's head who was
caught in a trap in the king's treasury; and the most clever
thing when, having made the sentinels drunk, he took away
the corpse of his brother that was hung up: she, when she
heard this, endeavored to seize him, but the thief in the dark
held out to her the dead man's arm, and she seized it and held
it fast, imagining that she had got hold of the man's own arm.;
then the thief, having let it go, made his escape through the
door. 6. -When this also was reported to the king, he was
astonished at the shrewdness and daring of the man; and at
last, sending throughout all the cities, he caused a proclamation to be made, offering a free pardon, and promising great
reward to the man if he would discover himself. The thief,
relying on this promise, went to the king's palace; and Rhampsinitus greatly admired him, and gave him his daughter in




144                   HERODOTUS.                 [122-124.
marriage, accounting him the most knowing of all men; for
that the Egyptians are superior to all others, but he was superior to the Egyptians.
122. After this, they said that this king descended alive
into the place which the Greeks call Hades, and there played
at dice with Ceres, and sometimes won, and other times
lost; and that he came up again, and brought with him, as
a present from  her, a napkin of gold.  On account of the
descent of Rhampsinitus, since he came back again they said
that the Egyptians celebrated a festival: this I know they
observed even in my time; but whether they held this feast
for some other reason or for that above mentioned, I am unable to say.  However, on that same day, the priests, having
woven a cloak, bind the eyes of one of their number with a
scarf, and having conducted him with the cloak on him to the
way that leads to the temple of Ceres, they then return: upon
which they say this priest, with his eyes bound, is led by two
wolves to the temple of Ceres, twenty stades distant from
the city, and afterward the wolves lead him  back to the
same place.  123. Any person to whom such things appear
credible may adopt the accounts given by the Egyptians; it
is my object, however, throughout the whole history, to write
what I hear from  each people.  The Egyptians say that
Ceres and Bacchus hold the chief sway in the infernal regions;
and the Egyptians also were the first who asserted the doctrine
that.the soul of man is immortal, and that when the body
perishes it enters into some other animal, constantly springing into existence; and when it has passed through the different kinds of terrestrial, marine, and aerial beings, it again enters into the body of a man that is born, and that this revolution is made in three thousand years.  Some of the Greeks
have adopted this opinion, some earlier, others later, as if it
were their own; but, although I know their names, I do not
mention them.
124. Now they told me that to the reign of Rhampsinitus
there was a perfect distribution of justice, and that all Egypt
was in a high state of prosperity; but that after him Cheops,
coming to reign over them, plunged into every kind of wickedness; for that, having shut up all the temples, he first of
all forbade them to offer sacrifice, and afterward he ordered
all the Egyptians to work for himself; some, accordingly, were




1 2.5.]              EUTERPE. II.                     145
appointed to draw stones from the quarries in the Arabian
mountain down to the Nile, others he ordered to receive the
stones when transported in vessels across the river, and to
drag them  to the mountain called the Libyan; and they
worked to the number of a hundred thousand men at a time,
each party during three months. The time during which the
people were thus harassed by toil lasted ten years on the road
which they constructed, along which they drew the stones, a
work, in my opinion, not much less than the pyramid; for its
length is five stades, and its width ten orgye, and its height,
where it is the highest, eight orgyse; and it is ocf polished stone,
with figures carved on it: on this road, then, ten years were
expended, and in forming the subterraneous apartments on
the hill, on which the pyramids stand, which he had made as
a burial vault for himself, in an island, formed by draining a
canal from the Nile.  Twenty years were spent in erecting
the pyramid itself: of this, which is square, each face is eight
plethra, and the height is the same; it is composed of polished
stones, and jointed with the greatest exactness: none of the
stones are less than thirty feet.  125. This pyramid was built
thus, in the form of steps, which some call crossas, others bomides. When they had first built it in this manner, they
raised the remaining stones by machines made of short pieces
of wood: having lifted them from the ground to the first range
of steps, when the stone arrived there, it was put on another
machine that stood ready on the first range, and from this it
was drawn to the second range on another machine, for the
machines were equal in number to the ranges of steps; or they
removed the machine, which was only one, and portable, to
each range in succession, whenever they wished to raise the
stone higher, for I should relate it in both ways, as it is related. The highest parts of it, therefore, were first finished, and
afterward they completed the parts next following; but last
of all they finished the parts on the ground, and that were
lowest. On the pyramid is shown an inscription, in Egyptian
characters, how much was expended in radishes, onions, and
garlic for the workmen; which the interpreter, as I well remember, reading the inscription, told me amounted to one
thousand six hundred talents of silver; and if this be really
the case, how  much more was probably expended in iron
tools, in bread, and in clothes for the laborers, since they
G



146                  IIERODOTUS.               [126-129.
occupied in building the works the time which I mentioned,
and no short time besides, as I think, in cutting and drawing the stones, and in forming the subterraneous excavation.
126. It is related that Cheops reached such a degree of infamy,
that, being in want of money, he prostituted his own daughter
in a brothel, and ordered her to extort, they did not say how
much, but she exacted a certain sum of money, privately, as
much as her father ordered her, and contrived to leave a monument of herself, and asked every one that came in to her to
give her a stone toward the edifice she designed: of these
stones they said the pyramid was built that stands in the
middle of the three, before the great pyramid, each side of
which is a plethron and a half in length. 127. The Egyptians say that this Cheops reigned fifty years; and when he
died, his brother Chephren succeeded to the kingdom, and he
followed the same practice as the other, both in other respects,
and in building a pyramid, which does not come up to the
dimensions of his brother's, for I myself measured them; nor
has it subterraneous chambers; nor does a channel from the
Nile flow to it, as to the other; but this flows through an
artificial aqueduct round an island within, in which they
say the body of Cheops is laid. Having laid the first course
of variegated Ethiopian stones, less in height than the other
by forty feet, he built it near the large pyramid. They both
stand on the same hill, which is about a hundred feet high.
Chephren, they said, reigned fifty-six years.  128. Thus
one hundred and six years are reckoned, during which the
Egyptians suffered all kinds of calamities, and for this length
of time the temples were closed and never opened. Froin
the hatred they bear them, the Egyptians are not very will,
ing to mention their names, but call the pyramids after Phi,
lition, a shepherd, who at that time kept his cattle in thoss
parts.
129. They said that after him, Mycerinus, son of Cheops,
reigned over Egypt; that the conduct of his father was displeasing to him; and that he opened the temples, and permitted the people, who were worn down to the last extremity,
to return to their employments and to sacrifices; and that he
made the most just decisions of all their kings.  On this account, of all the kings that ever reigned in Egypt, they praise
him  most, for he both judged well in other respects, and




130-132.]             EUTERPE. II.                    147
moreover, when any man complained of his decision, he used
to make him some present out of his own treasury and pacify
his anger. To this Miycerinus, who was thus beneficent toward his subjects, and who followed these practices, the first
beginning of misfortunes was the death of his daughter, who
was his only child; whereupon he, being extremely afflicted
with the calamity that had befallen him, and wishing to bury
her in a more costly manner than usual, caused a hollow
wooden image of a cow to be made, and then, having covered
it with gold, he put the body of his deceased daughter into it.
130. This cow was not interred in the ground, but even in
my time was exposed to view, being in the city of Sais, placed
in the royal palace, in a richly-furnished chamber; and they
burn near it all kinds of aromatics every day, and a lamp is
kept burning by it throughout each night.  In another chamber near to this cow are placed the images of Mycerinus's concubines, as the priests of Sais affirmed; and, indeed, wooden
statues, about twenty in number, all formed naked, are placed
there: however, as to who they are I am unable to say, except
what was told me.  131. Some people, however, give the following account of this cow and these statues: that Mycerinus
fell in love with his own daughter, and had intercourse with
her against her will; but afterward, they say, that the girl
strangled herself through grief, and he entombed her in this
cow; but her mother cut off the hands of the servants who
had betrayed her daughter to the father, and that now their
images have suffered the same that they did lwhen alive.  But
these things, as I conjecture, are trifling fables, both in other
respects and in what relates to the hands of the statues, for I
myself saw that they had lost their hands from age, which
were seen lying at their feet even in my time.  132. The cow
is in other parts covered with a purple cloth, but shows the
head and the neck, covered over with very thick gold; and
the orb of the sun imitated in gold is placed between the
horns.  The cow is not standing up, but kneeling: in size it
is equal to a large living cow. It is carried every year out of
the chamber.  When the Egyptians beats themselves for the
god that is not to be named by me on this occasion, they then
carry out the cow to the light; for they say that she, when
she was dying, entreated her father Mycerinus to permit her
5 See Chap. 61.




148                   IIERODOTUS.                [1^3, 134.
to see the sun once every year. 133. After the loss of his
daughter, this second calamity befell this king: an oracle reached him from the city of Buto, importing " that he had no more
than six years to live, and should die in the seventh;" but he,
thinking this very hard, sent a reproachful message to the god,
complaining " that his father and uncle, who had shut up the
temples, and paid no regard to the gods, and, moreover, had oppressed men, had lived long; whereas he, who was religious,
must die so soon."  But a second message came to him from
the oracle, stating " that for this very reason his life was shortened, because he had not done what he ought to have done;
for it was needful that Egypt should be afflicted during one
hundred and fifty years; and the two who were kings before
him understood this, but he did not."  When Mycerinus heard
this, seeing that this sentence was now pronounced against him,
he ordered a great number of lamps to be made, and having
lighted them, whenever night came on, he drank and enjoyed
himself, never ceasing night or day, roving about the marshes
and groves, wherever he could hear of places most suited for
pleasure; and he had recourse to this artifice for the purpose
of convicting the oracle of falsehood, that by turning the nights
into days-he might have twelve years instead of six.
134. This king also left a pyramid much less than that of
his father, being on each side twenty feet short of three plethra; it is quadrangular, and built half way up of Ethiopian
stone.  Some of the Grecians erroneously say that this pyramid is the work of the i,:rtesan Rhodopis; but they evidently appear to me ignorant who Rhodopis was, for they
would not else have attributed to her the building such a
pyramid, on which, so to speak, numberless thousands of
talents were expended; besides, Rhodopis flourished in the
reign of Amasis, and not at this time; for she was very many
years later than those kings who left these pyramids. By
birth she was a Thracian, servant to Iadmon, son of Hephaestopolis, a Samian, and fellow-servant with AEsop, the
writer of fables, for he too belonged to ladmon, as is clearly
proved by this circumstance.  When the Delphians frequently
made proclamation, in obedience to the oracle, for "'any one
who would require satisfaction for the death of JEsop," no one
else appeared, but another Iadmon, the grandson of this ladmon, required it; thus JAsop must have belonged to ladmon.




135, 136.]           EUTERPE. II. 1l
135. Rhodopis came to Egypt under the conduct of Xanthus
the Samian; and having come to gain money by her person,
she was ransomed for a large sum by Charaxus of Mitylene,
son to Scamandronymus, and brother of Sappho the poetess.
Thus Rhodopis was made free, and continued in Egypt, and
being very lovely, acquired great riches for a person of her
condition, though no way sufficient to erect such a pyramid;
for as any one who wishes may to this day see the tenth of
her wealth, there is no need to attribute any great wealth to
her; for Rhodopis was desirous of leaving a monument to
herself in Greece, and, having had such. a work' mnade as no
one ever yet devised and dedicated in a temiple, to offer it at
Delphi as a memorial of herself; having, therefore, made from
the tenth of her wealth a great number of iron spits for roasting oxen, as far as the tenth allowed, she sent them to Delphi;
which are still piled up bIehind the altar, which the Chians
dedicated opposite the temple itself. The courtesans of Naucratis are generally very lovely; for, in the first place, this
one, of whom this account is given, became so famous that all
the Greeks became familiar with the name of Rhodopis; and,
in the next place, after her, another, whose name was Archidice, became celebrated throughout Greece, though less talked
about than the former.  As for Charaxus, when, having ransomed Rhodopis, he returned to Mitylene, Sappho gibed him
very much in an ode. Now I have done speaking of Rhodopis.
136. After Mycerinus, the priests said that Asychis became
king of Egypt, and that he t5lt the eastern portico to the
temple of Vulcan, which is Ifar the most beautiful and the
largest; for all the porticoes hl've sculptured figures, and an
infinite variety of architecture, but this most of all. They related that, during his reigf, there being a great want of circulation of money, a law was made by the Egyptians that a man,
by giving the dead body of his father in pledge, might borrow
money; and it was also added to this law that the lender
should have power over the whole sepulchre of the borrower;
and that on any one who gave this pledge, the following punishment should be inflicted if he afterward refused to repay the
debt, that neither he himself, when he died; should be buried
in his family sepulchre, or in any other, nor have the liberty
of burying any other of his own dead. This king, being de



150                  HERODOTUS.                 [137, 138.
sirous of surpassing his predecessors who were kings of Egypt,
left a pyramid as a memorial, made of bricks, on which is an
inscription, carved on stone, in the following words: "Do not
despise me in comparison with the pyramids of stone, for I excel them as much as Jupiter the other gods; for by plunging
a pole into a lake, and collecting the mire that stuck to the
pole, men made bricks, and in this manner built me." Such
were the works that this king performed.
137. After him there reigned a blind man of the city of
Anysis, whose name was Anysis.  During his reign, the
Ethiopians, and Sabacon, king of the Ethiopians, invaded
Egypt with a large force; whereupon this blind king fled to
the fens. and the Ethiopian reigned over Egypt for fifty
years, during which time he performed the following actions.
When any Egyptian committed any crime, he would not have
any of them put to death, but passed sentence upon each according to the magnitude of his offense, enjoining them to
heap up mounds against their own city to which each of the
offenders belonged; and by this means the cities were made
much higher; for first of all they had been raised by those
who dug the canals in the time of king Sesostris,6 and secondly, under the Ethiopian they were made very high. Although
other cities in Egypt were carried to a great height, in my
opinion, the greatest mounds were thrown up about the city
of Bubastis, in which is a temple of Bubastis well worthy of
mention; for, though other temples may be larger and more
costly, yet none is more pleasing to look at than this. Bubastis, in the Grecian language, answers to Diana.  138.
Her sacred precinct is thus situated: all except the entrance
is an island; for two canals from the Nile extend to it, not
mingling with each other, but each reaches as far as the entrance of the precinct, one flowing round it on one side, the
other on the other. Each is a hundred feet broad, and shaded
with trees. The portico is ten orgye in height, and is adorned with figures six cubits high, that are deserving of notice.
This precinct, being in the middle of the city, is visible on
every side to a person going round it; for as the city has been
mounded up to a considerable height, but the temple has not
been moved, it is conspicuous as it was originally built. A
wall sculptured with figures runs'round it; and within is a
grove of lofty trees, planted round a large temple in which the
6 See II. 108.




189-.,J1Y          EUTERPE. II.                     151
image is placed. The width andlength of the precinct is each
way a stade. Along the entrance is a road paved with stone,
about three stades in length, leading through the square eastward; and in width it is about four plethra. On each side of
the road grow trees of enormous height: it leads to the temple of Mercury.  Such, then, is the situation of this precinct.
139. They related that the final departure of the Ethiopian
occurred in the following manner: that he, having seen a
vision of the following kind in his sleep, fled away: it appeared to him that a man, standing by him, advised him to assemble all the priests in Egypt, and to cut them in two down the
middle; but he, having seen this vision, said that he thought
the gods held this out as a pretext to him, in order that he,
having been guilty of impiety in reference to sacred things,
might draw down some evil on himself from  gods or from
men. He would not, therefore, do so; but as the time was
expired during which it was foretold that he should reign over
Egypt, he would depart from the country; for, while he was
yet in Ethiopia, the oracles which the Ethiopians have recourse to answered that he was fated to reign over Egypt
fifty years.  Since, then, this period had elapsed, and the
vision of the'dream troubled him, Sabacon, of his own accord,
withdrew from Egypt.  140. When, therefore, the Ethiopian
departed from Egypt, the blind king resumed the government,
having returned from the fens, where he had lived fifty years,
having formed an island of ashes and earth; for when any of the
Egyptians came to him bringing provisions, as they were severally ordered unknown to the Ethiopian, he bade them bring
some ashes also as a present. No one, before Amyrtaeus, was
able to discover this island; bat, for more than seven hundred
years, the kings who preceded Amyrtaus were unable to find
it out. The name of this island was Elbo; its size is about ten
stades in each direction.
141. After him reigned the priest of Vulcan, whose name
was Sethon. He held in no account and despised the military
caste of the Egyptians, as not having need of their services;
and accordingly, among other indignities, he took away their
lands, to each of whom, under former kings, twelve chosen
acres, had been assigned. After this, Sennacherib, king of the
7 The arura, here rendered "acre," was an Egyptian measure, containing a square of 100 Egyptian cubits.




152.HERODOTUS.                 [142, 143.
Arabians and Assyrians, marched a large. army against Egypt;
whereupon the Egyptian warriors refused to assist him; and
the priest, being reduced to a strait, entered the temple, and
bewailed before the image the calamities he was in danger of
suffering.. While he was lamenting, sleep fell upon him, and
it appeared to him in a vision that the god stood by and encouraged him, assuring him that he should suffer nothing disagreeable in meeting the Arabian army, for he would himself
send assistants to him. Confiding in this vision, he took with
him such of the Egyptians as were willing to follow him, and
encamped in Pelusium, for here the entrance into Egypt is; but
none of the military caste followed him, but tradesmen, mechanics, and sutlers. When they arrived there, a number of
field-mice, pouring in upon their enemies, devoured their quivers and their bows, and, moreover, the handles of their shields;
so that, on the next day, when they fled bereft of their arms,
many of them fell; and to this day a stone statue of this king
stands in the temple of Vulcan, with a mouse in his hand, and
an inscription to the following effect: " Whoever looks on me,
let him revere the gods."
142. Thus much of the account the Egyptians and the
priests related, showing that from the first king to this priest
of Vulcan who last reigned were three hundred forty and one
generations of men, and during these generations there were
the same number of chief priests and kings.  1Ncw three
hundred generations are equal to ten thousand years, fbr three
generations of men are one hundred years; and the forty-one
remaining generations that were over the three hundred
make one thousand three hundred and forty years.  Thus,
they said, in eleven thousand three hundred and forty years,
no god had assumed the form of a man; neither, they said,
had any such thing happened before or afterward, in the
time of the remaining kings of Egypt. During this time, they
related that the sun had four times risen out of his usual
quarter, and that he had twice risen where he now sets, and
twice set where he now rises; yet that no change in the
things in Egypt was occasioned by this, either with regard to
the productions of the earth or the river, or with regard to
diseases, or with respect to deaths. 143. In former time, the
priests of Jupiter did to Hecataeus the historian, when he
was tracing his own genealogy, and connecting his family




144, 145.]          EUTERPE. II.                    153
with a god in the sixteenth degree, the same as they did to
me, though I did not trace my genealogy.   Conducting me
into the interior of an edifice that was spacious, and showing
me wooden colossuses to the number I have mentioned, they
reckoned them up; for every high priest places an image of
himself there during his lifetime; the priests, therefore, reckoning them and showing them to me, pointed out that each
was the son of his own father; going through them all, from
the image of him that died last until they had pointed them
all out. But when Hecataeus traced his own genealogy, and
connected himself with a god in the sixteenth degree, they controverted his genealogy by computation, not admitting that a
man could be born from a god  and they thus controverted his
genealogy, saying that each of the colossuses was a Piromis
sprung from a Piromis until they pointed out the three hundred and forty-five colossuses, each a Piromis sprung from a Piromis, and they did not connect them with any god or hero.
Piromis means, in" the Grecian language, " a noble and good
man."  144. They pointed out to me, therefore, that all those
of whom there were images were of that character, but were
very far from being gods; that, indeed, before the time of these
men, gods had been the rulers of Egypt, and had dwelt among
men, and that one of them always had the supreme power, and
that Orus, the son of Osiris, whom the Greeks call Apollo, was
the last who reigned over it; he, having deposed Typhon, was
the last who reigned over Egypt. Now Osiris, in the Grecian
language, means Bacchus.
145. Among the Greeks, the most recent of the gods are
thought to be Hercules, Bacchus, and Pan; but by the Egyptians Pan is esteemed the most ancient, and one of the eight
called original; but Hercules is among the second, among
-those called the twelve; and Bacchus is of the third, who were
sprung from the twelve gods. I have already declared8 how
many years the Egyptians say there were from Hercules to
the reign of Amasis; but from Pan a still greater number of
years are said to have intervened, and from Bacchus fewest of
all; and from him there are computed to have been fifteen
thousand years to the reign of Amasis. The Egyptians say
they know these things with accuracy, because they always
compute and register the years. Now from Bacchus. who is
8 See chap. 43.
G2




154                 HERODOTUS.               [146-148.
said to have been born of Semele, the daughter of Cadmus, to
my time, is about sixteen hundred years, and from Hercules,
the son of Alcmena, about nine hundred years; but from Pan,
born of Penelope (for Pan is said by the Greeks to have sprung
from her and Mercury), is a less number of years than from
the siege of Troy, about eight hundred, to my time. 146. Of
these two accounts, each person may adopt that which he
thinks most credible; I have therefore declared my own opinion respecting them; for, if these deities had been well known,
and had grown old in Greece, as Hercules, who was sprung
from Amphitryon, and especially Bacchus, the son of Semele,
and Pan, who was borne by Penelope, some one might say
that these later ones, though mere men, bore the names of the
gods who were long before them. Now the Greeks say of
Bacchus that Jupiter sewed him into his thigh as soon as he
was born, and carried him to Nyssa, which is above Egypt in
Ethiopia; and concerning Pan, they are unable to say whither
he was taken at his birth. It is evident to me, therefore, that
the Grecians learned their names later than those of the other
gods, and from the time when they learned them they trace
their origin; therefore they ascribe their generation to that
time, and not higher. These things, then, the Egyptians themselves relate.
147. What things both other men and the Egyptians agree
in saying occurred in this country, I shall now proceed to
relate, and shall add to them some-things of my own observation. The Egyptians having become free after the reign of
the priest of Vulcan, for they were at no time able to live
without a king, established twelve kings, having divided all
Egypt into twelve parts.  These, having contracted intermarriages, reigned, adopting the following regulations: that
they would not attempt the subversion of one another, nor
one seek to acquire more than another, and that they should
maintain the strictest friendship. They made these regulations, and strictly upheld them, for the following reason: it
had been foretold them by an oracle, when they first assumed
the government, "that whoever among them should offer a
libation in the temple of Vulcan from a brazen bowl, should
be king of all Egypt;" for they used to assemble in all the
temples. 148. Now they determined to leave in common a
memorial of themselves, and having so determined, they
built a labyrinth.a little above the lake of Mceris, situated




149.]1               EUTERPE. II.                    155
near that called the city of Crocodiles; this I have myself
seen, and found it greater than can be described; for if any
one should reckon up the buildings and public works of the
Grecians, they would be found to have cost less labor and
expense than this labyrinth, though the temple in Ephesus is
deserving of mention, and also that in Samos. The pyramids,
likewise, were beyond description, and each of them comparable to many of the great Grecian structures. Yet the
labyrinth surpasses even the pyramids; for it has twelve
courts inclosed with walls, with doors opposite each other, six
facing the north and six the south, contiguous to one another,
and the same exterior wall incloses them. It contains two
kinds of rooms, some under ground and some above ground
over them, to the number of three thousand, fifteen hundred
of each. The rooms above ground I myself went through
and saw, and relate from personal inspection; but the under
ground rooms I only know from report; for the Egyptians who
have charge of the building would on no account show me
them, saying that there were the sepulchres of the kings who
originally built this labyrinth, and of the sacred crocodiles. I
can therefore only relate what I have learned by hearsay concerning the lower rooms; but the upper ones, which surpass
all human works, I myself saw; for the passages through the
corridors, and the windings through the courts, from  their
great variety, presented a thousand occasions of wonder, as I
passed from a court to the rooms, and from the rooms to halls,
and to other corridors from the halls, and to other courts from
the rooms. The roofs of all these are of stone, as also are the
walls; but the walls are full of sculptured figures. Each
court is surrounded with a colonnade of white stone, closely
fitted; and adjoining the extremity of the labyrinth is a pyramid, forty orgyma in height, on which large figures are carved,
carved, and a way to it has been made under ground.
149. Although this labyrinth is such as I have described,
yet the lake named from Mceris, near which this labyrinth is
built, occasions greater wonder: its circumference measures
three thousand six hundred stades, or sixty schoenes, equal
to the sea-coast of Egypt. The lake stretches lengthways,
north and south, being in depth in the deepest part fifty
orgyae. That it is made by hand and dry, this circumstance
proves, for about the middle of the lake stand two pyramids,




156                  HERODOTUS.                 [150, 151.
each rising fifty orgya above the surface of the water, and
the part built under water extends to an equal depth: on each
of these is placed a stone statue, seated on a throne. Thus
these pyramids are one hundred orgyve in height; and a hundred orgyae are equal to a stade of six plethra; the orgya
measuring six feet, or four cubits; the foot being four palms,
and the Cubit six palms. The water in this lake does not
spring from the soil, for these parts are excessively dry, but
it is conveyed through a channel from the Nile, and for six
months it flows into the lake, and six months out again into the
Nile; and during the six months that it flows out it yields a
talent of silver every day to the king's treasury from the fish;
but when the water is flowing into it, twenty minoa. 150. The
people of the country told me that this lake discharges itself
under ground into the Syrtis of Libya, running westward toward the interior by the mountain above Memphis; but
when I did not see any where a heap of soil from this excavation, for this was an object of curiosity to me, I inquired of the
people who lived nearest the lake where the soil that had been
dug out was to be found; they told me where it had been
carried, and easily persuaded me, because I had heard that a
similar thing had been done at Nineveh, in Assyria; for
certain thieves formed a design to carry away the treasures of
Sardanapalus, king of Nineveh, which were very large, and
preserved in subterraneous treasuries; the thieves, therefore,
beginning from their own dwellings, dug under ground by
estimated measurement to the royal palace, and the soil that
was taken out of the excavations, when night came on, they
threw into the river Tigris, that flows by Nineveh; and so
they proce.eded until they had effected their purpose. The
same method I.heard was adopted in digging the lake in
Egypt, except that it was not done by night, but during the
day; for the Egyptians who dug out the soil carried it to the
Nile, and the river receiving it, soon dispersed it. Now this
lake is said to havepeen excavated in this way.
151. While the twelve kings continued to observe justice,
in course of time, as they were sacrificing in the temple of Vulcan, and were about to offer a libation on the last day of the
festival, the high priest, mistaking the number, brought out
eleven of the twelve golden bowls with which he used to make
the libation; whereupon he who stood last of them, Psam



152.]               EUTERPE. II.                   157
mitichus, since he had not a bowl, having taken off his helmet,
which was of brass, held it out and made the libation. All
the other kings were in the habit of wearing helmets, and at
that time had them on. Psammitichus therefore, without any
sinister intention, held out his helmet; but they, having taken
into consideration what was done by Psammitichus, and the
oracle that had foretold to them "that whoever among them
should offer a libation from a brazen bowl should be sole king
of Egypt;" calling to mind the oracle, they did not think it
right to put him to death, since upon examination they found
that he had done it by no premeditated design. But. they determined to banish him to the marshes, having divested him of
the greatest part of his power; and they forbade him to leave
the marshes, or have any intercourse with the rest of Egypt.
152. This Psammitichus, who had before fled from Sabacon
the Ethiopian, who had killed his father Neco —having at
that time fled into Syria, the Egyptians, who belong to the
Saitic district, brought back when the Ethiopian withdrew in
consequence of the vision in a dream.9  And afterward, having been made king, he was a second time constrained' by the
eleven kings to go into exile among the marshes on account of
the helmet. Knowing, then, that he had been exceedingly injured by them, he entertained the design of avenging himself
on his persecutors; and when he sent to the city of Buto to
consult the oracle of Latona, where is the truest oracle that
the Egyptians have, an answer came "that vengeance would
come from the sea, when men of brass should appear."  He,
however, was very incredulous2 that men of brass would come
te assist him. But when no long time had elapsed, stress of
weather compelled some lonians and Carians, who had sailed
out for the purpose of piracy, to bear away to Egypt; and
when they had disembarked and were clad in brazen armor,
an Egyptian, who had never before seen men clad in brass,
went to the marshes to Psammitichus, and told him that men
of brass, having arrived from the sea, were ravaging the plains.
lIe, perceiving that the oracle was accomplished, treated these
Ionians and Carians in a friendly manner, and having promised them great things, persuaded them to join with him; and
when he had succeeded in persuading them, he thus, with tho
9 See II. 139.          i Literally, "it befell him."
2 Literally, "great incredulity was poured secretly into him."




158                  HERODOTUS.                [153-155.
help of such Egyptians as were well affected to him, and with
these allies, overcame the other kings.
153. Psammitichus, having made himself master of all
Egypt, constructed the portico to Vulcan's temple at Memphis that faces the south wind; and he built a court for Apis,
in which he is fed whenever he appears opposite the portico,
surrounded by a colonnade, and full of sculptured figures;
and instead of pillars, statues twelve cubits high are placed under the piazza. Apis, in the language of the Greeks, means
Epaphus. 154. To the Ionians, and those who with them
had assisted him, Psammitichus gave lands opposite each
other, with the Nile flowing between  to these lands was
given the name of Campsi and besides these lands he gave
them all that he had promised; and he, moreover, put Egyptian children under their care, to be instructed in the Greek
language; and from those who learned the language the present interpreters in Egypt are descended. The Ionians and
the Carians continued for a long time to inhabit these lands,
and they are situated near the sea, a little below the city of
Bubastis, on that which is called the Pelusiac mouth of the
Nile; these, in after time, king Amasis removed and settled at
Memphis, making them his body-guard against the Egyptians.
From the time of the settlement of these people in Egypt, we
Greeks have had such constant communication with them,
that we are accurately informed of all that has happened in
Egypt, beginning from the reign of Psammitichus to the present time. These were the first people of a different language
who settled in Egypt. The docks for their ships, and the
ruins of their buildings, were to be seen in my time in the
places from which they were removed. Thus, then, Psammitichus became master of Egypt.
155. Of the oracle that is in Egypt I have already made
frequent mention; and Ishall now give an account of it, as
well deserving notice. This oracle in Egypt is a temple sacred
to Latona, situated in a large city, near that which is called
the Sebennytic mouth of the Nile, as one sails upward from
the sea. The name of this city, where the oracle is, is Buto,
as I have already mentioned. There is also in this Buto a
precinct sacred to Apollo and Diana; and the temple of Latona, in which the oracle is, is spacious, and has a portico ten
3 See II. 83, 133, 152.




156G-158.]            EUTERPE. II.                      159
orgyae in height. But of all the things I saw there, I will
describe that which occasioned most astonishment.  There is
in this inclosure a temple of Latona made from one stone,
both in height and length, and each wall is equal to them;4
each of these measures forty cubits: for the roof, another
stone is laid over it, having a cornice four cubits deep.5 156.
This temple, then, is the most wonderful thing that' I saw
about this precinct. Next to it is the island called Chemmis,
situated in a deep and broad lake near the precinct in Buto.
This is said by the Egyptians to be a floating island, but I
myself saw it neither floating nor moving, and I was astonished when I heard that there really was a floating island.  In
tils, then, is a spacious temple of Apollo, and in it three altars
are placed; and there grow in it great numbers of palms, and
many other trees, both such as produce fruit and such as do
not.  The Egyptians, when they affirm that it floats, add the
following story: they say that in this island, which before did
not float, Latona, who was one of the eight primary deities,
dwelling in Buto, where this oracle of hers now is,'received
Apollo as a deposit from the hands of Isis, and saved him by
concealing him in this, which is now called the floating island,
when Typhon arrived, searching every where, and hoping to
find the son of Osiris; for they say that Apollo and Diana are
the offspring of Bacchus and Isis, and that Latona was their
nurse and preserver. In the language of Egypt, Apollo is called Orus; Ceres, Isis; and Diana, Bubastis.  Now from  this
account, and no other, JEschylus, the son of Euphorion, alone
among the earlier poets, derived the tradition that I will mention, for he made Diana to be the daughter of Ceres.  On this
account they say that the island was made to float. Such is
the account they give.
157. Psammitichus. reigned in Egypt fifty-four years,
during twenty-nine of which he sat down before and besieged
Azotus, a large city of Syria, until he took it.  This Azotus,
of all the cities we know  of, held out against a siege the
longest period.  158. Neco was son of Psammitichus, and
became king of Egypt. He first set about the canal that leads
4 That is to say, its external surface forms a perfect cube.'5 This is usually translated "having a projecting roof to the extent
of four cubits;" but see Letronne's remark in Baehr.-CGay's Lexicon,
irapOpooil.




160                  HERODOTUS.                 [159, 160.
to the Red Sea, which Darius the Persian afterward completed.  Its length is a voyage of four days, and in width it
was dug so that two triremes. might sail rowed abreast. The
water is drawn into it from the Nile, and it enters it a little
above the city Bubastis, passes near the Arabian city Patumos,
and reaches to fhe Red Sea. The parts of the Egyptian plain
that lie toward Arabia were dug first; above this plain is
situated the mountain that stretches toivard Memphis, in
which are the quarries.  Along the base of this mountain,
therefore, the canal is carried lengthways from the west to the
east,,and then it stretches to the defiles, passing from the
mountain toward the meridian and the south inward, as far as
the Arabian Gulf. But in the part where is the shortest and
most direct passage from the northern sea to the southern,
which is the same as that called the Red Sea, namely, from
Mount Cesius, that separates Egypt from  Syria, from  this
point the distance is a thousand stades to the Arabian Gulf:
this, then, is the most direct way; but the canal is very much
longer, in that it is more winding, in the digging of which one
hundred and twenty thousand Egyptians perished in the reign
of Neco.:Now Neco stopped digging it in the middle of the
work, the following oracle having caused an impediment,
"that he was working for a barbarian;" for the Egyptians
call all men barbarians who do not speak the same language
as themselves.  159. But Neco, having put a stop to his excavation, turned his attention' to military affairs; and triremes
were constructed, some on the northern sea, and others in the
Arabian Gulf or the Red Sea, of which the docks are still
to be seen. These he used as he had occasion; and Neco,
having come to an engagement with the Syrians on land at
3Iagdolus, conquered them, and after the battle took Cadytis,
which is a large city in Syria. The garments he wore during
these actions he consecrated to Apollo, having sent them to
Branchida of the Milesians. Afterward, having reigned sixteen years in all, he died, and left the kingdom to his son
Psamrmis.
160. While this Psammis was reigning over Egypt, embassadors arrived from  the Eleans, boasting that they had
established the Olympian games under the most just and excellent regulations in the world, and believing that not even
the Egyptians, the wisest of mankind, could invent any thing




161, 162.]           EUTERPE. II.                   161
surpassing them. When the Eleans, having arrived in Egypt,
mentioned -for what purpose they had come, this king thereupon summoned those who were reputed to be the wisest
among the Egyptians; and the Egyptians, having met together, heard the Eleans relate what was settled for them to do
with regard to the games; and they, having mentioned every
thing, said they had come to inquire " whether the Egyptians
could invent any thing more equitable;" and they, having
consulted together, asked the Eleans whether their own citizens
were permitted to enter the lists; they said that they and all
other Grecians who wished were allowed to contend; but the'Egyptians replied, " that in making such enactments they had
totally deviated from the rules of justice, for that they could
not contrive so as not to favor a citizen of their own to the
prejudice of a stranger; but if they really wished to make
just enactments, ahd hbd come into Egypt for this purpose,
they advised them to establish games for foreign candidates,
and to allow no Elean to enter the lists."  Such was the suggestion that the Egyptians made to the Eleans.
161. When Psammis had reigned only six years over Egypt,
and made an expedition into Ethiopia, and shortly afterward
died, Apries his son succeeded to the kingdom. He, next to
his grandfather Psammitichus, enjoyed greater prosperity than
any of the former kings, during a reign of five-and-twenty
years, in which period he marched an army against Sidon, and
engaged the Tyrian by sea. But when it was destined for
him to meet with adversity, it happened on an occasion which
I shall narrate more fully in my Libyan history,6 and briefly
in this place; for Apries, having sent an army against the
Cyrenaeans, met with a signal defeat; but the Egyptians, complaining of this, revolted from him, suspecting that Apries had
designedly sent them to certain ruin, in order that they might
be destroyed, and he might govern the rest of the Egyptians
with greater security; both those that returned and the friends
of those who perished, being very indignant at this, openly
revolted against him.  162. Apries, having heard of this, sent
Amasis to appease them by persuasion; but when he, having come to them, was endeavoring to restrain them, as he
was urging them to'desist from their enterprise, one of the
Egyptians standing behind him placed a helmet on his head,
6 See 3. IV. chap. 159.




162                  HERIODOTUS.               [163-165.
and as he put it on, said "that he put it on him to make
him king."  And this action was not at all disagreeable to
Amasis, as he presently showed; for when the revolters had
appointed him king of the Egyptians, he prepared to lead an
army against Apries; but Apries, being informed of this, sent
to Amasis a considerable person among the Egyptians that
adhered to him, whose name was Patarbemis, with orders to
bring Amasis alive into his presence. When Patarbemis arrived and summoned Amasis, Amasis, raising his leg (for he
happened to be on horseback), broke wind, andbade him carry that to Apries. Nevertheless, Patarbemis begged of him,,since the king had sent for him, to go to him   but he answered "'that he had been some time preparing to do so,
and that Apries should have no cause of complaint, for that
he would not only appear himself, but would bring others
with him."  Patarbemis, perceiving his design from what was
said, and seeing preparations being made, returned in haste,
as he wished to inform the king as soon as possible of what
was going on. When, however, he came to Apries without
bringing Amasis, Apries, taking no time for deliberation, in
a transport of passion commanded his ears and nose to be
cut off. The rest of the Egyptians, who still adhered to him,
seeing one of the most distinguished among them treated in
so unworthy a manner, did not delay a moment, but went
immediately over to the others and gave themselves to Amasis. 163. When Apries heard of this, he armed his auxiliaries and marched against the Egyptians; but he had with him
Carian and Ionian auxiliaries to the number of thirty thousand; and he had a palace in the city of Sais that was spacious and magnificent. Now Apries's party advanced against
the Egyptians, and the party of Amasis against the foreigners.
They met near the city Momemphis, and prepared to engage
with each other.
164. There are seven classes of Egyptians, and of these
some are called priests, others warriors, others herdsmen,
others swineherds, others tradesmen, others interpreters, and,
lastly, pilots: such are the classes of Egyptians: they take
their names from the employments they exercise. Their warriors are called Calasiries or Hermotybies, and they are of
the following districts, for all Egypt is divided into districts.
165. The following are the districts of the Hermotybies,




166-169.]             EUTERPE. IL                     163
Busiris, Sais, Chemmis, Papremis, the island called Prosopitis,
and the half of Natho. From these districts are the Hermotybies, being in number, when they are most numerous, a
hundred and sixty thousand. None of these learn any mechanical art, but apply themselves wholly to military affairs.
166. These next are the districts of the Calasiries: Thebes,
Bubastis, Aphthis, Tanis, Mendes, Sebennys, Athribis, Pharbaethis, Thmuis, Onuphis, Anysis, Mycephoris: this district is
situated in an island opposite the city of Bubastis.  These are
the districts of the Calasiries, being in number, when they are
most numerous, two hundred and fifty thousand men. Neither
are these allowed to practice any art, but they devote themselves to military pursuits alone, the son succeeding to his father.  167. Whether the Greeks learned this custom from the
Egyptians, I am unable to determine with certainty, seeing that
the Thracians, Scythians, Persians, Lydians, and almost all barbarous nations, hold in less honor than their other citizens
those who learn any art and their descendants, but deem such
to be noble as abstain from handicrafts, and particularly those
who devote themselves to war.  All the Greeks, moreover,
have adopted the same notion, and especially the Lacedaemonians; but the Corinthians hold handicraftsmen in least disesteem.  168. To these alone, of all the Egyptians, besides the
priests, the following special privileges are attached: to each,
twelve chosen acres7 free from tribute.  The acre contains a
square of one hundred Egyptian cubits, and the Egyptian
cubit is equal to that of Samos. These privileges were attached to them all, but others enjoyed them by turns, and the
same persons never more than once.  A thousand of the Calasiries, and as many of the Hermotybies, each served for a year
as the king's body-guard.  To these, accordingly, was given
the following allowance daily, in addition to the acres, to each
five minae in weight of baked bread, two minae of beef, and
four arysters of wine. This was the constant allowance of the
body-guard.
169. When, therefore, Apries, leading his auxiliaries, and
Amasis, all the Egyptians, met together-at Momemphis, they
came to an engagement, and the foreigners fought well, but
being far inferior in numbers, were, on that account, defeated.
7 See chap. 141, and note there.




164                  HIERODOTUS.                 [170, 171.
Apries is said to have been of opinion that not even a god
could deprive him of his kingdom, so securely did he think
himself established. Now, however, when he came to an engagement, he was beaten, and, being taken prisoner, he was
carried back to Sais, to that which was formerly his own
palace, but which now belonged to Amasis.  Here he was
maintained for some time in the royal palace, and Amasis
treated' him well.  But, at length, the Egyptians complaining
that he did not act rightly in preserving a man who was the
greatest enemy both to them and to him, he thereupon delivered Apries to the Egyptians; but they strangled him, and
afterward buried him in his ancestral sepulchre: this is in the
sacred precinct of Minerva, very near the temple, on the left
hand as you enter.  The Saita used to bring all the kings
sprung from this district within the sacred precinct; however,
the tomb of Amasis is farther from the, temple. than that of
Apries and his progenitors, but evens this is in the court of the
sacred precinct, consisting of a large stone chamber, adorned
with columns, made in imitation of palm-trees, and with other ornaments; inside this chamber are placed folding doors,
and within the doors is the sepulchre.  170. At Sais, also, in
the sacred precinct of Minerva, behind the chapel and joining
the whole of the wall, is the tomb of one whose name I consider it impious to divulge on such an occasion; and in the inclosure stand large stone obelisks, and there is a lake near, ornamented with a stone margin, formed in a circle, and in size,
as appeared to me, much the same as that in Delos, which is
called the Circular. 171. In this lake they perform by night
the representation of that person's adventures, which they call
mysteries.  On these matters, however, though accurately
acquainted with the particulars of them, I must observe a
discreet silence; and respecting the sacred rites of Ceres,
which the Greeks call Thesmyphoria, although I am  acquainted with them, I must observe silence except so far
as it is lawful for me to speak of them. The daughters of
Danaus were they who introduced these ceremonies from
Egypt, and taught them  to the Pelasgian women; but afterward, when almost the whole Peloponnese was depopulated
by the Dorians, these rites were lost; but the Arcadians, who
All former translators of Herodotus have misconstrued this passage
by neglecting to give the force of the wordc /revro




it2, 173.]           EUTERPE. II.                   165
were the only Peloponnesians left, and not expelled, alone preserved them.
172. Apries being thus dethroned, Amasis, who was of the
Saitic district, reigned in his stead; the name of the city
from which he came was Siuph.  At first the Egyptians despised, and held him in no great estimation, as having been
formerly a private person, and of no illustrious family; but
afterward he conciliated them by his address, without any arrogance. He had an infinite number of other treasures, and,
besides, a golden foot-pan, in which Amasis himself, and all his
guests, were accustomed to wash their feet.  Having then
broken this in pieces, he had made from it the statue of a god,
and placed it in the most suitable part of the city; but the
Egyptians, flocking to the image, paid it the greatest reverence.
But Amasis, informed of their behavior, called the Egyptians together, and explained the matter to them, saying "that
the statue was made out of the foot-pan in which the Egyptians formerly vomited, made water, and washed their feet,
and which they then so greatly reverenced; now, then, he proceeded to say, the same had happened to him as to the footpan; for, though he was before but a private person, yet he
was now their king;" he therefore required them to honor
and respect him: by this means he won over the Egyptians,
so that they thought fit to obey him.  173. He. adopted
the following method of managing his affairs: early in the
morning, until the time of full market, he assiduously dispatched the business brought before him; after that he drank
and jested with his companions, and he talked loosely and
sportively.  But his friends, offended at this, admonished
him, saying, "You do not, O king, control yourself properly
in making yourself too common; for it becomes you, who
sit on a venerable throne, to pass the day in transacting public business; thus the Egyptians would know that they are
governed by a great man, and you would be better spoken of;
but now you act in a manner not at all becoming a king."
But he answered them as follows: "They who have bows,
when they want to use them, bend them; but when they
have done using them, they unbend them; for if it were
kept always bent, it would break, so that he could not use it
when he had need.  Such is the condition of man; if he
should incessantly attend to serious business, and not give




166                   HERODOTUS.                 [174, 175.
himself up sometimes to sport, he would unawares become
mad or stupefied. I, being well aware of this, give up a portion of my time to each."  Thus he answered his friends.
174. Amasis is said to have been, even when a private person, fond of drinking and jesting, and by no means inclined
to serious business; and when the means failed him  for
drinking and indulging himself, he used to go about pilfering.
Such persons as accused him of having their property, on his
denying it, used to take him to the oracle of the place, and
he was oftentimes convicted by the oracles, and oftentimes
acquitted.. W~hen, therefore, he came to the throne, he acted
as follows: whatever gods had absolved him from the charge
of theft, of their temples he neither took any heed, nor contributed any thing toward their repair; neither did he frequent them, and offer sacrifices, considering them of no consequence at all, and as having only lying responses to give.
But as many as had convicted him of the charge of theft, to
them he paid the highest respect, considering them as truly
gods, and delivering authentic responses.
175. Moreover, he built an admirable portico to the temple
of Minerva at Sais, far surpassing all others both in height
and size, as well as in the dimensions and quality of the stones;
he likewise dedicated large statues, and huge andro-sphinxes,
and brought other stones of a prodigious size for repairs: of
these he brought some from the quarries near Memphis; but
those of the greatest magnitude from the city of Elephantine,
distant from Sais a passage of twenty days.  But of these,
that which I not the least, rather the most admire, is this; he
brought a building of one stone from the city of Elephantine,
and two thousand men, who were appointed to convey it,
were occupied three whole years in its transport, and these
men were all pilots.  The length of this chamber, outside,
is twenty-one cubits, the breadth fourteen, and the height
eight. This is the measure of the outside of the one-stoned
chamber.  But inside, the length is eighteeni cubits and
twenty digits, and the width twelve cubits, and the height
five cubits. This chamber is placed near the entrance of the
sacred precinct; for they say that he did not draw it within
the precinct for the following reason: the architect, as the
chamber was being drawn along, heaved a deep sigh, being
wearied with the work, over which so long a time had been




176-178.]            EUTERPE. II.                     167
spent; whereupon Amasis, making a religious scruple of this,
would not suffer it to be drawn any farther. Some persons,
however, say that one of the men employed at the levers was
crushed to death by it, and that on that account it was not
drawn into the precinct.  176. Amasis dedicated in all the
most famous temples works admirable for their magnitude;
and among them at Memphis, the reclining colossus before the
temple of Vulcan, of which the length is seventy-five feet;
and on the same base stand two statues of Ethiopian stone,
each twenty feet in height, one on each side of the temple.
There is also at Sais another similar statue, lying in the same
manner as that at Memphis. It was Amasis also who built the
temple to Isis at Miemphis, which is spaclous and well worthy
of notice.
177. Under the reign of Amasis Egypt is said to have enjoyed the greatest prosperity, both in respect to the benefits
derived from the river to the land, and from the land to the
people; and it is said to have contained at that time twenty
thousand inhabited cities. Amasis it was who established
the law among the Egyptians that every Egyptian should
annually declare to the governor of his district by what
means he maintained himself; and if he failed to do this, or
did not show that he lived by honest means, he should be
punished with death.  Solon the Athenian, having brought
this law from Egypt, established it at Athens; and that people still continue to observe it, as being an unobjectionable
regulation. 178. Amasis, being partial to the Greeks, both
bestowed other favors on various of the Greeks, and, moreover, gave the city of Naucratis for such as arrived in Egypt
to dwell in; and to such as did not wish to settle there, but
only to trade by sea, he granted places where they might erect
altars and temples to the gods. Now the most spacious of
these sacred buildings, which is also the most renowned and
frequented, called the Hellenium, was erected at the common
charge of the following cities: of the Ionians, Chios, Teos,
Phocaea, and Clazomena; of the Dorians, Rhodes, Cnidus,
Halicarnassus, Phaselis; and of the JElians, Mitylene alone;
so that this temple belongs to them, and these cities appoint
officers to preside over the mart; and whatever other cities
claim  a share in it, claim  what does not belong to them.
Besides this, the people of 2Egina built a temple to Jupiter




168                  HERODOTUS.                [179-181.
for themselves; and the Samians another to Juno, and the
Milesians one to Apollo.  179. Naucratis was' anciently the
only place of resort for merchants, and there was no other in
Egypt; and if a man arrived at any other mouth of the Nile,
he was obliged to swear " that he had come there against his
will;" and, having taken such an oath, he must sail in the
same ship to the Canopic mouth; but if he should be prevented by contrary winds from doing so, he was forced to unload his goods, and carry them in barges round the Delta until he reached Naucratis.  So great were the privileges of
Naucratis.  180. When the Amphictyons contracted to build
the temple that now stands at Delphi for three hundred talents (for the temple that was formerly there had been burned
by accident, and it fell upon the Delphians to supply a fourth
part of the sum), the Delphians went about from city to city,
and solicited contributions; and doing this, they brought home
no small amount from Egypt; for Amasis gave them a thousand talents of alum, and the Grecians who were settled in
Egypt twenty minae.
181. Amasis also contracted a friendship, and an alliance
with the Cyrenaans, and resolved to take a wife from that
country, either out of a desire of having a Grecian woman, or
from some peculiar affection to the Cyrenmans.  He therefore
married, as some say, the daughter of Battus; others, of Arcesilaus; though others, of Critobulus, a person of distinction
among the citizens: her name was Ladice.  Whenever
Amasis lay with her, he was unable to have connection with
her, which was not the case with respect to other women;
upon the continuance of this for a long time, Amasis said to
this woman, who was called Ladice, " 0 woman, you have
used charms against me, and no contrivance can prevent your
perishing by the most cruel death of all women." But Ladice, finding that Amasis was not at all appeased by her denial
of the fact, made a mental vow to Venus, that if Amasis should
have intercourse with her that night (for this was the only
remedy left), she would send a statue of the goddess to Cyrene. Immediately after the vow, Amasis had intercourse
with her; and from that time forward, whenever he came to
her, he was able to have connection; and after this he was exceedingly fond of her. But Ladice performed her vow to the
goddess, for, having caused a statue to be made, she sent it to




182.]                EUTERPE. II.                    169
Cyrene, and it was still safe in my time, facing out of the city
of Cyrene. When Cambyses had conquered Egypt, and learned who this Ladice was, he sent her back unharmed to Cyrene.
182. Amasis also dedicated offerings in Greece.  In the first
place, a gilded statue of Minerva at Cyrene, and his own portrait painted; secondly, to Minerva in Lindus two stone statues
and a linen corslet well worthy of notice; thirdly, to Juno at
Samos two images of himself carved in wood, which stood in
the large temple even in my time, behind the doors. Now he
made this offering at Samos on account of the friendship that
subsisted between himself and Polycrates, the son of JEaces;
but those at Lindus, not on account of any friendship, but because it is reported that the daughters of Danaus founded the
temple of Minerva at Lindus when they touched there in their
flight from the sons of Egyptus: and these were the offerings
that Amasis made. He was the first who conquered Cyprus,
and subjected it to the payment of tribute.
H




BOOK III.
THALIA.
AGAINST this Amasis, Cambyses, son of Cyrus, made war,
leading with him both others, his own subjects, and of the
G-recians, Ionians and oEolians. The cause of the war was
this: Cambyses, having sent a herald into Egypt, demanded
the daughter of Amasis; and he made this demand at the
suggestion of an Egyptian physician, who out of spite served
Amasis in this manner, because, having selected him out of
all the physicians in Egypt, and torn him from his wife and
children, he had sent him as a present to the Persians, when
Cyrus, having sent to Amasis, required of him the best oculist in Egypt.  The Egyptian, therefore, having this spite
against him, urged on Cambyses by his suggestions, bidding
him demand the daughter of Amasis, in order that if he should
comply he might be grieved, or, if he refused, he might incur
the hatred of Cambyses. But Amasis, dreading the power of
the Persians, and being alarmed, knew not whether to give
or to deny; for he was well aware that Cambyses purposed to
take her, not as his wife, but his mistress. Having considered these things, he did as follows. There was a daughter of
Apries, the former king, very tall and beautiful, the only survivor of the family; her name was Nitetis.  This damsel,
Amasis, having adorned with cloth of gold, sent to Persia as
his own daughter. After a time, when Cambyses saluted her,
addressing her by her father's name, the damsel said to him,
"0   ing, you do not perceive that you have been imposed
upon by Amasis, who, having driessed me in rich attire, sent
me to you, presenting me as his own daughter; whereas, in
truth, I am the daughter of Apries, whom he, though he was
his own master, put to death after he had incited the Egyptians to revolt."  These words and this accusation induced




2-4.]                THALIA. III.                   171
Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, being greatly enraged, to invade
Egypt.  Such is the account the Persians give. 2. But the
Egyptians claim Cambyses as their own, saying that he was
born from this daughter of Apries; for that it was Cyrus, and
not Cambyses, who sent to Amasis for his daughter; but in
saying this they err. Nor, indeed, could it escape their notice (for if any people are well acquainted with the Persian
customs, the Egyptians are so), that, first of all, it is not customary with them for a natural son to reign when there is a
legitimate son living; and, secondly, that Cambyses was the
son of Cassandane, daughter of Pharnaspes, one of the Achsemenidse, and not of the Egyptian woman; but they pervert
the truth, claiming. to be related to the family of Cyrus; and
this is the real state of the case. 3. This other story is also
told, which seems to me incredible. A certain Persian lady
visited Cyrus's women; and when she saw the children of
Cassandane, beautiful and tall, standing by her, praised them
highly, being exceedingly struck with them; but Cassandane,
wife of Cyrus, said, " Though I am the mother of such children,
Cyrus holds me in disdain, and honors her whom he has obtained from Egypt."  This she said through envy of Nitetis;
but the eldest of her sons, Cambyses, said, "Therefore, mother,
when I am a man, I will turn all Egypt upside down."  He
said this when he was about ten years of age, and the women
were much astonished; but he, bearing it in mind when lie
grew up and was possessed of thekingdom, accordingly invaded
Egypt.
4. The following other incident also occurred to promote
this invasion. There was among the auxiliaries of Amasis a
man, by birth a Halicarnassian, whose name was Phanes, one
able in counsel and valiant in war. This Phanes, owing some
spite to Amasis, escaped in a ship from Egypt with a design
to confer with Cambyses. But, as he was a man of no small
consequence among the auxiliaries, and was very accurately
acquainted with the affairs of Egypt, Amasis sent in pursuit
of him, making every effort to take him; and he sent the
most trusty of his eunuchs in pursuit of him, with a trireme, who caught him in Lycia, but, having taken him, did
not bring him back to Egypt, for Phanes overreached him by
artifice; for, having intoxicated his guards, he got away to the
Persians, and coming over to Cambyses as he was preparing




172                  HERODOTUS.                   [L-s.
to march against Egypt, and was in doubt about.his route,
how he should pass the arid desert, he informed him both of
other affairs of Amasis, and explained to him the route, thus
advising him: to send to the king of the Arabians, and ask
him to grant him a safe passage through his territories. 5.
By this way only is there an open passage into Egypt; for
from Phoenicia to the confines of the city of Cadytis, which
belongs to those who are called the Syrians of Palestine, and
from Cadytis, which is a city, in my opinion, not much less
than Sardis, the sea-ports as far as the city of Jenysus belong to the Arabian king; and again, from Jenysus as far as
the lake Serbonis, near which Mount Casius stretches to the
sea, belongs to the Syrians; and from the lake Serbonis, in
which Typhon is reported to have been concealed, Egypt begins. Now the country between the city of Jenysus, Mount
Casius, and the lake Serbonis, which is no small tract, but
about a three days' journey, is utterly destitute of water. 6.
A circumstance that few of those who have made voyages to
Egypt have noticed I shall now proceed to mention. From
every part of Greece, and also from Phoenicia, earthen vessels
filled with wine are imported into Egypt twice every year, and
yet, so to speak, not a single one of these wine jars is afterward to be seen. In what way, then, some one may ask, are
they disposed of?  This I will also relate. Every magistrate
is obliged to collect all the vessels from his own city and send
them to Memphis; but the people of that city, having filled
them with water, convey them to those arid parts of Syria; so
the earthen vessels continually imported and landed in Egypt
are added to those already in Syria. 7. Thus the Persians, as
soon as they became masters of Egypt, facilitated the passage
into that country by supplying it with water in the manner
above mentioned. But as at that time water was not provided, Cambyses, by the advice of the Halicarnassian stranger,
sent embassadors to the Arabian, and requested a safe passage,
which he obtained, giving to and receiving from him pledges
of faith.
8. The Arabians observe pledges as religiously as any
people, and they make them in the following manner: when
any wish to pledge their faith, a third person, standing between the two parties, makes an incision with a sharp stone
in the palm of the hand, near the longest fingers, of both the




9, 19.                THALIA. III.                    173
contractors; then taking some of the nap from the garment
of each, he smears seven stones, placed between them, with
the blood; and as he does this, he invokes Bacchus and
Urania.  When this ceremony is completed, the person who
pledges his faith binds his friends as sureties to the stranger,
or the citizen, if the contract be made with a citizen, and the
friends also hold themselves obliged to observe the engagement. They acknowledge no other gods than Bacchus and
Urania, and they say that their hair is cut in the same way as
Bacchus's is cut; but they cut it in a circular form, shearing it round the temples. They call Bacchus, Orotal; and
Urania, Alilat.  9. When, therefore, the Arabian had exchanged pledges with the ambassadors who came from Cam.
byses, he adopted the following contrivance: having filled
camels' skins with water, he loaded them on all his living
camels; and having done this, he drove them  to the arid
region, and there awaited the army of Cambyses. This is
the most credible of the accounts that are given; yet it is
right that one less credible should be mentioned, since it is
likewise affirmed. There is a large river in Arabia called
Corys, which discharges itself into that called the Red Sea.
From this river, then, it is said that the king of the Arabians,
having sewn together a pipe of ox hides and other skins,
reaching in length to the arid region, conveyed the water
through it; and that in the arid region he dug large reservoirs, to receive and preserve the water.  It is a twelve days
journey from the river to the arid region; he therefore conveyed water through three several pipes into three different
places.
10. Psammenitus, the son of Amasis, lay encamped at that
called the Pelusiac mouth of the Nile, awaiting Cambyses;
for Cambyses did not find Amasis alive when he marched
against Egypt; but Amasis died after a reign of forty-four
years, during which no great calamity had befallen him. But
having died, and being embalmed, he was buried in the sepulchre that is in the sacred precinct, which he himself had
built.'  During the reign of Psammenitus, son of Amasis, a
most remarkable prodigy befell the Egyptians; for rain fell
at Egyptian Thebes; which had never happened before, nor
since, to my time, as the Thebans themselves affirm; for no
1 See Book II. chap. 169.




174                  HERODOTUS.                  [11-13
rain ever falls in the upper regions of Egypt; but at that
time rain fell in drops at Thebes.  11. The Persians, having
marched through the arid region, halted near the Egyptians,
as if with a design of engaging  there the auxiliaries of the
Egyptians, consisting of Greeks and Carians, condemning
Phanes because he had led a foreign army against Egypt,
adopted the following expedient against him: Phanes had left
his sons in Egypt; these they brought to the camp, within
sight of their father, and placed a bowl midway between the
two armies; then, dragging the children one by one, they slew
them over the bowl. When they slaughtered all the children,
they poured wine and water into the bowl; and, after all the
auxiliaries had drank of the blood, they immediately joined
battle. A hard battle having been fought, and when great
numbers had fallen on both sides, the Egyptians were put to
flight.  12. Here I saw a very surprising fact, which the
people of the country informed me of; for as the bones of
those who were killed in that battle lie scattered about separately (for the bones of the Persians lay apart in one place, as
they did at first, and those of the Egyptians in another), the
skulls of the Persians were so weak, that if you should hit
them only with a single pebble, you would break a hole in
them; whereas those of the Egyptians are so hard, that you
could scarcely fracture them by striking them with a stone.
The cause of this, they told me, is as follows, and I readily assented; that the Egyptians begin from childhood and shave
their heads, and the bone is thickened by exposure to the sun;
from the same cause, also, they are less subject to baldness, for
one sees fewer persons bald in Egypt than in any other country.
This, then, is the cause of their having such strong skulls;
and the reason why the Persians have weak skulls is this:
they shade them from the first, wearing tiaras for hats. Now
I myself saw that such was the case; and I also'observed tle
same thing at Papremis, with respect to those who were siair
with Achaemenes,2 son of Darius, by Inarus the Libyan.
13. The Egyptians, when they were defeated, fled in complete. disorder from the battle. When they had shut themselves up in Memphis, Cambyses sent a Mitylentean bark up
the river, with a Persian herald on board, to invite the
Egyptians to terms.  But they, when they saw the bark
2 See book VII. chap. 7.




14.]                 THALIA. III.                    175
entering Memphis, rushed in a mass from the wall, destroyed the
ship, and having torn the crew to pieces, limb by limb, they carried them into the citadel.  After this the Egyptians were besieged, and at length surrendered.  The neighboring Libyans,
fearing what had befallen Egypt, gave themselves up without
resistance, and submitted to pay a tribute, and sent presents. In
like manner, the Cyrenaeans and Barcaans, being equally alarmed with the Libyans, did as they had done. But Cambyses received very graciously the presents that came from the'Libyans,
but was displeased with those of the Cyrenmans, as I suppose,
because they wore inconsiderable; for the Cyrenoeans sent only
five hundred mini  of silver, which he graped and dispersed
with his own hand among the soldiers.  14J On the tenth day
after Cambyses had taken the citadel of Memphis, having seated
Psammenitus, the king of the Egyptians, who had reigned
only six months, at the entrance of the city, by way of insult
-having seated him with other Egyptians, he made trial of
his courage by the following means. Having dressed his
daughter in the habit of a slave, he sent her with a pitcher to
fetch water; and he sent with her other virgins selected from
the principal families, dressed in the same manner as the
king's daughter. As the virgins, with loud lamentation and
weeping, came into the presence of their fathers, all the other
fathers answered them with wailing and weeping, when they
beheld their children thus humiliated. But Psammenitus
alone, when he saw and knew what was going on, only bent
his eyes to the ground.  When these water-carriers had
passed by, he next sent his son, with two thousand Egyptians
of the same age, with halters about their necks, and a bridle
in their mouths; and they were led out to suffer retribution
for those Mitylenaeans who had perished at Memphis with the
ship; for the royal judges had given sentence, that for each
man, ten of the principal Egyptians should be put to death. Yet
he, -hen he saw them passing by, and knew that his son was
being led out to death, though all the rest of the Egyptians
who sat round him wept and made loud lamentations, did the
same as he had done in his daughter's case. When these had
passed by, it happened that one of his boon companions, a man
somewhat advanced in years, who had lost his all, and possessed
nothing but such things as a beggar has, asking alms of the
soldiery, passed by Psammenitus, the son of Amasis, and the




176                  IERODOTUS.                     [15.
Egyptians seated in the suburbs; but Psammenitus, when he
saw him, weeping bitterly, and calling his companion by
name, smote his head. There were, however, spies there who
communicated to Cambyses every thing that was done by him
at each procession; but Cambyses, surprised at this behavior,
sent a messenger and inquired of him as follows: "Psammenitus, your master Cambyses inquires why, when you saw
your daughter humiliated and your son led to execution, you
did not bewail or lament; and have been so highly concerned
for a beggar, who is no way related to you; as he is informed."
He then asked this question, but Psammenitus answered as follows: " Son of Cyrus, the calamities of my family are too great
to be expressed by lamentation; but the griefs of my friend
were worthy of tears, who, having fallen from abundance and
prosperity, has come to beggary on the threshold of old age."
When this answer was brought back by the messenger, it appeared to Cambyses to be well said; and, as the Egyptians relate, Croesus. wept, for he had attended Cambyses into Egypt,
and the Persians that were present wept also; and Cambyses
himself was touched with pity, and gave immediate orders to
preserve his son out of those who were to perish, and to remove him, and bring him from the suburbs into his presence.
15. Those who were sent found the son no longer alive,
having been the first that suffered; but having removed
Psammenitus himself, they conducted him to Cambyses, with
whom he afterward lived without experiencing any violence;
and had it not been suspected3 that he was planning innovations, he would probably have recovered Egypt, so as to have
the government intrusted to him; for the Persians are accustomed to honor the sons of kings, and even if they have
revolted from them, nevertheless bestow the government upon
their children: that such is their custom may be proved from
many other examples, and among them by that of Thannyras, the son of Inarus the Libyan, who recovered the government which his father had; and by that of Pausiris, son
of Amyrtaus, for he also recovered his father's government;
yet none ever did more mischief to the Persians than Inarmus
and Amyrtaeus. But now Psammenitus, devising mischief,
received his reward, for he was discovered inciting the Egyptians to revolt; and when he was detected by Cambyses, he
3 See Cary's Lexicon, v.'ArtlTarErv.




16, 17.]             THALIA. III.                    177
was compelled to drink the blood of a bull, and died immediately. Such, then, was his end.
16. Cambyses proceeded from Memphis to the city of Sais,
purposing to do what he did effect; for when he entered the
palace of Amasis, he presently commanded the dead body of
Amasis to be brought out of the sepulchre; and when this was
done, he gave orders to scourge it, to pull off the hair, to prick
it, and to abuse it in every possible manner. But when they
were wearied with this employment (for the dead body, since
it was embalmed, resisted, and did not at all fall in pieces),
Cambyses gave orders to burn it, commanding what is impious; for the Persians consider fire to be a god; therefore
to burn the dead is on no account allowed by either nation;
not by the Persians, for the reason above mentioned, for they
say it is not right to offer to a god the dead body of a man;
and by the Egyptians fire is held to be a living beast, and that
it devours every thing it can lay hold of; and when it is glutted with food it expires with what it has consumed; therefore
it is their law on no account to give a dead body to wild beasts,
and for that reason they embalm them, that they may not lie
and be eaten by worms.  Cambyses, therefore, commanded a
thing repugnant to the customs of both nations. However, as
the Egyptians say, it was not Amasis that was thus treated,
but some other Egyptian of the same stature as Amasis whom
the Persians insulted, thinking they insulted Amasis; for they
say that Amasis, having been informed by an oracle of what
should happen to him after death, in order to remedy the impending evil, buried the body of this very man who was scourged
near the door of his own sepulchre,4 and charged his son to deposit his own in the remotest part of the vault. Now these
commands of Amasis touching his own burial and this man
appear to me never to have been given, but the Egyptians
falsely boast of them.
17. After this, Cambyses planned three several expeditions;
one against the Carthaginians, another against the Ammonians, and a third against the Macrobian Ethiopians, who inhabit that part of Libya which lies upon the South Sea. And
in forming his plans, he determined to send a naval force against
the Carthaginians, and against the Ammonians a detachment
of his land forces; and against the Ethiopians, spies in the
4 See Book II. chap. 169.
H2




178                  HERODOTUS.                  [18-21.
first instance, who were to see the table of the sun, which
was said to exist among the Ethiopians, and, besides, to explore other things, and to cover their design they were to carry presents to the king.  18. The table of the sun is said to
be of the following description: there is a meadow in the suburbs filled with the cooked flesh of all sorts of quadrupeds;
in this the several magistrates of the city, for some purpose,
place the flesh at night, and in the day-time whoever chooses
comes and feasts on it. The inhabitants say that the earth
itself, from time to time, produces these things. Such is the
description given of what is called the table of the sun.  19.
NWhen Cambyses had determined to send the spies, he immediately sent to Elephantine for some of the Ichthyophagi, who
understood the Ethiopian language; and while they were fetching these, he commanded the naval force to sail against Carthage. But the Phoenicians refused to obey, for that they
were bound by solemn oaths, and that they should act impiously if they made war against their own descendants. As
the Phoenicians would not go, the rest were not fit for such
an enterprise.  Thus, therefore, the Carthaginians escaped
slavery at the hands of the Persians; for Cambyses did not
think it right to employ force toward the Phoenicians, because they had voluntarily submitted to the Persians, and the
whole naval force depended on them.  The Cyprians, too,
having given themselves up to the Persians, joined the expedition against Egypt.  20. When the Ichthyophagi came to
Cambyses from Elephantine, he dispatched them to the Ethiopians, having instructed them what to say, carrying presents,
consisting of a purple cloak, a golden necklace, bracelets, an
alabaster box of ointment, and a cask of palm wine. These
Ethiopians, to whom Cambyses sent, are said to be the tallest and handsomest of all men; and they say that they have
customs different from those of other nations, and especially
the following, with regard to the regal power; for they confer the sovereignty upon the man whom they consider to be
of the largest stature, and to possess strength proportionable to
his size.
21. When, therefore, the Ichthyophagi arrived among this
people, they gave the presents' to the king, and addressed
him  as follows: "Cambyses, king of the Persians, desirous
of becoming your friend and ally, has sent us, bidding us




22, 23.]             THALIA. III.                   179
confer with you, and he presents you with these gifts, which
are such as he himself most delights in." But the Ethiopian,
knowing that they came as spies, spoke thus to them: " Neither has the king of Persia sent you with these presents to me,
because he valued my alliance; nor do you speak the truth;
for you are come as spies of my kingdom. Nor is he a just
man; for if he were just, he would not desire any other territory than his own; nor would he reduce people into servitude who have done him no injury.  However, give him this
bow, and say these words to him:' The king of the Ethiopians advises the king of the Persians, when the Persians can
thus easily draw a bow of this size, then to make war on the
Macrobian Ethiopians with more numerous forces; but until
that time, let him thank the gods, who have not inspired the
sons of the Ethiopians with a desire of adding another land
to their own."' 22. Having spoken thus and unstrung the
bow, he delivered it to the comers. Then taking up the pur.
ple cloak, he asked what it was, and how made; and when
the Ichthyophagi told him the truth respecting the purple,
and the manner of dyeing, he said that the men are deceptive, and their garments are deceptive also. Next he inquired about the necklace and bracelets, and when the Ichthyophagi explained to him their use as ornaments, the king
laughing, and supposing them to be fetters, said that they have
stronger fetters than these. Thirdly, he inquired about the
ointment; and when they told him about its composition and
use, he made the same remark as he had on the cloak. But
when he came to the wine, and inquired how it was made,
being very much delighted with the draught, he farther asked what food the king made use of, and what was the longest age to which a Persian lived. They answered that he fed
on bread, describing the nature of wheat; and that the longest period of the life of a Persian was eighty years. Upon
this the Ethiopian said that he was not at all surprised if
men who fed on dung lived so few years; and they would not
be able to live so many years if they did not refresh themselves with this beverage, showing the wine to the Ichthyophagi; for in this  e admitted they were surpassed by the
Persians.  23. The Ichthyophagi inquiring in turn of the
king concerning the life and diet of the Ethiopians, he said
that most of them attained to a hundred and twenty years,




180                    HERODOTUS.                    [24, 25
and some even exceeded that term, and that their food was
boiled flesh, and their drink milk.  And when the spies expressed their astonishment at the number of years, he led them
to a fountain, by washing in which they became more sleek, as
if it had been of oil, and an odor proceeded from it as of violets.  The water of this fountain, the spies said, is so weak,
that nothing is able to float upon it, neither wood, nor such
things as are lighter than wood; but every thing sinks to the
bottom. If this water is truly such as it is said tb be, it may
be they are long-lived by reason of the abundant use of it.
Leaving this fountain, he conducted them to the common prison, where all were fettered with golden chains; for among
these Ethiopians brass is the most rare and precious of all metals. After having viewed the prison, they next visited that
which is called the table of the sun. 24. After this, they visited last of all their sepulchres, which are said to be prepared
from crystal in the following manner.  When they have dried
the body, either as the Egyptians do, or in some other way,
they plaster it all over with gypsum, and paint it, making it
as much as possible resemble real life; they then put round it
a hollow column made of crystal, which they dig up in abundance, and is easily wrought.  The body being in the middle of
the column is plainly seen, nor does it emit an unpleasant
smell, nor is it in any way offensive; and it is all visible5 as
the body itself.  The nearest relations keep the column in
their houses for a year, offering to it the first-fruits of all, and
performing sacrifices; after that time they carry it out and
place it some where near the city.
25. The spies, having seen every thing, returned home;
and when they had-reported all that had passed, Cambyses,
being -greatly  enraged, immediately marched  against the
Ethiopians, without making any provision for the subsistence
of his army, or once considering that he was going to carry
his arms to the remotest part of the world; but as a madman,
and not in possession of his senses as soon as he heard the
report of the Ichthyophagi, he set out on his march, ordering
the Greeks who were present to stay behind, and taking with
him all his land forces.  When the army reached Thebes, he
5 The Egyptian mummies could only be seen in front, the back being
covered by a box or coffin; the Ethiopian bodies could be seen all
round, as the column of glass was transparent.




26, 27.]              THALIA. Ilr.                    181
detached about fifty thousand men, and ordered them to reduce
the Ammonians to slavery, and to burn the oracular temple of
Jupiter, while he, with the rest of his army, marched against
the Ethiopians; but before the army had passed over a fifth
part of the way, all the provisions6 that they had were exhausted, and after the provisions, the beasts of burden were eaten,
and likewise failed. Now if Cambyses, when he learned this,
had altered his purpose, and had led back his army, even after
his first error, he would have proved himself to be a wise man;
but now, without any reflection, he still continued advancing.
The soldiers, as long as they could gather any from the earth,
supported life by eating herbs; but when they reached the
sands, some of them had recourse to a horrid expedient, for,
taking one man in ten by lot, they devoured him. When
Cambyses heard this, shocked at their eating one another, he
abandoned his expedition against the Ethiopians, marched
back, and reached Thebes, after losing a great part from his
army.  From Thebes he went down to Memphis, and suffered
the Greeks to sail away.  Thus ended the expedition against
the Ethiopians.  26. Those who had been sent on the expedition against the Ammonians, after having set out from Thebes,
marched under the conduct of guides, and are known to have
reached the city Oasis, which is inhabited by Samians, said to
be of the IEschrionian tribe; and they are distant seven days'
march from Thebes, across the sands. This country, in the
Greek language, is called the Island of the Blessed.  It is said,
then, that the army reached this country; but afterward none,
except the Ammonians and those who have heard their report, are able to give any account of them; for they neither
reached the Ammonians nor returned back.  But the Ammonians make the following report: when they had advanced
from this Oasis toward them across the sands, and were about
half way between them and Oasis, as they were taking dinner,
a strong and vehement south wind blew, and carrying with it
heaps of sand, covered them over, and in this manner they disappeared.  The Ammonians say that such was the fate of this
army.
27. When Cambyses arrived at Memphis, Apis, whom the
6 The Greek is alTiMV  EXoeva. This expression is very common in
Ilerodotus. So Book I. 120, Td rT lpdUv v(eyGrwv,6eva, drecams. So
also V. 44, and VIII. 142.




182                 HERODOTUS.                  [28-30o.
Greeks call Epaphus, appeared to the Egyptians; and when
this manifestation took place, the Egyptians immediately put
on their richest apparel, and kept festive holiday.  Cambyses,
seeing the'm thus occupied, and concluding that they made
these rejoicings on account of his ill success, summoned the
magistrates of Mlemphis; and when they came into his presence, he asked " why the Egyptians had done nothing of the
kind when he was at Memphis before, but did so now, when
he had returned with the loss of a great part of his army."
They answered that their god appeared to them, who was accustomed to manifest himself at distant intervals, and that
when he did appear, then all the Egyptians were used to rejoice, and keep a feast. Cambyses, having heard this, said
they lied, and as liars he put them to death. 28. Having
slain them, he next summoned the priests into his presence;
and when the priests gave the same account, he said that he
would find out whether a god so tractable had come among
the Egyptians; and having said this, he commanded the priests
to bring Apis to him; they therefore went away to fetch him.
This Apis, or Epaphus, is the calf of a cow incapable of conceiving another offspring; and the Egyptians say that lightning descends upon the cow from heaven, and that from thence
it brings forth Apis. This calf, which is called Apis, has the
following marks: it is black, and has a square spot of white
on the forehead; and on the back the figure of an eagle; and
in the tail double hairs; and on the tongue a beetle. 29.
When the priests brought Apis, Cambyses, like one almost out
of his senses, drew his dagger, meaning to strike the belly of
Apis, but hit the thigh; then falling into a fit of laughter, he
said to the priests, "Ye blockheads, are there such gods as
these, consisting of blood and flesh, and sensible of steel? This,
truly, is a god worthy of the Egyptians. But you shall not
mock me with impunity."  Having spoken thus, he commanded those, whose business it was, to scourge the priests, and to
kill all the Egyptians whom they should find feasting. Thus
the festival of the Egyptians was put an end to, and the priests
were punished; but Apis, being wounded in the thigh, lay and
languished in the temple; and at length, when he had died of
the' wound, the priests buried him without the knowledge of
Cambyses.
30. But Cambyses, as the Egyptians say, immediately became




31.]                  THALIA. III.                    183
mad in consequence of this atrocity, though indeed he was not
of sound mind before.  His first crime he committed against
his brother Smerdis, who was born of the same father and
mother; him he sent back from Egypt to Persia through envy,
because he alone of all the Persians had drawn the bow which
the Ichthyophagi brought from the Ethiopian within two fingers' breadth: of the other Persians no one was able to do
this. After the departure of Smerdis for Persia, Cambyses
saw the following vision in his sleep: he imagined that a messenger arrived from Persia, and informed him that Smerdis
was seated on the royal throne, and touched the heavens with
his head. Upon this, fearing for himself lest his brother should
kill him, and reign, he sent Prexaspes, who was a man the
most faithful to him of the Persians, to Persia, with orders to
kill Smerdis; and he, having gone up to Susa, killed Smerdis; some say when he had taken him out to hunt, but others,
that he led him to the Red Sea and drowned him. 31. This,
they say, was the first of the crimes of Cambyses: the second
he committed against his sister, who had accompanied him
into Egypt, and whom he married, and who was his sister by
both parents. He married her in the following way; for before, the Persians were on no account accustomed to intermarry with their sisters.  Cambyses became enamored of
one of his sisters, and then, being desirous of making her his
wife, because he purposed doing what was not customary,
he summoned the royal judges, and asked them if there was
any law permitting one who wished to marry his sister.  The
royal judges are men chosen from among Persians, who continue in ofice until they die or are convicted of some injustice.  They determine causes between the Persians, and
are the interpreters of the ancient constitutions, and all questions are referred to them. When, therefore, Cambyses put
the question, they gave an answer that was both just and safe,
saying that they could find no law permitting a brother to
marry his sister, but had discovered another law which permitted the king of Persia to do whatever he pleased. Thus
they did not abrogate the law through fear of Cambyses; but,
that they might not lose their lives by upholding the law, they
found out another that favored his desire of marrying his
sister; thereupon Cambyses married her of whom  he was
enamored, and shortly afterward he had another sister.  The




184                  HERODOTUS.                  [32-34.
youngest of these, then, who followed him into Egypt, he put
to death. 32. With respect to her death, as well as that of
Smerdis, a twofold account is given. The -Greeks say that
Cambyses made the whelp of a lion fight with a young dog,
and that this wife was also looking on; And that the dog
being over-matched, another puppy of the same litter broke
his chain and came to his assistance, and thus the two dogs
united got the better of the whelp. Cambyses was delighted
at the sight, but she, sitting by him, shed tears. Cambyses,
observing this, asked her why she wept.  She answered that
she wept seeing the puppy come to the assistance of its brother, remembering Smerdis, and knowing that there was no
one to avenge him. The Greeks say that for this speech she
was put to death by Cambyses; but the Egyptians say that,
as they were sitting at table, his wife took a lettuce, and stripped off its leaves, and then asked her husband "whether the
lettuce stripped of its leaves, or thick with foliage, was the
handsomer."  He said, " When thick with foliage."  Whereupon she remarked, "Then you have imitated this lettuce in
dismembering the house of Cyrus."  Whereupon he, being
enraged, kicked her when she was with child, and she miscarried and died.
33. Thus madly did Cambyses behave toward his own
family, whether on account of Apis, or from  some other
cause, from which, in many ways, misfortunes are wont to befall mankind; for Cambyses is said, even from  infancy,
to have been afflicted with a certain severe malady, which
some called the sacred disease.  In that case, it was not at
all surprising that, when his body was so diseased, his mind
should not be sound.  34. And toward the other Persians
he behaved madly in the following instances: for it is reported that he said to Prexaspes, whom he highly honored, and
whose office it was to bring messages to him, and whose son
was cup-bearer to Cambysts, and this is no trifling honor:
he is reported to have spoken as follows: " Prexaspes, what
sort of a man do the Persians think me, and what remarks
do they make about me?"  He answered, " Sir, you are highly extolled in every other respect, but they say you are too
much addicted to wine." Prexaspes said this of the Persians;
but the king, enraged, answered as follows: " Do the Persians
7 Epilepsy.




35, 36.]             THALIA. III.                    185
indeed say that, by being addicted to wine, I am beside myself, and am not in my senses? then their former words were
not true." * For, on a former occasion, when the Persians and
Crcesus were sitting with hihi, Cambyses asked what sort of
a man he appeared to be in comparison with his father Cyrus;
they answered that he was superior to his father, for that
he held all that Cyrus possessed, and had acquired besides
Egypt and the empire of the sea. Crcesus, being present, not
being pleased with this decision, spoke thus to Cambyses:
"To me now, 0 son of Cyrus, you do not appear comparable
to your father, for you have not yet such a son as he left behind him."  Cambyses was delighted at hearing this, and
commended the judgment of Crcesus.  35. Therefore, remembering this, he said in anger to Prexaspes, " Observe now
yourself whether the Persians have spoken the truth, or
whether they who say such things are not out of their senses 
for if I shoot that son of yours who stands under the portico,
and hit him in the heart, the Persians will appear to have
said nothing to the purpose; but if I miss, then say that the
Persians have spoken- truth, and that I am  not of sound
mind."  Having said this and bent his bow, he hit the boy;
and when the boy had fallen, he ordered them to open him
and examine the wound; and when the arrow was found in
the heart, he said to the boy's father, laughing, "Prexaspes,
if has been clearly shown to you that I am not mad, but that
the Persians are out of their senses. Now tell me, did you
ever see a man take so true an aim?"  But Prexaspes, perceiving him to be out of his mind, and being in fear for his
own life, said, "Sir, I believe that a god himself could not
have shot so well."  At that time he committed such an
atrocity; and at another time, having, without any just cause,
seized twelve Persians of the first rank, he had them buried
alive up to the head.
36. While he was acting in this manner, Cresus the Lydian thought fit to admonish him in the following terms: " O
king, do not yield entirely to. your youthful impulses and
anger, but possess and restrain yourself. It is a good thing
to be provident, and wise to have forethought. You put men
to death who are your own subjects, having seized them without any just cause; and you slay their children.. If you persist in such a course, beware lest the Persians revolt from




186                  IERODOTUS.                 [37, 38.
you. Your father Cyrus strictly charged me to admonish
you, aind suggest whatever I might discover for your good."
He then manifested his good-will in giving this advice; but
Cambyses answered, " Do you presume to give me advice,
you, who so wisely managed your own country; and so well
advised my father, when you persuaded him  to pass the
river Araxes, and advance against the Massagetoe, when they
were willing to cross over into our territory  You have first
ruined yourself by badly governing your own country, and
then ruined Cyrus, who was persuaded by your advice. But
you shall have no reason to rejoice; for I have long wanted
to find a pretext against you."  So saying, he took up his
bow for the purpose of shooting him; but Croesus jumped up
and ran out. Cambyses, when he was unable to shoot him,
commanded his attendants to seize him, and put him to death.
But the attendants, knowing his temper, concealed Crcesus for
the following reason, that if Cambyses should repent, and in,
quire for Croesus, they, by producing him, might receive re,
wards for preserving him alive; or if he should not repent;
or regret him, then they would put him to death. Not long
afterward Cambyses did regret Croesus, and the attendants,
knowing this, acquainted him that he was still living; on
which Cambyses said,  I am rejoiced that Croesus is still
alive; they, however, who saved him, shall not escape with
impunity, but I will have them put to death."  And he made
good his word.
37. He, then, committed imany such mad actions, both
against the Persians and his allies, while he staid at Memphis, both opening ancient sepulchres, and examining the dead
bodies; he also entered the temple of Vulcan, and derided the
image, for the image of Vulcan is very like the Phoenician
Pataici, which the Phoenicians place at the prows of their triremes.  For the benefit of any one who has not seen them, I
will describe them; it is a representation of a pigmy. IIe
likewise entered the temple of the Cabeiri (into which it is unlawful for any one except the priest to enter), and these images he burned, after he had ridiculed them in various ways:
these also are like that of Vulcan; and they say that they are
the sons of this latter. 38. It is then in every way clear to
me that Cambyses was outrageously mad, otherwise he would
not have attempted to deride things sacred and established




39, 40.]             THALIA. III.                   187
customs; for if any one should propose to all men to select
the best institutions of all that exist, each, after considering
them all, would choose their own; so certain is it that each
thinks his own institutions by far the best. It is not, therefore, probable that any but a madman would make such things
the subject of ridicule. That all men are of this mind respecting their own institutions may be inferred from many
and various proofs, and among them by the following. Darius having summoned some Greeks under his sway, who
were present, asked them  "for what sum  they would feed
upon the dead bodies of their parents."  They answered that
they would not do it for any sum. Darius afterward having
summoned some of the Indians called Callatians, who are accustomed to eat their parents, asked them, in the presence of
the Greeks, and who were informed of what was said by an
interpreter, "for what sum they would consent to burn their
fathers when they die;" but they, making loud exclamations,
begged he would speak words of good omen. Such, then, is
the effect of custom; and Pindar appears to me to have said
rightly, "That custom is the king of all men."
39. While Cambyses was invading Egypt, the Lacedmemonians made an expedition against Samnos and Polycrates,
the son of mEaces, who had made an insurrection and seized
on Samos. At first, having divided the state into three parts,
he shared it with his brothers Pantagnotus and Syloson; but
afterward, having put one of them to death, and expelled
Syloson, the younger, he held the whole of Samos; and holding it, made a treaty of friendship with Amniasis, king of
Egypt, sending presents, and receiving others from him in
return. In a very short time the power of Polycrates increased, and was noised abroad throughout Ionia and the rest
of Greece; for wherever he turned his arms, every thing
turned out prosperously. He had a hundred fifty-oared galleys, and a thousand archers; and he plundered all without
distinction; for he said that he gratified a friend more by
restoring what he had seized than by taking nothing at
all. He accordingly took many of the islands, and many
cities on the continent; he moreover overcame in a sea-fight,
and took prisoners, the Lesbians, who came to assist the Milesians with all their forces: these, being put in chains, dug the
whole trench that surrounds the walls of Samos. 40. Some



188                   HERODOTUS.                   [41, 42.
how the exceeding good fortune of Polycrates did not escape
the notice of Amasis, but was the cause of uneasiness to him;
and when his successes continued to increase, having written
a letter in the following terms, he dispatched it to Samos:
"Amasis to Polycrates says thus: It is pleasant to hear of
the successes of a friend and ally. But your too great good
fortune does not please me, knowing, as I do, that the divinity
is jealous.  As for me, I would rather choose that both I and
those for whom I am solicitous should be partly successful in
our undertakings, and partly suffer reverses; and so pass life,
meeting with vicissitudes of fortune, than being prosperous in
all things; for I can not remember that I ever heard of any
man, who, having been constantly successful, did not at last
utterly perish.  Be advised, therefore, by me, and act thus
with regard to your good fortune.  Having considered what
you can find that you value most, and the loss of which would
most pain your soul, this so cast away that it may never
more be seen of man; and if, after this, successes are not
mingled interchangeably with reverses, again have recourse
to the remedy I have suggested."  41.' Polycrates, having
read this letter, and conceived that Amasis had given him
good advice, inquired of himself by the loss of which of
his valuables he should most afflict his soul; and, on inquiry,
he discovered the following: he had a seal which he wore, set
in gold, made of an emerald, and it was the workmanship of
Theodorus, the son of Telecles, a Samian; when, therefore, he
had determined to cast this away, he did as follows. Having
manned a fifty-oared galley, lie went on board it, and then
ordered to put out to sea; and when he was a considerable distance from the island, he took off the seal, and in the sight of
all on board, threw it into the sea.  This done, he sailed back
again; and having reached his palace, he mourned it as a
great misfortune.  42. But on the fifth or sixth day after
this, the following circumstance occurred: a fisherman, having
caught a large and beautiful fish, thought it a present worthy to
be given to Polycrates; he accordingly carried it to the gates,
and said that he wished to be admitted to the presence of Polycrates; and when this was granted, he presented the fish,
and said, "O  king, having caught this, I did not think it
right to take it to market, although 1 get my living by hard
labor; but it seemed to me worthy of you and your em



43-45.1              THALIA. III                    1189
pire: I bring it therefore, and present it to you."  I-e,
pleased with these words, replied, "You have done well, and
I give you double thanks for your speech and your present, and
I invite you to supper." The fisherman, thinking a great deal
of this, went away to his own home; but the servants, opening the fish, found the seal of Polycrates in its belly; and as
soon as they had seen it and taken it out, they carried it with
great joy to Polycrates, and as they gave him the seal, they acquainted him in what manner it had been found. But when
it occurred to him that the event was superhuman, he wrote
an account of what he had done and of what had happened,
and having written, he dispatched the account to Egypt.
43. But Amasis, having read the letter that came from Polycrates, felt persuaded that it was impossible for man to rescue
man from the fate that awaited him, and that Polycrates would
not come to a good end, since he was fortunate in every thing,
and even found what he had thrown away. Having, therefore,
sent a herald to Samos, he said that he must renounce his
friendship. He did this for the following reason, lest, if some
dreadful and great calamity befell Polycrates, he might himself
be grieved for him as for a friend.
44. Against this Polycrates, then, who was so universally
prosperous, the Lacedaemonians made war, at the solicitation of those Samians who afterward founded Cydonia in
Crete.8 Polycrates, having sent to Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, as he was collecting an army for the invasion of Egypt,
begged that he would send to him  at Samos and demand
some troops. When Cambyses heard this, he readily sent to
Samos, requesting Polycrates to furnish a naval force to attend him in his invasion of Egypt; whereupon he, having
selected those citizens whom he most suspected of seditious
designs, sent them away in forty galleys, enjoining Cambyses
not to send them  home again.  45. Now some say that
these Samians who were sent out by Polycrates never reached
Egypt, but, when they were off Carpathius, they conferred together, and resolved to sail no farther. Others say that, having arrived in Egypt, and finding themselves watched, they
made their escape from thence; and as they were sailing back
to Samos, Polycrates met them with a fleet, and came to an
8 See chap. 59.




190                  HERODOTUS.                   [46, 47.
engagement; and they who were returning gained the victory
and landed on the island, and there having fought on land,
they were worsted, and so set sail for Lacedaemon.  There are
some who say that the party from Egypt conquered Polycrates; in my opinion, giving an erroneous account; for there
would have been no need of their calling in the Lacedaemonians if they were themselves able to get the better of Polycrates. Besides, it is not at all probable that one who had a
numerous body of foreign mercenaries and of native archers
should be beaten by the Samians who returned, who were few
in number. Moreover, Polycrates, having shut up together in
the arsenal the children and wives of the citizens who were
subject to him, had them ready to burn, together with the arsenals themselves, in case they should go over to those who
were returning. 46. When the Samians expelled by Polycrates
arrived at Sparta, having presented themselves before the magistrates, they made a long harangue, as people very much in
earnest; but they, at this first audience, answered them that
they had forgotten the first part of their speech, and did not
understand the last. After this, having presented themselves
a second time, they brought a sack, and said nothing else than
"the sack wants meal;" but the Lacedaemonians replied that
the word " sack" was superfluous: it was, however, decreed that
they should assist them. 47. Then the Lacedamonians, having made preparations, set out with an army against Samos;
as the Samians say, requiting a former kindness, because they
had formerly assisted them with some ships against the Messenians; but as the Lacedaemonians say, they undertook this
expedition, not so much for the purpose of assisting the
Samians who entreated them, as from a desire to revenge the
seizure of the bowl9 which they sent to'Cresus, and the
corslet which Amasis, king of Egypt, had sent to them as a
present; for the Samians had robbed them of the corslet*the
year before they took the bowl. T[his corslet was made of
linen, with many figures of animals inwrought, and adorned
with gold and cotton-wool; and on this account each thread
of the corslet makes it worthy of admiration; for though it
is fine, it contains three hundred and sixty threads, all distinct.
Such another is that which Amuasis dedicated to Minerva at
Lindus.1
9 See Book I. ch. 70.        l See Book II. ch. 182.




48-50.]              THALIA. III.                    191
48. The Corinthians readily assisted in abetting the expedition against Samos, because an injury had been also done
to them by the Samians in the age preceding this expedition,
done about the same time as the seizure of the bowl; for
leriander, son of Cypselus, had sent three hundred youthsj of
the noblest families of the Corcyrseans, to Alyattes at Sardis,
for the purpose of emasculation; but when the Corinthians
who were conducting the youths touched at Samos, the Samians, having ascertained for what purpose they were being conducted to Sardis, first of all instructed the youths to touch the
temple of Diana, and afterward would not suffer the Corinthians to remove the suppliants from the sanctuary; and when
the Corinthians denied the youths any sustenance, the Samians instituted a festival, which they still observe in the same
way; for when night came on, as long as the youths continued suppliants, they instituted choruses of virgins and young
men, and made a law that they should carry cakes of sesame
and honey, in order that the Corcyroean youths might seize
them and have food. This was continued until the Corinthians, who had charge of the youths, went away and left them;
then the Samians sent home the youths to Corcyra. 49. Now
if, after the death of Periander, the Corinthians had been on
friendly terms with the Corcyrsans, they would not have assisted in the expedition against Samos for the above-mentioned cause; but, in fact, from the first colonization of the island,
they have always been at variance with one another; for this
reason, therefore, the Corinthians remembered their grudge
against the Samians. But Periander had selected the sons of
the Corcyrean nobles, and sent them to Sardis to be emasculated, in revenge of an insult offered him; for the Corcyreans
had first committed an outrageous deed against him.  50.
When Periander had killed his own wife Melissa, it happened
that another calamity succeeded the former. He had two sons
by Melissa, one seventeen, the other eighteen years of age.
These their maternal grandfather, Procles, who was tyrant of
Epidaurus, sent for, and treated affectionately, as was natural,
they being the sons of his own daughter; but when he sent
them home, as he escorted them on their way, he said, " Do you
know, my sons, who killed your mother?" The elder of them
took no notice of these words; but the younger, whose name
was Lycophron, when he heard it, was so grieved at hearing




192                  HERODOTUS.                   [51, 52.
this, that on his return to Corinth, he neither addressed his
father, regarding him as the murderer of his mother, nor entered into conversation with him, nor answered a word to his
questions. At last Periander, being exceedingly angry, drove
him from the palace. 51. Having driven him out, he inquired
of the elder one what their grandfather had said to them. He
related to him how kindly he had received them, but he did
not mention the words Procles said as he was escorting them,
for he had paid no attention to them; but Periander affirmed
that it was impossible but that he had suggested something to
them; and he persevered in his inquiries, till the young man
recovered his memory, and mentioned this also. Periander,
reflecting on this, and resolving not to show any indulgence,
sent a messenger to the persons by whom the son who was
driven out was entertained, and forbade them to receive him
in their houses; but he, when being driven out from one
house he came to another, was driven from this also, since Periander threatened all that received him, and required them to
expel him. Being thus driven about, he went to some other
of his friends; and they, though in dread, yet received him
as the son of Periander. 52. At last Periander made a proclamation, that whoever should either receive him in his house,
or converse with him, should pay a sacred fine to Apollo, mentioning the amount.  In consequence of this proclamation,
therefore, no one would either converse with him, or receive
him into their houses; besides, he himself did not think' it right
to attempt what was forbidden, but persisting in his purpose,
strayed among the porticoes.. On the fourth day, Periander,
seeing him reduced to a state of filth and starvation, felt compassion, and relaxing his anger, approached him, and said,
"My son, which of these is preferable, your present mode of
life, or, by accommodating yourself to your father's wishes, to
succeed to the power and riches which I now possess?  You,
who are my son, and a prince of wealthy Corinth, have chosen
a vagabond life, by opposing and showing anger toward him,
whom, least of all, you ought so to treat; for if any calamity
has occurred in our family on account of which you have conceived any suspicion of me, it has fallen upon me, and I bear
the chief burden of it, inasmuch as I murdered her. Do you,
therefore, having learned how much better it is to be envied than
pitied, and at the same time what it is to be angry with parents




53.]                  THALIA. III.                     193
and superiors, return to your home."   With these words
Periander endeavored to restrain him.  He, however, gave
his father no'other answer, but said that he had made himself
liable to pay the sacred fine to the god by having spoken to
him.  Periander therefore perceiving that the distemper of
his son was impracticable and invincible, put him on board a
ship, and sent him out of his sight to Corcyra, for he was also
master of that island.  Periander, having sent him  away,
made war on his father-in-law, Procles, as being the principal
author of the present troubles; and he took Epidaurus, and
took Procles himself and kept him prisoner. 53. But when,
in lapse of time, Periander grew old, and became conscious
that le was no longer able to  superintend and manage
public affairs, having sent to Corcyra, he recalled Lycophron
to assume the government, for he did not perceive in his
eldest son any capacity for government,2 but he appeared to
him dull of intellect. But Lycophron did not deign to give
an answer to the bearer of the message. Nevertheless; Periander, having a strong affection for the youth, next sent to
him his sister, who was his own daughter, thinking she would
be most likely to persuade him.  On her arrival she thus addressed him: "' Brother, would you that the government
should pass to others, and'that your father's family should. be
utterly destroyed, rather than yourself return and possess it?
Come home, then, and cease to punish yourself.  Obstinacy is
a sorry possession: think not to cure one evil by another.
Many have preferred equity to strict justice; and many, ere
this, in seeking their mother's rights, have lost their father's inheritance.  A kingdom is an uncertain possession, and many
are suitors for it.  He is now old, and past the vigor of life.
Do not give your own to others."  Thus she, having been instructed by her father, said what was most likely, to persuade
him; but he, in answer, said that he would never return to
Corinth so long as he should hear his father was living.'When she brought back this answer, Periander sent a third
time by a herald to say that he himself intended to go to Corcyra, and urged him to return to Corinth and become his successor in the kingdom.  The son consenting to this proposal,
Periander prepared to set out for Corcyra, and his son for Cor2 After 1ev'eSpa, ro Tivat VVa-rTU Tr(a rpdyyara tLrELtV must be supplied to complete the sentence.
I




194                  HERODOTUS.                  [54 —57,
inth; but the Corcyraeans being informed of each particular,
in order that Periander might not come to their country, killed the young man; and in return for this, Periander took vengeance on the Corcyraeans.
54. The Lacedemonians, arriving with a great armament,
besieged Samos, and having attacked the fortifications, they
had passed beyond the tower that faced the sea near the suburbs; but afterward, when Polycrates himself advanced with
a large force, they were driven back. Immediately after, the
auxiliaries and many of the Samians poured down from the
upper tower, which stands on the ridge' of the mountain; and
having withstood the Lacedaemonians for a short time, they
fled back again, and the enemy pursued them  with great
slauglter. 55. Now if all the Lacedaemonians who were present on that day had behaved themselves as well as Archias
and Lycopas, Samos would have been taken; for Archias and
Lycopas alone, rushing on with the Samians as they fled to the
wall, and being shut out from retreat, died in the city of the
Samians. Another Archias, the son of Samius, son of Archias,
the third in descent from this Archias, I myself met with in
Pitane, for he was of that tribe. He esteemed the Samians
above all other strangers, and said that the surname of Samian was given to his father because he was son to that Archias
who fell so gloriously at Samos; and he said that he honored
the Samians because his grandfather had been buried by them
at the public charge. 56. The Lacedamonians, after forty
days had been spent in besieging Samos, finding their affairs
were not at all advanced, returned to Peloponnesus; though a
groundless report has gone abroad, for it is said that Polycrates, having coined a large quantity of the country money in
lead, had it gilt and gave it to them; and that they, having
received it, thereupon took their departure.  This was the first
expedition that the Lacedaemonian Dorians undertook against
Asia.
57.I Those of the Samians who had fomented the war
against Polycrates, when the Lacedaemonians were about to
abandon them, set sail for Siphnus, for they were in want of
money. The affairs of the Siphnians were at that time in a
flourishing condition, and they were the richest of all the
islanders, having in the island gold and silver mines, so that
from the tenth of the money accruing from thence, a treasure




5s-60.]               THALIA. III.                   195
is laid up at Delphi equal to the richest; and they used every
year to divide the riches that accrued from the mines. When,
therefore, they established this treasure, they consulted the
oracle, whether their present prosperity should continue with
them for a long time; but the Pythian answered as follows:
"When the Prytaneum in Siphnus shall be white, and the
market white-fronted, then there is need of a prudent man
to guard against a wooden ambush and a crimson herald."
The market and Prytaneum of the Siphnians were then adorned with Parian marble.  58. This response they were unable to comprehend, either then on the moment or when the
Samians arrived; for, as soon as the Samians reached Siphnus, they sent one of their ships, conveying embassadors, to
the city. Formerly, all ships were painted red; and this it
was that the Pythian forewarned the Siphnians, bidding them
beware of a wooden ambush and a crimson herald. These
embassadors, then, having arrived, requested the Siphnians to
lend.them ten talents; but when the Siphnians refused the loan,
the Samians ravaged their territory; but the Siphnians having
heard of it, came out to protect their property, and having
engaged, were beaten, and many of them were cut off from the
city by -the Samians, and they afterward exacted from them
a hundred talents.  59. From the Hermionians they received
an island instead of money, Thyrea, near Peloponnesus, and
gave it in charge to the Trmezenians; and they themselves
founded Cydonia in Crete, though they did. not sail thither
for that purpose, but to expel the Zacynthians fiom the island.
They continued in this settlement, and were prosperous for five
years, so much so that these are the people who erected the
sacred precincts that are now in Cydonia, and the temple of
Dictynna; but in the sixth year the Eginetae, having vanquished them in a sea-fight, reduced them to slavery, together
with the Cretans; and they cut off the prows of their ships,
which represented the figure of a boar, and dedicated them in
the temple of Milierva, in JEgina.  The Efginetae did this on
account of a grudge they bore the Samians; for former:Samians, when Amphicrates reigned in Samos, having made war
against AEgina, did the JEginetm much mischief, and suffered
in return.  This, then, was the cause.
60. I have dwelt longer on the affairs of the Samians, because they have three works the greatest that have been ac



196                  HERODOTUS.                   L61, 62.
complished by all the Greeks. The first is of a mountain, one
hundred and fifty orgy'a in height; in this is dug a tunnel,
beginning from the base, with an opening at each side. The
length of the excavation is seven stades, and the height and
breadth eight feet each; through the whole length of it is dug
another excavation twenty cubits deep, and three feet broad,
through which the water conveyed by pipes reaches the city,
drawn from a copious fountain. The architect of this excavation was a Megarian, Eupalinus, son of Naustrophus.  This,
then, is one of the three. The second is a mound in the sea
round the harbor, in depth about one hundred orgyae, and the
length of the mound is more than two stades. The third work
of theirs is a temple, the largest of all we have ever seen; of
this, the architect was Rhcecus, son of Phileus, a native.  On
account of these things I have dwelt longer on the affairs of
the Samians.
61. While Cambyses, son of Cyrus, tarried in Egypt, and
was acting madly, two magi, who were brothers, revolted.
One of these Cambyses had left steward of his palace. He
accordingly revolted, having been informed of the death of
Smerdis, and that it was kept secret, and that there were few
of the Persians who were acquainted with it, for the generality thought him still alive. Therefore, having formed the
following design, he determined to make an attempt on the
throne. HIe had a brother who, I have said, joined him in
the revolt, in person very like Smerdis, son of Cyrus, whom
Cambyses, although he was his own brother, had put to
death. The magus Patizithes, having persuaded this man
that he would manage every thing for him, set him on the
throne; and having done this, he sent heralds in various directions, and particularly to Egypt, to proclaim to the army
that they must in future obey Smerdis, son of Cyrus, and not
Cambyses. 62. The other heralds, therefore, made this proclamation; and he, moreover, who was appointed to Egypt,
finding Cambyses and his army at Ecbatana, in Syria, standing in the midst, proclaimed what had been ordered by the
magus.  Cambyses having heard this from the herald, and
believing that he spoke the truth, and that he had himself
been betrayed by lrexaspes (for that he, when sent to kill
Smerdis, had not done so), looked toward Prexaspes, and said,
"Prexaspes, hast thou thus performed the business I en



C3, 64.]             THALIA. III.                   197
joined thee "'. But he answered, "Sir, it is not true that your
brother Smerdis has revolted against you, nor that you can
have any quarrel, great or small, with him, for I myself put
your order in execution, and buried him with my own hands;
if, however, the dead rise again, expect that Astyages the
Mede will rise up against you; but if it is now as formerly,
nothing new can' spring up to you from him. It appears to
me, however, that we should pursue the herald, and find out
by inquiry from whom he comes to proclaim to us that we are
to obey king Smerdis."  63. When Prexaspes had spoken thus,
as the advice was approved by Cambyses, the herald was immediately pursued and brought back.  When he arrived,
Prexaspes questioned him as follows: 4 Friend, since you say
that you come as the messenger of Smerdis, son of Cyrus, now
speak the truth, and depart in peace. Whether did Smerdis
himself appear in person before you, and give these orders, or
some one of his ministers?2"  He answered, "I have not so
much as seen Smerdis, son of Cyrus, since king Cambyses
marched for Egypt; but the magus whom Cambyses appointed steward of his palace gave'me these orders, saying that
Smerdis, son of Cyrus, was the person who charged me to deliver this message to you."  Thus the man spoke without adding any untruth.  But Cambyses said, "Prexaspes, you, like
a faithful man, having executed your instructions, have escaped
all blame; but what Persian can this be who has revolted
against me, usurping the name of Smerdis?" He replied, " I
think I understand the whole matter, O king: the magi are
the persons who have revolted agaihst you-Patizithes, whom
you left steward of the palace, and his brother Smerdis."  64.
When Cambyses heard the name of Smerdis, the truth of this
account and of the dream3 struck him: for he fancied in his
sleep that some one announced to him that Smerdis, seated
on the royal throne, touched the heavens with his head. Perceiving, therefore, that he had destroyed his brother without
a cause, he wept for Smerdis, and after he had lamented him,
and bitterly deplored the whole calamity, he leaped upon his
horse, resolving with all speed to march to Susa against the
magus.  But as he was leaping on his horse, thQ chape of
his sword's scabbard fell off, and the blade, being laid bare,
struck the thigh, being wounded in that part where he him3 See chap. 30.




198                  HERODOTUS.                      [65.
self had formerly smitten the Egyptian god Apis.  Cambyses, when he thought that he was mortally wvounded, asked
what was the name of the city. They said it was Ecbatana.
And it had been -before prophesied to him from the city of
Buto that he should end his life in Ecbatana.  I-e therefore
imagined he should die an old man in Ecbatana of Media,
where all his treasures were; but the oracle, in truth, meant
in Ecbatana of Syria. When he had thus bUeen informed, on
inquiry, of the name of the city, though smitten by his misfortune, as well that proceeding from the magus as from the
wound, he returned to his right mind, and comprehending the
oracle, said, " Here it is fated that Cambyses, son of Cyrus,
should die."
65. So much he said at that time; but about twenty days
after, having summoned the principal men of the Persians
who were with him, he addressed them as follows: "I am
constrained to disclose to you a matter which above all others
I desired to conceal. When I was in Egypt I saw a vision in
my sleep which I wish I had never seen. I thought that a
messenger arrived from my palace and announced to me that
Smerdis, seated on the royal throne, touched the heavens with
his head. Fearing lest I should be'deprived of my kingdom
by my brother, I acted with more precipitation than wisdom;
for, in truth, it belongs not to human nature to avert what
is destined to happen. But I foolishly sent Prexaspes to Susa
to put Smerdis to death. Since that crime was perpetrated
I have lived in security, never considering whether, now
that Smerdis was removed, some other mortal might not rise
up against me. But, utterly mistaking what was about to
happen, I became a fratricide to no purpose, and am nevertheless deprived of my kingdom; for Smerdis the magus
was the person who the deity forewarned me in the vision
would rise up against me. The deed, then, has been perpetrated. by me; consider, therefore, that Smerdis, son of Cyrus, is no more; but the magi have possessed themselves
of the throne-he whom I left steward of my palace and his
brother Smerdis.  Now he who of right should have revenged the indignity I suffer from the magi -has perished impiously by the hand of his nearest relation. Since, therefore,
he is no more, in the next place, of the other injunctions that
I have to lay upon you, O Persians, the most necessary is, to




66-68.]              THALIA. IIl                    199
let you know what I would have you do after my death.  I
therefore, in the name of the gods who protect the throne,
charge you, and all of you, especially those of the Achaemenida who are present, never to permit the government to return into the hands of the Medes; and if they have possessed
themselves of it by craft, by craft be it recovered by you; or
if they accomplish it by force, by force to the utmost win it
back again. And if you do thus, may the earth bring forth
her increase; may your wives and your flocks be fruitful, and
you remain forever free; but if you do not win back, nor attempt to win back the sovereign power, I imprecate upon you
the contrary of all these things; and, moreover, may such an
end befall every Persian as has befallen me." When Cambyses
had spoken thus, he deplored his whole fortunes. 66. The
Persians, when they saw their king weep, all rent the garments
they had on, and gave themselves to abundant lamentation;
but afterward, when the bone became infected and the thigh
mortified, it carried off Cambyses, son of Cyrus, after he had
reigned in all seven years and five months, having never had
any children, either male or female. Great incredulity stole
over the Persians who were present as to the ston/ that the
magi had possession of the government, but they thought that
Cambyses said what he did calumniously respecting the death
of Smerdis, in order that the whole "Persian nation might be
made hostile to him. They therefore believed that Smerdis,
son of Cyrus, had risen up and seized the kingdom: Prexaspes,
moreover, vehemently denied that he had killed Smerdis; for
it was not safe for him, now that Cambyses was dead, to own
that he had killed the son of Cyrus with his own hand.
67. Accordingly, the magus, after the death of Cambyses,
relying on his having the same name as Smerdis, the son of
Cyrus, reigned securely during the seven months that remained to complete the eighth year of Cambyses; in which time
he treated all his subjects with such beneficence, that at his
death, all the people of Asia, except the Persians, regretted
his loss; for the magus, having dispatched messengers to
every nation he ruled over, proclaimed a general exemption
from military service and tribute for the space of three years;
and he made ithis proclamation immediately on assuming the
sovereignty. 68. But in the eighth month he was discovered




200                   HERODOTUS.                      [69
in the following manner.  Otanes, son of Pharnaspes, was
by birth and fortune equal to the first of the Persians.
This Otanes first suspected the magus not to be Smerdis,
the son of Cyrus, but the person who he really was;
forming his conjecture from this circumstance, that he never
went out of the citadel, and that he never summoned any of
the principal men of Persia to his presence. Having conceived suspicion of him, he contrived the following artifice..Cambyses had married his daughter, whose name was Phmedyma; the magus, therefore, had her as his wife, and cohabited
with her, as well as with all the rest of the wives of Cambyses. Otanes therefore, sending to this daughter, inquired
with what man she lay, whether with Smerdis, son of Cyrus,
or some other person. She sent back word to him, saying that
she did not know, for that she had never seen Smerdis, son of
Cyrus, nor knew who it was that cohabited with her.  Otanes
sent a second time, saying, "If you do not yourself know
Smerdis, son of Cyrus, then inquire of Atossa who this
man is with whom she as well as you cohabits, for she must
of necessity know her own brother."  To this his daughter
replied, "I can neither have any conversation with Atossa,
nor see any of the women who used to live with me; for as
soon as this man, whoever he is, succeeded to the throne, he
dispersed us all, assigning us separate apartments." 69. When
Otanes heard this, the matter appeared much more plain; and
he sent a third message to her in these words: ")Daughter,
it becomes you, being of noble birth, to undertake any peril
that your father may require you to incur; for if this
Smerdis is not the son of Cyrus, but the person whom I suspect, it is not fit that he, lying with you and possessing the
empire of the Persians, should escape with impunity, but suffer the punishment due to his offenses. Now, therefore, follow my directions: when he sleeps with you, and you know
him to be sound asleep, touch his ears; and if you find he has
ears, be assured that you cohabit with Smerdis, son of Cyrus;
but if he has none, with Smerdis the magus."  To this
message Phoedyma answered, saying "that she should incur
very great danger by doing so; for if he had no ears, and she
should be discovered touching him, she well knew that he
would put her to death; nevertheless, she would make the




70, 71.]             THALIA. III.                   201
attempt."  She accordingly promised to accomplish this for
her father. Now Cyrus, son of Cambyses, during his reign,
had cut off the ears of this Smerdis, the magus, for some grave
offense. This Phedyma, daughter of Otanes, therefore, determining to execute all that she had promised her father,
when her turn came to approach the magus (for in Persia the
wives visit their husbands in regular succession), went and
slept with him; and when the magus was sound asleep, she
felt for his ears, and perceiving without any difficulty that the
man had no ears, as soon as it was day, she sent and made
known to her father what the case was.
70. Thereupon Otanest having taken with him  Aspathines and Gobryas, who were the noblest of the Persians, and
persons on whom he could best rely, related to them the whole
affair: they too had themselves suspected that the case was
so; and when Otanes had adduced his reasons, they admitted
their force; and they agreed that each should associate with
himself a Persian in whom  he could place most reliance.
Otanes accordingly introduced Intaphernes; Gobryas, Megabyzus; and Aspathines, Hydarnes.  These six being associated, Darius, son of Hystaspes, arrived at Susa from Persia,
where his father was governor. When, therefore, he arrived,
the six Persians determined to admit Darius to the confederacy.
71. These seven having met, exchanged pledges with each
other and conferred together. When it came to the turn of
Darius to declare his opinion, he addressed them as follows:
"I thought that I was the only person who knew that it was
the magus who reigns, and that Smerdis, son of Cyrus, is dead;
and for this very reason I hastened hither in order to contrive
the death of the magus; but since it proves that you also are
acquainted with the fact, and not I only, it appears to me that
we should act immediately, and not put it off; for that would
be of no advantage."  Otanes said to this, " Son of Hystaspes, you are born of a noble father, and show yourself not at
all inferior to him; do not, however, so inconsiderately hasten
this enterprise, but set about it with more caution; for we
must increase our numbers, and then attempt it." Darius replied to this, "Be assured, ye men who are here present, if
you adopt the plan proposed by Otanes, you will all miserably
perish;- for some one will discover it to the magus, consulting
12




202                   HERODOTUS.                    [72, 73.
his own private advantage; and, indeed, you ought to have
carried out your project immediately, without communicating
it to any one else;4 but since you have thought fit to refer it
to others, and ye have disclosed it to me, let us carry it out
this very day, or be assured that, if this day passes over, no
one shall be beforehand with me and become my accuser, but
I myself will denounce you to the magus." 72. Otanes, seeing Darius so eager, replied, "Since you compel us to precipitate our enterprise, and will not permit us to defer it,
come, do you tell us in what way we are to enter the palace
and attack them; for you yourself know, if not having seen
them, yet surely by report, that guards are stationed at intervals, and how  shall we pass them?"  Darius answered
Otanes, "There are many things that can not be made clear by
words, but may by action; and there are other things that
seem practicable in description, but no signal effect proceeds
from them. Be assured that the guards stationed there will
not be at all difficult to pass by; for, in the first place, seeing
our rank, there is no one who will not allow us to pass, partly
from respect, and partly from fear; and, in the next place, I
have a most specious pretext by which we shall gain admission, for I will say that I am just arrived from Persia, and
wish to report a message to the king from my father; for
when a lie must be told, let it be told, for we all aim at the
same ends, both they who tell lies, and they who keep to the
truth.  Some tell lies when, by persuading with falsehoods,
they are likely to gain some advantage; while others speak the
truth, in order that, by the truth, they may acquire some advantage, and something farther may be intrusted to them: thus
by different processes we aim at the same end. But if nothing
were likely to be gained,, as well he who speaks truth would lie,
and he who lies would speak truth. Whoever of the doorkeepers, therefore, shall willingly let us pass, shall be rewarded in
due time; but whoever offers to oppose us must instantly be
treated as an enemy; and when we have forced our passage, we
must accomplish our work.  73. After this Gobryas said,
"Friends, shall we ever have a better opportunity to recover
the sovereign power, or, if we shall be unable to do so, to die?
4 More literally, " deliberating upon it by yourselves," or " having
kept your own counsel."




4, 75.]              TIALIA. III.                   203
seeing we who are Persians are governed by a Medic, magus,
and one without ears. Those among you who were present
with Cambyses when he lay sick, well remember the imprecations he uttered at the point of death against the Persians if
they should not attempt to repossess themselves of the sovereign power: we did not then believe his story, but thought
that Cambyses spoke from ill-will. I therefore give my voice
that we yield to Darius, and that on breaking up this conference we go nowhere else but direct to the magus."  Thus
spoke Gobryas, and all assented to his proposal.
74. While they were deliberating on these things, the following events happened to take place. The magi, on consultation, determined to make Prexaspes their friend, both because he had suffered grievous wrong from Cambyses, who
shot his son dead with an arrow, and because he alone of all
the Persians knew of the death of Smerdis, son of Cyrus,
having dispatched him with his own hand; and, moreover, because Prexaspes was in high repute with the Persians. For
these reasons, therefore, having sent for Prexaspes, they endeavored to win his friendship, binding him by pledges and
oaths that he would keep to himself, and never divulge to any
man, the cheat they had put upon the Persians, assuring him
that they would give him every thing in abundance. When
Prexaspes'had promised that he would do as the magi persuaded him, they made a second proposal, saying that they.would assemble all the Persians under the walls of the palace,
end desired that he would ascend a tower, and harangue them,
assuring them that they were governed by Smerdis, son of
Cyrus, and by no one else. This they enjoined him, as being
a man most trusted by the Persians, and as having frequently
affirmed his belief that Smerdis, son of Cyrus, was still living,
and having utterly denied his murder.  75. When Prexaspes
said that he was ready to do that also, the magi having
convoked the Persians, placed him on th'e top of a turret,
and commanded him to harangue the people. But he purposely forgot what they desired hin  to say, and, beginning
from Achaemenes, described the genealogy of Cyrus's family;
and afterward, when he came down to him, he ended by telling them what great benefits Cyrus had done the Persians;
and having gone through these, he declared the whole truth,
saying that he had before concealed it, as it was not safe for




204                  HERODOTUS.                  [76-78.
him  to tell what had happened; but that in the present
emergency, necessity constrained him to make it known. IHe
accordingly told them that he, being compelled by Cambyses,
had put Smerdis, son of Cyrus, to death, and that the magi
then reigned. After he had uttered many imprecations against
the Persians if they should not recover back the sovereign
power and punish the magi, he threw himself headlong from
the tower. Thus died Prexaspes, a man highly esteemed
during the course of his whole life.
76. The seven Persians, having resolved to attack the magi
without delay, set out after they had offered prayers to the
gods i and while they were in the midst of their way, they were
informed of all that had occurred with respect to Prexaspes;
whereupon, standing aside.out of the way, they again conferred together; and some, with Otanes, strongly advised to
defer the enterprise, and not to attempt it while affairs were
in such a ferment; but others, with Darius, urged to proceed
at once, and to do what had been determined on, and on no account to defer it. While they were hotly disputing there appeared seven pairs of hawks pursuing two pairs of vultures, and
plucking and tearing them. The seven, on seeing this, all approved the opinion of Darius, and forthwith proceeded to the
palace, emboldened by the omen.  77. When they approached
the gates, it happened as Darius had supposed; for the guards,
out of.respect for men of highest rank among the Persians, and
not suspecting any such design on their part, let them pass by,
moved as they were by divine' impulse; nor did any one question them; but when they reached the hall, they fell in with
the eunuchs appointed to carry in messages, who inquired of
them for what purpose they had come; and at the same time
that they questioned them, they threatened the door-keepers
for permitting them to pass, and endeavored to prevent the
seven from proceeding any farther; but they, having exhorted each other, and drawn their daggers, stabbed all that
opposed their passage on the spot, and then rushed to the
men's apartment. 78. The magi happened to be both within
at the time, and were consulting about the conduct of Prexaspes. When, therefore, they saw the eunuchs in confusion,
and heard their outcry, they both hurried out, and when they
perceived what was going on, put themselves on the defensive.
One of them accordingly snatched up a bow, and the other




79, 80.]             THALIA. III.                    205
had recourse to a javelin, and thereupon the parties engaged
with each other. The one who had taken up the bow, seeing
his enemies were near and pressing upon them, found it of no
use; but the other made resistance with his spear, and first
wounded Aspathines in the thigh, and next Intaphernes in the
eye; and Intaphernes lost his eye from the wound, but did not
die. Thus one of the magi wounded those two; but the other, when he found his bow of no service, fled to a chamber adjoining the men's apartment, purposing to shut to the door,
and two of the seven, Darius and Gobryas, rushed in with
him; and as Gobryas was grappling with the magus, Darius,
standing by, was in perplexity, fearing lest he should strike
Gobryas in the dark; but Gobryas, seeing that he stood by inactive, asked him why he did not'use his hand; he answered,
" Fearing for you, lest I should strike you."  But Gobryas replied, " Drive your sword even through both of us." Darius,
obeying, made a thrust with his dagger, and, by good fortune,
hit the magus.
79. Having slain the magi and cut off their heads, they
left the wounded of their own party there, as well on account
of their exhaustion as to guard the acropolis; but the other
five of them, carrying the heads of the magi, ran out with
shouting and clamor, and then called upon the rest of the Persians, relating what they had done, and showing them the
heads; and at the same time they slew every one of the magi
that came in their way. The Persians, informed of what had
been done by the seven, and of the fraud of the magi, determined themselves also to do the like; and, having drawn their
daggers, they slew every magus they could find; and if night
coming on had not prevented, they would not have left a
single magus alive. This day the Persians observe in common more than tny other, and in it they celebrate a great
festival, which they call "the slaughter of the magi."  On
that day no magus is allowed to be seen in public, but they
shut themselves up in their own houses during the whole of
that day.
80. When the tumult had subsided, and five days had elapsed,
those who had risen up against the magi deliberated on the
state of affairs, and speeches were made that are disbelieved
by some of the Greeks, however they were made.  Otanes
advised that they should commit the government to the Per



206                  HERODOTUS.                      [81.
sians at large, speaking as follows: "It appears that no one
of us should henceforward be a monarch, for it is neither agreeable nor good; for you know to what a pitch the insolence
of Cambyses reached, and you have experienced the insolence
of the magus; and, indeed, how can a monarchy be a wellconstituted government, where one man is allowed to do whatever he pleases without control?  For'if even the best of men
were placed in such power, he would depart from his wonted
thoughts; for insolence is engendered in him by the advantages that surround him, and envy is implanted in man from
his birth, and having these two, he has every vice; for, puffed
up by insolence, he commits many nefarious actions, and others
through envy.  One would think that a man who holds sovereign power should be free from envy, since he possesses every
advantage; but the contrary to this takes place in his conduct toward the citizens, for he envies the best who continue
to live, and delights in the worst men of the nation; he very
readily listens to calumny, and is the most inconsistent of all
men; for if you show him respect in moderation, he is offended
because he is not sufficiently honored; and if any one honors
him very much, he is offended as with a flatterer. But I proceed to relate what is most important. He changes the institutions of our ancestors, violates women, and puts men to death
without trial. But a popular government bears the fairest name
of all, equality of rights; and, secondly, is guilty of none of those
excesses that a monarch is. The magistrate obtains his office by
lot, and exercises it under responsibility, and refers all plans to
the public. I therefore give my opinion that we should do
away with monarchy, and exalt the people, for in the many
all things are found." Otanes accordingly advanced this opinion. 81. Megabyzus advised them to intrust the government
to an oligarchy, and spoke as follows: " I concur with what
Otanes has said about abolishing tyranny; but in bidding
us transfer the power to the people, he has erred from the
best opinion; for nothing is more foolish and insolent than
4 useless crowd; therefore it is on no account to be endured,
that men, who are endeavoring to avoid the insolence of a tyrant, should fall under the insolence of an unrestrained multitude.  The former, when he does any thing, does it knowingly, but the latter have not the means of knowing; for how
should they know who have neither been taught, nor are ac



82, 83.]             THALIA. II.                    207
quainted with any thing good or fitting; they who, rushing
on without reflection, precipitate affairs like a winter torrent. Let those, then, who desire the ruin of the Persians
adopt a democracy; but let us, having chosen an association
of the best men, commit the sovereign power to them, for
among them we ourselves shall be included, and it is reasonable to expect that the best counsels will proceed from the best
men."  Megabyzus accordingly advanced this opinion.' 82.
Darius expressed his opinion the third, saying, "In what
Megabyzus has said concerning the people, he appears to me
to have spoken rightly; but concerning an oligarchy, not so;
for if three forms are proposed, and each of these which I allude to the best in its kind, the best democracy, and oligarchy,
and monarchy, I affirm  that the last is far superior; for
nothing can be found better than one man, who is the best;
since acting upon equally wise plans, he would govern the
people without blame, and would keep his designs most secret
from the ill-affected. But in an oligarchy, while many are exerting their energies for the public good, strong private enmities commonly spring up; for each wishing to be chief, and
to carry his own opinions, they come to deep animosities one
against another, from whence seditions arise; and from seditions, murder; and from murder it results in anarchy; and
thus it is proved how much this form of government is the
best. But when the people rule, it is impossible but that evil'
should spring up; when, therefore, evil springs up, mutual
enmities do not arise among the bad, but powerful combinations, for they who injure the commonweath act in concert;
and this lasts until some one of the people stands forward and
puts them down; and on this account he is admired by the
people, apd being admired, he becomes a monarch; and in
this he too shows that a monarchy is best. But to comprehend all in one word, whence came our freedom? and
who gave it? Was it from the people, or an oligarchy, or a
monarch?  My opinion, therefore, is, that if we were made
free by one man, we should maintain the same kind of government; and, moreover, that we should not subvert the institutions of our ancestors, seeing they are good; for that were
not well."
83. These three opinions were proposed, and four of the




208                  HERODOTTTS.                [84, 85.
seven adhered to the last. When the opinion of Otanes, who
was anxious to introduce equality among the Persians, was
overruled, he thus spoke in the midst of them: "Associates,
since it is evident that some one of us must be made king,
either appointed by lot, or by the body of the Persians, intrusting the government to whom they may choose, or by some
other way; now I will not enter into competition with you,
for I wish neither to govern nor to be governed. But on this
condition I give up all claim to the government, that neither
I nor any of my posterity may be subject to any one of you."
When he had said this, and the six had agreed to these terms,
he did not join in the contest, but withdrew from the assembly; and this family alone, of all the Persians, retains its liberty to this day, and yields obedience so far as it pleases, but
without transgressing the laws of the Persians. 84. The rest
of the seven consulted how they might appoint a king on the
most equitable terms; and they determined that to Otanes and
his posterity forever, if the kingdom should devolve on any
other of the seven, should be given a Median vest yearly, by
way of distinction, together with all such presents as are accounted most honorable among the Persians. They decreed
that these things should be given him for this reason, because
he first advanced the enterprise, and associated them together.
These honors were conferred on Otanes by way of distinction. And they made the following resolutions with regard
to the whole body: that every one of the seven should have
liberty to enter into the palace without being introduced, unless the king should happen to be in bed with one of his
wives; and that the king should not be allowed to marry
a wife out of any other family than of the conspirators.
With regard to the kingdom, they came to the following determination, that he whose horse should first neigh in the
suburbs at sunrise, while they were mounted, should have the
kingdom.
85. Darius had a groom, a shrewd man, whose name was
CEbares; to this person, when the assembly had broken up,
Darius spoke as follows: " Cbares, we have determined with
respect to the kingdom to do in this manner: he whose horse
shall neigh first at sunrise, when we ourselves are mounted,
is to have the kingdom. Now, therefore, if you have any




86-88.]               THALIA. III.                    209
ingenuity, contrive that I may obtain this honor, and not
another."  U]bares answered, "If, sir, it indeed depends on
this whether you shall be king or not, be confident on this
point, and keep up your spirits; for no one else shall be king
before you; I have a charm for the occasion." Darius said,
"If you have any such contrivance, it is time to put it in
practice, and not to delay, for to-morrow our trial is to be."
CEbares, having heard this, did as follows: as soon as it was
night, he led the mare which Darius's horse was most fond
of to the suburbs, tied her up, and led Darius's horse to her;
and he led him several times round near the mare, gradually
bringing him nearer, and at last let the horse cover her. 86.
At dawn of day, the six, as they had agreed, met together
on horseback; and, as they were riding round the suburbs,
when they came to the spot where the mare had been tied
the preceding night, Darius's horse ran forward and neighed;
and as the horse did this, lightning and thunder came from
a clear sky. These things, happening to Darius, consummated
the auspices, as if done by appointment.  The others, dismounting from their horses, did obeisance to Darius as king.
87. Some say that (Ebares had recourse to the foregoing
artifice; others. to the following (for the story is told both
ways by the Persians): that, having rubbed his hand upon the
genital part of the mare, he kept it concealed under his
trowsers, and at sunrise, when the horses were about to
start, CEbares drew out his hand and put it to the nostrils of
Darius's horse, and that he, taking the scent, began to snort
and neigh.
88. Accordingly, Darius, son of Hystaspes, was declared
king, and all the people of Asia except the Arabians were
subject to him, Cyrus having first subdued them, and afterward Cambyses.  The Arabians never submitted to the
Persian yoke, but were on friendly terms, and gave Cambyses a free passage into Egypt; for, without the consent of
the Arabians, the Persians could not have penetrated ifito
Egypt.  Darius contracted his first marriages with Persians: he married two daughters of Cyrus, Atossa and Artystona.  Atossa had been before married to her brother Cambyses, and afterward to the magus, but Artystona was a
virgin.  He married another also, daughter of Smerdis, son
of Cyrus, whose name was Parmys; and he had, besides, the




210                  HERODOTUS.                   [89, 90.
daughter of Otanes, who detected the magus.  His power was
fully established on all sides. Having, then, first of all, made a
stone statue, he had it erected; and a figure was upon it representing a mnan on horseback; and he had engraved on it
the following inscription, DARIus, SON OF HYSTASPES, BY TIE
SAGACITY OF IsS HORSE (here mentioning the name), AND BY
THE ADDRESS OF CEBARES, HIS GROOM, OBTAINED THE EMPIRE OF THE PERSIANS.  89. Having done this in Persia, he
constituted twenty governments, which they call'satrapies;
and having constituted the governments and set governors
over them, he appointed tributes to be paid to him from each
nation, both connecting the adjoining people with the several
nations, and omitting some neighboring people, he annexed
to some others that were more remote. He distributed the
governments and the annual payment of tribute in the following manner.  Such of them  as contributed silver were
required to pay it according to the standard of the Babylonian talent; and such, as contributed gold, according to
the Euboic talent. The Babylonian talent is equal to seventy
Euboic minve. During the reign of Cyrus, and afterward of
Cambyses, there was no fixed regulation with regard to tribute, but they brought in presents. In consequence of this
imposition of tribute, and other things of a similar kind, the
Persians say Darius was a trader, Cambyses a master, and
Cyrus a father.  The first, because he made profit of every
thing; the second, because he was severe and arrogant; the
latter, because he  was' mild, and always aimed at the good of
his people.  90. From the Ionians, the Magnesians in Asia,5
the XEolians, Carians, Lycians, Milyens, and Pamphylians, for
one and the same tribute was imposed on them all, there
came in a revenue of four hundred talents in silver; this,
then, composed the first division. From the Mysians, Lydians,
Lasonians, Cabalians, and Hygennians, five hundred talents;
this was the second division.  From the Hellespontians, who
dxell on the right as one sails in, the Phrygians, the Thracians in Asia, Paphlagonians, Mariandynians, and Syrians,
there was a tribute of three hundred and sixty talents; this
was the third division. From  the Cilicians, three hundred
and sixty white horses, one for every day, and five hundred
5 There were also Magnesians in Thessaly. See Book VII. ch. 183.




91-93.]               TIIALIA. III.                   211
talents of silver; of these a hundred and forty were expended on the cavalry that guarded the Cilician territory, and
the remaining three hundred and sixty went to Darius; this
was the fourth division.  91. From the city of Poseideium,
which Amphilochus, son of Amphiaraus, founded on the confines of the Cilicians and Syrians, beginning from this down
to Egypt, except a district belonging to Arabians, which
was exempt from taxation, was paid a tribute of three hundred and fifty talents; and in this division is included all
Phcenicia, Syria which is called Palaestine, and Cyprus; this
was the fifth division.  From Egypt and the Libyans bordering on Egypt, and from Cyrene and Barce (for these were
annexed to the Egyptian division), accrued seven hundred
talents, besides the revenue arising from lake Mceris, which
was derived from the fish; in addition, then, to this money,
and the fixed supply of corn, there accrued seven hundred talents; for they furnish in addition 120,000 measures of corn
for the Persians who occupy the white fortress at Memphis,
and their allies; this was the sixth division. The Sattagydoe, Gandarians, Dadica, and Aparytse, joined together, contributed one hundred and seventy talents; this was the seventh division.  From Susa, and the rest of the country of the
Cissians, three hundred talents; this was the eighth division.
92. From Babylon and the rest of Assyria there accrued to
him  a thousand talents of silver and five hundred young
eunuchs; this was the ninth division.  From Ecbatana and
the rest of Media, and the Paricanians and OrtItocorybantes,
four hundred and fifty talents; this was the tenth division.
The Caspians, Pausicse, Pantimathians, and Darits, contributing together, paid two hundred talents; this was the eleventh division. From the Bactrians as far as the 2Eglse was
a tribute of three hundred and sixty talents; this was the
twelfth division.  93. From Pactyica, and the Armenians,
and the neighboring people as far as the Euxine Sea, four
hundred talents; this was the thirteenth division. From the
Sagartians, Sarangeans, Thamaneans, Utians, Mycians, and
those who inhabit the islands on the Red Sea, in which the
king settles transported convicts, from all these came a tribute
of six hundred talents; this was the fourteenth division. The
Sacm and Gaspians paid two. hundred and fifty talents; this
was the fifteenth division. The Parthians, Chorasmians, Sog



212                   IIERODOTVS.                [94-97.
dians, and Arians, three hundred talents; this was the sixteenth division. 94. The Paricanians and Asiatic Ethiopians
paid four hundred talents; this was the seventeenth division.
The Matienians, Saspires, and Alarodians were taxed at two
hundred talents; this was the eighteenth division.  From the
Moschians, Tibarenians, Macroniaps, Mosyncecians, and Marsians, three hundred talents were demanded; this was the nineteenth division. Of the Indians the population is by far the
greatest of all nations whom we know of, and they paid a tribute proportionally larger than all the rest-three hundred and
sixty talents of gold dust; this was the twentieth division.
95. Now the Babylonian standard, compared with the Euboic
talent, makes the total nine thousand five hundred and forty
talents; and the gold, estimated at thirteen timnes the value of
silver, the gold dust will be found to amount to four thousand
six hundred and eighty Euboic talents. Therefore, if the total of all these are computed together, fourteen thousand five
hundred and sixty Euboic talents were collected by Darius as
an annual tribute; and passing over sums less than these, I do
not mention them. 96. This tribute accrued to Darius from
Asia and a small part of Libya; but, in the course of time, another tribute accrued from the islands and the inhabitants of
Europe as far as Thessaly. This tribute the king treasures
up in the following manner: having melted it, he pours it into
earthen jars, and having filled it, he takes away the earthen
mould, and when he wants money, he cuts off so much as he
wants fiom time to time.
97. These, then, were the governments and the imposts on
each. The Persian territory alone has not been mentioned as
subject to tribute, for the Persians occupy their land free
from taxes. They, indeed, were not ordered to pay any tribute, but brought gifts. The Ethiopians bordering on Egypt,
whom Cambyses subdued when he marched.against the Macrobian Ethiopians, and who dwell about the sacred city of
Nysa, and celebrate festivals of Bacchus-these Ethiopians
and their neighbors use the same grain as the Calantian Indians, and live in subterraneous dwellings-both these bring
every third year, and they continued to do so to my time, two
choenices of unmolten gold, two hundred blocks of ebony, five
Ethiopian boys, and twenty large elephants' tusks. The Colchians numbered themselves among those who gave presents,




98-100.]             THALIA. III.                    213
as well as the neighboring nations, as far as Mount Caucasus;
for to this mountain the dominions of Persia extend; but
the people to the north side of the Caucasus pay no regard
to the Persians. These, then, for the gifts they imposed on
themselves, furnished, even to my time, every five years, one
hundred boys and one hundred virgins.  The Arabians also
furnished every year a thousand talents of frankincense.
These, then, brought to the king the above gifts, besides the
tribute.
98. The Indians obtain the great quantity of gold, from
which they supply the before-mentioned dust to the king, in
the manner presently described.  That part of India toward
the rising sun is all sand; for of the people with whom we
are acquainted, and of whom any thing certain is told, the Indians live the farthest toward the east and the sunrise of all
the inhabitants of Asia; for the Indians' country toward the
east is a desert, by reason of the sands. There are many nations of Indians, and they do not speak the same language as
each other; sonle of them are nomades, and others not. Some
inhabit the marshes of the river, and feed on raw fish, which
they take going out in boats made of reeds: one joint of the
reed makes a boat. These Indians wear a garment made of
rushes, which, when they have cut the reed from the river and
beaten it, they afterward plait like a mat, and wear it as a
corslet.  99. Other Indians, living to the east of these, are
nomades, and eat raw flesh; they are called Padlsans. They
are said to use the following customs.  When any one of the
community is sick, whether it be a woman or a man, if it be
a man, the' men who are his nearest connections put him to
death, alleging that if he wasted by disease his flesh would be
spoiled; but if he denies that he is sick, they, not agreeing
with him, kill and feast upon him; and if a woman be sick,
in like manner the women who are most intimate with her do
the same as the men; and whoever reaches to old age, they
sacrifice and feast upon; but few among them attain to this
state; for before that, they put to death every one that falls
into any distemper. 100. Other Indians have the following
different custom: they neither kill any thing that has life, nor
sow any thing, nor are they wont to have houses, but they live
upon herbs, and they have a grain of the size of millet in a pod,
which springs spontaneously from the earth; this they gather,




214                   HERODOTUS.                 [101-104.
and boil it, and eat it with the pod. When any one of them
falls into any disorder, he goes and lies down in the desert, and
no one takes any thought about him, whether dead or sick.
101. The intercourse of all these Indians whom I have mentioned takes place openly, as with cattle; and all have a complexion closely resembling the Ethiopians. The seed they emit
is not white, as that of other men, but black as their skin; the
Ethiopians also emit similar seed.  These Indians are situated
very far from the Persians, toward the south, and were never
subject to Darius.
102. There are other Indians bordering on the city of Caspttyrus and the country of Pactyica, settled northward of the
other Indians, whose mode of life.resembles that of the Bactrians. They are the most warlike of the Indians, and these
are they who are sent to procure the gold; for near this part
is a desert, by reason of the sand.  In this desert, then, and
in the sand, there are ants, in size somewhat less indeed than
dogs, but larger than foxes.  Some of them are in the possession of the king of the Persians, which were taken there.
These ants, forming their habitations under ground, heap up
the sand, as the ants in Greece do, and in the same manner;
and they are very like them  in shape.  The sand that is
heaped up is mixed with gold.  The Indians, therefore, go to
the desert to get this sand, each man having three camels, on
either side a male one harnessed to draw by the side, and a
female in the middle; this last the man mounts himself, having taken care to yoke one that has been separated from her
young as recently born as possible; for camels are not inferior to horses in swiftness, and are much better able to carry
burdens.  103. What kind of figure the camel has I shall not
describe to the Greeks, as they are acquainted with it, but
what is not known respecting it I will mention.  A  camel
has four thighs and four knees in his hinder legs, and his
private parts are turned between the hinder legs to the tail.
104. The Indians then, adopting such a plan and such a
method of harnessing, set out for the gold, having before calculated the time, so as to be engaged in their plunder during
the hottest part of the day; for during the heat the ants hide
themselves under ground. Among these people the sun is
hottest in the morning, and not, as among others, at midday, from the time that it has risen some way to the break



105-107.]             THALIA. III.                     215
ing up of the market; during this time it scorches much
more than at midday in Greece; so that, it is said, they then
refresh themselves in water.  Midday scorches other men
much the same as the Indians; but as the day declines, the
sun becomes to them as it is in the morning to others; and
after this, as it proceeds, it becomes still colder until sunset;
then it is very cold.  105. When the Indians arrive at the
spot, having sacks with them, they fill these with the sand,
and return with all possible expedition; for the ants, as the
Persians say, immediately discovering them  by the smell,
pursue them, and they are equaled in swiftness by no other
animal, so that if the Indians did not get the start of them
while the ants were assembling, not a man of them could be
saved.  Now the male camels (for they are inferior in speed
to the females) slacken their pace, dragging on,6 not both
equally; but the females, mindful of the young they have left,
do not slacken their pace.  Thus the Indians, as the Persians
say, obtain the greatest part of their gold; and they have
some small quantity more that is dug in the country.
106. The extreme parts of the inhabited world somehow
possess the most excellent products, as Greece enjoys by far
the best-tempered climate; for, in the first place, India is the
farthest part of the inhabited world toward the east, as I
have just observed; in this part, then, all animals, both quadrupeds and birds, are much larger than they are in other
countries, with the exception of horses; in this respect they
are surpassed by the Medic breed called the Nysaean horses.
In the next place, there is abundance of gold there, partly
dug, partly brought down by the rivers, and partly seized in
the manner I have described.  And certain wild trees there
bear wool instead of fruit, that in beauty and -quality excels
that of sheep; and the Indians make their clothing from
these trees. 107. Again, Arabia is the farthest of the inliabited countries toward the south; and this is the only region
in which grow frankincense, myrrh, cassia, cinnamon, and ledanum.  All these, except myrrh, the Arabians gather with
difficulty. The frankincense they gather by burning styrax,
which the Phoenicians import into Greece; they take it by
burning this; for winged serpents, small in size, and various
6 For the various modes of translating this difficult passage, see
Baelhr's Note or Cary's Lexicon.




216                   HERODOTUS.                [108 —110.
in form, guard the trees that bear frankincense, a great number round each tree.  These are the same serpents that invade Egypt.7' They are driven from  the trees by nothing
else but the smoke of the styrax.  108. The Arabians say
this also, that the whole land would be filled by these serpents
if some such thing did not take place with regard to them, as
I know happens to vipers. And the providence of God, as
was likely, proves itself wise: whatever creatures are timid,
and fit for food, have been made very prolific, lest the species
should be destroyed by constant consumption; but such as are
savage and noxious, unprolific. For instance, the hare, which
is hunted by all, beasts, birds, and men, is so prolific that it
alone of all beasts conceives to superfetation, having in its
womb some of its young covered with down, others bare,
others just formed, and at the same time conceives again.
Such, then, is the case.  Whereas a lioness, which is the
strongest and fiercest of beasts, bears only one once in her
life; for in bringing forth she ejects her matrix with the
whelp; and this is the cause: when the whelp begins to move
in the womb, he, having claws much sharper than those of
any other beast, lacerates the womb; and as he increases in
strength, he continues tearing it much more; and when the
birth approaches, not a single. part of it remains sound.  109.
So, also, if vipers and the winged serpents of Arabia multiplied
as fast as their nature admits, men could not possibly live.
But now, when they couple together, and the male is in the
very act of impregnating, as he emits the seed, the female
seizes him by the neck, and clinging to him, never lets him go
until she has gnawed through him.  In this manner the male
dies, and the female pays the following retribution to the
male: the offspring, while' yet in the womb, avenging their
father, eat through the matrix; and having gnawed through
her bowels, thus make their entrance into the world. But
other serpents, which are not hurtful to men, lay eggs, and
hatch a vast number of young.  Now vipers are found in all
parts of the world; but flying serpents are abundant in Arabia, and nowhere else: there they appear to be very numerous.
110. The Arabians obtain the frankincense in the manner
I have described; and the cassia as follows: when they have
covered their whole body and face, except the eyes, with hides
7 See Book II. chap. 75.




1114-1l+.]           THALIA. III.                     217
and other skins, they go to the cassia; it grows in a shallow
lake; and around the lake and in it lodge winged animals,
very like bats, and they screech fearfully, and are exceedingly
fierce. These they keep off from their eyes, and so gather the
cassia.  111. The cinnamon they collect in a still more wonderful manner. Where it grows, and what land produces it,
they are unable to tell, except that some, giving a probable
account, say that it grows in those countries in which Bacchus
was nursed. And they say that large birds bring those rolls
of bark, which we, from the Phoenicians, call cinnamon, the
birds bring them for their nests, which are built with clay,
against precipitous mountains, where there is no access for
man. The Arabians, to surmount this difficulty, have invented the following artifice: having cut up into large pieces
the limbs of dead oxen, and assas, and other beasts of burden,
they carry them to these spots, and having laid them near the
nests, they retire to a distance.  But the birds flying down
qarry up the limbs of the beasts to their nests, which not being
strong enough to support the weight, break and fall to the
ground.  Then the men, coming up, in this manner gather the
cinnamon, and being gathered by them, it reaches other countries.  112. But the ledanum, which the Arabians call ladanum, is still more wonderful than this; for though it comes
from a most stinking place, it is itself most fragrant; for it
is found sticking like gum to the beards of he-goats, which
collect it from the wood. It is useful for many ointments,
and the Arabians burn it very generally as a perfume.' 113.
It may suffice to have said thus much of these perfumes; and
there breathes from Arabia, as it were, a divine odor.  They
have two kinds of sheep worthy of admiration, which are seen
nowhere else.  One kind has large tails, not less than three
cubits in length, which, if suffered to trail, would ulcerate,
by the tails rubbing on the ground.  But every shepherd
knows enough of the carpenter's art to prevent this, for they
make little carts and fasten them  under the tails, binding
the tail of each separate sheep to a separate cart. The other
kind of sheep have broad tails, even to a cubit in breadth.
114. Where the meridian declines8 toward the setting sun, the
Ethiopian territory reaches, being the, extreme part of the habitable world.  It produces much gold, huge elephants, wild
8 That is, "southwest."
K




218                  HERODOTUS.                [11 5-117.
trees of all kinds, ebony, and men of large stature, very handsome, and long-lived.
115. These, then, are the extremities of Asia and Libya.
Concerning the western extremities of Europe I am unable to
speak with certainty, for I do not admit that there is a river,
called by barbarians Eridanus, which discharges itself into the
sea toward the north, from which amber is said to come; nor
am I acquainted with the Cassiterides islands, from whence
our tin comes; for, in the first place, the name Eridanus
shows that it is Grecian and not barbarian, and feigned by
some poet; in the next place, though I have diligently inquired, I have never been able to hear from any man who has
himself seen it that there is a sea on that side of Europe.
However, both tin and amber come to us from the remotest
parts.  116. Toward the north of Europe there is evidently a
very great quantity of gold, but how procured I am unable to
say with certainty, though it'is said that the Arimaspians, a
one-eyed people, steal it from the griffins. Neither do I believe this, that men are born with one eye, and yet in other respects resemble the rest of mankind. However, the extremities of the world seem to surround and inclose the rest of the
earth, and to possess those productions which we account most
excellent and rare.
117. There is a plain in Asia shut in on every side by a
range of mountains, and there are five defiles in the mountain.
This plain formerly belonged to the Chorasmians, situated on
the confines of these Chorasmians, of the Hyrcanians, Parthians, Sarangraans, and Thamanaans; but since the Persians
have had the empire it belongs to the king. From this range
of mountains, then, that shuts in this plain, there flows a great
river, the name of which is Aces; it formerly, being divided
into five several channels, used to irrigate the lands of the nations before mentioned, being conducted to each nation through
each separate defile. But since they have become subject to
the Persian, they have suffered the following calamity.  The
king, having caused the clefts of the mountains to be blocked
up, placed gates at each cleft, and the passage of the water being stopped, the plain within the mountains has become a sea,
as the river continued to pour in, and had nowhere any exit.
The people, therefore, who before were in the habit of using,the water, not being able to use it any longer, were reduced to




118, 119.]            TIIALIA. III.                   219
great extremities; for though in winter heaven supplies them
with rain, as it does other men, yet, in summer, when they sow
millet and sesame, they stood in need of water. When, therefore, no water was allowed them, they and their wives going
to the Persians, and standing before the king's palace, raised a
great outcry. But the king gave order that the gates should be
open toward those lands that were most in need; and when
their land was satiated by imbibing water, these gates were
shut, and he ordered others to be opened to those who were
next in greatest need; and, as I have been informed, he opens
them after he has exacted large sums of money, in addition to
the tribute.  Now these things are so.
118. Of the seven men that conspired against the magus, it
happened that one of them, Intaphernes, having committed the
following act of insolence, lost his life shortly after the revolution.  He wished to enter the palace in order to confer
with Darius; for the law was so settled among those who had
conspired against the magus, that they should have access to
the king without' a messenger, unless the king should happen
to be in bed with one of his wives. Intaphernes, therefore, determined that no one should announce him; but, because he
was one of the seven, chose to enter; the door-keeper, however, and the messenger,.would not let him pass, saying that the
king was then in bed with one of his wives. But Intaphernes,
suspecting they told a falsehood, did as follows: having drawn
his cimeter, he cut off their ears and noses, and having strung
them to the bridle of his horse, h] hung them  round their
necks, and so dismissed them.. They presented themselves to the king, and told him the cause for which they had
been so treated. Darius, fearing lest the six had done this
in concert, sent for them, one by one, and endeavored to
discover their opinions, whether they approved of what had
been done. But when he discovered that Intaphernes had
not done this with their privity, he seized Intaphernes himself, and his children, and all his family, having reason to
suspect that he, with his relations, would raise a rebellion
against him; and having seized them, he bound them as for
death.  But the wife of Intaphernes, going to the gates of the
palace, wept and lamented aloud; and having done this continually, she prevailed on Darius to have compassion on her.
He therefore, having sent a messenger, spoke as follows:




220                  HERODOTUS.                 [120, 121.
c Madam, king Darius allows you to release one of your relations who are now  in prison, whichever of them  all you
please."  But she, having deliberated, answered as follows:
"Since the king grants me the life of one, I choose my brother from them all." Darius, when he heard this, wondering at
her choice, having sent again, asked, " Madam, the king inquires the reason why, leaving your husband and children, you
have chosen that your brother should survive, who is not so
near related to you as your children, and less endeared to you
than your husband?"  She answered as follows:' 0 king, I
may have another husband, if God will, and other children if
I lose these; but, as my father and mother are no longer alive,
I can not by any means have another brother; for this reason
I spoke as I did."  The woman appeared to Darius to have
spoken well, and he granted her the one whom she asked, and
her eldest son, he was so well pleased with her. All the rest
he put to death. Of the seven, therefore, one very soon perished in the manner now mentioned.
120. Near about the time of Cambyses's illness, the following events took place. Orcetes, a Persian, had been appointed
governor of Sardis by Cyrus; this man conceived an impious
project; for, without having sustained any injury, or heard a
hasty word from Polycrates the Samian, and without having
seen him before, he conceived the design of seizing him and
putting him to death, as most people say, for some such cause
as this.  Oroetes and another Persian, whose name was Mitrobates, governor of the district of Dascylium, were sitting together at the palace gates, and fell into a dispute.  As they
were quarreling about valor, Mitrobates said to Orcetes tauntingly, "Are you to be reckoned a brave man, who have
not yet acquired for the king the island of Samos, that lies
near your government, and is so easy to be subdued? which
one of its own inhabitants, having made an insurrection
with fifteen armed men, obtained possession of, and now
reigns over "   Some say that he, having heard this, and being.stung with the reproach, conceived a desire, not so much
to revenge himself on the man who said it as of utterly destroying Polycrates, on whose account he had been reproached.
121. A fewer number say that Orcetes sent a herald to Samos
to make some demand which is not mentioned, and that Polycrates happened to be reclining in the men's apartment, and




122, 123.]           THALIA. III.                     221
that Anacreon of Teos was with him; and somehow (whether
designedly disregarding the business of Oretes, or by chance
it so happened), when the herald of Orcetes came forward and
delivered his message, Polycrates, as his face chanced to be
turned-toward the wall, neither turned about nor made any
answer.  122. These twofold causes are assigned for the death
of Polycrates: every man may give credit to whichever he
pleases.  However, Orcetes, who resided in Magnesia, situated on the river Meander, being acquainted with the intentions of Polycrates, sent Myrsus, a Lydian, son of Gyges, with
a message to Samos; for Polycrates is the first of the Grecians of whom we know who formed a design to make himself master of the sea, except Minos the Cnossian, or any
other, who before his time obtained the empire of the sea;
but, within what is called the historical9 age, Polycrates is the
first who had entertained great expectations of ruling Ionia
and the islands. Oroetes, therefore, having ascertained that
he had formed this design, sent a message to the following
effect: " ORETES TO POLYCRATES SAYS AS FOLLOWS: I understand that you are planning vast enterprises, and that you
have not money answerable to your projects.  Now if you
will do as I advise, you will promote your own success, and
preserve me; for king Cambyses meditates my death, and
of this I have certain information.  Now do you convey me
and my wealth out of the country, and take part of it, and
suffer me to enjoy the rest.  By means of the wealth you will
become master of all Greece. If you doubt what I say concerning my riches, send to me the most trusty of your servants, to whom I will show them."  123. Polycrates, having
heard this, was delighted, and accepted the offer; and, as he
was very eager for wealth, he first sent Mseandrius, son of Mceandrius, to view it, a citizen who was his secretary.  He not
long after dedicated to the temple of Juno all the ornamental
furniture from the men's apartment of Polycrates, which was
indeed magnificent. Orcetes, having learned that an inspector
might be expected, did as follows: having filled eight chests
with stones, except a very small space round the brim, he put
gold on the surface of the stones, and having made the chests
fast with cords, he kept them in readiness.  But Macandrius,
9 In opposition to "the fabulous."




222                   HERODOTUS.                 [124-12G.
having come and inspected the chests, took back a report to Polycrates. 124. He, though earnestly dissuaded by the oracles
and by his friends, resolved to go in person; and, moreover,
though his daughter had seen in a dream this vision: she imagined she saw her father elevated in the air, washed by Jupiter, and anointed by the sun. Having seen this vision, she endeavored by all possible means to divert Polycrates from going
from home to Orcetes; and, as he was going on board a fiftyoared galley, she persisted in uttering words of bad omen; but
he threatened her, if he should return safe, that she should long
continue unmarried; and she prayed that so it might be
brought to pass; for she chose to continue a longer time unmarried than be deprived of her father.  125. Thus Polycrates, disregarding all advice, set sail to visit Orcetes, taking
with him many others of his friends, and among them Democedes, son of Calliphon, a Crotonian, who was a physician, and
the most skillful practitioner of his time.  But Polycrates, on
his arrival at Magnesia, was put to death in. a horrid manner,
unworthy of himself and his lofty thoughts; for, with the exception of those who have been tyrants of Syracuse, not one of.
all the Grecian tyrants deserves to be compared with Polycrates
for magnificence. But Orcetes, having put him to death in a
manner not to be described, caused him to be crucified.  Of
those who accompanied Polycrates, as many as were Samians
he dismissed, bidding them to feel thankful to him for their liberty; but as many as were strangers and servants he detained
and treated as slaves. Thus Polycrates, being crucified, fulfilled the vision of his daughter in every particular; for he was
washed by Jupiter when it rained, and was anointed by the
sun, himself emitting moisture from his body. Thus the constant good fortune of Polycrates ended as Amasis, king of
Egypt, had foretold.1
126. Not long after, vengeance on account of Polycrates
overtook Orcetes;for, after the death of Cambyses, and during
the reign of the magi, Orcetes, continuing at Sardis, gave no
assistance to the Persians, who had been deprived of the government by the Medes; but he, in this confusion, put to death
Mitrobates, governor of Dascylium, who had upbraided him
with his conduct to Polycrates, together with Mitrobates's son
Cranaspes, men of high repute among the Persians; and he
1 See chapters 40-43.




127, 128.]           THALIA, III.                     223
committed various other atrocities; and a certain courier of
Darius who came to him, because he brought him an unwelcome message, he had assassinated on his return, having set
men to way-lay him; and when he had caused him to be
slain, he had him and his horse put out of sight.  127. Darius, therefore, when he got possession of the throne, was anxious to punish Oroetes for all his iniquities, and especially for
the death of'Mitrobates and his son; but he did not think it
prudent to send an army against him  openly, as his affairs
were still in a ferment, and he had but just got possession of
the throne, and he heard that Orcetes had great strength; for
he had a body-guard of a thousand Persians, and held the
government of Phrygia, Lydia, and Ionia.  Under these circumstances, therefore, Darius had recourse to the following
plan: having called the most eminent of the Persians together, he addressed them  as follows: "Which of you, O
Persians, will undertake to accomplish for me this by address,
and not by force and numbers? for where skill is required,
force is of no avail. Which of you, then, will either bring me
Oroetes alive, or put him to death?  He has never done the
Persians any service, but he has brought great mischiefs upon
them. In the first place, he destroyed two of us, IMitrobates
and his son; and, in the next place, he slew the messenger
sent by me to recall him, displaying intolerable insolence. I-e
must therefore be stopped by death before he has perpetrated
any greater evils against the Persians."  128. Darius asked
the above questions; and thirty men offered to undertake it,
each being willing to accomplish the plan alone. But Darius
put an end to their competitions by desiring them to cast lots;
and when they cast lots, it fell to Bagseus, son of Artontes.
Bagmus, having obtained it, did as follows: having written
several letters relating to a variety of affairs, he affixed to
them Darius's seal, and then proceeded with them to Sardis.
On his arrival, having come into the presence of Orcetes, he
opened the letters one by one, and gave them to the royal
secretary to read; for all the governors have royal secretaries.
Bagmeus gave the letters in order to make trial of the guards,
whether they would listen to a revolt from Orcetes; and perceiving they paid great respect to the letters, and still more to
the contents, he gave one in which were these words.: "Persians, King Darius forbids you to be guards to Orcetes."




224                  HERODOTUS.                 [129, 130
They, when they heard this, lowered their lances to him.
When Bagaeus saw them so obedient to the letter, he thereupon took confidence, and delivered the last letter to the secretary, in which was written, "King Darius commands the
Persians at Sardis to put Oroetes to death."  The guards,
when they heard this, drew their cimeters and killed him immediately. Thus vengeance overtook Orcetes the Persian on
account of Polycrates the Samian.
129. When the treasures of Orcetes had been removed, and
had arrived at Susa, it happened not long after that Darius,
in leaping from his horse while hunting, twisted his foot, and
it was twisted with such violence that the ankle-bone was diglocated; and at first, thinking he had about him those of the
Egyptians who had the first reputation for skill in tile healing
art, he made use of their assistance; but they, by twisting' he
foot, and using force, made the evil worse; and from the pain
which he felt, Darius lay seven days and seven nights without
sleep. On the eighth day, as he still continued in a bad state,
some one who had before heard at Sardis of the skill of Democedes the Crotonian, made it known to Darius, and he
ordered them to bring him to him  as quickly as possible.
They found him among the slaves of Orcetes, altogether neglected, and brought him  forward, dragging fetters behind
him, and.clothed in rags.  130. As he stood before him,
Darius asked him whether he understood the art. He denied
that he did, fearing lest, if he discovered himself, he should be
altogether precluded from returning to Greece. But he appeared to Darius to dissemble, although he was skilled in the
art; he therefore commanded those who had brought him
thither to bring out whips and goads; whereupon he discovered himself, saying that he did not know it perfectly, but
having been intimate with a physician, he had some poor
knowledge of the art. Upon which, when Darius put himself under his care, by using Grecian medicines, and applying
lenitives after violent remedies, he caused him to sleep, and in
a little time restored him to his health, though he had before
despaired of ever recovering the use of his foot. After this
cure, Darius presented him with two pair of golden fetters;
but Democedes asked him if he purposely gave him a double
evil because he had restored him to health. Darius, pleased
with the speech, sent him to his own wives; and the eunuchs,




131-133.]             THALIA. III.                   225
introducing him, said to the women that this was the man
who had saved the king's life; whereupon each of them, dipping a goblet into a chest of gold, presented Democedes
with such a munificent gift, that a servant whose name was
Sciton, following behind, picked up the staters that fell from
the goblets, and collected a large quantity of gold.
131. This Democedes visited Polycrates, after having left
Crotona on the following account. IIe was harshly treated at
Crotona by his father, who was of a severe temper, and being
unable to endure this, he left him and went to lEgina; having settled there, in the first year, though he was unprovided
avith means, and had none of the instruments necessary for the
exercise df his art, he surpassed the most skillful of their physicians; -ard in the second year, the JEginete engaged him for
aitalent out of the public treasury; and in the third year, the
Athenians, for a hundred minB; and in the fourth year, Polycrates, for two talents: thushe came to Samos. From this man
the Crotonian physicians obtained a great reputation; for at
this period the physicians of Crotona were said to be the first
throughout Greece, and the Cyrenseans the second. At the
same time, the Argives were accounted the most skillful of the
Greeks in the art of music.  132. At that time, then, Democedes, having completely cured Darius at Susa, had a very
large house, and had a seat at the king's table; and he had
every thing he could wish for, except the liberty of returning
to Greece. And, in the first place, he obtained from the king
a pardon for the Egyptian physicians, who first attended the
king, and were about to be impaled, because they had been
outdone by a Greek physician; and, in the next place, he procured the liberty of a prophet of Elis, who had attended
Polycrates, and lay neglected among the slaves. In short,
Democedes had great influence with the king.
133. Not long after these things the following events took
place: Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, and wife to Darius, had
a tumor on her breast; after some time it burst, and spread
considerably. As long as it was small she concealed it, and
from delicacy informed no one of it; when it. became dangerous, she sent for Democedes and showed it to him. HIe, saying that he could cure her, exacted from her a solemn promise,
that she, in return, would perform for him whatever he should
require of her, but added that he would ask nothing which
K2




226                 HERODOTUS.                [134, 135.
might bring disgrace upon her. 134. When, therefore, he had
healed her, and restored her to health, Atossa, instructed by
Democedes, addressed Darius, as he lay in bed, in the following words: "O king, you who possess so great power, sit
idle, and do not add any nation or power to the Persians. It
were right that a man who is both young and master of such
vast treasures should render himself considerable by his actions, that the Persians may know that they are governed
by a man. Two motives should influence you to such a
course'; first, that the Persians may know that it is a man who
rules over them, and, secondly, that they may be worn in war,
and not tempted by too much ease to plot against you. You
should therefore perform some illustrious action while you are
in the flower of your age; for the mind grows with the
growth of the body, and as it grows old, grows old with it,.
and dull for every action." She spoke thus according to her
instructions, and he answered, "Lady, you have mentioned
the very things that I myself purpose to do; for I have determined to make a bridge and march from this continent to the
other, against the Scythians; and this shall shortly be put in execution." Atossa replied, " Look you now, give up the thought
of marching first against the Scythians, for they will be in
your power whenever you choose; but take my advice, and
lead an army into Greece; for, from  the account I have
heard, I am anxious to have Lacedaemonian, Argive, Athenian, and Corinthian attendants; and you have the fittest man
in the world to show and inform you of every thing concerning Greece; I mean the person who cured your foot."  Darius answered, "Lady, since you think I ought to make my
first attempt against Greece, I think it better first to send
some Persians thither as spies with the man you mention;
they, when they are informed of and have seen every particular, will make a report to me; and then, being thoroughly informed, I will turn my arms against them."  135. Thus he
spoke; and no sooner said than done; for, as soon as day
dawned, having summoned fifteen eminent Persians, he commanded them to accompany Democedes, and pass along the
maritime parts of Greece, and to take care that Democedes
did not escape from them, but they must by all means bring
him back again. Having given these commands to them, he
next summoned Democedes himself, and requested him, when




136, 137.]           THALIA. III.                   227
he had conducted the Persians through all Greece, and shown
it to them, to return back again; he also commanded him to
take with him all his movables as presents to his father and
brothers, promising to give him many times as much instead.
Moreover, he said that, for the purpose of transporting the
presents, he would give a merchant ship, filled with all kinds
of precious things, which should accompany him on his voyage.  Now Darius, in my opinion, promised him these things
without any deceitful intention; but Democedes, fearing lest
Darius was making trial of him, received all that was given
without eagerness, but said that he would leave his own
goods where they were, that he might have them on his return; the merchant ship which Darius promised him to convey the presents to his brothers he said he would accept of.
Darius, having given him these instructions, sent them down
to the coast.
136. Accotdingly, going down to Phoenicia and Sidon, a
city of Phoenicia, they manned two triremes, and with them
also a large trading vessel, laden with all kinds of precious
thihgs, and having prepared every thing, they set sail for
Greece; and keeping to the shore, they surveyed the coasts,
and made notes in writing. At length, having inspected the
greatest part of it, and whatever was most remarkable, they
proceeded to Tarentum, in Italy. There, out of kindness toward Democedes, Aristophilides, king of the Tarentines, first
took off the rudders of the Median ships, and next shut up
the Persians as spies. While they were in this condition
Democedes went to Crotona, and when he had reached his
own home, Aristophilides set the Persians at liberty, and restored what he had taken from their ships.  137. The Persians sailing from thence, and pursuing Democedes, arrived at
Crotona, and having found him in the public market, they laid
hands on him. Some of the Crotonians, dreading the Persian
power, were ready to deliver him up; but others seized the
Persians in turn, and beat them with staves, though they expostulated in these terms: " Men of Crotona, have a care what
you do: you are rescuing a man who is a runaway from the
king; how will king Darius endure to be thus insulted? IIow
can what you do end well, if you force this man from us?
What city shall we sooner attack than this?  What sooner
shall we endeavor to reduce to slavery "  Saying this, they




228                  HERODOTUS.                 [138, 139.
did not persuade the Crotonians; but, being forcibly deprived
of Democedes, and having had the trading vessel which they
brought with them taken from them, they sailed back to Asia;
nor, as they were deprived of their guide, did they attempt to
explore Greece any farther. At their departure Democedes
enjoined them  to tell Darius that he had Milo's daughter
affianced to him as his wife, for the name of Milo, the wrestler,
stood high with the king; and on this account it appears to
me that Democedes spared no expense to hasten this marriage,
that he might appear to Darius to be a man of consequence in
his own country.  138. The Persians, having set sail from
Crotona, were driven to Iapygia, and being made slaves there,
Gillus,  Tarentine exile, ransomed them, and conducted them
to king Darius; and he, in return for this, professed himself
ready to give him whatever he should desire. But Gillus,
having first related his misfortunes, asked to be restored to
Tarentum; but that he might not disturb Greece, if on his
account a great fleet should sail to Italy, he said that the
Cnidians alone would suffice to effect his restoration; thinking
that by them, as they.were on terms of friendship with the
Tarentines, his return would be most easily effected. Darius
having promised this, performed it; for, having dispatched a
messenger to Cnidus, he bade them restore Gillus to Tarentum; but the Cnidians, though they obeyed Darius, could not
persuade the Tarentines, and were not strong enough to employ force. Thus these things ended; and these were the first
Persians who came from Asia to Greece, and they, on that occasion, were spies.
139. After these things, king Darius took Samos, first of
all the cities, either Grecian or barbarian, and he took it for
the following reason. When Cambyses, son of Cyrus, invaded
Egypt, many Grecians resorted thither; some, as one may
conjecture, on account of trade; others, to serve as soldiers;
others, to view the country. Of these, the last was Syloson,
son of }Eaces, brother to Polycrates, and an exile from Samos.
The following piece of good luck befell this Syloson: having
put on a scarlet cloak, he walked in the streets of Memphis;
and Darius, who was one of Cambyses's guard, and as yet a
man of no great account, seeing him, took a fancy to the cloak,
and coming up, wished to purchase it. But Syloson, perceiving that Darius was very anxious to have the cloak,




140-142.]            THALIA. III.                    229
impelled by a divine impulse, said, " I will not sell it for any
sum, but I will give it yorifor nothing, if so it must needs be."
Darius, having accepted his offer with thanks, took the cloak.
140. Syloson thought afterward that he had lost it through
his good nature; but when, in course of time, Cambyses died,
and the seven rose up against the magus, and of the seven, Darius possessed the throne, Syloson heard that the kingdom had
devolved on the man to whom he had given his cloak in
Egypt on his requesting it; so, having gone up to Susa, he
seated himself at the threshold of the king's palace, and said
he had been a benefactor to Darius.  The porter, having heard
this, reported it td the king; but he, wondering, said to the
man, "6 What Grecian is my benefactor, to whom I owe a debt
of gratitude, having so lately come to the throne?  Scarcely
one of them has as yet come up hither, nor can I mention any
thing that I owe to a Greek. However, bring him in, that I
may know the meaning of what he says."  The porter introduced Syloson, and, as he stood in the midst, the interpreters
asked him who he was, and what he had done that he said he
had been a benefactor to the king. Then Syloson related all
that had passed respecting the cloak, and that he was the person who gave it. To this the king answered, " Most generous
of men! art thou, then, the man who, when as yet I had no
power, made me a present, small as it was  yet the obligation
is the same as if I were now to receive a thing of great value.
In return, I will give thee abundance of gold and silver, so that
thou shalt never repent having conferred a favor on Darius, son
of Hystaspes."  To this Syloson replied, "O king, give me
neither gold nor silver, but recover and give me back my country, Samos, which now, since my brother Polycrates died by
the hands of Oroetes, a slave of ours has possessed himself of.
Give me this without bloodshed and bondage.  141. When
Darius heard this, he sent an army under the conduct of Otanes, one of the seven, with orders to accomplish whatever Syloson should desire. Whereupon Otanes, going down to the
sea, embarked his army.
142. Maeandrius, son of Maeandrius, held the government
of Samos, having had the administration intrusted to him by
Polycrates.  Though he wished to prove himself the most.just
of men, he was unable to effect his purpose; for when the
death of Polycrates was made known to him, he did as fol



230                  HERODOTUS.                 [143, 144.
lows:  First he erected an altar to Jupiter Liberator, and
marked round it the sacred inclosure which is now in the
suburbs. Afterward, when he had done this, he summoned
an assembly of all the citizens, and spoke as follows: " To
me, as you know, the sceptre and all the power of Polycrates
has been intrusted, and I am now able to retain the government. But what I condemn in another, I will myself, to the
utmost of my ability, abstain from  doing; for neither did
Polycrates please me in exercising despotic power over men
equal to himself, nor would any other who should do the
like. Now Polycrates has accomplished his fate, and I, surrendering the government into your hands, proclaim equality
to all. I require, however, that the following remuneration
should be granted to myself; that six talents should be given
me out of the treasures of Polycrates; and, in addition, I
claim for myself and my descendants forever, the priesthood
of the temple of Jupiter Liberator, to whom I have erected
an altar, and under whose auspices I restore to you your
liberties."  He then made these demands of the Samians, but
one of tlem rising up said, "You, forsooth, are not worthy to
rule over us, being as you are a base and pestilent fellow;
rather think how you will render an account of the wealth that
you have had the management of."  143. Thus spoke a man
of eminence among the citizens, whose name was Telesarchus.
But Maandrius, perceiving that if he should lay down the
power, some other would set himself up as tyrant in his place,
no longer thought of laying it down. To which end, when he
had withdrawn to the citadel, sending for each one severally,
as if about to give an account of the treasures, he seized them
and put them in chains. They were then kept in confinement; but, after this, disease attacked Mseandrius, and his
brother, whose name Was Lycaretus, supposing that he would
die, in order that he might the more easily possess himself of
the government of Samos, put all the prisoners to death; for,
as it seems, they were not willing to be free.
144. When, therefore, the Persians arrived at Samos, bringing Syloson with them, no one raised a hand against them,
and the partisans of Maeandrius, and Maeandrius himself, said
they were ready to quit the island under a treaty; and when
Otanes had assented to this, and had ratified the agreement,
the principal men of the Persians, having had seats placed for




145, 14G.]            THALIA. III.                    231
them, sat down opposite the citadel.  145. The tyrant Maeandrius had a brother somewhat out of his senses, whose name
was Charilaus; he, for some fault he had committed, was
confined in a dungeon; and having at that time overheard
what was doing, and, having peeped through his dungeon,
when he saw the Persians sitting quietly down, he shouted
and said that he wished to speak with Maeandrius; but Maeandrius, having heard this, commanded him to be released and
brought into his presence; and as soon as he was brought
there, upbraiding and reviling his brother, he urged him to
attack the Persians, saying, "Me, 0 vilest of men, who am
your own brother, and have done nothing worthy of bonds,
you have bound and adjudged to a dungeon; but when you
see the Persians driving you out and making you houseless,
you dare not avenge yourself, though they are so easy to be
subdued; but if you are in dread of them, lend me your auxiliaries, and I will punish them for coming here, and I am
ready, also, to send you out of the island." 146. Thus spoke
Charilaus; and Mmandrius accepted his offer, as I think, not
that he had reached such a pitch of folly as to.imagine that
his own power could overcome that of the king, but rather
out of envy to Syloson, if, without a struggle, he should
possess himself of the city uninjured.  Having, therefore,
provoked the Persians, he wished to make the' Samian
power as weak as possible, and then to give it up; being well
assured that. the Persians, if they suffered any ill-treatment,
would.be exasperated against the Samians; and knowing, also,
that he had for himself a safe retreat from the island, whenever he chose, for he had had a secret passage dug leading
from the citadel to the sea.  Accordingly, Mseandrius himself
sailed away from Samos; but Charilaus, having armed all the
auxiliaries, and having thrown open the gates, sallied out
upon the Persians, who did not expect any thing of the kind,
but thought every thing had been agreed upon;. and the auxiliaries, falling on, slew those of the Persians who were seated
in chairs,2 and who were the principal men among them. But
the rest of the Persian army came to their assistance, and the
auxiliaries, being hard pressed, were shut up again within the
2 Atfpofopevjuevov', Baehr thinks, refers to those Persians who were
before described as seated opposite the citadel; Coray, quoted by Larcher and others, thinks it means "those who were carried on litters."




232                   HERODOTUS.                 [147-150.
citadel. 147. But Otanes, the general, when he saw that. the
Persians had suffered great loss, purposely3 neglected to obey
the orders which Darius had given him at his departure, that
he should neither kill nor take prisoner any of the Samians,
but deliver the island to Syloson without damage; on the
contrary, he commanded his army to put to death every one
they met with, both man and child alike; whereupon one
part of the army besieged the citadel, and the rest killed every
one that came in their way, all they met as well within the
temples as without.  148. Meandrius, having escaped from
Samos, sailed to.Lacedmmon; and having arrived there, and
carried with him all the treasures that he had when he set
out, he did as follows.  When he had set out his silver and
golden cups, his servants began to clean them; and he, at the
same time, holding a conversation with Cleomenes, son of Anaxandrides, then king of Sparta, led him  on to his house.
When the king saw the cups, he was struck with wonder and
astonishment; upon which Maeandrius bade him take away
whatever he pleased; and when Maeandrius had repeated this
offer two or three times, Cleomenes showed himself a man of
the highest integrity, who refused to accept what was offered;
and being informed that by giving to other citizens he would
gain their support, he went to the Ephori, and said that it
would be better for Sparta that this Samian stranger should
quit the Peloponnesus, lest he should persuade him, or some
other of the Spartans, to become base; but they, having assented, banished Maeandrius by public proclamation.  149. The
Persians, having drawn Samos as with a net,4 delivered it to
Syloson, utterly destitute of inhabitants. Afterward, however, Otanes, the general, repeopled it, in consequence of a vision
in a dream, and a distemper which seized him in his private
parts.
150. While the naval armament was on its way to Samos,
the Babylonians revolted, having very well prepared themselves; for while the magus reigned, and the seven rose up
against him, during all that time, and in the confusion, they
had made preparations for a siege, and somehow, in doing
this, had escaped observation; but when they openly revolt3. aLe/vri voc 7re2iavOavero, literally, " remembering he forgot." Just
as TOV E'TTLOardevof Tr ovvoy/a icv ~7rtoIOoFat, B. IV. chap. 43.
4 For a description of this mode of taking an island, see B. VI. chap. 31.




151-154.]           THALIA. III.                  233
ed they did as follows: having excepted their mothers, each
man selected one woman besides, whomever he chose, from
his own family, but all the rest they assembled together and
strangled: the one woman each man selected to cook his food.
They strangled them, that they might not consume their provisions.  151. Darius, being informed of this, and having collected all his forces, marched against them; and having advanced to Babylon, he besieged them, who were not at all
solicitous about the event, for the Babylonians, mounting on
the ramparts of the wall, danced, and derided Darius and his
army, and one of them spoke as follows: " Why sit ye there,
0 Persians? will ye not be off? for ye will then take us
when mules bring forth young."  One of the Babylonians said
this who never expected that a mule would breed. 152. When
a year and seven months had now passed, Darius was vexed,
and all his army, that they were not able to take the Babylonians; though Darius had recourse to every kind of stratagem
and artifice against them. But even so he could not take
them; and having tried other stratagems, he made trial of
that also by which Cyrus had taken them. However, the
Babylonians kept strict guard, and he was not able to surprise
them.
153. Thereupon, in the twentieth month, to Zopyrus, son
of that Megabyzus who was one of the seven who dethroned
the magus-to this Zopyrus, son of Megabyzus, the following
prodigy happened: one of his sumpter-mules brought forth
young; but when the news was told him, Zopyrus himself, not
believing it, went to see the foal, and having strictly charged
his servants not to tell any one what had happened, he considered on it; and in consequence of the words of the Babylonian, who at the beginning said, "When even mules bring forth
young, then would the city be taken"-in consequence of
this omen, he thought that Babylon could now be taken; for
that the man had spoken under divine influence, and that his
own mule had brought forth young. 154. When he thought
that it was fated for Babylon to be now taken, he went to
Darius, and asked him whether he deemed the taking of
Babylon as of very great importance; and having learned that
he valued it at a high price, he next considered how he might
be the person to take it, and the work might be his own; for
among the Persians great achievements are honored in the




234                  HERODOTUS.                     [155.
highest degree. Now he concluded that he should not be
able to reduce it in any other way than if he should mutilate
himself and desert to the enemy. Thereupon, considering
that as a light matter, he inflicted on himself an irremediable
mutilation; for having cut off his nose and ears, and having
cut his hair in a disgraceful manner, and having scourged
himself, he presented himself before Darius. 155. Darius
was very much grieved when he beheld a man of high rank so
mutilated, and having started from  his throne, he shouted
aloud and asked who had mutilated him, and for what cause.
le answered, "O king, there is no man except yourself who
could have power to treat me thus; no stranger has done this,
0 king, but I have done it to myself, deeming it a great indignity that the Assyrians should deride the TPersians."  He
replied, "Most wretched of men, you have given the fairest
name to the foulest deed in saying that you have injured
yourself thus incurably on account of those who are besieged.
How, foolish man, because you are mutilated, will the enemy
sooner submit?  Have you lost your senses, that you have
thus ruined yourself?"  He said in answer, "If I had communicated to you what I was about to do, you would not have
permitted me; but now, having deliberated with myself, I have
done it; now, therefore, if you are not wanting to your own
interests, we shall take Babylon; for I, as I am, will desert
to the city, and will tell them that I have been thus treated by
you; and I think that when I have persuaded them that such
is the case, I shall obtain the command of their army. Do
you then, on the tenth day after I shall have entered the city,
of that part of your army whose loss you would least regret,
station' a thousand men over against the gates called after
Semiramis; again,after that, on the seventh day after the
tenth, station two thousand more against the gate called from
Nineveh; and from the seventh day let an interval of twenty
days elapse, and then place four thousand more against the
gate called from the Chaldaeans; but let neither the first nor
these carry any defensive arms except swords, but let them
have those. After the twentieth day, straightway command
the rest of the army to invest the wall on all sides, but station
the Persians for me at those called the Belidian and Cissian
gates; for as I think, when I have performed great exploits,
the Babylonians will intrust every thing to me, and, more



156-158.]           THALIA. III.                   235
over, the keys of the gates, and then it will be mine and the
Persians' care to do what remains to be done.
156. Having given these injunctions, he went to the gates,
turning round as if he were really a deserter. But those who
were stationed in that quarter, seeing him from the turrets, ran
down, and having opened one door of the gate a little, asked
him who he was, and for what purpose he came. He told them
that he was Zopyrus, and l}ad deserted to them; the door-keepers therefore, when they heard this, conducted him to the assembly of the Babylonians, and, standing before them, he deplored his condition, saying that he had suffered from Darius
the injuries he had inflicted on himself, and that he was so
treated because he had advised to raise-the siege, since there
appeared no means of taking the city.. "Now, therefore," he
said, "I come to you, O Babylonians, the greatest blessing;
and to Darius, his army, and the Persians, the greatest mischief; for he shall not escape with impunity, having thus mutilated me; and I am acquainted with all his designs."'  157.
Thus he spoke; but the Babylonians, seeing a man of distinction among the Persians deprived of his ears and nose, and covered with stripes and blood, thoroughly believing that he spoke
the truth, and that he had come as an ally to them, were ready
to intrust him with whatever he should ask; and he asked the
command of the forces. But he, having obtained this from
them, acted as he had preconcerted with Darius; for on the
tenth day, leading out the army of the Babylonians, and having surrounded the thousand, whom he had instructed Darius
to station there first, he cut them all in pieces. The Babylonians therefore perceiving that he had performed deeds suitable to his promises, were exceedingly rejoiced, and were ready
to obey him in every thing. He, therefore, having suffered
the appointed number of days to elapse, and again having selected a body of Babylonians, led them out and slaughtered the
two thousand of Darius's soldiers. But the Babylonians wit.
nessing this action also, all had the praises of Zopyrus on their
tongues. Then he again, having suffered the appointed number of days to elapse, led out his troops according,to the settled
plan, and having surrounded the four thousand, he cut them
in pieces. And when he had accomplished this, Zopyrus was
every thing to the Babylonians, and he was appointed commander-in-chief, and guardian of the walls.  158. But when




236                  HERODOTUS.                 [159,160.
Darius, according to agreement, invested the wall all round,
then Zopyrus discovered his whole treachery; for the Babylonians, mounting on the wall, repelled the army of Darius that
was attacking them; but Zopyrus, having opened the Cissian
and Belidian gates, led the Persians within the wall. Those of
the Babylonians who saw what was done fled into the temple
of Jupiter Belus,. and those who did not see it remained each
at their post, until they also discovered that they had been
betrayed.
159. Thus Babylon was taken a second time. But when
Darius had made himself master of the Babylonians, first of
all he demolished the walls and bore away all the gates; for
when Cyrus had taken Babylon before, he did neither of these
things; and, secondly, Darius impaled about three thousand
of the principal citizens, and allowed the rest of the Babylonians to inhabit the city. And that the Babylonians might
have wives, in order that offspring might grow up from them,
Darius made the following provision; for the Babylonians had
strangled their wives, as already has been mentioned, to prevent the consumption of their provisions; and to that end
he enjoined the neighboring provinces to send women to Babylon, taxing each at a certain number, so that a total of fifty
thousand women came together; and from these the Babylonians of our time are descended.  160. No Persian, in the
opinion of Darius, either of those who came after or lived
before, surpassed Zopyrus in great achievements, Cyrus only
excepted; for with him no Persian ever ventured to compare
himself. It is also reported that Darius frequently expressed
this opinion, that he would rather Zopyrus had not suffered
ignominious treatment, than acquire twenty Babylons in addition to that he had. And he honored him exceedingly; for
he every year presented him with those gifts which are most
prized by the Persians, and he assigned him Babylon to hold
free from taxes during his life, and gave him many other things
in addition. From this Zopyrus sprung Megabyzus, who commanded the army in Egypt against the Athenians and their
allies; and from this Megabyzus sprung Zopyrus, who deserted
to the Athenians from the Persians.




BOOK IV.
MELPOMENE.
AFTER the capture of Babylon, Darius's expedition against
the Scythians took place; for as Asia was flourishing in men,
and large revenues came in, Darius was desirous of revenging
himself upon the Scythians, because they formerly, having invaded the Median territory, and defeated in battle those that
opposed them, were the first beginners of violence.'For the
Scythians, as I have before mentioned,1 ruled over Upper Asia
for eight-and-twenty years; for while in pursuit of the Cimmerians, they entered Asia, and overthrew the empire of the
Medes; for these last, before the arrival of the Scythians, ruled
over Asia. Those Scythians, however, after they had been
abroad eight-and-twenty years, and returned to their own
country, after such an interval, a task no less than the invasion of Media awaited; for they found an army of no inconsiderable force ready to oppose them; for the wives of the Scythians, seeing their husbands were a long time absent, had sought
the company of their slaves. 2. The Scythians deprive all their
slaves of sight for the sake of the milk which they drink, doing
as follows: when they have taken bone tubes very like flutes,
they thrust them into the genital parts of the mares, and blow
with their mouths; while some blow, others milk. They
say they do this for the following reason: because the veins of
the mare, being inflated, become filled, and the udder is depressed. When they have finished milking, they pour it into
hollow wooden vessels, and having placed the blind men round
about the vessels, they agitate the milk; and having skimmed
off that which swims on the surface, they consider it the most
valuable, but that which subsides is of less value than the oth1 See Book I. ch. 103, 105.




238                  HERODOTUS.                    [3-5.
er.  On this account the Scythians put out the eyes of every prisoner they take; for they are not agriculturists, but
feeders of cattle. 3. From these slaves, then, and the women, a race of youths had grown up, who, when they knew
their own extraction, opposed those who were returning from
Media. And first they cut off the country by digging a wide
ditch, stretching from Mount Taurus to the lake Meotis, which
is of great extent, and afterward encamping opposite, they
came to an engagement with the Scythians, who were endeavoring to enter. When several battles had been fought,
and the Scythians were unable to obtain any advantage, one
of them said, "Men of Scythia, what are we doing? by fighting with our slaves, both we ourselves by being slain become
fewer in number, and by killing them we shall hereafter have
fewer to rule over. Now, therefore, it seems to me that we
should lay aside our spears and bows, and that every one, taking a horsewhip, should go directly to them; for so long as
they saw us with arms, they considered themselves equal to
us, and born of equal birth  but when they shall see us with
our whips instead of arms, they will soon learn that they are
our slaves, and being conscious of that, will no longer resist."
4. The Scythians, having heard this, adopted the advice; and
the slaves, struck with astonishment at what was done, forgot
to fight, and fled. Thus the Scythians both ruled over Asia,
and being afterward expelled by the Medes, returned in this
manner to their own country; and for the above-mentioned
reasons, Darius, desiring to take revenge, assembled an army
to/ invade them.
5. As the Scythians say, theirs is the most recent of all
nations; and it' arose in the following manner. The first man
that appeared in this country, which was a wilderness, was
named Targitaus; they say that the parents of this Targitaus
-in my opinion relating what is incredible-they.say, however, that they were Jupiter and a daughter of the river Borysthenes; that such was the origin of Targitaus; and that he
had three sons, who went by the names of Lipoxais, Apoxais,
and the youngest, Colaxais; that during their reign a plow,
a yoke, an axe, and a bowl of golden workmanship, dropping
down from heaven, fell on the Scythian territory; that the
eldest, seeing them first, approached, intending to take them
up, but as he came near, the gold began to burn;. when he




— 8.]              MELPOMENE. IV.                     239
had retired the second went up, and it did the same again;
accordingly the burning gold repulsed these; but when the
youngest went up the third, it became extinguished, and he
carried the things home with him, and that the elder brothers,
in consequence of this giving way, surrendered the whole authority to the youngest.  6. From Lipoxais, they say, are descended those Scythians who are called Auchatae; from the
second, Apoxais, those who are called Catiari and Traspies;
and from the youngest of them, the royal race, who are called
Paralatae; but all have the name of Scoloti, from the surname of their king, but the Grecians call them Scythians.  7.
The Scythians say that such was their origin, and they reckon
the whole number of years from their first beginning' from
king Targitaus to the time that Darius crossed over against
them, to be not more than a thousand years, but just that number. This. sacred gold the kings watch with the greatest care,
and annually approach it with magnificent sacrifices to render
it propitious.  If he who has the sacred gold happens to fall
asleep in the open air on the festival, the Scythians say he can
not survive the year, and on this account they give him as
much land as he can ride round on horseback in one day.
The country being very extensive, Colaxais established three of
the kingdoms for his sons, and made that one the largest in
which the gold is kept. The parts beyond the north of the inhabited districts, the Scythians say, can neither be seen nor
passed through, by reason of the feathers2 shed there; for that
the earth and air are full of feathers, and that it is these which
intercept the view.
8. Such.is the account the Scythians give of themselves
and of the country above them, but the Greeks who inhabit
Pontus give the following account: they say that Hercules,
as he was driving away the herds of Geryon, arrived in this
country, that was then a desert, and which the Scythians now
inhabit; that Geryon, fixing his abode outside the Pontus, inhabited the island which the Greeks call Erythia, situate near
Gades, beyond the columns of Hercules in the ocean. The
ocean, they say, beginning from the sun-rise, flows round the
whole earth, but they do not prove it in fact; that Hercules
thence came to the country now called Scythia, and as a storm
and frost overtook him, ht drew his lion's skin over him, and
2 See chap. 31.




240                  HERODOTUS.                    [9, 10.
went to sleep, and in the mean while his mares, which were
feeding apart from his chariot, vanished by some divine chance.
9. They add that when Hercules awoke, he sought for them,
and that having gone over the whole country, he at length
came to the land called Hylaea; there he found a monster having two natures, half virgin, half viper, of which the upper
parts, from the buttocks, resembled a woman, and the lower
parts a serpent: when he saw he was astonished, but asked her
if she had any where seen his strayed mares. She said that she
herself had them, and would not restore them to him before she
had laid with him: Hercules accordingly lay with her on these
terms. She, however, delayed giving back the mares, out of a
desire to enjoy the company of Hercules as long as she could;
he, however, was desirous of recovering them and departing.
At last, as she restored the mares, she said, " These mares that
strayed hither I preserved for you, and you have paid me salvage, for I have three sons by you; tell me, therefore, what
must I do with them when they are grown up? whether shall
I establish them here, for I possess the rule over this country,
or shall I send them to you?"  She asked this question, but he
replied, they say, " When you see the children arrived at the
age of men, you can not err if you do this; whichever of them
you see able thus to bend this bow, and thus girding himself
with this girdle, make him an inhabitant of this country; and
whichever fails in these tasks which I enjoin, send out of the
country. If you do this, you will please yourself and perform
my injunctions." 10. Then, having drawn out one of his bows,
for Hercules carried two at that time, and having shown her
the belt, he gave her both the bow and the belt, which had a
golden cup at the extremity of the clasp, and having given
them, he departed. But she, when the sons who were born to
her attained to the age ~of men, in -te first place gave them
names: to the first, Agathyrsis; to the second, Gelonus; and to
the youngest, Scythes; and, in the next place, remembering the
orders, she did what had been enjoined; and two of her sons,
Agathyrsis and Gelonus, being unable to come up to the proposed task, left the country, being expelled by their mother;
but the youngest of them, Scythes, having accomplished it,
remained there. From this Scythes, son of Hercules, are descended those who have been successively kings of the Scythians, and from the cup, the Scythians even to this day wear




11, 12.]           IELPOMENE. IV.                   241
cups from their belts. This thing only the mother did for
Scythes.  Such is the account given by the Greeks who inhabit Pontus.
11. There is another account, to the following effect, to
which I myself rather incline. It is said that the Scythian nomades who dwelt in Asia, being harassed in war by the Massa-.getae, crossed the river Araxes, and entered the Cimmerian territory; for the country which the Scythians now inhabit is
said to have formerly belonged to the Cimmerians. The Cimmerians, when the Scythians invaded them, deliberated, seeing a large army was coming against them; however, their
opinions were divided, which both vehemently upheld, though
that of the kings was the best; for the opinion of the people
was, that it was necessary to retire, and that there was no
need3 to hazard a battle against superior numbers; but the
opinion of the kings was, that they should fight to the last for
their country against the invaders. When, therefore, neither
the people would submit to the kings, nor the kings to the
people; and one party resolved to depart without fighting,
and abandon the country to the invaders, while the kings determined to die and be buried in their own country, and not
fly with the people, considering what great advantages they
had enjoyed, and how many misfortunes would probably befall
them if they fled from their country: when they had come
to this resolution, having divided, and being equal in numbers, they fought with one another; and the one party, the
royal race, having all perished, the people of the Cimmerians
buried them near the river Tyras; and their sepulchre is still to
be seen. After they had buried them, they then abandoned the'country; and the Scythians coming up, took possession of the
deserted country.  12. And there are now in Scythia Cimmerian fortifications and Cimmerian Porthmia;4 there is also
a district named Cimmeria, and a bosphorus called Cimmerian.  The Cimmerians evidently appear to have fled from the
Scythians into Asia, and settled in the peninsula in which the
Grecian city Sinope now stands; and it is evident that the
Scythians, pursuing them, and entering the Median territory,
missed their way, for the Cimmerians fled constantly by the
sea-coast; whereas the Scythians pursued, keeping Caucasus
on the right, until they entered the Median territory, toward
3 See Cary's Lexicon. v. A ueIV, num. 3.    4 Passages or ferries.
L




242                  IIERODOTUS.                 [ 13-15.
the midland. This last account is given in common both by
Greeks and barbarians.
13. But Aristeas, son of Caystrobius, a native of Proconnesus,
says in his epic verses that, inspired by Apollo, he came to the
Issedones; that beyond the Issedones dwell the Arimaspians, a
people that have only one eye; and beyond them the gold-guarding griffins; and beyond these the Hyperboreans, who reach to
the sea: that all these, except the Hyperboreans, beginning
from the Arimaspians, continually encroached upon their neighbors; that the Issedones were expelled from their country by
the Arimaspians, the Scythians by the Issedones, and that the
Cimmerians~ who inhabited on the south sea, being pressed by
the Scythians, abandoned their country. Thus he does not
agree with the Scythians respecting this country.  14. Of
what country Aristeas, who made these verses, was, has already been mentioned, and I shall now relate the account I
heard of him in Proconnesus and Cyzicus. They say that
Aristeas, who was inferior to none of the citizens by birth,
entering into a fuller's shop in Proconnesus, died suddenly;
and that the fuller, having closed his work-shop, went to acquaint the relatives of the deceased. When the report had
spread through the city that Aristeas was dead, a certain
Cyzicenian, arriving from Artace, fell into a dispute with
those who made the report, affirming that he had met and
conversed with him on his way to Cyzicus, and he vehemently
disputed the truth of the report; but the relations of the deceased went to the fuller's shop, taking with them what was
necessary for the purpose of carrying the body away, but
when the house was opened, Aristeas was not to be seen
either dead or alive.  They say that afterward, in the seventh year, he appeared in Proconnesus, composed those verses
which by the Greeks are now called Arimaspian, and having composed them, disappeared a second time. Such is the
story current in these cities.  15. But these things I know
happened to the Metapontines in Italy, three hundred and
forty years after the second disappearance of Aristeas, as I
discovered by computation in Proconnesus and Metapontium.
The Metapontines say that Aristeas himself, having appeared
in their country, exhorted them to erect an altar to Apollo,
and to place near it a statue bearing the name of Aristeas the
Proconnesian; for he said that Apollo had visited their coun



1.6-18.]           MELPOMEN:L E. IV.                  243
try only of all the Italians, and that he himself, who was now
Aristeas, accompanied him; and that when he accompanied
the god, he was a crow; and after saying this, he vanished;
and the Metapontines say they sent to Delphi to inquire of the
god what the apparition of the man meant; but the Pythian
bade them obey the apparition, ahd if they obeyed it would
conduce to their benefit. They accordingly, having received
this answer, fulfilled the injunctions; and now a statue bearing the name of Aristeas is placed near the image of Apollo,
and around it laurels are planted. The image is placed in the
public square. Thus much concerning Aristeas.
10. No one knows with certainty what is beyond the country about which this account proceeds to speakl; for I have
not been able to hear of any one who says he has seen them
with his own eyes; nor even did Aristeas, of whom I have
just now made mention, say in his poems that he went farther
than the Issedones, but of the parts beyond he spoke by hearsay, stating that the Issedones gave him  his information;
but, as far as we have been able to arrive at the truth with accuracy from hearsay, the whole shall be related.  17. From
the port of the Borysthenitae, for this is the most central part
of the sea-coast of all Scythia, the first people are the Callipidl, being Greek-Scythians; beyond these is another nation,
called Alazones.  These and the Callipide, in other respects,
follow the usages of the Scythians, but they both sow and
feed on wheat, onions, garlic, lentils, and millet; but beyond
the Alazones dwell husbandmen who do not sow wheat for
food, but for sale. Beyond these the Neuri5 dwell, and to the
north of the Neuri the country is utterly uninhabited, as far
as I know. These nations are by the side of the river I-ypani.s, to the west of the Borysthenes.  18. But if one crosses
the Borysthenes, the first country from the sea is Hylc a; and
from  this higher up live Scythian agriculturists, where the
Greeks settled on the river Hypanis, called Borysthenite, but
they call' themselves Olbiopolitoe. These Scythian husbandmen, then, occupy the country eastward, for three days' journey, extending to the river whose name is Panticapes; and
northward, a passage of eleven days up the Borysthenes.  Beyond this region the country is desert for a great distance;
and beyond the desert Androphagi6 dwell, who are a distinct
5 See chap. 51, 105.            6 See chap. 106.




244                   HERODOTUS.                 [19-23.
people, and not in any respect Scythian.  Beyond this is
really desert, and no nation of men is found there as far as we
know.  19. The country eastward of these Scythian agriculturists, when one crosses the Panticapes, nomades occupy, who
neither sow at all, nor plow; and all this country is destitute
of trees except Hylsea. These nomades occupy a tract eastward for fourteen days' journey, stretching to the river Gerrhus. 20. Beyond the Gerrhus are the parts called the Royal, and the most valiant and numerous of the Scythians, who
deem all other Scythians to be their slaves. These extend
southward to Taurica, and eastward to the trench, which
those sprung from the blind men dug, and to the port on the
lake Maeotis, which is called Cremni, and some of them reach
to the river Tanais. The parts above, to the north of the
Royal Scythians, the Melanchlaeni7 inhabit, a distinct race, and
not Scythian; but above the Melanchlani are lakes, and an
uninhabited desert, as far as we know.
21. After one crosses the river Tanais, it is no longer
Scythian, but the first region belongs to the Sauromatae,
who, beginning from the recess of the lake Mseotis, occupy the
country northward, for a fifteen days' journey, all destitute
both of wild and cultivated trees. Above these dwell the
Budini,9 occupying the second region, and possessing a country thickly covered with all sorts of trees..22. Above the
Budini, toward the north, there is first a desert of seven days'
journey, and next to the desert, if one turns somewhat toward the east, dwell the Thyssagetme, a numerous and distinct
race, and they live by hunting.  Contiguous to these, in the
same regions, dwell those who are called Iyrcae, who also live
by hunting in the following manner: the huntsman, having
climbed a tree, lies in ambush (and the whole country is
thickly wooded), and each man has a horse ready, taught to
lie on his belly, that he may not be much above the ground,
and a dog besides. When he sees any game from the tree,
having let fly an arrow and mounted his horse, he goes in
pursuit, and the dog keeps close to him. Above these, as one
bends toward the east, dwell other Scythians, who revolted
from the Royal Scythians, and so came to this country. 23.
As far as the territory of these Scythians, the whole country
7 Se chap. 107.    8 See chap. 116.    9 See chap. 108.




24, 25.]           MELPOMENE. IV.                   245
that has been described is level and deep-soiled, but after
this it is stony and rugged. When one has passed through a
considerable extent of the rugged country, a people are found
living at the foot -of lofty mountains who are said to be all
bald from their birth, both men and women alike, and they
are flat-nosed, and have large chins; they speak a peculiar
language, wear the Scythian costume, and live on the fruit of
a tree: the name of the tree on which they live is called ponticon, about the size of a fig-tree; it bears fruit like a bean,
and has a stone. When this is ripe they strain it through a
cloth, and a thick and black liquor flows from it; the name
of what flows from it is aschy; this they suck, and drink mingled with milk; from the thick sediment of the pulp they make.cakes, and feed on them; for they have not many cattle in
these parts, as the pastures there are not good. Every man
lives under a tree in the winter, when he has covered the tree
with a thick white woolen covering; but in summer, without
the woolen covering. No man does any injury to this people, for they are accounted sacred; nor do they possess any
warlike weapon. And, in the first place, they determine the
differences that arise among their neighbors; and, in the next
place, whoever takes refuge among them is injured by no one.
They are called Argippaei.
24. As far, then, as these bald beople, our knowledge respecting the country and the nations before them  is very
good, for some Scythians frequently go there, from whom it is
not difficult to obtain information, as also from Greeks belonging to the port of the Borysthenes, and other ports in
Pontus.. The Scythians who go to them transact business by
means of seven interpreters and seven languages. 25. So far,
then, is known; but beyond the bald men no one can speak
with certainty, for lofty and impassable mountains form their
boundary, and no one has ever crossed them; but these bald
men- say, what to me is incredible, that men with goat's feet
inhabit these mountains; and when one has passed beyond
them, other men are found, rho sleep six months at a time,
but this I do not at all admit. However, the country eastward of the, bald men is well known, being inhabited by Issedones, though the country above to the north, either of the
bald men or the Issedones, is utterly unknown, except only




246                    HERODOTUS.                   [26-28.
such things as. these people relate. 26. The Issedones are said
to observe these customs.  When a man's father dies, all his
relations bring cattle, and then, having sacrificed them and
cut up the flesh, they cut up also the dead parent of their host,
and, having mingled all the flesh together, they spread out a
banquet; then, having made bare and cleansed his head, they
gild it; and afterward they treat it as a sacred image,' performing grand annual sacrifices to it.  A son does this to his.
father, as the Greeks celebrate the anniversary of their fathers' death. These people are likewise accounted just; and
the women have equal authority with the men.  These, then,
are well known.
27. Above them, the Issedones affirm, are the men with
only one eye, and the gold-guarding griffins. The Scythians
repeat this account, having received it from them; and we
have adopted it from the Scythians, and call them, in the Scythian language, Arimaspi; for Arina, in the Scythian language, signifies one, and Spou, the eye.  28. All this country
which I have been speaking of is subject to such a severe
winter, that for eight months the frost is so intolerable, that
if you pour water on the ground you will not make mud, but
if you light a fire you will make mud.  Even the sea freezes,
and the whole Cimmerian bosphorus; and the Scythians
who live within the trench lead their armies and drive
their chariots over the ice to the Sindians, on the other side.
Thus winter continues eight months, and during the other
four it is cold there. And this winter is different in character
from the winters in all other countries; for in this no rain
worth mentioning falls in the usual season, but during the
summer it never leaves off raining.  At the time when there
is thunder elsewhere there is none there, but in summer it is
violent; if there should be thunder in winter, it is accounted
a prodigy to be wondered at; so, should there be an earthquake, whether in summer or winter, in Scythia, it is accounted a prodigy. Their horses endure this cold, but their
asses and mules can not endure it at all; but in other places,
horses that stand exposed to frost become frost-bitten in
I have adopted Baehr's interpretation of adyaziarL in preference to
that of Schweigheuser, who considers it to mean " a sacred ornament,"
or to that of Larcher, who takes it to mean " a precious vessel."




29-33.]            MELPOMENE. IV.                     247
the cold, waste away, but asses and mules endure it. 29.
On this account, also, the race of beeves appears to me to
be defective there, and not to have horns; and the following verse of Homer, in his Odyssey,2 confirms my opinion:
"And Libya, where the lambs soon put forth their horns;"
rightly observing, that in warm climates horns shoot out
quickly; but in very severe cold, the cattle either do not produce them at all, or if they do produce them, they do so with
difficulty.  Here, then, such are the effects of the cold.  30.
I am surprised (for my narrative has from its commencement
sought for digressions), that in the whole territory of Elis no
mules ar able to breed, though neither is the climate cold,
nor is there any other visible cause. The Eleans themselves
say that mules do not breed with them in consequence of a
curse; therefore, when the time for the mares breeding approaches, they lead them t om   the neighboring districts, and
there put the he-asses with them until they are in foal; then
they drive them home again.  31. With respect to the feathers with which the Scythians say the air is filled, and that on
account of them it is not possible either to see farther upon
the continent or to pass through it, I entertain the following
opinion: in the upper parts of this country it continually
snows, less in summer than in winter, as is reasonable: now
whoever has seen snow falling thick near him will know what
t mean, for snow is like feathers; and on account of the winter being so severe, the northern parts of this continent are uninhabited.,I think, then, that the Scythians and their neighbors call the snow feathers, comparing3 them together.  These
regions, therefore, which are said to be the most remote, have
been sufficiently described.
32. Concerning the IHyperboreans, neither the Scythians
say any thing, nor any people of those parts, except the Issedones; and, as I think, neither do they say any thing, for
then the Scythians would mention it, as they do the one-eyed
people.  Hesiod, however, has made mention of the Hyperboreans, and Homer, in the Epigoni, if indeed Homer was in
reality the author of that poem.  33. But the Delians say
very much more than any others about them, affirming that
sacred things, wrapped in wheat-straw, were brought from
the Hyperboreans and came to the Scythians; and from the
a B. IV. 1. 85.      3 That is, "speaking figuratively."




248                  HERODOTUS.                   [34, 3..
Scythians each contiguous nation receiving them in succession,
carried them to the extreme west as far as the Adriatic; that,
being forwarded thence toward the south, the Dodonseans, the
first of the Greeks, received them; that from them they descended to the Maliac Gulf, and passed over into Eubcea, and
that one city sent them on to another as far as Carystus; that
after this Andros was passed by, for the Carystians conveyed
them to Tenos, and the Tenians to Delos: in this manner
they say these sacred things reached Delos.  They add that
the Hyperboreans first sent two virgins, whom they call by
the names of Hyperoche and Laodice, to carry these sacred
things; and with them, for the sake of safety, the Hyperboreans sent five of their citizens as attendants, the same who are
now called Perpherees, and are held in high honor at Delos.
But when those who were sent out by the Hyperboreans did
not return, they, thinking it a grievous thing if it should always happen to them not to receive back those whom they sent
out, therefore carried their offerings wrapped in wheat-straw
to their borders, and enjoined their neighbors to forward
them to the next nation; and these being so forwarded, they
say, reached Delos. I myself know that the following practice is observed, resembling that of these sacred things:
the Thracian and Pmeonian women, when they sacrifice to
Royal Diana, do not offer their sacrifices without wheatstraw; and I know that they do this. 34. In honor of these
Hyperborean virgins who died in Delos, both the virgins and
youths of the Delians shear their hair: the former, having cut
off a lock before marriage, and having wound it about a distaf, lay it upon the sepulchre; the sepulchre is within the
temple of Diana, on the left as one enters, and on it grows an
olive-tree: the youths of the P lians having wound some of
their hair round a plant, place it also on the sepulchre. These
virgins receive such honor from the inhabitants of Delos.
35. These same persons also affirm that Arge and Opis, who
were Hyperborean virgins, passing through the same nations,
came to Delos even before Hyperoche and Laodice: that
these last came to bring the tribute they had agreed to pay to
Ilithya for a speedy delivery; but they say that Arge and
Opis arrived with the gods themselves, and that different
honors are paid them by themselves, for that the women collect contributions for them, calling on their names in a hymn,




36-39.]            MELPOMENE. IV.                     249'vhich Olen, a-Lycian, composed for them; and that the island,
ers and Ionians afterward, having learned it from them, cele.
brate Opis and Arge in song, mentioning their names, and
collecting contributions (now this Olen, coming from Lycia,
composed also the other ancient hymns which are sung in
Delos); and that the ashes of the thighs burned on the altar are
thrown and expended on the sepulchre of Opis and Arge; but
their sepulchre is behind the temple of Diana, facing the east,
very near the banqueting-room of the Ceians.  36. And thus
much may be said concerning the Hyperboreans, for I do not
relate the story concerning Abaris, who was said to be an
Hyperborean, to the effect that he carried an arrow round the
whole earth without eating any thing. If, however, there are
Hyperboreans, there must also be Hypernotians. But I smile
when I see many persons describing the circumference of the
earth, who have no sound reason to guide them; they describe
the ocean flowing round the earth, which is made circular as
if by a lathe, and make4 Asia equal to Europe.  I will therefore briefly show the dimensions of each of them, and what is
the figure of each.
37. The Persian settlements extend to the southern sea,
called the Erythraean; above them, to the north, are the Medes;
above the Medes, the Saspires; and above the Saspires, the
Colchians, who reach to the, northern sea, into which the
river Phasis discharges itself.  These four nations occupy
the space from sea to sea.  38. Thence westward two tracts
stretch out to the sea, which I shall describe. On one side,
the one tract, beginning at the north from the Phasis, extends
along the'Euxine and the Hellespont, as far as the Trojan
Sigaum; and on the' south, this same tract, beginning from
the Myriandrian Gulf, cwhic;ds adjacent to Phoenicia, stretches
toward the sea as far as t!i:e Triopian promontory.  In this
tract dwell thirty different nations. This, then, is one of the
tracts. 39. The other, beginning at Persia, reaches to the
Red Sea; it comprises Persia, and after that Assyria, and after
Assyria, Arabia; it terminates (terminating only by custom)
at the Arabian Gulf, into which Darius carried a canal5 from
4 Baehr observes that Trotevrov is the genitive participle, depending
on yeXs preceding; "I smile when they make Asia equal to Europe."
It would be difficult to express the connection in an English version.
See B. IL. chap. 158.




o50                  HERODOTUS.                  [40-43.
the Nile. Now as far as Phoenicia from Persia the country is'
wide and open, but from Phoenicia the same tract stretches
along this sea by Syrian Palestine and Egypt, where it terminates; in it are only three nations.  These, then, are the
parts of Asia that lie westward of Persia.  40. Beyond the
Persians, Medes, Saspires, and Colchians, toward the east and
rising sun, extends the Red Sea, and on the north the Caspian
Sea, and the river Araxes, which flows toward the rising sun.
Asia is inhabited as far as India; but beyond this, it is all
desert toward the east; nor is any one able to describe what it
is. Such and so great is Asia.
41. Libya is in the other tract; for Libya commences from
Egypt. Now in Egypt this tract is narrow; for from this sea
to the Red Sea are a hundred thousand orgyse, which make
one thousand stades. But from this narrow neck the tract
which is called Libya becomes very wide.  42. I wonder,
therefore, at those who have described the limits of and divided Libya, Asia, and Europe, for the, difference between
them is not trifling; for in length Europe extends along both
of them, but with respect to width it is evidently not to be
compared.6  Libya shows itself to be surrounded by water,
except so much of it as borders upon Asia. Neco, king of
Egypt, was the first whom we know of that proved this;. he,
when he had ceased digging the canal leading from the Nile
to the Arabian Gulf, sent certain Phoenicians in ships, with
orders to sail back through the pillars of Hercules into the
northern sea,7 and so to return to Egypt. The Phoenicians
accordingly, setting out from  the Red Sea, navigated the
southern sea; when autumn came, they went ashore, and
sowed the land, by whatever part of Libya they happened to
be sailing, and waited for harvest; then having reaped the
corn, they put to sea again. When two years had thus passed, in the third, having doubled the pillars of Hercules, they
arrived in Egypt, and related what to me does not seem
credible, but may to others, that as they sailed round Libya,
they had the sun on their right hand.  Thus was Libya
first known.  43. Subsequently the Carthaginians say that
Libya is surrounded by water; for Sataspes, son of Teaspes, one of the Achaemenidae, did not sail round Libya,
6 He means, "it is much wider than either of them."
7 Meaning " the Mediterranean," which was north of Libya.




44.]               MELPOMENE. IV.                    251
though sent for that very purpose; but dreading the length
of the voyage and the desolation, returned home and did not
accomplish the task which his mother imposed upon him; for
he had violated a virgin, daughter of Zopyrus, son of Megabyzus; whereupon, when he was about to be impaled for this
offense by king Xerxes, the mother of Sataspes, who was sister to Darius, begged him off, promising that she would inflict
a greater punishment upon him  than he would, for she
would constrain him to sail round Libya, until, sailing round,
he should reach the Arabian Gulf. Xerxes having agreed on
these terms, Sataspes went into Egypt, and having taken a ship
and men from thence, sailed through the pillars of Hercules;
and having sailed through, and doubled the cape of Libya,
whose name is Solois, he steered to the southward; but after
traversing a vast extent of sea in many months, when he
found that he had still more to pass, he turned back and sailed away for Egypt. From thence going to king Xerxes, he
told him that in the most distant part he sailed past a nation
of little men, who wore garments made of palm leaves, who,
whenever they drew to shore, left their cities and flew to the
mountains; that his men, when they entered their country,
did them no injury, but only took some cattle from them. Of
his not sailing completely round Libya, this he said was Ahe
cause: that his ship could not proceed any.farther, but was
stopped. Xerxes, however, being persuaded that he did not
speak the truth, as he had not accomplished the task imposed
upon him, impaled him, inflicting the original sentence. A
eunuch of this Sataspes, as soon as he heard of his master's
death, ran away to Samos with great wealth, which a Samian
detained: though I know his name, I purposely conceal it.
44. A great part of Asia was explored under the direction
of Darius. He, being desirous to know in what part the Indus,
which is the second river that produces crocodiles, discharges
itself into the sea, sent in ships both others on whom he could
rely to make a true report, and also Scylax of Caryanda. They
accordingly, setting out from the city of Caspatyrus and the country of Pactyice, sailed down the river toward the east and sunrise to the sea; then sailing on the sea westward, they arrived
in the thirtieth month at that place where the king of Egypt
dispatched the Phoenicians, whom I before mentioned, to sail
round Libya. After these persons had sailed round, Darius




252                  HERODOTUS.                  [45, 46.
subdued the Indians and frequented this sea. Thus the other
parts of Asia, except toward the rising sun, are found to exhibit things similar to Libya.
45. Whether Europe is surrounded by water either toward
the east or toward the north, has not been fully discovered
by any man; but in length it is known to extend beyond both
the other continents. Nor can I conjecture for what reason
three different names have been given to the earth, which is
but one, and those derived from the names of women; nor
why the Egyptian river Nile and the Colchian Phasis have
been assigned as boundaries to it (some say, the Maeotian river
Tanais and the Cimmerian Porthmeia); nor can I learn the
names of those who made this division, nor from whence they
derived the appellations. Libya is said by most of the Greeks
to take its name from a native woman of the name of Libya,
and Asia from the wife of Prometheus; but the Lydians claim
this name, saying that Asia was so called after Asius, son
of Cotys, son of Manes, and not after Asia, the wife of Prometheus, from whom also a tribe in Sardis is called the Asian tribe.
Whether Europe, then, is surrounded by water, is known by no
man; nor is it clear whence it received this name, nor who
gave it, unless we will say that the region received the name
from the Tyrian Europa, but was before without a name, like
the others; yet she evidently belonged to Asia, and never
came into that country which is now called Europe by the
Grecians, but only passed from Phoenicia to Crete, and from
Crete to Lycia. Thus much may suffice for this subject, for
we shall adopt the names in common use.
46. The Euxine Sea, to which Darius led an army of all
countries, except the Scythians, exhibits the most ignorant
nations; for we are unable to mention any one nation of those
on this side the Pontus that has any pretensions to intelligence;
nor have we ever heard of any learned man among them except the Scythian nation and Anacharsis. By the Scythian
nation one the most important of human devices has been contrived more wisely than by any others whom we know; their
other customs, however, I do not admire. This most important
device has been so contrived that no one who attacks them
can escape, and that, if they do not choose to be found, no one
is able to overtake them; for they who have neither cities
nor fortifications, but carry their houses with them, who are




47 —49.]           MELPOMENE. IV.                     253
all equestrian archers, living not from the cultivation of the
earth, but from cattle, and whose dwellings are wagons-how
must not such a people be invincible, and difficult to engage
with?  47. This device has been contrived by them, as the
country is fit for it, and the rivers aid them; for the country,
being level, abounds in herbage and is well watered, and rivers flow through it almost as numerous as the canals in Egypt.
Such of them as are celebrated and navigable from the sea I
will mention: the Ister, that has five mouths; then the Tyres,
the Hypanis, the Borysthenes, the Panticapes, the Hypacyris,
the Gerrhus, and the Tanais. These flow as follows:
48. The Ister, which is the greatest of all the rivers we
know, flows always with an equal stream both in summer and
winter. Flowing the first of those in Scythia from the west,
it is on this account the greatest, because other rivers discharge
themselves into it.  The following are those that make it
great: there are five that flow through Scythia; one which
the Scythians call Porata, but the Grecians Pyretos; another
the Tiarantus,.then the Aratus, the Naparis, and the Ordessus.
The first-mentioned of these rivers is large, and, flowing toward the east, communicates its water with the Ister; that
mentioned second, the Tiarantus, is more to the west and less;
the Aratus, the Naparis, and Ordessus, passing between these,
fall likewise into the Ister. These indigenous Scythian rivers assist in filling it. 49. The river Maris, flowing from the
Agathyrsi, mingles with the Ister.  From  the summits of
Mount Huemus three other large rivers, flowing toward the
north, empty themselves into it, the Atlas, the Auras, and the
Tibisis.  The Athres, the Noes, and the Atarnes, flowing
through Thrace and the Thracian Crobyzi, discharge themselves into the Ister; and from  the Paeonians and Mount
Rhodope, the river Scios, dividing the Haemus in the middle,
discharges itself into it; and the river Angrus, flowing from
the Illyrians toward the north, empties itself into the Triballie plain and into the river Brongus, anad the Brongus into the
Ister; thus the Ister receives both these,":which are considerable.  From the country above Umbrici, the river Carpis and
another river, Alpis, flowing toward the north, also discharge
themselves into it; for the Ister flows through all Europe, beginning from the Celts, who, next to the Cynetae,5 inhabit the
8 See B. II. chap. 33.




254                    HERODOTUS.                    [50-53.
remotest parts of Europe toward the west, and flowing through
all Europe, enters the borders of Scythia.  50. By these, then,
that have been mentioned, and many other rivers that contrib.
ute their waters, the Ister becomes the greatest of all rivers;
for, if we compare one stream with another, the Nile surpasses in quantity; for into this no river or fountain discharging
itself contributes' to its increase.  But the Ister always flows
equal in summer and in winter, for the following reason, as I
think: during the winter it is about as large as it usually is,
and perhaps a little larger; for this country is very little
moistened by rain, during the winter, but is entirely covered
with snow.  In the. summer, the snow that fell in the winter
in vast quantities, dissolving on all sides, flows into the Ister;
and this snow flowing; into it assists in filling it, and frequent
and violent rains besides; for it rains much in summer.  By
how much, therefore, the sun draws up to himself more water
in summer than in winter, by so much the waters mingled with
the Ister are greater in summer than in winter; and these
things, therefore, being opposed, an equilibrium results, so that
it is always found to'be equal.
51. One of the rivers, then, of the Scythians is the Ister;
after this is the Tyres, which proceeds from the north, and
begins flowing from a vast lake, which separates Scythia and
Neuris.  At its mouth are settled Grecians, who are called
Tyritae.  52. The third river, the Hypanis, proceeds from
Scythia, and flows from a vast lake, around which wild white
horses graze.  This lake is rightly called the mother of the
Hypanis.  The river Hypanis, then,.rising from this, is small
and still sweet for a fie days' voyage, but from thence, for a
four days' voyage to the sea, it is exceedingly bitter; for a bitter fountain discharges itself into it, which is so very bitter,
though small in size, that it taints the Hypanis, which is a
considerable river among small ones. This fountain is on the
borders of the territory of the Scythian husbandmen and the
Alazones; the name of the fountain, and of the district whence
it flows, is, in the Scythiarn language, Exampaeus, but in the
language of the Greeks, "IThe Sacred Ways."  The Tyres and
HIypanis contract their boundaries in the country of the Alazones; but after that, each turning away, flows on widening
the intermediate space.
53. The fourth is the river Borysthenes, which is the




54-56.]            MELPOMENE. IV.                     253
largest of these after the Ister, and, in my opinion, the most
productive, not only of the Scythian rivers, but of all others,
except the Egyptian Nile, for to this it is impossible to compare any other river, but of tlie rest the Borysthenes is the
most productive. It affords the most excellent and valuable
pasture for cattle, and fish of the highest excellence and in
great quantities; it is most sweet to drink; it flows pure in
the midst of turbid rivers; the sown land near it is of the
best quality, and the herbage where the land is not sown is
very tall; at its mouth abundance of salt is crystallized spontaneously; and it produces large whales, without any spinal
bones, which they call Antacai, fit for salting, and many
other things that deserve admiration. As far as the country
of Gerrhus, a voyage of forty days, this river is known to
flow from the north, but above that, through what people it
flows no one is able to tell; but it evidently flows through a
desert to the country of the agricultural Scythians; for these
Scythians dwell near it for the space of a ten days' voyage.
Of this river only and of the Nile I am unable to describe
the sources, and I think that no Greek can do so. The
Borysthenes continues flowing near the sea, and the Hypanis
mingles with it, discharging itself into the same morass.
The space between these rivers, which is a projecting piece
of land, is called the promontory of Hippoleon, and in it a
temple of Ceres is built; beyond the temple, on the Hypanis,
the Borysthenitam are settled.  Thus much concerning these
rivers.
54. After these is the fifth river, the name of which is the
Panticapes; this also flows from the north and out of a lake,
and between this and the Borysthenes dwell the agricultural
Scythians; it discharges itself into Hylaea, and having passed
through that region, mingles with the Borysthenes. 55. The
Hypacyris is the sixth river, which proceeds from a lake, and
flowing through the middle of the Scythian nomades, discharges itself near the city Carcinitis, skirting Hylhea on the
right, and that which is called the Course of Achilles. 56.
The seventh river, the Gerrhus, is separated from the Borysthenes near the place at which the Borysthenes is first known.
It is separated, then, from this very spot, and has the same
name as the country, Gerrhus; and flowing toward the sea,
it divides the territory of the Nomadic and the Royal Scy



256                  HERODOTUS.                  [57-61.
thians, and discharges itself into the Hypacyris.  57. The
eighth river is the Tanais, which flows originally from a vast
lake, and discharges itself into a still larger lake, called Maeotis, which divides the Royal Scythians and the Sauromate.
Into this river Tanais runs another river, the name of which
is Hyrgis. 58. Thus the Scythians are provided with these
celebrated rivers. The grass that grows in Seythia is the most
productive of bile for cattle of any with which we are acquainted, and when the cattle are opened one may infer that such is
the case.
59. Thus the greatest commodities are furnished them in
abundance. Their other customs are established as follows.
They propitiate the following gods only: Vesta, most of all;
then Jupiter, deeming the Earth to be the wife of Jupiter;
after these, Apollo, and Venus Urania, and Hercules, and
Mars. All the Scythians acknowledge these, but those who
are called Royal Scythians, sacrifice also to Neptune.  Vesta,
in the Scythian language, is named Tahiti; Jupiter is, in my
opinion, very rightly called Papaeus; the Earth, Apia; Apollo, CEtosyrus; Venus Urania, Artimpasa; and Neptune,
Thamimasadas. They are not accustomed to erect images,
altars, and temples, except to Mars; to him they are accustomed.  60. The same mode of sacrificing is adopted by all,
with respect to all kinds of victims alike, being as follows:
the victim itself stands with its fore feet tied together; he
who sacrifices, standing behind the beast, having drawn the
extremity of the cord, throws it down, and as the victim falls
he invokes the god to whom he is sacrificing; then he throws
a halter rouhd: its neck, and having put in a stick, he twists
it round and strangles it, without kindling any fire, or performing any preparatory ceremonies, or making any libation, but
having strangled and flayed it, he applies himself to cook it.
61. As the Scythian country is wholly destitute of wood, they
have invented the following method of cooking flesh. When
they have flayed the victims, they strip the flesh from the
bones, then they put it into caldrons made in the country, if
they happen to have any, which very much resemble Lesbian
bowls, except that they are much larger; having put it into
these, they cook it by burning underneath the bones of the
victims.  If they have no caldron at hand, they put all the
flesh into the paunches of the victims, and having poured in




62-64.]             MELPOMENE. IV.                      257
water, burn the bones underneath; they burn very well, and
the paunches easily contain the flesh stripped from the bones;
thus the ox cooks himself, and all other victims each cooks itself.  When the flesh is cooked, he that sacrifices, offering the
first-fruits of the flesh and entrails, throws it before him. They
sacrifice both other cattle, and chiefly horses.
62. In this manner, then, and these victims, they sacrifice
to the other gods; but to Mars as follows.  In each district,
in the place where the magistrates assemble, is erected a structure sacred to Mars, of the following kind.  Bundles of fagots are heaped up to the length and breadth of three stades,
but less in height  on the top of this'a square platform is
formed; and three of the sides are perpendicular, but on the
fourth it is accessible.  Every year they heap on it one hundred and fifty wagon-loads of fagots, for it is continually
sinking by reason of the weather.  On this heap an old iron
cimeter is placed by each tribe, and this is the image of
Mars; and to this cimeter they bring yearly sacrifices of
cattle and horses; and to these cimeters they offer more sacrifices than to  the rest of the gods.  Whatever enemies
they take alive, of these they sacrifice one in a hundred, not
in the same manner as they do the cattle, but in a different
manner; for after they have poured a libation of wine on
their heads, they cut the throats of the men over a bowl; then,
having carried the bowl on the heap of fagots, they pour the
blood over the cimeter. This, then, they carry up; but below, at the sacred precinct, they do as follows: having cut off
all the right shoulders of the men that have been killed, with
the arms, they throw them into the air; and then, having
finished the rest of the sacrificial rites, they depart; but the
arm  lies wherever it has fallen, and the body apart.  63.
Such, then, are the sacrifices instituted among them. Swine
they never use,' nor suffer them to be reared in their country
at all.
64. Their military affairs are ordered as follows.  When a
Scythian overthrows his first enemy, he drinks his blood; and
presents the king with the heads of the enemies he has killed
in battle; for if he brings a head, he shares the booty that
they take, but not if he does not bring one.  IHe skins it in
the following manner.  Having made a circular incision
round the ears and taking hold of the skin, he shakes it from




258                  HERODOTUS.                 [65-67.
the skull; then, having scraped off the flesh with the rib of an
ox, he softens the skin with his hands, and having made it
supple, he uses it.as a napkin: each man hangs it on the bridle
of the horse which he rides, and prides himself on it, for whoever has the greatest number of thdse skin napkins is accounted the most valiant man. Many of them make cloaks of these
skins to throw over themselves, sewing them together like
shepherd's coats; and many, having flayed the right hands of
their enemies that are dead, together with the nails, make coverings for their quivers: the skin of a man, which is both
thick and shining, surpasses almost all other skins in the
brightness of its white. Many, having flayed men whole, and
stretched the akin on wood, carry it about on horseback. Such
usages are received among them. 65. The heads themselves,
not indeed of all, but of their greatest enemies, they treat as
follows: each, having sawn off all below the eye-brows,
cleanses it, and if the man is poor, he covers only the outside
with leather, and so uses it; but if he is rich, he covers it indeed with leather, and, having gilded the inside, he so uses it
for a drinking-cup. And they do this to their relatives if they
are at variance, and one prevails over another in the presence
of the king. WVhen strangers of consideration come to him,
he produces these heads, and relates how, though they were
his relatives, they made war against him, and he overcame
them, considering this a proof of bravery..66. Once in every
year, the governor of a district, each in his own district, mingles a bowl of wine, from which those Scythians drink by
whom enemies have been captured; but they who have not
achieved this do not taste of this wine, but sit at a distance in
dishonor; this is accounted the greatest disgrace: such of
them as have killed very many men, having two cups at once,
drink them together.
67. Soothsayers among the Scythians are numerous, who
divine by the help of a number of willow rods, in the following manner. -When they have brought with them large bundles of twigs, they lay them on the ground and untie them;
and, having placed each rod apart, they utter their predictions;
and while they are pronouncing them, they gather up the
rods again, and put them together again one by one. This is
their national mode of divination. But the Enarees,9 or An9 Sec Book I. chap. 105.




g8-70.],          MELPOMENE. IV.                    259
drogyni, say that Venus gave them the power of divining.
They divine by means of the bark of a linden-tree: when a man
has split the linden-tree in three pieces, twisting it round his
own fingers, and then untwisting it, he utters a'response.
68. When the king of the Scythians is sick, he sends for three
of the most famous of these prophets, who prophesy in the
manner above mentioned; and they generally say as follows,
that such or such a citizen has sworn falsely by the royal
hearth, mentioning the name of the citizen of whom they
speak; for it is a custom with the Scythians in general to swear
by the royal hearth when they would use the most solemn
oath, The person who they say has sworn falsely is immediately seized and brought forward, and when he is come,
the prophets charge him with being clearly proved by their
prophetic art to have sworn falsely by the royal hearth, and
for this reason the king is ill. Hd denies it, affirming that he
has not sworn falsely, and complains bitterly. On his denial,
the king sends for twice as many more prophets; and if they
also, examining into the prophetic art, condemn him with having sworn falsely, they straightway cut off his head, and the
first prophets divide his property between them; but if the
prophets who came last acquit him, other prophets are called
in, and others after them. If, then, the greater number acquit
the man, it is decreed that the first prophets shall be put to
death. 69. They accordingly put them to death in the following manner: when they have filled a wagon with fagots, and
have yoked oxen to it, having tied the feet of the prophets and
bound their hands behind them, and having gagged them, they
inclose them in the midst of the fagots; then having set fire
to them, they terrify the oxen and let them go. Many oxen,
therefore, are burned with the prophets, and many escape very
muchscorched, when the pole has been burned asunder. In this
manner, and for other reasons, they burn the prophets, calling
them false prophets. The king does not spare the children of
those whom he puts to death, but kills all the males, and does
not hurt the females. 70. The Scythians make solemn contracts in the following manner, with whomsoever they make
them.  Having poured wine into a large earthen vessel, they
mingle with it blood taken from those who are entering into
covenant, having struck with an awl or cut with a knife a
small part of the body; then, having dipped a cimeter, some




260                  HERODOTUS.                   [71, 72.
arrows, a hatchet, and a javelin in the vessel, when they have
done this, they make many solemn prayers, and then both those
who make the contract, and the most considerable of their attendants, drink up the mixture.
71. The sepulchres of the kings are in the country of the
Gerrhi, as far as which the Borysthenes is navigable.  There,
when their king dies, they dig a -large square hole in the
ground; and having prepared this, they take up the corpse,
having the body covered with wax, the belly opened and
cleaned, filled with bruised cypress, incense, and parsley and
anise-seed, and then sewn up again, and carry it in a chariot
to another nation: those who receive the corpse brought to
them do the same as the Royal Scythians; they cut off part
off their ear, shave off their hair, wound themselves on the
arms, lacerate their forehead and nose, and drive arrows
through their left hand. Thence they carry the corpse of the
king to another nation whom they govern, and those to whom
they first came accompany them.  When they have carried
the corpse round all the provinces, they arrive among the
Gerrhi, who are the most remote of the nations they rule
over, and at the sepulchres. Then, when they have placed
the corpse in the grave on a bed of leaves, having fixed spears
on each side of the dead body, they lay pieces of wood over
it, and cover it over with mats. In the remaining space of
the grave they bury one of the king's concubines, having
strangled her, and his cup-bearer, a cook, a groom, a page, a
courier, and horses, and firstlings of every thing else, and
golden goblets: they make no use of silver or brass. Having
done this, they all heap up a large mound, striving and vieing with each other to make it as large as possible.  72.
When a year has elapsed, they then do as follows: having
taken the most fitting of his remaining servants-they are all
native Scythians, for they serve him  whomsoever the king
may order, and they have no servants bought with moneywhen, therefore, they have strangled fifty of these servants,
and fifty of the finest horses, having taken out their bowels
and cleansed them, they fill them with chaff, and sew them
up again. Then, having placed the half of a wheel, with its
concave side uppermost, on two pieces of wood, and the other
half on two other pieces of wood, and having fixed many of
these in the same manner, then having thrust thick pieces of




73-75  MELPOMENE. IV.                                261
wood through the horses lengthwise up to the neck, they
mount them on the half wheels; and of these the foremost
part of the half wheels supports the shoulders of the horses,
and the hinder part supports the belly near the thighs, but the
legs on both sides are suspended in the air; then, having put
bridles and bits on the horses, they stretch them in front, and
fasten them to a stake; they then mount upon a horse each,
one of the fifty young men that have been strangled, mounting them in the following manner: when they have driven a
straight piece of wood along the spine as far as the neck, but
a part of this wood projects from the bottom, they fix it into
a hole bored in the other piece of wood that passes through the
horse. Having placed such horsemen round the monument,
they depart.
73. Thus they bury their kings. But the other Scythians,
when they die, their nearest relations carry about among their
friends, laid in chariots; and of these each one receives and
entertains the attendants, and sets the same things before the
dead body as before the rest. In this manner private persons
are carried about for forty days, and then buried. The Scythians, having buried them, purify themselves in the following
manner: having wiped and thoroughly washed their heads,
they do thus with regard to the body: when they have set up
three pieces of wood leaning against each other, they extend
around them woolen cloths; and having joined them together
as closely as possible, they throw red-hot stones into a vessel
placed in the middle of the pieces of wood and the cloths.
74. They have a sort of hemp growing in this country, very
like flax, except in thickness and height; in this respect the
hemp is far superior: it grows both spontaneously and from
cultivation, and from it the Thracians make garments very
like linen; nor would any one who is not well skilled in such
matters distinguish whether they are made of flax or hemp;
but a person who has pever seen this hemp would think the
garment was made of flax. 75. When, therefore, the Scythians have taken some seed of this hemp, they creep under the
cloths, and then put the seed on the red-hot stones; but this
being put on smokes, and produces such a steam that no Grecian vapor-bath would surpass it. The Scythians, transported
with the vapor, shout aloud; and this serves them instead of
See Book I. chap. 202.




262                    HERODOTUS.                       [76.
washing, for they never bathe the body in water. Their women, pouring on water, pound on a rough stone pieces of cypress,
cedar, and incense-tree; and then this pounded matter, when
it is thick, they smear over the whole body and face; and this
at the same time gives them an agreeable odor, and when they
take off the cataplasm on the following day they become clean
and shining.
76. They studiously avoid the use of foreign customs; not
only, therefore, will they not adopt those of each other, but,
least of all, Grecian usages,2 as the example of Anacharsis,
and afterward of Scylas, sufficiently demonstrated; for, in
the first place, Anacharsis, having visited many countries,
and havlpg displayed great wisdom  during his progress, was
returning to the abodes of the Scythians, and sailing through
the Hellespont toward Cyzicus, and as he found the Cyzicenians celebrating a festival to the mother of the gods with
great magnificence, Anacharsis made a vow to the goddess,
that if he should return safe and sound to his own country, he
would sacrifice in the same manner as he saw the inhabitants
of Cyzicus doing, and would also institute a vigil. Accordingly, when he arrived in Scythia, he returned into the country called -Iylmea; it is near the Course of Achilles, and is full
of trees of all kinds; to this Anacharsis having retired, performed all the rites to the goddess, holding a timbrel in his
hand, and fastening images about his person; but one of the
Scythians, having observed him  doing this, gave information
to the king, Saulius; but he, having come in person, when he
saw Anacharsis thus employed, shot at him with an arrow,
and killed him; and now, if any one speaks about Anacharsis,
the Scythians say they do not know him, because he traveled
into Greece and adopted foreign customs. However, I heard
from Timnes, the guardian of Ariapithes, that Anacharsis was
paternal uncle to Idanthyrsus, king of the Scythians, and that
he was son of Gnurus, son of Lycus, son of Spargapithes; if,
then, Anacharsis was of this family, let him know he was
killed by his own brother; for Idanthyrsus was son of Saulius,
2 The simplest method of rendering this obscure passage appears to
me to be that suggested by Letronne, as quoted by Baehr, according to
which the usual signification of the word Ktaora is retained without any
violence to the construction. It is as follows: /u Tr yre v a'2ir'Av (va(tlaotot xpeSovTat),'E2AIvtcoioL 6be tai iiKtira.




77-79.]           MELPOMENE. IV.                     263
and it was Saulius who killed Anacharsis.  77. However, I
have heard another story told by the Peloponnesians, that Ana7
charsis, being sent abroad by the king of the Scythians, became
a disciple of the Grecians; and on his return home he said to
the king who sent him abroad that all the Greeks were employed in acquiring all kinds of knowledge except the Lacedaemonians, but that they only were able to give and receive a
reason with prudence. But this story is told in sport by the
Greeks themselves.  The man, then, was killed in the manner
before mentioned.  Thus, therefore, he fared because of foreign
customs and intercourse with the Grecians.
78. Many years afterward, Scylas, son of Ariapithes, met
with a similar fate; for Ariapithes, king of the Scythians,
had, among. other children, Scylas; he was born of an Istrian woman, who did not in any way belong to the country.
His mother taught him  the Grecian language and letters;
afterward, in course of time, Ariapithes met his death by
treachery at the hands of Spargapithes, king of the Agathyrsi,
and Scylas succeeded to the kingdom, and his father's wife,
whose name was Opoea; this Opcea was a native, by whom
Ariapithes had a son, Oricus. Scylas, though reigning over
the Scythians, was by no means pleased with the Scythian
mode of life, but was much more inclined to the Grecian manners, on account of the education he had received; he therefore acted thus. Whenever he led the Scythian army to the
city of the Borysthenitte (now these Borysthenitse say they are
Milesians), as soon as Scylas reached them, he used to leave
his army in the suburbs, and, when he himself had gone within the walls, and had closed the gates, having laid aside his
Scythian dress, he used to assume the Grecian habit, and in
this dress he walked in public, unattended by guards or any
one else; and they kept watch at the gates, that no Scythian
might see him wearing this dress; and in other respects he
adopted the Grecian mode of living, and performed sacrifices
to the gods according to the rites of the Grecians. When
he had'staid a month or more, he used to depart, resuming
the Scythian habit. This he used frequently to do; he also
built a palace in the Borysthenes, and married a native woman to inhabit it.  79. Since, however, it was fated that misfortune should befall him, it happened on this occasion. He
was very desirous to be initiated in the mysteries of Bacchus;




264                  HERODOTUS.                      [80.
and as he was just about to commence the sacred rites, a very
great prodigy occurred.  He had in the city of the Borysfhenitat a large and magnificent mansion, of which I have just
now made mention; round it were placed sphinxes and griffins of white marble; on this the god hurled a bolt, and it was
entirely burned down; Scylas, nevertheless, accomplished his
initiation. Now the Scythians reproach the Grecians on account of their Bacchic ceremonies, for they say it is not reasonable to discover such a god as this, who drives men to madness. When Scylas had been initiated in the Bacchic mysteries, one of the Borysthenitme carried the information to the
Scythians, saying, "You Scythians laugh at us because we
celebrate Bacchic rites, and the god takes possession of us.
Now this same deity has taken possession of your king, and he
celebrates the rites of Bacchus, and is maddened by the god;
but if you disbelieve me, follow, and I will show you." The
chief men of the Scythians followed him; and the Borysthenite, conducting them in, placed them secretly on a tower; but
when Scylas went past with a thyasus, and the Scythians saw
him acting the bacchanal, they regarded it as a very great calamity; and, having returned, they acquainted all the army
with what they had seen. 80. After this, when Scylas returned to his own home, the Scythians, having set up his brother
Octamasades, born of the daughter of Tereus, revolted from
Scylas; but he, being informed of what was being done
against him, and the reason for which it was done, fled to
Thrace. Octamasades, being informed of this, marched against
Thrace, but when he arrived on the Ister, the Thracians advanced to meet him. As they were about to engage, Sitalces sent to Octamasades saying as follows: " Why need we
try each other's strength? - You are the son of my sister, and
have with you my brother. Do you restore him to me, and I
will deliver up Scylas to you, and so neither you nor I shall
expose our army to peril."  Sitalces sent this message to
him by a herald;,for there was with Octamasades a brother
of Sitalces, who had fled from the latter.  Octamasades acceded to this proposal, and having surrendered his maternal
uncle to Sitalces, received his brother Scylas in exchange.
Now Sitalces, having got his brother in his power, drew off
3 Literally, " a circumference of a large and magnificent mansion."




81-83.]            MELPOMENE. IV.                   265
his forces; but Octamasades beheaded Scylas on the same spot.
Thus the Scythians maintain their own customs, and impose
such punishments on those who introduce foreign usages.
81. I have never been able to learn with accuracy the
amount of the population of the Scythians, but I heard different accounts concerning the number; for some pretend that
they are exceedingly numerous, and others that there are very
few real Scythians: thus much, however, they exposed to my
sight. There is a spot between the river B6rysthenes and
the Hypanis, called Exampqeus,4 which I mentioned a little
before, saying that there was in it a fountain of bitter water,
from which the water flowing made the Hypanis unfit to be
drunk. In this spot lies a brass caldron, in size six times as
large as the bowl at the mouth of the Pontus, which Pausanias, son of Cleombrotus, dedicated. For the benefit of any one
who has never seen this, I will here describe it:'the brass
caldron among the Scythians easily contains six hundred
amphorae; and this Scythian vessel is six fingers in thickness.
Now the inhabitants say it was made from the points of
arrows, for that their king, whose name was Ariantus, wishing to know the population of the Scythians, commanded all
the Scythians to bring him each severally one point of an
arrow, and he threatened death on whosoever should fail to
bring it. Accordingly, a vast number of arrow points were
brought, and he resolved to leave a monument made from
themn; he therefore made this brass bowl, and dedicated it at
Exampaeus. This I heard concerning the population of the
Scythians. 82. Their country has nothing wonderful, except
the rivers, which are very large and very many in number;
but what it affords also worthy of admiration, besides the rivers and the extent of the plains, shall be mentioned: they show
the print of the foot of Hercules upon a rock: it resembles the
footstep of a man, is two cubits in length, near the river Tyras.
Such, then, is this; but I will now return to the subject I at
first set out to relate.
83. While Darius was making preparations against the
Scythians, and sending messengers to command some to contribute land forces, and others a fleet, and others to bridge over
the Thracian Bosphorus, Artabanus, the son of Hystaspes,
and brother of Darius, entreated him on no account to make
4 See chap. 52.
M




266                  HERODOTUS.                  [84-86.
an expedition against the Scythians, representing the poverty
of Scythia; but when he found that although he gave him
good counsel he could not persuade him, he desisted: Darius
therefore, when every thing was prepared, marched his army
from Susa. 84. At that time CEobazus, a Persian, who had
three sons all serving in the army, besought Darius that one
might be left at home for him. The king answered him, as a
friend, and one who made a moderate request, that he would
leave him all his sons; he therefore was exceedingly delighted,
hoping that his sons would be discharged from the army. But
Darius commanded the proper officers to put all the sons of
CEobazus to death; and they, being slain, were left on the spot.
85. When Darius, marching from Susa, reached Chalcedon
on the Bosphorus, where a bridge was already laid' across,
Trom thence going on board a ship he sailed to those called
the Cyanean islands, which the Grecians say formerly floated. There, sitting in the temple, he took a view of the Euxine Sea, which is worthy of admiration; for of all seas it is
by nature the most wonderful- its length is eleven thousand
one hundred stades, and its width, in the widest part, three
thousand three hundred stades.  The mouth of this sea is
four stades in width, and the length of the mouth, that is,
the neck, which is called the Bosphorus, where the bridge
was laid across, amounts to about a hundred and twenty
stades; and the Bosphorus extends to the Propontis. The
Propontis,. which is five hundred'stades in breadth, and one
thousand four hundred in length, discharges itself into the
Hellespont, which in the narrowest part is seven stades, and
in length four hundred; the Hellespont falls into an expanse
of the sea, which is called the IEgean. 86. These seas have
been measured as follows: a ship commonly makes in a long
day about seventy thousand orgyae, and in a night about sixty
thousand. Now from the mouth to the Phasis (for this is
the greatest length of the Pontus) is a voyage of nine days
and eight nights; these make one million one hundred and
ten thousand orgyae, and these orgyae are equal to eleven
thousand one hundred stades. From Sindica to Themiscyra,
on the river Thermodon (for here is the broadest part of
the Pontus) is a voyage of three days and two nights; these
make three hundred and thirty thousand orgyae, or three
thousand three hundred stades. The Pontus, therefore, and
the Bosphorus, and the H-ellespont, have been thus measured




87-89.]             MELPOMENE. IV.                    267
by me, and are such as I have described.  Moreover, this
Pontus possesses a lake that discharges itself into it, not
much less than itself.  It is called Maeotis, and the mother of
the Pontus.
87. Darius, when he had viewed the Pontus, sailed back to
the bridge, of which Mandrocles, a Samian, was the architectand having also viewed the Bosphorus, he erected two columns of white marble on the shore, engraving on one in As-.syrian characters, and on the other in Grecian, the names of all
the nations he had in his army, and he had some from all
whom he ruled over; of these, besides the navy, seven hundred thousand were reckoned, including cavalry; and six hundred ships were assembled. Now these columns the Byzantiana
some time afterward removed into their city, and used in
building the altar of the Orthosian Diana, except one stone;
this was left near the temple of Bacchus in Byzantium, covered
with Assyrian letters. The spot of the Bosphorus which king
Darius caused the bridge to be laid over was, as I conjecture,
midway between Byzantium  and the temple at the mouth.
88. Darius, after this, being pleased with the bridge, presented its architect, Mandrocles the Samian, with ten of every
thing.  From  these, then, Mandrocles, having painted a picture of the whole junction of the Bosphorus, with king Darius
seated on a throne, and his army crossing over; having painted this, lie dedicated it as first-fruits in the temple of Juno,
with this inscription: "Mandrocles, having thrown a bridge
across the fishy Bgosphorus, dedicated to Juno a memorial of
the raft; laying up for himself a crown, and for the Samians
glory, having completed it to the satisfaction of king Darius."
This, then, was the memorial of the man who constructed the
bridge.
89. Darius, having rewarded Mandrocles, crossed over into
Europe, having commanded the Ionians to sail by the Pontus
as far as the river Ister; and when tley should have reached the Ister, to throw  a bridge over the river, and there
wait his arrival; for the lonians, ]Eolians, and Hellespontines
conducted the naval armament.  The fleet accordingly, having (sailed through the Cyanian islands, stood direct for the
Ister; and having sailed up the river a two days' voyage from
the sea, they joined the neck of the river with a bridge, at
the point where the several mouths of the river are separated,




268                  HERODOTUS.                  [90-94.
But Darius, when he had passed over the Bosphorus by the
bridge of boats, marched through Thrace, and having arrived
at the sources of the river Tearus, encamped there three days.
90. The Tearus is said by the inhabitants of the country to be
the best of all rivers, both for its other healing qualities, and
especially for curing the itch in men and horses. Its springs
are thirty eight, flowing from the same rock; and some of them
are cold, others hot. The distance to them is the same from
JHeraeopolis, near Perinthus, and from Apollonia on the Euxine
Sea, each a two days' journey. This Tearus empties itself into
the river Contadesdus, the Contadesdus into the Agrianes, the
Agrianes into the Hebrus, and this last into the sea near the city
of AEnus.  91. Darius, then, having reached this river, when
he had encamped, was so delighted with the river, that he
erected a pillar here also, with the following inscription: THE
SPRINGS OF THE TEARUS YIELD THE BEST AND FINEST WATER OF
ALL RIVERS; AND A MAN, THE BEST AND FINEST OF ALL MEN,
CAME TO THEM, LEADING AN ARMY AGAINST THE SCYTHIANS,
DARIUS, SON OF HYSTASPES, KING OF THE PERSIANS, AND OF
THE WHOLE CONTINENT.  92. Darius, having set out from
thence, came to another river, the name of which is Artiscus,
which flows through the Odryse.  When he arrived at this
river, he did as follows: having marked out a certain spot of
ground to the army, he commanded every man as he passed by
to place a stone on this spot that was marked out; and when
the army had executed his order, having left vast heaps of
stones there, he continued his march.
93. But before he reached the Ister, he subdued the G-eta
first, who think themselves immortal; for the Thracians who
occupy Salmydessus, and those who dwell above the cities -of
Apollonia and Mesambria, who are called Scyrmiadae and
Nypssei, surrendered themselves to Darius without resistance; but the Getae, having recourse to obstinate resistance,
were soon reduced to slavery, though they are the most
valiant and the most just of the Thracians. 94. They think
themselves immortal in this manner.  They imagine that
they themselves do not die, but that the deceased goes to the
deity Zalmoxis, and some of them think that he is the same
with Gebeleizis. Every fifth year they dispatch one of themselves, taken by lot, to Zalmoxis, with orders to let him know
on each occasion what they want. Their mode of sending




95, 96.]          MELPOMENE. IV.                  269
him is this. Some of them who are appointed hold three
javelins; while others, having taken up the man who is to be
sent to Zalmoxis by the hands and feet, swing him round,
and throw him into the air, upon the points. If he should die,
being transfixed, they think the god is propitious to them; if
he should not die, they blame the messenger himself, saying
that he is a bad man; and having blamed him, they dispatch
another, and they give him his instructions while he is yet
alive. These same Thracians, in time of thunder and lightning, let fly their arrows toward heaven, and threaten the
god, thinking that there is no other god but their own.
95. But, as I am informed by the Greeks who dwell about
the Hellespont and the Pontus, this Zalmoxis was a man, and
lived in slavery at Samos; he was slave to Pythagoras, son
of Mnesarchus; and after that, having procured his liberty,
he acquired great riches, and having acquired them, he returned to his own country; but finding the Thracians lived
wretchedly and in a very uncivilized manner, this Zalmoxis,
being acquainted with the Ionian way of living, and with
manners more polite than those of Thrace, in that he had been
familiar with Greeks, and with Pythagoras, who was not the
meanest sage in Greece, had a hall built, in which, receiving
and entertaining the principal persons of the country, he
taught them that neither he nor any of his guests, nor their
posterity forever, would die, but would go into a place where
they should live eternally, and have every kind of blessing.
While he did and said as above described, he, in the mean
time, had a subterraneous habitation made, and when the
building was completed, he disappeared from  among the
Thracians; and having gone down to the subterraneous habitation, he abode there three years. But they both regretted
him, and lamented him as dead; but in the fourth year he
appeared to the Thracians, and thus what Zalmoxis said became credible to them. Thus they say that he acted. 96. For
my own part, I neither disbelieve nor entirely believe the account of this person and the subterraneous habitation; but I
am of opinion that this Zalmoxis lived many years before
Pythagoras. Yet, whether Zalmoxis were a man or a native
deity among the Getae, I take my leave of him. These people,
then, who observe such a custom, when they were subdued by
the Persians, followed the rest of the army.




270                  IIERODOTUS.                 [97-99.
97. When Darius and his land forces with him reached the
Ister, all crossed over the river, and Darius commanded the
Ionians to loose the bridge, and follow him on the continent
with the forces from the ships; but, as they were about to
loose the bridge and execute his orders, Coes, son of Erxandrus,
general of the Mitylenians, spoke as follows to Darius, having
first inquired whether it would be agreeable to him to hear an
opinion from one who wished to give it:' O king, since you
are about to invade a country in which no cultivated land
will be seen, nor any inhabited city, do you let this bridge
remain where it is, leaving these men who constructed it as
its guard; and if, having met with the Scythians, we succeed
according to our wishes, we have a way to return; but if we
should not be able to meet with them, we shall at least have
a secure retreat; for I am not at all afraid that we shall be
conquered in battle by the Scythians, but rather that, being
unable to find them, we may suffer somewhat in our wanderings. Perhaps some one may think I say this for my own
sake, that I may remain here; but, 0 king, I advance the
opinion which I think is best for you; nevertheless, I will follow you myself, and would by no means be left behind." Darius was much pleased with the advice, and answered him as
follows: "Lesbian friend, when I am safe back in my own
palace, fail not to present yourself to me, that I may requite
you for good advice with good deeds."  98. Having spoken
thus and tied sixty knots in a thong, and having summoned the
Ionian commanders to his presence, he addressed them as follows: "Men of Ionia, I have changed.my former resolution
concerning the bridge; therefore, take this thong and do thus:
as soon as you see me march against the Scythians, beginning
from that time, untie one of these knots every day; and if I
return not within that time, but the days numbered by the
knots have passed, do you sail away to your own country.
Till that time, since I have changed my determination, do you
guard the bridge, and apply the utmost care to preserve and
secure it; and if you do this, you will oblige me exceedingly."
Darius, having spoken thus, hastened forward.
99. Thrace, in the part next the sea, projects before the
Scythian territory; and where a bay is formed in this country Scythia begins, and the Ister discharges itself, having its
mouth turned toward the east. But, beginning from the Ister,




1O0,101.3          MELPOMENE. IV.                   271
I now pioceed to describe by measurement the part of the
Scythian country that is on the sea-coast. Now from the Ister, that is ancient Scythia that lies toward the meridian and
the south wind, as far as the city called Carcinitis-next to
that, the Tauric nation inhabits the land extending along the
same sea, which is a mountainous country, and projects into
the Pontus as far as the Chersonesus called Trachea; and it
reaches to the sea toward the east; for the two parts of the
boundaries of Scythia extend to the sea, one toward the
south, and the other toward the east, as is the case with the
region of Attica; and the Tauri inhabit parts of Scythia
similar to this, just as if any other people instead of the
Athenians possessed the promontory of Sunium, which extends more into a point into the sea from the borough of Thoricus to that of Anaphlystus. I mention this, if I may compare small things with great.  Such, then, is Taurica. But
for any one who has never sailed by that part of Attica, I
will explain the matter in another way: it is as if a nation
distinct from Japygia, and not the Japygians, beginning from
the port of Brundusium, should cut off the country as far as
Tarentum, and occupy the promontory.  Mentioning these
two, I might mention many others, to which Taurica is like.
100. From Taurica, Scythians inhabit the country above the
Tauri, and the parts along the eastern sea, and the parts westward of the Cimmerian Bosphorus and the lake Mseotis, as far
as the river Tanais, which flows into the farthest recess of
that lake. Now from the Ister at the parts above, stretching
to the interior, Scythia is shut off first by the Agathyrsi,
next by the Neuri, then by the Androphagi, and last by the
Melanchloeni.  101. Of Scythia, therefore, which is quadrangular, with two parts reaching to the sea, that which
stretches to the interior and that along the coast is in every
way equal; for from the Ister to the Borysthenes is a journey of ten days, and from the Borysthenes to the lake Mleotis
ten more; from the sea to the interior, as far as the Melanchlaeni, who inhabit above the Scythians, is a journey of twenty
days. The day's journey has been computed by me at two
hundred stades. Thus the extent of Scythia crossways would
be four thousand stades, and the direct route leading to the
interior would be the same number of stades. Such is the
extent of this country.




272                  HERODOTUS.                [102-106.
102. The Scythians, considering with themselves that they
were not able alone to repel the army of Darius in a pitched
battle, sent messengers to the adjoining nations; and the
kings of those nations, having met together, consulted, since so
great an army was advancing against them. The kings who
met together were those of the Tauri, the Agathyrsi, the
Neuri, the Androphagi, the Melanchleni, the Geloni, the Budini, and the Sauromatoe. 103. Of these, the Tauri observe
the following customs: they sacrifice to the virgin all who
suffer shipwreck, and any Greeks they meet with driven on
their coasts, in the following manner: having performed the
preparatory ceremonies, they strike the head with a club;
some say they throw the body down from a precipice (for
their temple is built on a precipice), and impale the head; but
others agree with respect to the head, but say that the body
is not thrown from the precipice, but buried in the earth.
The Tauri themselves say, that this deity to whom they sacrifice is Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon. Enemies whom
they subdue they treat as follows: each having cut off a head,
carries it home with him, then having fixed it on a long pole,
he raises it far above the roof of his house, at all events
above the chimney; they say that these are suspended as
guards over the whole household. This people live by rapine
and war.  104. The Agathyrsi are a most luxurious people,
and wear a profusion of gold. They have promiscuous intercourse with women, to the end that they may be brethren one
of another,'and being all of one family, may not entertain hatred
toward each other. In other respects they approach the usages
of the Thracians.  10S. The Neuri observe Scythian customs.
One generation before tlie expedition of Darius, it happened to
them to be driven out of their whole country by'serpents; for
their country produced many serpents, and a much greater
number came down upon them from the deserts above; until,
being hard pressed, they abandoned their territory, and settled
among the Budini, These men seem to be magicians, for it is
said of them  by the Scythians and the Greeks settled in
Scythia, that once every year each Neurian becomes a wolf
for a few days, and then is restored again to the same state.
Though they affirm this, however, they do not persuade me;
they affirm it nevertheless, and support their assertion with
an oath. 106. The Androphagi have the most savage cus



107-110.]          MELPOMENE. IV.                    273
toms of all men; they pay no regard to justice, nor make use
of any established law. They are nomades, and wear a dress
like the Scythian; they speak a peculiar language; and of
those nations, are the only people that eat human flesh.
107. The Melanchleni all wear black garments, from which
circumstance they take their name. These follow Scythian
usages.  108. The Budini, who are a great and populous
nation, paint their whole bodies with a deep. blue and red.
There is in their country a city built of wood; its name is Gelonus; each side of the wall is thirty stades in length; it is
lofty, and made entirely of wood. Their houses, also, and their
temples are of wood; for there are there temples of the Grecian gods, adorned after the Grecian manner, with images, altars, and shrines of wood. They celebrate the triennial festivals of Bacchus, and perform the bacchanalian ceremonies; for
the Geloni were originally Grecians, but being expelled from
the trading ports, settled among the Budini: and they use a
language partly Scythian and partly Grecian. 109. The Budini, however, do not.use the same language as the Geloni,
nor the same mode of living; for the Budini, being indigenous, are nomades, and are the only people of those parts who
eat vermin; whereas the Geloni are tillers of the soil, feed
upon corn, cultivate gardens, and are not at all like the Budini in form or complexion. By the Greeks, however, the Budini are called Geloni, though erroneously so called. Their
country is thickly covered with trees of all kinds, and in the
thickest wood is a spacious and large lake, and a morass, and
reeds around it: in this, otters are taken, and beavers, and other square-faced animals: their skins are sewn as borders to
cloaks, and their testicles are useful for the cure of diseases of
the womb.
110. Concerning the Sauromatae, the following account is
given.  When the Grecians had fought with the Amazons
(the Scythians call the Amazons Aiorpata, and this name in
the Grecian language means manslayers, for they call Aior a
man, and Pata to kill), the story goes that the Greeks, having
been victorious in the battle at the Thermodon, sailed away,
taking with them in three ships as many Amazons as they
had been able to take alive; but the Amazons, attacking them
out at sea, cut the men to pieces. However, as they had no
knowledge of navigation, nor any skill in the use of the rudM2




274                  HERODOTUS.               [111-113.
der, sails, or oars, when they had cut the men to pieces, they
were carried by the waves and wind, and arrived at Cremni,
on the lake Maeotis; but Cremni belongs to the territory of
the free Scythians. Here the Amazons, landing from the vessels, marchedto the inhabited parts and seized the first herd of
horses they happened to fall in with, and mounting on them,
plundered the lands of the Scythians.  111. The Scythians
knew not what to make of the matter; for they were not acquainted either with their language, dress, or nation, but wondered from whence they came. They conjectured that they
were men of the same stature, and therefore gave them battle; but after the battle the Scythians got possession of the
dead, and so discovered that they were women. On deliberation, therefore, they resolved on no account to kill them any
more, but to send out to them the youngest of their own party, guessing a number equal to theirs; these were to encamp
near them, and do the same as they did; should the Amazons
pursue them, they were not to fight, but fly; and when they
halted, were to come and encamp near them. The Scythians
resolved on this out of a desire to have children by these
women. 112. The young men, being dispatched, did as they
were ordered. When the Amazons found that they had not
come to hurt them, they let them alone, and they drew one
camp nearer to the other every day. The youths, as well as
the Amazons, had nothing except their arms and horses, but
obtained their subsistence in the same way that the Amazons
did, by hunting and pillage. 113. The Amazons, about midday, were wont to do as follows: they separated themselves
into parties of one and two, at a distance from each other,
being dispersed for the purpose of easing themselves. The
Scythians, observing this, did thk same; and one of them
drew near one of the Amazons who was alone; and she did
not repel him, but suffered him to enjoy her person. She
could not speak to him, because they did not understand each
other, but she made signs to him by her hand to come the
next day to the same place, and to bring another with him,
signifying that they should be two, and she would bring
another with her. When the youth departed, he related this
to the rest, and on the next day he himself went to the place,
and took another with him, and found the Amazon with a
companion waiting for him. The rest of the youths, when




B14-117.]         MELPOMENE. IV.                    275
they heard this, conciliated the rest of the Amazons. 114.
Afterward, having joined their camps, they lived together,
each having for his wife the person he first attached himself
to. The men were not able to learn the language of the
women, but the women soon attained that of the men. When,
therefore, they understood one another, the men spoke to the
Amazons as follows: "We have parents and possessions; let
us, then, no longer lead this kind of life, but let us return to
the bulk of our people and live with them; we will have you
as our wives, and no others."  To this they answered: " We
never could live with the women of your country, because we
hlave not the same customs with them. We shoot with the
bow, throw the javelin, and ride on horseback, and have never
learned the employments of women. But your women do none
of the things we have mentioned, but are engaged in women's
employments, remaining in their wagons, and do not go out
to hunt, or any where else; we could not, therefore, consort
with them. If, then, you desire to have us for your wives,
and to prove yourselves honest men, go to your parents,'claim
your share of their property, then return, and let us live by
ourselves."  115. The youths yielded, and acted accordingly;
but when they came back to the Amazons, having received
what fell to their share of the possessions, the women spoke to
them as follows: "Alarm and fear come upon us when we
consider that we must live in this country; in the first place,
because we have deprived you of your parents; and in the
next, have committed great depredations in your territory.
Since, therefore, you think us worthy to be your wives, do
thus with us: come, let us leave this country, and, having
crossed the river Tanais, let us settle there." 116. The youths
consented to this also; accordingly, having crossed the Tanais,
they advanced a journey of three days eastward from the Tanais, and three from the lake Maeotis northward, and, having
reached the country in which they are now settled, they took
up their abode there. From that time the wives of the Sauromatae retain their ancient mode of living, both going out on
horseback to hunt with their husbands and without their husbands, and joining in war, and wearing the same dress as the
men. 117. The Sauromatae use the Scythian language, speaking it corruptly from the first, since the Amazons never learned it correctly. Their rules respecting marriage are thus set



276                  HERODOTUS.                [118,119.
tied; no virgin is permitted to marry until she has killed an
enemy; some of them, therefore, die of old age without being
married, not being able to satisfy the law.
118. The messengers of the Scythians, therefore, coming
to the assembled kings of the nations above mentioned, informed them that the Persian, when he had subdued all the
nations on the other continent, had constructed a bridge over
the neckoof the Bosphorus, and crossed over to this continent;
and, having crossed over and subdued the Thracians, he was
building a bridge over the river Ister, designing to make all
these regions also subject to him: " Do you, therefore, on no
account, sit aloof, and suffer us to be destroyed, but with one
accord let us oppose the invader. If you will not do this, we,
being pressed, shall either abandon the country, or, if we stay,
shall submit to terms; for what would be our condition if you
refuse to assist us?  Nor will it fall more lightly on you on
that account; for the Persian is advancing not more against
us than against you; nor will he be content to subdue us and
abstain from you; and we will give you a strong proof of
what we say; for if the Persian had undertaken this expedition against us only, wishing to revenge his former subjection,
he would have abstained from all others, and have marched
directly against our territories, and would have made it clear
to all that he was marching against the Scythians, and not
against others. But now, as soon as he crossed over to this
continent, he subdued all that laid in his way; and holds in
subjection the rest of the Thracians, and more particularly our
neighbors, the Gete."  119. When the Scythians had made
this representation, the kings who had come from the several
nations consulted together, and their opinions were divided.
The Gelonian, Budinian, and Sauromatian, agreeing together,
promised to assist the Scythians; but the Agathyrsian, Neurian, Androphagian, and the Melanchlaenian and Taurian
princes gave this answer to the Scythians: "If you, who
make the request that you now do, had not been the first to
injure the Persians and begin war, you would have appeared
to us to speak rightly, and we, yielding to your wishes, would
have acted in concert with you; but, in fact, you have invaded their territory without us, had the mastery of the Persians as long as the god allowed you; and they, when the
same god instigates them, repay you like for like. We, how



120, 121.]         MELPOMENE. IV.                   277
ever, neither on that occasion injured these men at all, nor
will we now be the first to attempt to injure them. Nevertheless, should he invade our territory also, and become the
aggressor, we will not submit to it. But until we see that,
we will remain quiet at home, for we think that the Persians
are not coming against us, but against those who were the
authors of wrong."
120. When the Scythians heard this answer brought back,
they determined to fight no battle in the open field, because
these allies did not come to their assistance; but to retreat
and draw off covertly, and fill up the wells they passed by,
and the springs, and destroy the herbage on the ground, having divided their forces into two bodies, and they resolved
that to one of the divisions, which Scopasis commanded, the
Sauromatse should attach themselves, and that they should
retire if the Persian should take that course, retreating direct to the river Tanais, along the lake Maeotis; and when
the Persian marched back, they were to follow him and harass
his rear. This was one division of the kingdom appointed
to pursue its march in the way that has been described.
The two other divisions of the kingdom, the greater one,
which Indathyrsus commanded, and the third, which Taxacis
ruled over, were directed to act in conjunction, and, with the
addition of the Geloni and Budini, to keep a day's march before the Persians, and gradually retreat, retiring slowly, and
doing as had been determined; and, first of all, they were to
withdraw direct toward the territories of those who had renounced their alliance, in order that they might bring the
war upon them; so that, though they would not willingly
take part in the war against the Persians, they might be compelled to engage in it against their will; afterward- they
were to return to their own country, and attack the enemy,
if, on consultation, it should seem advisable. 121. The Scythians, having come to this determination, went out to meet
Darius's army, having sent forward the best of their cavalry as
an advanced guard; but the wagons, in which all their children and wives lived, and all the cattle, except so many as
were necessary for their subsistence, which they left behindthe rest they sent forward with the wagons, ordering them
to march continually toward the north.  These, therefore,
were carried to a distance.




278                  HERODOTUS.                [122-125.
122. When the advanced guard of the Scythians fell in
with the Persians, about three days' march from the Ister,
they, having fallen in with them, kept a day's march in advance, and encamped, and destroyed all. the produce of the
ground; but the Persians, when they saw the Scythian cavalry
before them, followed their track, while they continually retired; and then, for they directed their march after one of
the divisions, the Persians pursued toward the east and the
Tanais; and when they had crossed the river Tanais, the
Persians also crossed over and pursued them, until, having
passed through the country of the Surbomatse, they reached
that of the Budini.  123. As long as the Persians were
marching through the Scythian and Sauromatian regions,
they had nothing to ravage, as the country was all barren;
but when they entered the territory of the Budini, there
meeting with the wooden town, the Budini having abandoned
it, and the: town being emptied of every thing, they set it on
fire. Having done this, they continued to follow  in the
track of the enemy, until, having traversed this region, they
reached the desert: this desert is destitute of inhabitants, and
is situate above the territory of the Budini, and is a seven days'
march in extent. Beyond the desert the Thyssagetae dwell;
and four large rivers, flowing from them through the Mseo
tians, discharge themselves into the lake called Maeotis; their
names are these, Lycus, Oarus, Tanais, and Syrgis. 124. When
Darius came to the desert, having ceased his pursuit, he encamped his army on the river Oaeus; and having done this,
he built eight large forts, equally distant from each other,
about sixty stades apart, the ruins of which remain to this day.
While he was employed about these, the Scythians who were
pursued, having made a circuit of the upper parts, returned
into Scythia: these having entirely vanished, when they
could no longer be seen, Darius left the forts half finished,
and himself wheeling round, marched westward, supposing
them to be all the Scythians, and that they had fled to the
west.
125. Advancing with his army as quick as possible, when
he reached Scythia, he fell in with the two Scythian divisions, and having fallen in with them, he pursued them, but
they kept a day's march before him. The Scythians, for Darius did not relax his pursuit, fled, as had been determined,




126, 127.]        MELPOMENE. IV.                      279
toward those nations that had refused to assist them, and
first they entered the territories of the Melanchlaeni; and
when the Scythians and the Persians, entering into their country, had put all things into confusion, the Scythians led the
way into the country of the Androphagi; and when they had
been thrown into confusion, they retreated to Neuris; and
when they were thrown into confusion, the Scythians advanced in their flight toward the Agathyrsi; but the Agathyrsi, seeing their neighbors flying before the Scythians,
and thrown into confusion before the Scythians entered, dispatched a herald, and forbade the Scythians to cross their borders, warning them that if they should attempt to force their
way they must fight with them.  The Agathyrsi, having sent
this message beforehand, advanced to protect their frontiers,
determined to repel the invaders; whereas the Melanchleni,
Androphagi, and Neuri, when the Persians and Scythians together invaded them, offered no resistance, but, forgetting their
former menaces, fled continually in great confusion northward
toward the desert. The Scythians no longer advanced toward
the Agathyrsi when they warned them not to do so, but, departing from the Neurian territory, they led the Persians into
their own.
126. When this had continued for a considerable time,
and did not cease, Darius sent a horseman to Indathyrsus,
king of the Scythians, with the following message: "Most
miserable of men, why dost thou continually fly, when it is in
thy power to do one of these two other things?  For, if thou
thinkest thou art able to resist my power, stand, and having
ceased thy wanderings, fight; but if thou art conscious of
thy inferiority, in that case also cease thy hurried march, and,
bringing earth and water as presents to thy master, come to a
conference."  127. To this Indathyrsus, the king of the Scythians, made answer as follows: "This is the case with me,
O Persian: I never yet fled from any man out of fear, neither
before, nor dp I now so flee from thee; nor have I done any
thing different now from what I am wont to do even in time
of peace; but why I do not forthwith fight thee, I will now explain. We have no cities nor cultivated lands for which we
are under any apprehension lest they should be taken or ravaged, and therefore should hastily offer you battle. Yet if it
isby all means necessary to come to this at once, we have the




280                  HERODOTUS.                [128-130.
sepulchres of our ancestors; come, find these, and attempt to
disturb them, then you will know whether we will fight for
our sepulchres or not; but before that, unless we choose, we
will not engage with thee. Thus much about fighting. The
only masters I acknowledge are Jupiter, my progenitor, and
Vesta, queen of the Scythians; but to thee, instead of presents of earth and water, I will send such presents as are proper to come to thee; and in answer to thy boast that thou
art my master, I bid thee weep."  (This is a Scythian saying.) The herald therefore departed, carrying this answer to
Darius.
128. The kings of the Scythians, when they heard the
name of servitude, were filled with indignation; whereupon
they sent the division united with the Sauromatae, which
Scopasis commanded, with orders to confer with the onians,
who guarded the bridge over the Ister.  Those who were
left resolved no longer to lead the Persians about, but to attack them whenever they were taking their meals. Accordingly, observing the soldiers of Darius taking their meals, they
put their design in execution. The Scythian cavalry always
routed the Persian cavalry, but the Persian horsemen, in their
flight, fell back on the infantry, and the infantry supported
them. The Scythians, having beaten back the cavalry, wheeled round through fear of the infantry. The Scythians also
made similar attacks at night.  129. A very remarkable circumstance, that was advantageous to the Persians and adverse to the Scythians when they attacked the camp of Darius, I will now proceed to mention: this was the braying of
the asses and the appearance of the mules; for Scythia produces neither ass nor mule, as I have before observed;5 nor is
there in the whole Scythian territory a single ass or mule, by
reason of cold. The asses, then, growing wanton, put the
Scythian horse into confusion; and frequently, as they were
advancing upon the Persians, when the horses heard, midway, the braying of the asses, they wheeled round in confusion
and were greatly amazed, pricking up their ears, as having
never before heard such a sound nor seen such a shape. Now
this circumstance in some slight degree affected the fortune of
the war.
130. The Scythians, when they saw the Persians in great
5 See chap. 58.




131-133.]          MELPOMENE. IV.                   281
commotion, in order that they might remain longer in Scythia, and by remaining might be harassed through want of
all things necessary, adopted the following expedient: when
they had left some of their own cattle in the care of the herdsmen, they themselves withdrew to another spot, and the Persians coming up, took the cattle, and having taken them, exulted in what they had done. 131. When this had happened
several times, at last Darius was in a great strait, and the kings
of the Scythians, having ascertained this, sent a herald, bearing as gifts to Darius a bird, a mouse, a frog, and five arrows.
The Persians asked the bearer of the gifts the meaning of
this present; but he answered that he had no other orders
than to deliver them and return immediately; and he advised the Persians, if they were wise, to discover what the
gifts meant.  The Persians, having heard this, consulted together.  132. Darius's opinion was that the Scythians meant
to give themselves up to him, as well as earth and water,
forming his conjecture thus: since a mouse is bred in the earth,
and subsists on the same food as a man; a frog lives in the
water; a bird is very like a horse; and the arrows they deliver up as their whole strength. This was the opinion given
by Darius. But the opinion of Gobryas, one of the seven who
had deposed the magus, did not coincide with this; he conjectured that the presents intimated, "Unless, O ye Persians, ye
become birds and fly into the air, or become mice and hide
yourselves beneath the earth, or become frogs and leap into
the lakes, ye shall never return home again, but be stricken by
these arrows."  And thus the other Persians interpreted the
gifts.
133. In the mean time, that division of the Scythians that
had been before appointed to keep guard about the lake Maotis, and then to confer with the lonians at the Ister, when
they arrived at the bridge, spoke as follows: " Men of Ionia,
we are come bringing freedom to you, if only you will listen
to us. We have heard that Darius commanded you to guard
the bridge sixty days only, and if he did not come up within
that time, then to return into your own country. Now, therefore, if you do this, you will be free from all blame as regards him and as regards us; when you have waited the appointed number of days, after that depart." On the lonians




282                  HERODOTUS.                 [134,135.
promising to do so, the Scythians hastened back with all expedition.
134. The rest of the Scythians, after they had sent the
presents to Darius, drew themselves opposite the Persians,
with their foot and horse, as if they intended to come to an
engagement; and as the Scythians were standing in their
ranks, a hare started in the midst of them, and each of them,
as they saw the hare, went in pursuit of it. The Scythians
being in great confusion, and shouting loudly, Darius asked
the meaning of the uproar in the enemy's ranks; but when he
heard that they were pursuing a hare, he said to those he was
accustomed to address on such occasions, "These men treat
us with great contempt, and I am convinced that Gobryas
spoke rightly concerning the Scythian presents. Since, then,
I am of opinion that the case is so, we have need of the best
advice how our return home may be effected in safety."
To this Gobryas answered, " 0 king, I was in some measure
acquainted by, report with the indigence of these men, but I
have learned much more since I came hither, and seen how
they make sport of us.  My opinion therefore is, that as
soon as night draws on, we should light fires, as.we are accustomed to do, and having deceived those soldiers who are
least able to bear hardships, and having-tethered all the asses,
should depart before the Scythians direct their march to the
Ister for the purpose of destroying the bridge, or the Ionians
take any resolution which may occasion our ruin." Such was
the advice of Gobryas.  135. Afterward night came on, and
Darius acted on this opinion: the infirm  among the soldiers, and those whose loss would be of the least consequence, and all the asses tethered, he left on the spot in the
camp. And he left the asses and the sick of his army for the
following reason: that the asses might make a noise; and the
men were left on this pretext,- namely, that he, with the
strength of his army, was about to attack the Scythians, and
they, during that time, would defend the camp. Darius, having laid these injunctions on those he was preparing to abandon, and having caused the fires to be lighted, marched away
with all speed toward the Ister. The asses, being deserted
by the multitude, began to bray much louder than usual, so
that the Scythians, hearing the asses, firmly believed that the




136-138.]          MELPOMENE. IV.                   283
Persians were still at their station.  136. When day appeared,
the men that were abandoned, discovering that they had been
betrayed by Darius, extended their hands to the Scythians,
and told them what had occurred. When they heard this, the
two divisions of the Scythians,,nd the single one, the Sauromatee, Budini, and Geloni, having joined their forces together
as quickly as possible, pursued the Persians straight toward
the Ister. But as a great part of the Persian army consisted
of infantry, and they did not know the way, there being no
roads cut, and as the Scythian army consisted of cavalry, and
knew the shortest route, they missed each other, and the
Scythians arrived at the bridge much before the Persians.
And having learned that the Persians were not yet arrived,
they spoke to the Ionians who were on board the ships in
these terms: "Men of lonia, the number of days appointed
for your stay is already passed, and you do not as you ought
in continuing here; but if you remained before through fear,
now break up the passage and depart as quickly as possible, rejoicing that you are free, and give thanks to the gods and the
Scythians. As for the man who before was your master, we
will so deal with him that he shall never hereafter make war
on any people."
137. Upon this the Ionians held a consultation. The opinion of Miltiades the Athenian, who commanded and reigned
over the Chersonesites on the Hellespont, was, that they should
comply with the request of the Scythians, and restore liberty
to Ionia. But Histiaeus the Milesian was of a contrary opinion, and said " that every one reigned over his own city through
Darius; and if Darius's power should be destroyed, neither
would he himself continue master of Mliletus, nor any of the
rest of other places, because every one of the cities would
choose to be governed rather by a democracy than a tyranny.
Histiaeus had no sooner delivered this opinion than all went
over to his side who had before assented to that of Miltiades.
138. These were they who gave their votes and were in high
estimation with Darius; the tyrants of the Hellespontines,
Daphnis of Abydos, Hippocles of Lampsacus, Herophantus of
Parium, Metrodorus of Proconnesus, Aristagoras of Cyzicum,
and Ariston of Byzantium; these were from the Hellespont.
From Ionia, Strattis of Chios, 1Eaces of Samos, Laodamas of
Phoema, and Histiaeus of Miletus, whose opinion was opposed




284:                 HERODOTUS.               [139-142.
to that of Miltiades.  Of the JEolians, the only person of consideration present was Aristagoras of Cyme.
139. When these men had approved the opinion of Histiaeus, they determined to add to it the following acts and words:
to break up the bridge on the Scythian side, as far as a bowshot might reach, that they might seem to do something, when
inJeffect they did nothing; and that the Scythians might not
attempt to use violence and purpose to cross the Ister by the
bridge-; and to say, while they were breaking up the bridge
on the Scythian side, they would do every thing that might
be agreeable to the Scythians. This, then, they added to the
opinion of Histiaeus. And, afterward, Histiaus delivered the
answer in the name of all, saying as follows: "Men of
Scythia, you have brought us good advice, and urge it seasonably; you, on your part, have pointed out the right way to
us, and we, on ours, readily submit to you; for, as you see, we
are breaking up the passage, and will use all diligence, desiring to be free. But while we are breaking it up, it is fitting you should seek for them, and having found them, avenge
us and yourselves on them, as they deserve."  140. The
Scythians, believing a second time that the Ionians were sincere, turned back to seek the Persians, but entirely missed
the way they had taken. The Scythians themselves were
the cause of this, having destroyed the pastures for the horses
in this direction, and having filled in the wells; for if they
had not done this, they might easily have found the Persians if
they wished; but now they erred in the very thing which they
thought they had contrived for the best; for the Scythians
sought the enemy by traversing those parts of the country
where there was forage and water for the horses, thinking
that they too would make their retreat by that way. But the
Persians, carefully observing their former track, returned by
it, and thus with difficulty found the passage. As they arrived in the night, and perceived the bridge broken off, they
fell into the utmost consternation lest the Ionians had abandoned them. 141. There was with Darius an Egyptian, who
had an exceedingly loud voice. This man Darius commanded
to stand on the bank of the Ister, and call Histiaeus the Milesian. I-He did so, and Histiaeus, having heard the first shout,
brought up all the ships to carry the army across, and joined
the bridge. Thus the Persians escaped. 142. The Scythians,




143-145.]         MELPOMENE. IV.                    285
in their search, missed them a second time; and, on the one
hand, considering the Ionians free and cowardly, they deem
them to be the most base of men; but, on the other, accounting the Ionians as slaves, they say that they are most attached
to their masters, and least inclined to run away. These reproaches the Scythians fling out against the Ionians.
143. Darius, marching through Thrace, reached Sestos in
the Chersonesus; and thence he himself crossed over on shipboard into Asia, and left Megabazus, a Persian, to be his general in Europe. Darius once paid this man great honor, having expressed himself in this manner in the presence of the
Persians: Darius being about to eat some pomegranates, as
soon as he opened the first, his brother Artabanus asked him,
Of what thing he would wish to possess a number equal to the
grains in the pomegranate. Darius said that he would rather have as many Megabazuses, than Greece subject to him.
By saying this, he honored him in the presence of the Persians, and now he left him as general with eighty thousand
men of his own army.  144. This Megabazus, by making the
following remark, left an everlasting memorial of himself
among the Hellespontines; for when he was at Byzantium, he
was informed that the Chalcedonians had settled in that country seventeen years before the Byzantians; but when he heard
it, he said that the Chalcedonians must have been blind at
that time, for if they had not been blind, they would never
have chosen so bad a situation, when they might have had so
beautiful a spot to settle in. This Megabazus, then, being
left as general in the country of the Hellespontines, subdued
those nations who were not in the interest of the Medes. He
accordingly did this.
145. About the same time another great expedition was
undertaken against Libya, on what pretext I will relate, when
I have first given the following account by way of preface.
The descendants of the Argonauts, being expelled from Lemnos by the Pelasgians, who carried off the Athenian women
from Brauron,6 set sail for Lacedaemon, and seating themselves on Mount Taygetus, lighted fires. The Lacedaemonians,
having seen this, dispatched a messenger to demand who and
whence they were. They said to the messenger who question6 See Book VI. chap. 138.




286                  HERODOTUS.               [146, 147.
ed them that "they were Minyme, descendants of those heroes
who sailed in the Argo, and that they, having touched at Lemnos, begot them."  The Lacedaemonians, having heard this
account of the extraction of the Minyae, sent a second time to
inquire with what design they had come to their territory and
lighted fires; they said that, being ejected by the Pelasgians,
they had come to their fathers; for that it was most proper
for them so to do; and they requested leave to dwell with
them, participating in their honors, and being allotted a portion of land. The Lacedaemonians determined to receive the
Minyae on the terms they themselves proposed; and the sailing of the Tyndaridae in the Argo especially induced them to
do this: having, therefore, received the Minyu, they assigned
them a portion of land, and distributed them among their
tribes, and they immediately contracted marriages, and gave
to others the wives they brought from Lemnos. 146. But
when no long time had elapsed, the Minyse became insolent,
and demanded a share in the sovereignty, and committed other crimes. The Lacedaemonians therefore determined to put
them to death, and having seized them, they threw them into
prison. Now those whom they kill, the Lacedaemonians kill
by night, but no one by day. When, therefore, they were
about to put them to death, the wives of the Minyae, who were
citizens, and daughters to the principal Spartans, begged permission to enter the prison, and confer each with her husband..The Lacedaemonians gave them permission, not suspecting any
fraud on their part; but they, when they entered, did as follows: having given all the clothes they had on to their husbands, themselves took their husbands' clothes. Upon which,
the Minyae, having put on the women's dress, passed out as
women, and having thus escaped, again seated themselves on
Mount Taygetus.
147. At the same time, Theras, son of Austesion, son to
Tisamenus, son of Thersander, son of Polynices, set out from
Lacedaemon on a colonizing expedition. This Theras was by
birth a Cadmaean, brother to the mother of Aristodemus's
sons, Eurysthenes and Procles; and while these youths were
yet infants, Theras had the kingdom of Sparta under his
guardianship. But when the youths were grown up and assumed the government, Theras, not brooking to be ruled by
others after he had tasted the pleasures of power, declared




148-~150.]        MELPOMENE. IV.                   287
that he would not remain at Lacedaemon, but would sail away
to his own kindred.  In the island now called Thera, the
same that was formerly Callista, lived the descendants of
Membliares, the son of Paeciles a Phenician. For Cadmus,
son of Agenor, when in quest of Europa, touched at the
island now called Thera; and whether when he touched at it
the country pleased him, or whether for some other reason he
chose to do so, he left in this island both others of the Phoenicians, and, moreover, his own kinsman, Membliares: these
men occupied the island, then called Callista, during eight
generations, before Theras came from Lacedaemon. 148. To
these people, then, Theras went, having, with a multitude
drawn out of the tribes, set out, purposing to dwell with
them, and on no account to drive them out, but by all means
to conciliate them. But when the Minyxe who had escaped
from the prison seated themselves on Mount Taygetus, as
the Lacedsemonians determined to destroy them, Theras
begged that they might not be -put to death, and promised
that he would himself take them out of the country. The
Lacedsemonians acceding to his request, he set sail with
three thirty-oared galleys, to the descendants of Membliares,
taking with him not only the Minyae, but some few of them;
for the greater number of themi went over to Paroreates and
Caucones; and having driven them out from their country,
distributed themselves into- six divisions, and thin founded
the following cities there: Leprium, Macistus, Phrixas, Pyrgus, Epium, and Nudium: most of these the Eleans have
destrdyed in my time.  The name of Thera was given to
the island after the founder.  149. His son refused to accompany him in his voyage, therefore he said that he would
leave him as a sheep among wolves; in consequence of this
speech, the name of Oiolycus was given to this youth, and
this name chanced to prevail. To this Oiolycus was born
AEgeus, from whom the Egidae, a principal tribe in Sparta,
are named. As the children of the men of this tribe did not
survive, they erected a temple, in obedience to an oracle, to
the furies of Laius and (Epidus; and after that, the same
thing happened in Thera to those who were descended from
these men.
150. To this part of the story the Lacedemonians agree
with the Thereans; but after this, the Thereans only say




288                  HERODOTUS.                 [151, 152.
that what follows took place.  Grinus, son of }Esanius, who
was a descendant of this Theras, and reigned over the island
Thera, came to Delphi, bringing a hecatomb from the city;
and divers of the citizens attended him, and among them Battus, son to Polymnestus, who was of the family of Euphemus,
one of the Minya. And as Grinus, king of the Theraeans,
was consulting the oracle concerning other affairs, the Pythian
admonished him to " build a city in Libya." But he answered, "I, O prince, am now too old and heavy to move myself;
therefore command one of these young men to do this;" and
as he said these words, he pointed to Battus. At that time so
much passed. But after their departure, they paid no attention to the oracle, neither knowing in what part of the world
Libya was, nor daring to send out a colony on an uncertainty.
151. For seven years after this, no rain fell in Thera; during
which period, every tree in the island, except one, was withered up; and when the Theraeans consulted the oracle, the
Pythian objected to them the colonization of Libya. When
they found no remedy for the evil, they dispatched messengers
to Crete, to inquire if any of the Cretans, or strangers settled
among them, had ever gone to Libya.  These messengers,
wandering about the island, arrived in the city of Itanus; and
here they became acquainted with a purple-dyer, whose name
was Corobius; he said that, being driven by the winds, he
had gone to Libya, and to Platea, an island of Libya: having
persuaded this man by a promise of reward, they took him to
Thera. At first, men sailed from Thera to explore, not many
in number; and when Corobius had conducted them to this
island Platea, they left Corobius there with provisions for a few
months, and themselves sailed back with all speed to give the
Therseans tidings of the island. 152. But these men staying
away longer than the time agreed upon, Corobius was reduced
to the last necessity; when a Samian vessel, whose master
was Colaeus, sailing for Egypt, was driven to this Platea.
The Samians, having heard the whole account from Corobius,
left him provisions for a year; and they, having got under
weigh from the island, and being anxious to reach Egypt, set
sail, and were carried away by an east wind; and as the
wind did not abate, having passed through the columns of
Hercules, they arrived at Tartessus, under divine guidance.
That port was at that time unfrequented; so that these men




153, 154.]         MELPOMENE  IV.                     289
returning home, gained from their cargo the largest profits of
any of the Grecians we know of with certainty, next to Sostratus, son of Laodamas.of?Egina, for with him it is impossible for any one to compete. The -Samians, therefore, having
set apart the tenth of their gains, amounting to six talents,
made a vessel of brass, after the fashion of an Argolic bowl, and
around it the heads of griffins project over, and they dedicated
it in the temple of Juno, having placed under it three colossal
figures of brass, seven cubits in height, leaning on their knees.
And on this occasion the Cyreneans and Therseans first contracted a great friendship with the Samians.  153. The Theraeans, when they left Corobius in the island and returned to
Thera, took back word that they had taken possession of an
island off the coast of Libya.  The Theraeans, therefore, resolved to send one of every family,7 chosen by lot; and to send
men from all their districts, which were seven in number, and
appointed Battus to be their leader and king. Thus, then,
they fitted out two fifty-oared galleys for Platea.
154. The Thereans give this account; in the rest of the
story the Theraeans are supported by the Cyrenseans; for the
Cyreneauns in no respect agree with the Theraeans in what
relates to Battus, for they tell the story thus. There is a
city of Crete called Axus, in which Etearchus was king; he,
having a motherless daughter, whose name was Phronima,
married another wife; she, coming into the family, thought
proper to be a stepmother indeed to Phronima, treating her
shamefully, and contriving every mischief she could against
her; and at last, having charged her with unchastity, persuaded her husband that such was the case. He, prevailed
on by his wife, formed a wicked design against his daughter.
There was then at Axus one Themison, a Thersean merchant;
this man Etearchus received hospitably, and made him swear
that he would serve him in any thing he should desire. When
he had bound him by oath, he delivered his daughter to him,
and commanded him to take her away, and throw her into
the sea.  But Themison, grieved at the deceitfulness of the
oath, broke  off the compact of friendship, and did as followsz having taken the damsel with'him, he set sail; and
7 Literally, "brother from brother."
N




290                  HERODOTUS.                [155, 156.
when he was in the open sea, for the purpose of absolving
himself from the oath imposed by Etearchus, he bound her
round with ropes, and let her down into the sea; then,
having drawn her up again, he departed for Thera.  155.
After that, Polymnestus, a man of distinction among the
Thermeans, took Phronima as his concubine, and after some
time he had a son by her who had an impediment in his
speech, and lisped, to whom the name of Battus was given, as
both the Theraeans and Cyrenmans say; but, as I am of opinion, some other name, and it was afterward changed to
Battus when he arrived in Libya, deriving that name both
from the oracle pronounced to him at Delphi and from the
rank to which he attained; for the Libyans call a king
Battus, and for this reason I think that the Pythian, when
delivering the oracle, addressed him in the Libyan tongue,
knowing that he would be a king in Libya; for' when he
had reached man's estate, he came to Delphi about his voicer
and to his inquiries the Pythian gave the following answer:
"Battus, you have come about your voice; king Phoebus
Apollo sends you to found a colony in Libya, abounding in
sheep."  As if she had said in the Grecian language, "0
king, you are come about your voice." He answered as follows: " O king, I came indeed to consult you about my voicer
but you give me an answer as to other impossible things, bidding me colonize Libya: with what power? with what force?"
By saying this he did not persuade the Pythian to give him
any other answer; and as she was repeating the same response
as before, he in the mean while left her, and returned to
Thera.  156. After this, Battus himself and the other Thermeans fell anew into troubles, but the Theraeans, not knowing
whence their misfortunes came, sent to Delphi to inquire concerning their present sufferings. The Pythian answered that
it would fare better with them when, with Battus, they had
founded Cyrene in Libya.  Upon this, the Theraans dispatched Battus. with two fifty-oared galleys; but these having sailed to Libya, for they had nothing else that they
could do, returned back to Theraea. The Theraeans, however, beat them off as they drew to shore, and would not ]uffer
them to approach the land, but commanded them to sail back
again. Thus compelled, they sailed back again, and settled




157- 159.1         MELPOMENE. IV.                    291
in an island that lies off Libya, whose name, as I before mentioned, is Platea. This island is said to be equal in extent to
the present city of the Cyrenaeans.
157. Having inhabited this island for two years, as nothing
turned out prosperously for them, they left one of their company behind, and the rest set sail for Delphi; and having
come to the oracle, they consulted it, saying, that they had
settled in Libya, and fared no better since they had settled
there. But the Pythian gave them  the following answer:
"If you, who have never been there, know Libya abounding
in- sheep, better than I who have been there, I very much admire your wisdom." When Battus and his companions heard
this, they sailed back again; for the god did not release them
from founding the colony until they had come to Libya itself.
Having, therefore, arrived at the island, they took on board
the man they had left there, and settled in a place on Libya
itself, opposite the island: its name was Aziris, and most
b6autiful hills inclose it on two sides, and a river flows by it
on the third.  158. They inhabited this spot for six years,
but in the seventh, the Libyans, having promised to conduct
them to a better place, persuaded them to leave it.,But the
Libyans, having removed them, conducted them from thence
toward the west; and in order that the Greeks might not
see the most beautiful part of their country as they passed
through, they computed the time of the day, so as to lead
them through it by night: the name of this country is Irasa.
Having conducted them to a fountain, accounted sacred to
Apollo, they said, "Grecians, here it is fitting for you to
dwell, for here the heavens are open."  159. Now, during the
life of Battus the founder, who reigned forty years, and of his
son Arcesilaus, who reigned sixteen years, the Cyreneans
continued the same in number as when they were first sent
to settle the colony; but under the third king, Battus, surnamied the Fortunate, the Pythian by an oracle encouraged all
Grecians to sail to Libya, and join the Cyrenaans in colonizing it; for the Cyrenaeans invited them to a division of
the country. The words of the oracle were these: "He who
shall come too late to lovely Libya, when the land is divided,
shall hereafter one day repent."  A great multitude having
assembled at Cyrene, the neighboring Libyans and their
king, whose name was Adicran, being curtailed of much of




292                  HERODOTUS.                 [160, 161.
their land, finding that they were deprived of their territory,
and injuriously treated by the Cyreneans, sent an embassy to
Egypt, and gave themselves up to Apries, king of Egypt; but
he, having assembled a large army of Egyptians, sent it against
Cyrene; and the Cyrenseans, having drawn out their forces to
the district of Irasa, and near the fountain Thestes, came to an
engagement with the Egyptians, and conquered them; for the
Egyptians, not having before made trial of the Greeks, and
despising them, were so thoroughly defeated, that only a few
of them  returned to Egypt.  In consequence of this, the
Egyptians, laying the blame on Apries, revolted from him.
160. This Battus had a son, Arcesilaus, who, having come
to the throne, first of all quarreled with his own brothers, so
that they left him, and went to another part of Libya; and
consulting among themselves, they founded the city which
was then and is still called Barce; and as they were building
it, they persuaded the Libyans to revolt from the Cyrenseans;
but afterward Arcesilaus led an army against those Libyans
who had received them, and against the revolters themselves;
but the Libyans, through dread of him, fled to the eastern
Libyans.  Arcesilaus pursued them in their flight, until he
overtook them at Leucon in Libya, and the Libyans resolved
to attack him; and having come to an engagement, they conquered the Cyrenaeans so completely, that seven thousand
heavy-armed of the Cyrenaeans fell upon the spot. After this
blow, his brother Learchus strangled Arcesilaus, who was sick,
and under the influence of some drug.. The wife of Arcesilaus,
whose name was Eryxo, put Learchus to death by.stratagem.
161. Battus, the son of Arcesilaus, a lame man, and not perfect
in his feet, succeeded to the kingdom. The Cyrenaeans, on account of the disaster that had befallen them, sent to Delphi to
inquire of the Delphian oracle under what form of government
they might live most happily; the Pythian commanded them to
procure an arbitrator from Mantinea, a city of the Arcadians.
The Cyrenseans accordingly asked, and the Mantineans gave
them a man, highly esteemed among the citizens, whose name
was Demonax. This person, therefore, having arrived in Cyrene, and become acquainted with the state of affairs, first of
all formed them into three tribes, dividing them as follows:
of the Theraeans and their immediate neighbors he formed
one division; another of Peloponnesians and Cretans; and a




182-164.]          MELPOMENE. IV.                   293
third of all the Islanders; and, in the next place, having reserved certain portidns of land and the office of the priesthood
for king Battus, he restored to the people every thing else that
the kings had before.
162. During the reign of this Battus matters continued in
this state, but in the time of his son Arcesilaus great disorders arose about the public offices; for Arcesilaus, son of
the lame Battus and Pheretime, declared he would not submit
to the constitutions of Demonax, but demanded back the prerogatives of his ancestors; and thereupon having raised a
sedition, he was defeated, and fled to Samos; and his mother
fled to Salamis, in Cyprus. At that time Euelthon bore rule
over Salam;s, the same who dedicated the curious censer at
Delphi, which is deposited in the treasury of the Corinthians.
Pheretime, having come' to him, asked for an army which
should reinstate them in Cyrene; but Euelthon would give
her any thing rather than an army; but she, accepting what
was given, said, "This indeed is handsome, but it would be
still more handsome to give the army she asked for:" this
she said at every present that was made. At last Euelthon
sent her a golden spindle and distaff, and some wool was on
it; and when Pheretime again made the same speech, Euelthon said " that women should be presented with such things,
and not with armies." 163. In the mean time, Arcesilaus, continuing at Samos; collected men of all classes by a promise of
a division of lands; and when a large army was collected,
Arcesilaus set out to Delphi, to consult the oracle concerning
his return; and the Pythian gave him the following answer:
Apollo grants you to reign over Cyrene during the time of
four Battuses and four Arcesilauses, eight generations of
men; he advises you, however, not to attempt any more than
this. Do you therefore be quiet and return home; and if
you find a furnace full of amphorae, do not bake the. amphorae,
but send them  away with a favorable wind. But if you
heat the furnace, enter not into a place surrounded with
water, otherwise you will perish yourself, and the most
beautiful bull."  164. The Pythian gave this answer to
Arcesilaus; but he, having taken with him  the men from
Samos, returned  to Cyrene; and having recovered the
mastery, he forgot the oracle, and exacted vengeance of the
adverse party for his own exile, so that some of them




294                  HERODOTUS.                [165-167.
abandoned their country altogether, and others Arcesilaus
seized and sent to Cyprus to be put to death: now these last,
being carried to their country, the Cnidians rescued, and sent
away to Thera. Some others of the Cyrenians, who had
taken refuge in a large private tower belonging to Aglomachus, Arcesilaus surrounded with wood and burned. After
this was done, understanding that this was the meaning of the
oracle, that the Pythian forbadehim, when he found amphorae
in a furnace, to bake them, he of his own accord withdrew
from the city of the Cyreneans, dreading the predicted death,
and supposing that Cyrene was the place surrounded with
water.  He had a wife who was his own kinswoman, and
daughter to the king of the Barceans, whose name was Alazir; to him he retired; and the Barcaeans, and some of the
exiles from Cyrene, having discovered him in the public place,
killed him, and, moreover, his father-in-law Alazir. Thus Arcesilaus, whether willfully or otherwise, disobeying the oracle,
accomplished his own destiny.
165. While Arcesilaus was living at Barce, working out
his own destruction, his mother Pheretime held the honors of
her son at Cyrene, both exercising his other functions and
taking her seat in the council; but when she heard that her
son had been put to death at Barce, she fled to Egypt; for
Arcesilaus had performed some services for Cambyses, son of
Cyrus, for it was this Arcesilaus who gave Cyrene to Cambyses, and imposed a tribute on himself. Pheretime having
arrived in Egypt, seated herself as a suppliant of Aryandes,
entreating him to avenge her, alleging as a pretext that her
son had died in consequence of his attachment to the Medes.
166. Aryandes had been appointed governor of Egypt by
Cambyses; he in succeeding time was put to death for attempting to make himself equal with Darius; for having
been informed that Darius desired to leave such a memorial of
himseif as had been accomplished by no other king, he imitated
him  until he received the reward of his presumption; for
Darius, having refined gold to' the utmost perfection, coined
money; and Aryandes, governor of Egypt, made the same in
silver; now this Aryandian silver is the purest; but Darius, when informed that he had done this, brought another
charge against him, that he designed to rebel, and put him to
death.- 167. At that time, however, this Aryandes, taking




168-171.]          MELPOMENE. IV.                   295
compassion on Pheretime, gave her all the forces of Egypt,
both army and navy; and he appointed Amasis, a Maraphian,
commander of the army; and of the fleet, Brades, a Parsagadian by birth. But, before he dispatched the forces, he sent
a herald to Barce to inquire who it was that had slain Arcesilaus. All the Barcaeans took it upon themselves, for that
they had suffered many injuries at his hands; and when
Aryandes received their answer, he dispatched the army with
Pheretime. Now this cause was only a pretext for his prcceeding; but, in my opinion, the expedition was undertaken
with the intention of subduing the Libyans; for there are
many and various nations of Libyans, and some few of them
were subject to the king, but the greater part paid no regard
to Darius.
168. the Libyans dwell as follows.  Beginning from
Egypt, the Adrymachide are the first of the Libyans we meet
with; they, for the most part, observe the usages of Egypt,
but they wear the same dress as the other Libyans. The
women wear a chain of brass on each leg; they let their hair
grow long, and when they catch vermin, each bites those
from her own person, and then throws them  away; these
alone of the Libyans do this, and they alone exhibit to the
king their virgins who are about to marry, and should any
one be agreeable to the king, she is deflowered by him. These
Adrymachidoe reach from Egypt to the harbor named Plunus. 169. Next to these are the Giligammme, who occupy
the country westward, as far as the island Aphrodisias.
Midway on'this coast the island of Platea is situate, which
the Cyrenmeans colonized, and on the continent is the port of
Menelaus, with Azaris, which the Cyrenaeans inhabited. At
this place the plant Silphium is first found, and extends from
the island of Platea to the mouth of the Syrtis. These people use nearly the same customs as the others.  170. The
Asbystm adjoin the Giligammam westward; they inhabit the'
country above Cyrene, but the Asbystpe do not reach to the
sea, for the Cyrenaans occupy the sea-coast.  They drive
four-horsed chariots more than any of the Libyans, and endeavor to imitate most of the customs of the Cyrenaeans.
171. The Auschisa adjoin the Asbysta westward; these are
situate above Barce, extending to the sea near the Euesperides. In the midst of the territory of the Auschisae, the




296                  HERODOTUS.                [172-175,
Cabales, a small nation, dwell, extending to Tauchira, a city
of Barcaa.. They observe the same customs as those who
dwell above Cyrene.  172. The Nasamones, a very numerous
people, adjoin these Auschisae westward. In summer they
leave their cattle on the coast, and go up to the region of Augila, in order to gather the fruit of the palm-trees, which grow
in great numbers and of a large size, and are all productive.
When they have caught locusts, they dry them in the sun, reduce them to powder, and, sprinkling them in milk, drink
them. Every man, by the custom of the country, has several
wives, and they have intercourse with them in common; and
much the same as the Massagetae, they have intercourse when
they have set up a staff before them. When a Nasamonian
first marries, it is the custom for the bride on the first night to
lie with all the guests in turn, and each, when he has intercourse with her, gives her some present which he has brought
from home. In their oaths and divinations they observe the
following custom: they swear, laying their hands on the sepulchres of those who are generally esteemed to have been the
most just and excellent persons among them; and they divine,
going to the tombs of their ancestors, and after having prayed,
they lie down to sleep, and whatever dream they have, this
they avail themselves of. In pledging their faith they observe
the following method: each party gives the other to drink out
of his hand, and drinks in turn from the other's hand, and if
they have no liquid, they take up some dust from the ground
and lick it.
173. The Psylli border on the Nasamonians; these perished
in the following manner: the south wind blowing upon them
dried up all their water tanks, and the whole country within the
Syrtis was dry; they, therefore, having consulted together, with
one consent determined to make war against that wind (I only
repeat what the Libyans say); and when they arrived at the
sands, the south wind, blowing, covered them over, and when
they had perished the Nasamonians took possession of their territory. 174. Above these, to the north, in a country abounding
with wild beasts, live the Garamantes, who avoid all men and
the society of any others; they do not possess any warlike weapon, nor do they know how to defend themselves.' 175. These,
then, live above the Nasamonians, and the Macac adjoin them
on the sea-coast, westward; these shave their heads so as to




176-179.]          MELPOMENE. IV.                   297
leave a tuft,, and allowing the middle hair to grow, they shave
both sides close to the skin; in war they wear the skins of
ostriches for/defensive armor.  The river Cinyps, flowing
through their country from a hill called the Graces, discharges itself into the sea. The hill of the Graces is thickly
covered with trees, though all the rest of Libya above mentioned is bare. From the sea to this hill is a distance of two
hundred stades.  176. The Gindanes adjoin these Macae;
their women wear bands of leather round their ankles, each
several on the following account, as is said: she binds round
a band for every man that has intercourse with her; and she
who has the most is most esteemed, as being loved by the
greatest number of men.  177. The Lotophagi occupy the
coast that projects to the sea in front of these Gindanes; they
subsist only on the fruit of the lotus; and the fruit of the lotus
is equal in size to the mastic berry, and in sweetness it resembles the fruit of the palm-tree. The Lotophagi make wine
also from this fruit.
178. The Machlyes, who also use the lotus, but in a less
degree than those before mentioned, adjoin the Lotophagi on
the sea-coast. They extend as far as a large river called
Triton; and this river discharges itself into the great lake
Tritonis; and in it is an island named Phla. They say that
the Lacedaemonians were commanded by an oracle to colonize
this island.  179. The following story is also told: that
Jason, when the Argo was finished building at the foot of
Mount Pelion, having put a hecatomb on board, and, moreover, a brazen tripod, sailed round the Peloponnesus, purposing
to go to Delphi; and, as he was sailing off Malea, a north
wind caught him and drove him to' Libya; and before he
could discern the land, he found himself in the shallows of the
lake Tritonis; and as he was in doubt how to extricate his
ship, the story goes that a Triton appeared to him, and bid Jason give him the tripod, promising that he would both show
them the passage and conduct them away in safety. When
Jason consented, the Triton thereupon showed them the passage.out of the shallows, and placed the tripod in his own temple; then pronouncing an oracle from the tripod, he declared
to Jason and his companions all that should happen, that
"when one of the descendants of those who sailed with him
in the Argo should carry away the tripod, then it was fated
N2




298                  HERODOTUS.                 [180, 181.
that a hundred Grecian cities should be built about the lake
Tritonis:" the neighboring nations of the Libyans, when they
heard this, concealed the tripod. 180. The Auses adjoin these
Machlyes; they, as well as the Machlyes, dwell round the lake
Tritonis, and the Triton forms the boundary between them.
The Machlyes let the hair grow on the back of the head, and
the Auses on the front. At the annual festival of Minerva,
their virgins, dividing themselves into two companies, fight together with stones and staves, affirming that they perform the
ancient rites to their native goddess, whom we call Minerva;
and those of the virgins who die from their wounds they call
false virgins. But before they leave off fighting, they do as
follows  with one consent they on each occasion deck the virgin that excels in beauty with a Corinthian helmet and a suit
iof Grecian armor, and, having placed her in a chariot, conduct
her round the lake. In what way they formerly decorated the
virgins before the Grecians settled in their neighborhood I am
unable to say; but I conjecture that they were decked in
Egyptian armor, for I am of opinion that the shield and helmet were brought from Egypt into Greece. They say that
MIinerva is the daughter of Neptune and the lake Tritonis;
and that she, being for some reason offended with her father,
gave herself to Jupiter, and that Jupiter adopted her as his
own daughter: this they say. They have promiscuous intercourse with the women, and do not cohabit, and associate like
beasts.  The men meet together every third month, and when
a woman has a son grown up, he is considered to be the son
of that man whom he most resembles.
181. Those, then, of the Libyan nomades who live on the
sea-coast have been mentioned. Above these, inland, Libya
abounds in wild beasts; and beyond the wild beast tract is a
ridge of sand, stretching from the Egyptian Thebes to the
columns of Hercules.  At intervals of a ten days' journey in
this ridge there are pieces of salt in large lumps on hills; and
at the top of each hill, from the midst of the salt, cold and
sweet water gushes up; and around it dwell people the farthest toward the desert, and beyond the wild-beast tract.
The first, after a ten days' journey from Thebes, are the Ammonians, who have a temple resembling that of Theban Jupiter;
for, as I said before, the image of Jupiter at Thebes has the
head of a ram. They have also another kind of spring water,




1'82-184.]         MELPOMENE. IV.                     299
which in the morning is tepid, becomes colder about the time
of full:forum, and at midday is very cold; then they water
their gardens.  As the day declines it gradually loses its
coldness till the sun sets, then the water becomes tepid again,
and continuing to increase in heat till midnight, it then boils
and bubbles up.; when midnight is passed, it gets cooler
until morning.  This fountain is called after the sun.  182.
Next to the Ammonians, along the ridge of sand, at the end
af another ten days' journey, there is a hill of salt, like that of
the Ammonians, and water, and men live round it: the name
of this region is Augila; to this place the Nasamonians go to
gather the dates. 183. From the Augilae at the end of another
ten days' journey is another hill of salt and water, and many
fruit-bearing palm-trees, as also in the other places; and men
inhabit it who are called Garamantes, a very powerful nation;
they lay earth upon the salt, and then sow their ground.
From these to the Lotophagi the shortest route is a journey of
thirty days: among them the kine that feed backward are
met: with; they feed backward for this reason: they have
horns that are bent' forward, therefore they draw back as they
feed; for they are unable to go forward, because their horns
would stick in the ground. They differ from other kine in. no
other respect than this, except that their hide is thicker and
harder.  These Garamantes hunt the Ethiopian Troglodytes
in four-horse chariots; for the Ethiopian Troglodytes are the
swiftest of foot of all men of whom we have heard any account
given. The Troglodytes feed upon serpents and lizards, and
such kind-of reptiles: they speak a language like no other,
but screech like bats.
184. At the distance of another ten days' journey from the
Garamantes is another hill:of salt, and water, and men live
round it who are called Atarantes; they are the only people
we know of who have not personal names. For the name
Atarantes belongs to them collectively, but to each one of them
no name is given. They curse the sun as he passes over
their heads, and, moreover, utter against him the foulest invectives, because he consumes them by his scorching heat, both
the men themselves and their country. Afterward, at the
end of another ten days' journey, there' is another hill of salt,
and water, and men live round it; and near this salt is a
mountain which is called Atlas; it is narrow and circular on




300                   HERODOTUS.                 [185-18;.
all sides, and is said to be so lofty that its top can never be
seen; for it is never free from clouds, either in summer or
winter. The inhabitants say that it is the Pillar of Heaven.
From this mountain these men derive their appellation, for
they are called Atlantes.  They are said neither to eat the
flesh of any animal, nor to see visions.  185. As far, then, as
these Atlantes, I am able to mention the names of the nations
that inhabit this ridge, but not beyond them. This ridge,
however, extends as far as the pillars of Hercules, and even
beyond them; and there is a mine of salt in it at intervals of
ten days' journey, and men dwelling there. The houses of
them all are built of blocks of salt, for in these parts of Libya
no rain falls; for walls being of salt could not stand long, if
rain did fall. The salt dug out there is white and purple
in appearance. Above this ridge, to the south and interior of
Libya, the country is desert, without water, without animals,
without rain, and without wood; and there is no kind of
moisture in it.
186. Thus, then, as far as the lake Tritonis from Egypt, the
Libyans are nomades, eat flesh, and drink milk, but they do
not taste the flesh of cows, for the same reason as the Egyptians, nor do they breed swine. Indeed, not only do the women of the Cyrenasans think it right to abstain from the flesh of
cows, out of respect to Isis in Egypt, but they also observe
the fasts and festivals in honor of her: and the women of
the Barcaeans do not taste the flesh of swine in addition to
that of cows. These things, then, are so.  187. Westward of
the lake Tritonis, the Libyans are no longer nomades, nor do
they follow the same customs, nor do they do with respect to
their children what the nomades are accustomed to do; for
the nomadic Libyans, whether all I am unable to say with
certainty, but many of them  do as follows: when their
children are four years old, they burn' the veins on the
crown of their heads with uncleaned sheep's wool, and some
of them do it on the veins in the temples, to the end that
humors flowing down from the head may not injure them as
long as they live; and, for this reason, they say they are so
very healthy, for the Libyans are in truth the most healthy of
all men with whom we are acquainted; whether from this
cause, I am unable to say with certainty; however, they are
the most healthy. But if convulsions seize the children when




188-191.]          MELPOMENE. IV.                    301
they are burning them, they have a remedy discovered; by
sprinkling them with the urine of a he-goat, they restore them.
I repeat what the Libyans themselves say.  188. These Libyan nomades have the following sacrificial rites. When they
have first cut off the ear of the victim, they throw it over the
house; and having done this, they twist its neck. They sacrifice only to the sun and moon: to them, indeed, all the Libyans offer sacrifice; but those who live about the lake Tritonis sacrifice principally to Minerva, and next to Triton and
Neptune. 189. From the Libyan women the Grecians derived
the attire and regis of Minerva's statues; for, except that the
dress of the Libyan women is leather, and the fringes that hang
from the aegis are not serpents, but made of thongs, in all other
respects they are equipped in the same way; and, moreover,
the very name proves that the garb of the Palladia comes from
Libya; for the Libyan women throw over their dress goats'
skins without the hair; fringed and dyed with red. From these
goats' skins the Grecians have borrowed the name of AEgis;
and the howlings in the temples were, I think, first derived
from thence; for the Libyan women practice the same custom,
and do it well. The Grecians also learned from the Libyans
to yoke four horses abreast.  190. All the nomades, except
the Nasamonians, inter their dead in the same manner as the
Grecians: these bury them in a sitting posture, watching when
one is about to expire, that they may set him up, and he may
not die supine. Their dwellings are compacted of the asphodel shrub interwoven with rushes, and are portable.  Such
are the customs of these people.
191. To the west of the river Triton, Libyans who are husbandmen next adjoin the Auses; they are accustomed to live
in houses, and are called Maxyes. They let the hair grow on
the right side of the head, and shave the left, and bedaub the
body with vermilion: they say that they are descended from
men who came from Troy.- This region, and all the rest of
Libya westward, is much more infested by wild beasts, and
more thickly wooded than the country of the nomades; for
the eastern country of Libya, which the nomades inhabit, is
low and sandy, as far as the. river Triton; but the country
westward of this, which is occupied by agriculturists, is very
mountainous, woody, and abounds with wild beasts. For
among them there are enormous serpents, and lions, elephants,




302                  HIERODOTUS.               [192-195.
bears, asps, and asses with horns, and monsters with dogs'
heads and without heads, who have eyes in their breasts, at
least, as the Libyans say, and wild men and wild women, and
many other wild beasts which are not fabulous.  192. None
of these things are found among the nomades, but others of
the following kind: pygargi, antelopes, buffaloes, and asses;
not such as have horns, but others that do not drink; for
they never drink; and oryes, from the horns of which are
made the elbows of the Phoenician citherns: in size this beast
is equal to an ox; and foxes, hyaenas, porcupines, wild rams,
dictyes, thoes, panthers, boryes, and land crocodiles about three
cubits long, very much like lizards; ostriches, and small serc
pents, each with one horn. These, then, are the wild animals
in that country, besides such as are met with elsewhere, except the stag and the wild boar; but the stag and the wild
boar are never seen in Libya. They have three sorts of mica
there; some called dipodes, or two-footed; others, zegeries: this
name is Libyan, and means the same as the word signifying
hillocks in Greek; and hedgehogs. There are also weasels
produced in the silphium very like those at Tartessus. The
land of the Libyan nomades produces wild. animals of the above
description, as far as I, by the most diligent'inquiry, have been
able to ascertain.
193. The Zaveces adjoin the Maxyan Libyans; their
women drive their chariots in war.  194. The Gyzantes
adjoin them; among them  bees make a great quantity of
honey, and it is said that confectioners make much mope.
All these paint themselves with vermilion, and eat monkeys,
which abound in their mountains.  195. Near them, the Carthaginians say, lies an island called Cyraunis, two hundred
stades in length, inconsiderable in breadth, easy of access from
the continent, and abounding in olive-trees and vines. They
add that in it is a lake, from the mud of which the virgins of
the country draw up gold dust by means of feathers daubed
with pitch. Whether this is true I know not, but I write
what is related; it may be so, however, for I have myself
seen pitch drawn up out of a lake and from water in Zacynthus; and there are several lakes there; the largest of them
is seventy feet every way, and two orgyse in depth; into this
they let down a pole with a myrtle branch fastened to the end,
and then draw up pitch adhering to the myrtle; it has the




196C-198.]         MELPOMENE. IV.                   303'
smell of asphalt, but is in other respects better than the pitch
of Pieria. They pour it into a cistern dug near the lake, and
when they have collected a sufficient quantity, they pour it off
from the cistern into jars. All that falls into the lake passes
under ground, and appears again upon the surface of the
sea, which is about four stades distant from the lake. Thus,
then, the account given of the island that lies off Libya may
probably be true.  196. The Carthaginians farther say that
beyond the pillars of Hercules there is a region of Libya
and men who inhabit it: when they arrive among these people and have unloaded their merchandise, they set it in order
on the shore, go on board their ships, and make a great smoke:
that the inhabitants, seeing the smoke, come down to the sea,
and then deposit.gold in exchange for the merchandise, and
withdraw to some distance from the merchandise; that the
Carthaginians then, going ashore, examine the gold, and if the
quantity seems sufficient for the merchandise, they take it up
and sail away; but if it is not sufficient, they go on board
their ships again and wait; the natives then approach and
deposit more gold, until they have satisfied them: neither
party ever wrongs the other; for they do not touch the gold
before it is made adequate to the value of the merchandise,
nor do the natives touch the merchandise before the other
party has taken the gold.
197. Such are the Libyans, whose names I have been
able to mention; and most of these neither now nor at
that time paid any regard to the king of the Medes. But I
have still this much to say about this country, that four dis-.tinct races inhabit it, and no more, as far as we know: two
of these races are indigenous, and two not. The Libyans
and Ethiopians are indigenous, the one inhabiting the northern, the other the southern parts of Libya; but the Phoenicians and Greeks are foreigners.  198. No part of Libya
appears to me so good in fertility as to be compared with
Asia or Europe, except only the district of Cinyps; for the
land bears the same name as the river, and is' equal to the
best land in the production of corn; nor is it at all like the rest
of Libya; for the soil is black, and well watered with springs;
and it is neither affected at all by drought, nor is it injured by
imbibing too much rain; for rain falls in this part of Libya.
The proportion of the produce of this land equals that of




304                   HEEODOTUS.                 [199-201.
Babylon.  The land also which the Euesperides occupy is
good, for when it yields its best, it produces a hundred-fold,
but that inl Cinyps three hundred-fold.  199. The district of
Cyreie, which is the highest of that part of Libya which the
nomades occupy, has three seasons, a circumstance worthy of
admiration; for the first fruits near the sea swell so as to be
ready for the harvest and vintage; and when these are gathered in, the fruits of the middle region, away from the sea, swell
so as to be gathered in, these they. call uplands; and when this
middle harvest has been gathered in, that in the highest part
becomes ripe and swells. So that when the first crop has been
drunk and eaten, the.last comes in.  Thus harvest occupies
the Cyrenaeans during eight months.  This may be sufficient
to say concerning these things.
200. The Persians sent to avenge Pheretime, when, having
been dispatched from  Egypt by Aryandes, they arrived at
Barce, laid siege to the city, demanding the surrender of the
persons concerned in the death of Arcesilaus; but as the
whole people were implicated, they did not listen to the
proposal.. Thereupon they besieged Barce for nine months,
digging passages under ground that reached to the walls, and
making vigorous assaults. Now the excavations a worker of
brass discovered by means of a brazen shield, having recourse
to the following expedient.: carrying it round within the wall,
he applied it to the ground within the city; in other places to
which he applied it, it made no noise, but at the parts that
were.excavated, the brass of the shield sounded. The Barcoeans, therefore, countermining them in that part, slew the
Persians who were employed in the excavation; thus, then,
this was discovered; but the assaults the Barcaeans repulsed.
201. When much time had been spent, and many had fallen
on both sides, and not the fewest on the side. of the Persians,
Amasis, general of the land forces, had recourse to the following stratagem: -finding that the Barcaeans could not be taken
by force,.but might be by artifice, he did thus: having dug a
wide pit by night, he laid weak planks of wood over it, and on
the surface over the planks he spread a heap of earth, making
it level with the rest of the ground.  At daybreak he invited
the Barcaeans to a conference, but they gladly assented, so
that at last they were pleased to come to terms; and they
made an agreement of the following nature, concluding the




202, 203.]         MELPOMENE. IV.                    305
treaty over the concealed pit: "That as long, as this earth
shall remain as it is, the treaty should continue in force; and
that the Barcaeans should pay a reasonable tribute to the king,
and that the Persons should form no new designs against the
Barcaeans.' After the treaty, the Barcaeans, confiding in the
Persians, both themselves went out of the city, and allowed any
one of the Persians who chose to pass within the wall, having
thrown open all the -gates. But the Persians having broken
down the concealed bridge, rushed within the wall; and they
broke down the bridge that they had made for the following
reason, that they might keep their oath, having made a compact with the Barceans that the treaty should continue so long
as the earth should remain as it then was; but when they had
broken down the bridge, the treaty no longer remained in force.
202. Those of the Barcans who were most to blame Pheretime impaled round the walls when they had been delivered
up to her by the Persians, and having cut off the breasts of
their wives, she also studded the wall with them. The rest
of the Barcaeans she gave up as booty to the Persians, except
such as werje Battiadae, and had not participated in the murder; to these Pheretime intrusted the city. 203. The Persians, therefore, having reduced the rest of the Barcseans to
slavery, took their departure; and when they halted at the
city of the Cyrenaeans, the Cyrenaeans, to absolve themselves
from obedience to some oracle, permitted them to pass through
the city; but as the army was going through, Bares, the commander of the naval forces, urged them to take the city, but
Amasis, the commander of the land forces, would not allow it,
" for that he was sent against no other Grecian city than that
of Barce."  However, when they had passed through, and encamped on the hill of the Lyceean Jupiter, they began to repent
that they had not possessed themselves of Cyrene, and attempted to enter it a second time. But the Cyrenaeans would not
suffer them, and a panic struck the Persians, although no one
attacked them; and having run away for a distance of sixty
stades, they pitched their camp. When the army was encamped here, a messenger came from Aryandes to recall them. The
Persians, having requested the Cyrenaeans to give them provisions for their march, obtained their request, and having received them, marched away toward Egypt; and from thence
the Libyans, laying wait for them, put to death those that




306                   HERODOTUS.                  [204, 205.
strayed and loitered behind, for the sake of their dress and baggage, until they reached Egypt. 204. The farthest point of
Africa towhich this Persian army penetrated was the country
of the Euesperides. The Barcaeans, whomnthey had enslaved,
they transported from Egypt to the king, and king Darius gave
them a village in the district of Bactria to dwell in. They
gave, then, the name of Barce to this village, which was still inhabited in my time, in the Bactrian territory. 205. Pheretime,
however, did not close her life happily; for immediately after
she returned from Libya to Egypt, having avenged herself on
the Barcaeans, she died miserably, for even while alive she
swarmed with maggots. So odious to the gods are the excesses of human vengeance. Such and so great was the vengeance
of Pheretime, wife of Battus, on the Barcaeans.




B OOK V.
TERPSICHORE.
THE Persians, left in Europe by Darius under the command
of Megabazus,l subdued the Perinthians first of the Hellespontines, who-were unwillng to submit to Darius, and had been
before roughly handled by the Peonians. For the Peonians
from the Strymon, an oracle having admonished them to invade the Perinthians, and if the Perinthians, when encamped
over against them, should challenge them, shouting to them
by name, then to attack, but if they should not shout out to
them, not to attack; the Pseonians did accordingly. The
Perinthians having encamped opposite to them in the suburbs,
a threefold single combat there took place according to a.
challenge; for they matched a man with a man, a horse with
a horse, and a dog with a dog. But the Peririthians being
victorious in two of these combats, when through excess of
joy they sang the Pseon, the Paeonians conjectured that this
Was the meaning of the oracle, and said among themselves,'"Now surely the oracle must be accomplished; now it is
our part to act."  Thus the Peonians attacked the Perinthians.
as they were singing the Peon, and gained a complete victory, and left but few of them alive. 2. Such, then, had formerly been the achievements of the Pmonians; but at that
time, though the Perinthians proved themselves valiant in
defense of their liberty, the Persians and Megabazus overcame, them  by numbers. When Perinthus was subdued,
Megabazus marched his army through Thrace, subjecting to
the king every city and every nation of those dwelling in that
country; for this command had been given him by Darius, to
subdue Thrace.
3. The nation of the Thracians is the greatest of any among
See B. IV. chap. 144.




308                   HERODOTUS.                    [4-7.
men, except at least the Indians; and if they were governed by
one man, or acted in concert, they would, in my opinion, be
invincible, and by far the most powerful of all nations. But
as this is impracticable, and it is impossible that they should
ever be united, they are therefore weak. They have various
names, according to their respective regions, but all observe
similar customs in every respect, except the Getae, the Trausi,
and those who dwell above the Crestonoeans.  4. Of these,
what are the customs of the Getae, who pretend to. be immortal, I have already described.2  The Trausi, in all other respects, observe the same usages as the rest'of the Thracians;
but with regard to one born among them, or that dies, they
do as follows.  The relations, seating themselves around one
that is newly born, bewail him, deploring the many evils he
must needs fulfill, since he has been born; enumerating the
various sufferings incident to mankind; but one that dies
thqy bury in the earth, making merry and rejoicing, recounting the many evils from which being released, he is now
in perfect bliss.  5. Those above the Crestonaeans do as follows: each man has several wives; when, therefore, any
of them  dies, a great contest arises among the wives, and
violent disputes among their friends, on this point, which of
them was most loved by the husband.  She who is adjudged
to have been so, and is so honored, having been extolled
both by men and women, is slain on the tomb by her own
nearest relative, and when slain is buried with her. husband;
the others deem this a great misfortune, for this is the utmost
disgrace to them. 6. There is, moreover, this custom among
the rest of the Thracians: they sell their children for exportation.  They keep no watch over their unmarried daughters, but suffer them to have intercourse with what men they
choose; but they keep a strict watch over their wives, and
purchase them  from  their parents at high prices.  To be
marked with punctures is accounted a sign of noble birth;
to be without punctures, ignoble. To be idle is most honorable; but to be a tiller of the soil, most dishonorable; to
live by war and rapine is most glorious.  These are the most
remarkable of their customs.  7. They worship the following
gods only, Mars, Bacchus, and Diana.  But their kings, to
the exception of the other citizens, reverence M/ercury most
2 B. IV. chap. 93, 94.




8-11.]             TERPSICHORE. V.                    309
of all the gods; they swear by him only, and say that they
are themselves sprung from Mercury.  8. The funerals of the
wealthy among them  are celebrated in this manner.  They
expose the corpse during three days; and having slain all
kinds of victims, they feast, having first made lamentation.
Then they bury them, having first burned them, or, at all
events, placing them under ground; then, having thrown up a
mound, they celebrate all kinds of games, in which the greatest rewards are adjudged to single combat, according to the
estimation in which they are -held. Such are the funeral rites
of the Thracians.
9. To the north of this region no one is able to say with
certainty who are the people that inhabit it; but beyond the
Ister appears to be a desert and interminable tract.  The only
men that I am able to hear of as dwelling beyond the Ister are
those called Sigynnae, who wear the Medic dress; their horses
are shaggy all over the body, to five fingers in depth of hair;
they are small, fiat-nosed, and unable to carry men; but when
yoked to chariots they are very fleet, therefore the natives
drive chariots.  Their confines extend as far as the Eneti on
the Adriatic; and they say that they are-a colony of Medes.
How they can have been a colony of the Medes I can not comprehend; but any-thing may happen in course of time. Now
the Ligyes, who live above Massilia, call traders Sigynnce,
and the Cyprians give that name to spears.  10. The Thracians say bees occupy the parts beyond the Ister, and by
reason of them it is impossible to penetrate farther; to me,
however, in saying this, they appear to say what is improbable, for these creatures are known to be impatient of cold;
but the regions beneath the Bear seem to be uninhabited by
reason of the cold. Such is the account given of this country.
Aegabazus, then, subjected its maritime parts to the Persians.
11. Darius, as soon as he had crossed the Hellespont and
reached Sardis, remembered the good offices of Histiaeus the Milesian, and the advice of Goes the Mitylenian. Having therefore'sent for them to Sardis, he gave them their choice of a recompense.: Histiaeus, as being already tyrant of Miletus, desired
no other government in addition, but asked for Myrcinus of
Edonia, wishing to build a city there; but Goes, as not being
a tyrant, but a private citizen, asked for the government of Mitylene. When their requests were granted to both of them, they




310                  H-ERODOTUS.                 [12-14,
betook themselves to the places they had chosen. 12. It happened that Darius, having witnessed a circumstance of the following kind, was desirous of commanding Megabazus to seize
the Paeonians and transplant them out of Europe into Asia.
Pigres and Mantyes were Paeonians, who, when Darius had
crossed over into Asia, being desirous to rule over the Paeonians, came to Sardis, bringing with them their sister, who was
tall and beautiful; and having watched the opportunity when
Darius was seated in public in the suburb of the Lydians, they
did as follows. Having dressed their sister in the best manner
they could, they sent her for water, carrying a pitcher on her
head, leading a horse on her arm, and spinning flax. As the
woman passed by, it attracted the attention of Darius, for what
she was doing was neither according to the Persian or Lydian
customs, nor of any other people in Asia; when, therefore, it
attracted his attention, he sent some of his body-guard, bidding
them observe what the woman would do with the horse. The
guards accordingly followed her, and she, when she came to
the river, watered the horse; and having watered it, and filled
her pitcher, returned by the same way, carrying the water on
her head, leading the horse on her arm, and turning her
spindle. 13. Darius, surprised at what he heard from the
spies, and at what he himself had seen, commanded them to
bring her into his presence; and when she was brought, her
brothers also made their appearance, who were keeping a lookout same where not far off; and when Darius asked of what
country she was, the young men* said that they were Paeonians, and that she was their sister. He then inquired, "Who
are the Paeonians, in what part of the world do they live, and
for what purpose have they come to Sardis?" They told him
that "they had come to deliver themselves up to him, and
that Paeonia was situated on the river Strymon, and the Strymon was not far from the HIellespont; and that they were a
colony of Teucrians, from Troy." They then mentioned these
several particulars; and he asked "if all the women of that
country were so industrious:" they readily answered that such
was the case, for they had formed their plan for this very purpose.
14. Thereupon Darius writes letters to Megabazus, whom
he had left general in Thrace, commanding him to remove the
Pteonians from their abodes, and to bring to him themselves,




15, 16.] -TERPSICHORE. V.                           311
their children, and their wives.  A  horseman immediately
hastened to the Hellespont with the message; and having
-crossed over, delivered the letter to Megabazus; but he, having read it, and taken guides from Thrace, marched against
Poeonia.  15. The Peonians, having heard that the Persians
were coming against them, assembled, and drew out their
forces toward the sea, thinking that the Persians would attempt to enter and attack them in that direction: the Paeonians, accordingly, were prepared to repel the army of Megabazus at its first onset. But the Persians, understanding that
the PaRonians had assembled, and were guarding the approaches on the coast, having guides, went the upper road; and having escaped the notice of the Iaeonians, came suddenly on their
towns, which were destitute of inhabitants, and as they fell
upon them when empty, they easily got possession of them.
But the Paeonians, as soon as they heard that their cities were
taken, immediately dispersed themselves, and repaired each to
his own home, and gave themselves up to the Persians. Thus
the Siropaeonians and Paeoplae, and those tribes of Paeonians as
far as the lake Prasias, were removed from their abodes, and
transported into Asia. 16. But those around Mount Pangueus
and near the Doberes, the Agrianam, Odomanti, and those who
inhabit Lake Prasias itself, were not at all subdued by Megabazus. Yet he attempted to conquer those who live upon the
lake in dwellings contrived after this manner: planks fitted on
lofty piles are placed in the middle of the lake,. with a narrow
entrance from the main land by a single bridge. These Wiles
that support the planks all the citizens anciently placed there
at the common charge; but afterward they established a law
to the following effect: whenever a man marries, for each
wife he sinks three piles, bringing wood from  a mountain
called Orbelus: but every man has several wives. They live
in the following manner: every man has a hut on the planks,
in which he dwells, with a trap-door closely fitted in the
planks, and leading down to the lake. They tie the young
children with a cord round the foot, fearing lest they should
fall into-the lake beneath. To their horses and beasts of burden they give fish for fodder; of which there is such an abundance, that when a man has opened his trap-door, he lets down
an empty basket by a cord into the lake, and, after waiting a
short times draws it up full of fish. They have two ldnds of




312                   HERODOTUS.                  [17-19.
fish, which they call papraces and tiltnes. Those of the P>eonians, then, who were subdued, were taken to Asia.
17. WVhen Megabazus had subdued the Paeonians, he sent
into Macedonia seven Persians as,embassadors, who, next to
himself, were the most illustrious in the army.  They were
sent to Amyntas to demand earth and water for king Darius.
From the lake Prasias the distance to Macedonia is very short;
for near adjoining the lake is a mine, from which, in later
times, a talent of silver' came in daily to Alexander. Beyond
the mine, when one has passed the mountain called Dysorum,
one. is in Macedonia. 18. When, therefore, the Persians who
were sent arrived at the court of Amyntas, on going into the
presence of Amyntas, they demanded earth and water for
king Darius.  He both promised to give these, and invited
them to partake of his hospitality; and having prepared a
magnificent feast, he entertained the Persians with great courtesy. But after supper, the Persians, who were drinking freely, spoke as follows: " Macedonian host, it is a custom with us
Persians, when we have given a great feast, to introduce our
concubines and lawful wives to sit by our side. Since, therefore, you have received us kindly, and have entertained us magnificently, and promise to give earth and water to king Darius,
do you follow our custom."  To this Amyntas answered, " 0
Persians, we have no such custom, but that the men should be
separated from the women; yet since you, who are our masters,
require.this also, this shall also be granted to you." Amyntas,
haLng spoken thus, sent for the women, and they, when they
had come, being summoned, sat down in order opposite to the
Persians.  Thereupon the Persians, seeing the women were
beautiful, spoke to Amyntas, saying "' that what had been done
was not at all wise, for that it were better that the women
should not have come at all; than that, when they had come,
they should not be placed beside them, but sit opposite to
them as a torment to their eyes." Upon this, Amyntas, compelled by necessity, ordered them to sit down by the men;
and when the women obeyed, the Persians, as being very full
of wine, began to feel their breasts, and some one even attempted to kiss them.  19. Amyntas, when he beheld this,
though very indignant, remained quiet, through excessive
fear of the Persians; but Alexander, son of Amyntas, who
was present, and witnessed this behavior, being a young man




20, 21.J           TERPSICHORE. V.                  313
and inexperienced in misfortune, was no longer able to restrain
himself; so that, bearing it with difficulty, he addressed
Amyntas as follows: "Father, yield to your years, and retire
to rest, nor persist in drinking.  I will stay here and furnish
the guests with all things necessary." Amyntas, perceiving
that Alexander was about to put some new design into execution, said, "Son, I pretty well discern by your words that
you are burning with rage, and that you wish to dismiss me
that you may attempt some new design. I charge you, therefore, to plan nothing new against these men, lest you cause
our ruin, but endure to behold what is being done; with respect to my retiring, I will comply with your wishes." 20.
When Amyntas, having made this request, had retired, Alexander said to the Persians,'" Friends, these women are entirely at your service; and whether you desire to have intercourse
with them all, or with any of them, on this point make known
your own wishes; but now, as the time for retiring is fast
approaching, and I perceive that you have had abundance to
drink, let these women, if that is agreeable to you, go and
bathe, and when they have bathed, expect their return."
Having spoken thus, as the Persians approved his proposal,
he sent away the women, as they came out, to their own
apartment; and Alexander himself, having dressed a like
number of smoothfaced young men in the dress of the women,
and having furnished them with daggers, led them in; and
as he led them  in, he addressed the Persians as follows:
"Persians, you appear to have been entertained with a sumptuous feast; for we have given you not only all we had, but
whatever we could procure; and, which is more than all the
rest, we now freely give up to you our mothers and sisters,
that you may perceive that you are thoroughly honored by
us with whatever you deserve; and also that you may report
to the king who sent you, that a Greek, the prince of the
Macedonians, gave you a good reception both at table and
bed."  Having thus spoken, Alexander placed by the side of
each Persian a Macedonian man, as if a woman; but they,.when the Persians attempted to touch them, put them to
death.  21. By this death these perished, both they and their
attendants, for they were followed by carriages, and attendants, and all kinds of baggage; but all these, with the
whole of the men, disappeared. But after no long time, a
0




314                  HERODOTUS.                  [22-24.
great search was made by the Persians for these men; but Alexander by his prudence checked their inquiry, by giving a
considerable sum of money, and his own sister, whose name
was Gygea, to Bubares a Persian, the chief of those sent to
search for those who were lost: thus the inquiry into the
death of these Persians, being suppressed, was hushed up.
22. That these princes, who are sprung from Perdiccas, are
Greeks, as they themselves affirm, I myself happen to know;
and in a future part of my history3 I will prove that they are
Greeks. Moreover, the judges presiding at the games of the
Grecians in Olympia have determined that they are so; for
when Alexander wished to enter the lists, and went down
there for that very purpose, his Grecian competitors wished to
exclude him, alleging that the games were not instituted for
barbarian combatants, but Grecians. But Alexander, after he
had proved himself to be an Argive, was pronounced to be a
Greek, and when he was to contend in the stadium, his lot
fell out with that of the first combatant. In this manner were
these things transacted.
23. Megabazus, leading with him the Paeonians, arrived at
the Hellespont; and having crossed over from thence, came
to Sardis. In the mean time, Histiaeus the Milesian was
building a wall round the place, which, at his own request,
he had received from Darius as a reward for his services
in preserving the bridge: this place was near the river
Strymon, and its name was Myrcinus.  But Megabazus,
having heard what was being done by Histieus, as soon as he
reached Sardis, bringing the Paeonians with him, addressed
Darius as follows: " 0 king, what have you done, in allowing
a crafty and subtle Greek to possess a city in Thrace, where
there is abundance of timber fit for building ships, and plenty
of wood for oars, and silver mines?  A great multitude of
Greeks and barbarians dwell around, who, when they have
obtained him as a leader, will do whatever he may command
both by day and by night. Put a stop, therefore, to the proceedings of this man, that you may not be harassed by a domestic war; but, having sent for him in a gentle manner,
stop him; and when you have got him in your power, take
care that he never returns to the Greeks."  24. Megabazus,
speaking thus, easily persuaded Darius, since he wisely fore3 See B. VIII. chap. 137.




25 —27.3]          TEPirSICIORE. V.                 315
saw what was likely to happen. Thereupon Darius, having
sent a messenger to Myrcinus, spoke as follows:  Histiaus,
king Darius says thus: I find, on consideration, that there is
no man better affected to me and my affairs than thyself; and
this I have learned, not by words, but actions; now, therefore,
since I have great designs to put in execution, come to me, by
all means, that I may communicate them to thee." Histieus,
giving credit to these words, and at the same time considering
it a great honor to become a counselor of the king, went to
Sardis. When he arrived, Darius addressed him as follows:
"Histieus, I have sent for you on this occasion. As soon as I
returned from Scythia, and you were out of my sight, I have
wished for nothing so much as to see you and converse with
you again, being persuaded that a friend who is both intelligent
and well affected is the most valuable of all possessions, both
of which I am able to testify from my own knowledge concur
in you as regards my affairs. Now, then, for you have done
well in coming, I make you this offer. Think i-o more of Miletus, nor of the new-founded city in Thrace, but follow me to
Susa, have the same that I have, and be the partner of my
table and counsels."  25. Darius having spoken thus, and having appointed Artaphernes, his brother by the same father, to
be governor of Sardis, departed for Susa, taking Histiaeus with
him; and having nominated Otanes to be general of the forces
on the coast, whose father Sisamnes, one of the royal judges,
king Cambyses had put to death and flayed4 because he had
given an unjust judgment for a sum of money; and having
had his skin torn off he had it cut into thongs, and extended
it on the bench on which he used to sit when he pronounced
judgment; and Cambyses, having so extended it, appointed as
judge in the room of Sisamnes, whom he had slain and flayed,
the son of Sisamnes, admonishing him to remember on what
seat he sat to administer justice.  26. This Otanes, then, who
had been placed on this seat, being now appointed successor to
Megabazus in the command of the army, subdued the Byzantians and Chalcedonians, and took Antandros, which belongs to
the territory of Troas and Lamponium, and having obtained
ships from the Lesbians, he took Lemnos and Imbrus, both of
which were then inhabited by Pelasgians. 27. (Now the Lemnians fought valiantly, and having defended themselves for
4 Literally, "he cut off all his human skin."




316                  HERODOTUS.                  [28-30.
some time, were at length overcome, and over those who survived the Persians set up Lycaretus as governor, the brother of
IMaandrius, who had reigned in Samos. This Lycaretus died
while governor of Lemnos.) Otanes enslaved and subdued them
all; his reasons for so doing were as follows: some he charged
of desertion to the Scythians, others of having harassed Darius's army in their return home from the Scythians. Such was
his conduct while general of the forces.
28. Afterward, for the intermission from misfortune was not
of long duration, evils arose a second time to the lonians from
Naxos and Miletus; for, on the one hand, Naxos surpassed
all the islands in opulence, and, on the other hand, Miletus at
the same time had attained the summit of its prosperity, and
was accounted the ornament of Ionia; though before this period it had for two generations suffered excessively from seditions, until the Parians reconciled them, for the Milesians had
chosen them out of all the Greeks to settle their differences.
29. The Parians reconciled them in the following manner.
When their most eminent men arrived at Miletus, as they saw
their private affairs in a dreadful state, they said that they
wished to go through their whole country; and in doing this,
and going through all Milesia, wheresoever they saw in the devastated country any land well cultivated, they wrote down
the name of the proprietor. And having traversed the whole
country and found but few such, as soon as they came down
to the city they called an assembly, and appointed to govern
the city those persons whose lands they had found well cultivated; for they said they thought they would administer the
public affairs as well as they had done their own. The rest'f the Milesians, who before had been split into factions, they
ordered'to obey them.  Thus the Parians reconciled the Mi[esians. 30. From these two cities at that time misfortunes
began to befall Ionia in the following manner.  Some of the
ppulent men were exiled from Naxos by the people, and being
exiled, went to Miletus. The governor of Miletus happened
to be Aristagoras, son of Molpagoras, son-in-law and cousin of
IIistioaus, son of Lysagoras, whom Darius detained at Susa;
for Histieus was tyrant of Miletus, and happened to be at
that time at Susa when the Naxians came, who were before
on terms of friendship with Histioeus. The Naxians, then,
having arrived at Milctus, entreated Aristagoras if he could




31, 32.]          TERPSICHORE. V.                   317
by any means give them some assistance, that so they might
return to their own country. But he, having considered that
if by his means they should return to their city, he would get
the dominion of Naxos, used the friendship of Histiaeus as a
pretense, and addressed the following discourse to them: "I
am not able of myself to furnish you with a force sufficient to
reinstate you against the wishes of the Naxias who are in
possession of the city, for I hear that the Naxians have eight
thousand heavy-armed men, and a considerable number of
ships of war; yet I will contrive some way, and use my
best endeavors; and I design it in this way: Artaphernes
happens to be my friend; he is son of Hystaspes and brother
of king Darius, and commands all the maritime parts of Asia,
and has a large army and many ships. This man, I am persuaded, will do whatever we desire."  The Naxians, having
heard this, urged Aristagoras to bring it about in the best way
he could, and bade him promise presents, and their expenses
to the army, for that they would repay it, having great expectation that when they should appear at Naxos the Naxians
would do whatever they should order, as also would the other
islanders; for of these Cyclades islands not one was as yet subject to Darius.
31. Accordingly, Aristagoras, having gone to Sardis, told
Artaphernes that Naxos was an island of no great extent,
but otherwise beautiful and fertile, and near lonia, and in it
was much wealth and many slaves.  " Do you therefore send
an army against this country to reinstate those who have
been banished from thence; and if you do this, I have, in the
first place, a large sum of money ready, in addition to the expenses of the expedition, for it is just that we who lead you on
should supply that; and, in the next, you will acquire for the
king Naxos itself, and the islands dependent upon it, Paros,
Andros, and the rest that are called Cyclades.  Setting out
from thence, you will easily attack Euboea, a large and wealthy
island, not less than Cyprus, and very easy to be taken. A
hundred ships are sufficient to subdue them all." He answered him as follows: "You propose things advantageous to the
king's house, and advise every thing well, except the number
of ships; instead of one hundred, two hundred shall be ready
at the commencement of the spring; but it is necessary that
the king himself should approve of the design."  32. Now




318                  HERODOTUS.                  [33, 34.
Aristagoras, when le heard this, being exceedingly rejoiced,
went back to Miletus. But Artaphernes, when, on his sencling to Susa and communicating what was said by Aristagoras,
Darius himself also approved the plan, made ready two hundred
triremes, and a very numerous body of Persians and other
allies; and he appointed Megabates general, a Persian of the
family of the Achemenidae, his own and Darius's nephew,
whose daughter, if the report be true, was afterward betrothed to Pausanias, son of Cleombrotus the Lacedaemonian,
who aspired to become tyrant of Greece. Artaphernes, having appointed Megabates general, sent forward the army to
Aristagoras.
33. Megabates, having taken with him from Miletus Aristagoras, and the Ionian forces and the Naxians, sailed professedly for the Hellespont; but when he arrived at Chios,
anchored at Caucasa, that he might cross over from thence to
Naxos by a north wind.  However, since it was fated that the
Naxians were not to perish by his armament, the following
event occurred.  As Megabates was going round the watches
on board the ships, he found no one on guard on board a
Myndian ship; thereupon, being indignant at this, he ordered
his body-guards to find the captain of this ship, whose name
vas Scylax, and to bind him, having passed him half way
through the lower rowlock of the vessel, so that his head should
be on the outside of the'vessel, and his body within. When
Scylax was bound, some one told Aristagoras that Megabates
had bound and disgraced his Myndian friend. He went,
therefore, and interceded for him with the Persian; but when
he found he could obtain nothing, he went and released him.
Megabates, hearing of this, was very indignant, and enraged
with Aristagoras; but he said, "What have you to do with
these matters?  Did not Artaphernes send you to obey me,
and to sail wheresoever I should command?  Why do you
busy yourself?"  Aristagoras spoke thus. But Mlegabates,
exasperated at this, as soon as night arrived, dispatched men
in a ship to Naxos to inform the Naxians of the impending
danger.  34.! Now the Naxians did not at all expect that this
armament was coming against them; when, therefore, they
heard of it, they immediately carried every thing from the
fields into the town, and prepared to undergo a siege, and
brought food and drink within the walls. Thus they made




35, 36.]           TERPSICHOIRE. V.                   319
preparations, as if war was close at hand; but the Persians,
when they crossed over from Chios to Naxos, had to attack
men well fortified, and besieged them during four months; so
that having consumed all the supplies they had brought with
them, together with large sums furnished by Aristagoras, and
wanting still more to carry on the siege, they therefore built
a fortress for the Naxian exiles, and retired to the continent,
having been unsuccessful.
35. Aristagoras was unable to fulfill his promise to Artaphernes; and, at the same time, the expense of the expedition,
which was demanded, pressed heavy on him.. He was alarmed,
too, on account of the ill success of the army, and at having
incurred, the ill will of Megabates, and thought that he should
be deprived of the government of Miletus. Dreading, therefore,
each of these things, he meditated a revolt; for it happened,
at the same time, that a messenger with his head punctured
came from Susa, from Histieus, urging Aristagoras to revolt
from the king; for Histieus, being desirous to signify to Aristagoras his wish for him to revolt, had no other means of signifying it with safety, because the roads were guarded; therefore, having shaved the head of the most trustworthy of his
slaves, he marked it, and waited till the hair was grown again.
As soon as it was grown again, he sent him to Miletus without
any other instructions than that when he arrived at Miletus
he should desire Aristagoras to shave off his hair and look
upon his head: the punctures, as I said before, signified a wish
for him to revolt.  Histiseus did this because he looked upon
his detention at Susa as a great misfortune; if, then, a revolt
should take place, he had great hopes that he should be sent
down to the coast; but if Miletus made no new attempt, he
thought that he should never go there again. 36. Histiaeus
accordingly, under these considerations, sent off the messenger.
All these things concurred together at the same time to Aristagoras; he therefore consulted with his partisans, communicating to them his own opinion and the message that had
come from Histieus: now all the rest concurred in the same
opinion, urging him to revolt; but Hecataeus, the historian,
at first endeavored to dissuade him from undertaking a war
against the king of the Persians, enumerating all the nations
whom  Darius'governed, and his power; but when he could
not prevail, he, in the next place, advised that they should so




320                   HERODOTUS.                   [37-39.
contrive as to make themselves masters of the sea.  Now,"
he continued, "he saw no other way of effecting this, for he
was well aware that the power of the Milesians was weak;
but if the treasures should be seized from the temple of the
Branchidae, which Croesus the Lydian had dedicated, he had
great hopes that they might acquire the dominion of the sea;
and thus they would have money for their own use, and the
enemy could not plunder that treasure."  But this treasure
was very considerable, as I have already related in the first
part of my history.5 This opinion, however, did not prevail.
Nevertheless, it was resolved to. revolt, and that one of them,
having sailed to Myus to the force that had returned from
Naxos, and which was then there, should endeavor to seize
the captains on board the ships. 37. Iatragoras, having been
dispatched for this very purpose, and having, by stratagem,
seized Oliatus, son of Ibanolis of Mylassa, Histiaus, son of
Tymnes of Termera, Goes, son of Erxandrus, to whom Darius
had given Mitylene, Aristagoras, son of Heraclides, of Cyme,
and many others; Aristagoras thus openly revolted, devising
every thing he could against Darius; and first, in pretense,
having laid aside the sovereignty, he established an equality
in Miletus, in order that the Milesians might more readily
join with them in the revolt; and afterward he effected the
same throughout the rest of Ionia, expelling some of the tyrants; and he delivered up those whom he had taken from on
board the ships that had sailed with him against Naxos to
the cities, in order to gratify the people, giving them up generally to the respective cities froma whence each came.  38.
The Mityleneans, as soon as they received Goes, led him out
and stoned him to death; but the Cymeans let their tyrant go,
and in like manner most of the others let theirs go. Accordingly, there was a suppression of tyrants throughout the cities;
but Aristagoras the Milesian, when he had suppressed the tyrants, and enjoined them all to appoint magistrates in each of
the cities, in the next place went himself in a trireme as embassador to Sparta, for it was necessary for him to procure
some powerful alliance.
39. Anaxandrides, son of Leon, no longer survived and
reigned over Sparta, but was already dead; Cleomenes, son
of Anaxandrides, held the sovereignty, not having acquired it
"See B. I. chap. 50, 51, 92.




40-42.]            TERPSICHORE. V.                  321
by his virtues, but by his birth. Anaxandrides, who had
married his own sister's daughter, though she was very much
beloved by him, had no children: this being the case, the
Ephori, having sent for him, said, " If you do not provide for
your own interests, yet we must not overlook this, that the
race of Eurysthenes should become extinct. Do you therefore put away the wife whom you have, since she bears no
children, and marry another; and by so doing you will gratify
the Spartans."  He answered, saying " that he would do
neither of these things; and that they did not advise him well
in urging him to dismiss the wife he had, when she had committed no error, and to take another in her place, and therefore he would not obey them."  40. Upon this the Ephori
and senators, having consulted, made the following proposal to
Anaxandrides: "As we see you strongly attached to the wife
whom you have, act as follows, and do not oppose it, lest the
Spartans should come to some unusual resolution respecting
you. We do not require of you the dismissal of your present
wife; pay her the same attention as you have always done,
and marry another besides her, who may bear you children."
When they spoke to this effect, Anaxandrides consented; and
afterward, having two wives, he inhabited two houses, doing
what was not at all in accordance with Spartan usages. 41.
When no long time had elapsed, the wife last married bore
this Cleomenes, and presented to the Spartans an heir apparent to the throne; and the former wife, who had before
been barren, by some strange fortune then proved to be with
child; and though she was really so, yet the relations of the
second wife, having heard of it, raised a disturbance, saying
that she boasted vainly, purposing to bring forward a supposititious child. As they made a great noise, when the time
approached, the Ephori, from distrust, sat around, and watched
the woman in her labor.  She, however, when she had borne
Dorieus, shortly afterward had Leonidas, and after him, in
due course, Cleombrotus; though some say t   hat Cleombrotus
and Leonidas were twins. But she who bore Cleomenes, and
who was the second wife, and daughter to Prinetades, son of
Demarmenus, never bore a second time.
42. Cleomenes, as it is said, was not of sound mind, but
almost mad; whereas Dorieus was the first of the young men
of his age, and was fully convinced that by his virtues he
02




322                   HERODOTUS.                  [43-45.
should obtain the sovereignty; so that, being of this persuasion,
when Anaxandrides died, and the Lacedamonians, following
the usual custom, appointed the eldest, Cleomenes, to be king,
Dorieus, being very indignant, and disdaining to be reigned over
by Cleomenes, demanded a draught of men from the Spartans,
and led them out to found a colony, without having consulted
the oracle at Delphi to what land he should go and settle, nor
doing any of those things that are usual on such occasions;
but as he was very much grieved, he directed his ships to
Libya, and some Theroeans piloted him.  Having arrived at
Cinyps, he settled near the river, in the most beautiful spot of
the Libyans.  But in the third year, being driven out from
thence by the Macae, Libyans, and Carthaginians, he returned
to Peloponnesus.  43. There Antichares, a citizen of Eleon,
from the oracles delivered to Laius, advised him  to found
Heraclea in Sicily, affirming that all the country of Eryx belonged to the Heraclidae, Hercules himself having possessed
himself of it.  He, hearing this, went to Delphi to inquire of
the oracle whether he should take the country to which he
was preparing to go. The Pythian answered that he should
take it.  Dorieus therefore, taking with him the force which
he had led to Libya, sailed along the coast of Italy. 44. At
that time, as the Sybarites say, they and their king Telys were
preparing to make war against Crotona; and the Crotonians,
being much alarmed, implored of Dorieus to assist them, and
obtained their request; whereupon Dorieus marched with
them against Sybaris, and took Sybaris in concert with them.
NTow the Sybarites say that Dorieus, and those who were
with him, did this. But the Crotonians affirm that no foreigner took part with them in the war against the Sybarites, except only Callias of Elis, a seer of the Iamide, and he did so
under the following circumstances: he had fled from Telys,
king of the Sybarites, and come over to them, when the victims did not prove favorable as he was sacrificing against
Crotona.  Such is the account they give. 45. Each party
produces the following proofs of what they assert.  The
Sybarites allege a sacred inclosure and temple near the dry
Crastis,6 which they say Dorieus, when he had assisted in
taking the city, erected to Minerva, surnamed Crastian; and,
in the next place, they mention the death of Dorieus as the
6 Called " dry" because its stream was dried up in summer.




46-48.]            TERPSICHORE. V.                   323
greatest proof, for that he was killed for having acted contrary
to the warnings of the oracle; for if he had not at all transgressed, but had done that for which he was sent, he would
have taken and possessed the Erycinian country, and having
taken it, would have retained it; nor would he and his army
have been destroyed. On the other hand, the Crotonians show
selected portions of land given to Callias the Elean, in the territories of Crotona, which the descendants of Callias continued
to occupy even in my time; but to Dorieus, and the posterity
of Dorieus, nothing was given; whereas, if Dorieus had assisted
them in the Sybaritic war, much more would have been given to
him than to Callias. These, then, are the proofs that each produces, and every man has the liberty of adhering to that which
he judges most probable.  46. There sailed with Dorieus also
other Spartans, joint-founders of a colony, as Thessalus, Paraebates, Celeas, and Euryleon; who, on..their arrival with the
whole armament in Sicily, were killed, being defeated in battle
by the Phoenicians and Egestmeans.  Euryleon alone of the
associates in founding the colony survived this disaster: he,
having collected the survivors of the army, possessed himself
of Minoa, a colony of the Selinuntians, and assisted in liberating the Selinuntians from their monarch Pythagoras. But
afterward, when he had removed him, he himself seized the
tyranny of Selinus, and continued monarch for a short time;
for the Selinuntians, having risen up against him, put him to
death, though he had taken sanctuary at the altar of the
Forensian Jupiter.  47. Philippus, son of Butacides, a citizen
of Crotona, accompanied Dorieus, and perished with him. He,
having entered into a contract of marriage with the daughter
of Telys the Sybarite, fled from Crotona, but, disappointed of
his marriage, sailed to Cyrene; and setting out from thence,
he accompanied Dorieus in a trireme of his own, with a crew
maintained at his own expense; for he had been victorious in
the Olympian games, and was the handsomest of the Greeks
of his day; and on account of his beauty, he obtained from the
Egestmans what no other person ever did; for, having erected
a shrine on his sepulchre, they propitiate him with sacrifices.
48. Dorieus, then, met with his death in the manner above
described; but if he had submitted to be governed by Cleomenes, and had continued in Sparta, he would have become
king of Lacedtamon; for Cleomenes did not reign for any




324                  HERODOTUS.                      [49.
length of time, but died without a son, leaving a daughter
only, whose name was Gorgo.
49. Aristagoras then, tyrant of Miletus, arrived at Sparta,
when Cleomenes held the government; and he went to confer
with him, as the Lacedaemonians say, having a brazen tablet,
on which was engraved the circumference of the whole earth,
and the whole sea, and all rivers. And Aristagoras, having
come to a conference, addressed him  as follows: "Wonder
not, Cleomenes, at my eagerness in coming here, for the circumstances that urge are such as I will describe.  That the
children of Ionians should be slaves instead of free, is a great
disgrace and sorrow to us, and above all others to you, inasmuch as you are at the head of Greece. INow, therefore, I
adjure you, by the Grecian gods, rescue the Ionians, who are
of your own blood, from servitude. It is easy for you to effect
this, for the barbarians are not valiant; whereas you, in matters relating to war, have attained to the utmost height of
glory: their mode of fighting is this, with bows and a short
spear; and they engage in battle, wearing loose trowsers, and
turbans on their heads, so they are easy to be overcome. Besides, there are treasures belonging to those who inhabit that
continent such as are not possessed by all other nations together; beginning from gold, there is silver, brass, variegated garments, beasts of burden, and slaves; all these you may have
if you will. They live adjoining one another, as I will show
you.  Next these Ionians are the Lydians, who inhabit a
fertile country, and abound in silver." As he said this he
showed the circumference of the earth, which he brought
with him, engraved on a tablet.  "Next the Lydians," proceeded Aristagoras, "are these Phrygians to the eastward,
who are the richest in cattle and corn of all with whom I
am acquainted. Next to the Phrygians are the Cappadocians,
whom we call Syrians; and bordering on them, the Cilicians,
extending to this sea in which -the island of Cyprus is situate:
they pay an annual tribute of five hundred talents to the king.
Next to the Cilicians are these Armenians, who also abound
in cattle; and next the Armenians are the Matienians, who
occupy this country; and next them this territory of Cissia,
in which Susa is situated on this river Choaspes: here the
great king resides, and there are his treasures of wealth. If
you take this city, you may boldly contend with Jupiter in




5o-502.]           TERPSICHORE. V.                  325
wealth. But now you must carry on war for a country of
small extent, and not very fertile, and of narrow limits, with
the Messenians, who are your equals in valor, and with the Arcadians and Argives; who have nothing alin to gold or silver,
the desire of which induces men to hazard their lives in battle.
But when an opportunity is offered to conquer all Asia with
ease, will you prefer any thing else?"  Aristagoras spoke
thus, and Cleomenes answered him  as follows: " Milesian
friend, I defer to give you an answer until the third day."
50. On that day they got so far. When the day appointed
for the answer was come, and they had met at the appointed
place, Cleomenes asked Aristagoras how many days' journey
it was from the sea of the Ionians to the king. But Aristagoras, though he was cunning in other things, and had deceived him with much address, made a slip in this; for he
should not have told the real fact if he wished to draw
the Spartans into Asia; whereas he told him plainly that it
was a three months' journey up there. But he, cutting short
the rest of the description which Aristagoras was proceeding
to give of the journey, said, "Milesian friend, depart from
Sparta before sunset, for you speak no agreeable language to
the Lacedaemonians in wishing to lead them a three months'
journey from the sea." Cleomenes, having spoken thus, went
home.  51. But Aristagoras, taking an olive-branch in his
hand, went to the house of Cleomenes, and having entered in,
as a suppliant, besought Cleomenes to listen to him, having
first sent away his little child; for his daughter, whose name
was Gorgo, stood by him: she happened to be his only child,
and was about eight or nine years of age. But Cleomenes
bid him say what he would, and not refrain for the sake of the
child.  Thereupon Aristagoras began promising ten talents
if. he would do as he desired; and when Cleomenes refused,
Aristagoras went on increasing in his offers until he promised
fifty talents; then the girl cried out, "Father, this stranger
will corrupt you unless you quickly depart."  Cleomenes,
pleased with the advice of the child, retired to another apart,
ment; and Aristagoras left Sparta altogether, nor could he
get an opportunity to give farther particulars of the route to
the king's residence.
52. With respect to this road, the case is as follows. There
are royal stations all along, and excellent inns, and the wholo




326                    HERODOTUS.                    [53, 54.
road is through an inhabited and safe country.  There are
twenty stations extending through Lydia and Phrygia, and
the distance is ninety-four parasangs and a half.  After
Phrygia, the liver Halys is met with, at which there are
gates, which it is absolutely necessary to pass through, and
thus to cross the river; there is also a considerable fort on
it.  When you cross over into Cappadocia, and traverse that
country to the borders of Cilicia, there are eight-and-twenty
stations, and one hundred and four parasangs; and on the
borders of these people you go through two gates, and pass
by two forts.  When you have gone through these and made
the journey through Cilicia, there are three stations, and fifteen parasangs and a half.  The boundary of Cilicia and
Armenia is a river that is crossed in boats: it is called the
Euphrates.  In Armenia there are fifteen stations for restingplaces, and fifty-six parasangs and a half; there is also a fort
in the stations.  Four rivers that are crossed in boats flow
through this country, which it is absolutely necessary to ferry
over. First, the Tigris; then the second and third have the
same name, though they are not the same river, nor flow
from the same source; for the first mentioned of these flows
from the Armenians, and the latter from the Matienians. The
fourth river is called the Gyndes, which Cyrus once distributed
into-three hundred and sixty channels.  As you enter from
Armenia into the country of Matiene, there are four stations;
and from thence, as you proceed to the Cissian territory, there
are eleven stations, and forty-two parasangs and a half, to the
river Choaspes, which also must be crossed in boats: on this
Susa is built.  All these stations amount to one hundred and
eleven;7 accordingly, the resting-places at the stations are so
many as you go up from Sardis to Susa. 53. Now if the royal
road has been correctly measured in parasangs, and if the
parasang is equal to thirty stades, as indeed it is, from Sardis
to the royal palace, called Memnonia, is a distance of thirteen
thousand five hundred stades, the parasangs being four hundred and fifty; and by those who travel one hundred and
fifty stades every day, just ninety days are spent on the journey.  54. Thus Aristagoras the Milesian spoke correctly,
7 The detail of stations above-mentioned gives only eighty-one instead of one hundred and eleven. The discrepancy can only be accounted for by a supposed defect in the manuscripts.




5 —58.]            TERPSICHORE. V.                   327
when he told Cleomenes the Lacedemonian that it was a
three months' journey up to the king's residence; but if any
one should require a more accurate account than this, I will
also point this out to him, for it is necessary to reckon with
the above the journey from Ephesus to Sardis. I therefore say
that the whole number of stades from the Grecian sea to Susa
(for such is the name of the Memnonian city) amounts to fourteen thousand and forty; for from Ephesus to Sardis is a distance of five hundred and forty stades. And thus the three
months' journey is lengthened by three days.
55. Aristagoras, beipg driven from Sparta, went to Athens,
which had been delivered from tyrants in the following manner. When Aristogiton and I-Iarmodius, who were originally
Gephyraeans by extraction, had slain H-ipparchus, son of Pisistratus, and brother to the tyrant Hippias, and who had seen
a vision in a dream manifestly showing his own fate, after
this the Athenians, during the space of four years, were no
less, but even more, oppressed by tyranny than before. 56.
Now the vision in Hipparchus's dream was as follows. On
the night preceding the Panathenaic festival, Hipparchus fancied that'a tall and handsome man stood by him, and uttered these enigmatical words: "Lion, endure with enduring
mind to bear unendurable ills; no one, among unjust men,
shall escape retribution." As soon as it was day he laid these
things before the interpreters of dreams, and afterward, having
attempted to avert the vision, he conducted the procession in
which he perished.
57. The Gephyraans, of whom were the murderers of IHipparchus, were, as they themselves say, originally sprung from
Eretria; but, as I find by diligent inquiry, they were Phcenicians; of the number of those Phoenicians who came with Cadmus to the country now called Boeotia, and they inhabited the
district of Tanagra, in this country, which fell to their share.
The Cadmeans having been first expelled from thence by the
Argives, these Gephyrmeans being afterward expelled by the
Bceotians, betook themselves to Athens; and the Athenians
admitted them into the number of their citizens, on certain
conditions, enacting that they should be excluded from  several privileges not worth mentioning.  58. These Phoenicians
who came with Cadmus, and of whom the Gephyrmeans were,
when they settled in this country, introduced among the




328'HERODOTUS.                  [59-62.
Greeks many other kinds of useful knowledge, and more particularly letters; which, in my opinion, were not before known
to the Grecians. At first they used the characters which all
the Phoenicians make use of; but afterward, in process of
time, together with the sound, they also changed the shape
of the letters. At that time Ionian Greeks inhabited the
greatest part of the country round about them; they having
learned these letters from the Phoenicians, changed them in a
slight degree and made use of them; and in making use of
them, they designated them Phcenician, as justice required
they should be called, since the Phoenicians had introduced
them into Greece. Moreover, the Ionians, from ancient time,
call books made from papyrus, parchments, because formerly,
from the scarcity of papyrus, they used the skins of goats and
sheep; and even at the present day many of the barbarians
write on such skins. 59. And I myself have seen in the
temple of Ismenian Apollo at Thebes, in Boeotia, Cadmean
letters engraved on certain tripods, for the most part resembling the Ionian. One of the tripods has this inscription:
"Amphitryon dedicated me on his return from  the Teleboans."  These must be about the age of Laius, son of Labdacus, son of Polydorus, son of Cadmus. 60. Another tripod
has these words in hexameter verse: " Scaeus, a boxer, having been victorious, dedicated me, a very beautiful offering to
thee, far-darting Apollo."  Scaeus must have been son of Hippocoon, if indeed it was he who made the offering, and not another person bearing the same name as the son of Hippocoon;
and must have been about the time of CEdipus, son of Laius61. A  third tripod has these words, also in hexameters:
"Laodamas, being a monarch, dedicated this tripod, a very
beautiful offering, to thee, far-seeing8 Apollo."  During the
reign of this Laodamas, son of Eteocles, the Cadmeans were
expelled by the Argives, and betook themselves to the Enchelem. But the Gephyreans, who were then left, were afterward compelled by the Boeotians to retire to Attica; and they
built temples in Athens, in which the rest of the Athenians
do not participate, but they are distinct from the other temples, more particularly the temple and mysteries of the Achmean Ceres.
62. Thus I have related the vision of Hipparchus's dream,
8 Or "well-aiming."




63.]              TERPSICHORE. V.                   329
and whence were sprung the Gephyreans, of whom  were
the murderers of Hipparchus; and it is now proper to resume
the account I originally set out to relate, and show how the
Athenians were delivered from tyrants.  While Hippias was
tyrant, and embittered against the Athenians on account of
the death of Hipparchus, the Alcmaeonidae, who were Athenians by extraction, and were then banished by the Pisistratidae, when they with other Athenian exiles did not succeed
in their attempt to effect their return by force, but were signally defeated in their endeavors to reinstate themselves and
liberate Athens, having fortified Lipsydrium, which is above
P-seonia; thereupon the Alcmmonidae, practicing every scheme
against the Pisistratidae, contracted with the Amphictyons to
build the temple which is now at Delphi, but then did not
exist; and as they were wealthy, and originally men of distinction, they constructed the temple in a more beautiful manner than the plan required, both in other respects, and also,
though it was agreed they should make it of porine stone,
they built its front of Parian marble.  63. Accordingly, as
the Athenians state, these men, while staying at Delphi, prevailed on the Pythian by money, when any Spartans should
come thither to consult the oracle, either on their own account or that of the public, to propose to them to liberate
Athens from servitude. The Lacedsemonians, when the same
warning was always given them, sent Anchimolius, son of
Aster, a citizen of distinction, with an army to expel the
Pisistratidae from  Athens, though they were particularly
united to them by the ties of friendship, for they considered
their duty to the god more obligatory than their duty to men.
These forces they sent by sea in ships, and he, having touched at Phaleruim, disembarked his army; but the Pisistratide,
having had notice of this beforehand, called in assistance from
Thessaly, for they had entered into an alliance with them. In
accordance with their request, the Thessalians with one consent dispatched a thousand horse to their assistance, and their
king Cineas, a native of Conium. When the Pisistratidae
had these auxiliaries, they had recourse to the following plan:
having cleared the plains of the Phalereans, and made the
country practicable for cavalry, they sent the cavalry against
the enemy's camp; and it having fallen on, killed many of
the Lacedaemonians, and among them Anchimolius, and the




330                   HERODOTUS.                   [64-66.
survivors they drove to their ships.  The first expedition from
Lacedaemon thus got off; and the tomb of Anchimolius is at
Alopecae of Attica, near the temple of Hercules in Cynosarges. 64. Afterward, the Lacedaemonians, having fitted out a
larger armament, sent it from Athens, having appointed king
Cleomenes, son of Anaxandrides, commander-in-chief; they
did not, however, send it again by sea, but by land.  On
their entrance into the Athenian territory, the Thessalian cavalry first engaged with them, and was soon defeated, and more
than forty of their number fell: the survivors immediately departed straight for Thessaly. Cleomenes having reached the
city, accompanied by those Athenians who wished to be free,
besieged the tyrants who were shut up in the Pelasgian fort.
65. However, the Lacedaemonians would not by any means
have been able to expel the Pisistratida; for they had no intention of forming a blockade, and the Pisistratida were well
provided with meat and drink; and after they had besieged
them for a few days, they would have returned to Sparta;
but now an accident happened, unfortunate for one party, and
at the same time advantageous to the other; for the children
of the Pisistratida were taken as they were being secretly removed from the country; when this occurred, all their plans
were thrown into confusion; and, to redeem their children,
they submitted to such terms as the Athenians prescribed, so
as to quit Attica within five days. They afterward retired to
Sigeum, on the Scamander, having governed the Athenians
for thirty-six years. They were by extraction Pylians, and
Neleide, being sprung from the same ancestors as Codrus and
lelanthus, who, though formerly foreigners, became kings of
Athens.  1E or this reason Hippocrates gave the same name to
his son, in token of remembrance, calling him Pisistratus, after
Nestor's son Pisistratus.  Thus the Athenians were deliverer
from tyrants; and what things worthy of recital they either
did or suffered before Ionia revolted from Darius, and Aristagoras the Milesian came to Athens to desire their assistance, I
shall now relate.
66. Athens, although it was before powerful, being now
delivered from tyrants, became still more so. Two men in it
had great influence, Clisthenes, one of the Alcmaeonidae, who
is reported to have prevailed with the Pythian, and Isagoras,
son of Tisander, who was of an illustrious family, though I




67.]              TERPSICHORE. V.                   331
am not able to mention his extraction; his kinsmen, however,
sacrifice to Carian Jupiter. These men disputed for power;
and Clisthenes, being worsted, gained over the people to his
side, and afterward he divided the Athenians, who consisted
of four tribes, into ten; changing the names, derived from the
sons of Ion, Geleon, IEgicores, Argades, and Hoples, and inventing names from other heroes who were all natives, except
Ajax; him, though a stranger, he added as a near neighbor
and ally. 67. Herein, I think, this Clisthenes imitated his
maternal grandfather, Clisthenes, tyrant of Sicyon; for Clisthenes, when he made war on the Argives,'in the first place
put a stop to the rhapsodists in Sicyon, contending for prizes
in rec;t;ng the verses of Homer, because the Argives and
Argos are celebrated in almost every part; and in the next
place, as there was, and still is, a shrine dedicated to Adrastus, son of Talaus, in the very forum of the Sicyonians, he
was desirous of expelling him from the country, because he
was an Argive.' Going, therefore, to Delphi, he consulted the
oracle, whether he should expel Adrastus; and the Pythian
answered him, saying "that Adrastus indeed was king of the
Sicyonians, but Clisthenes deserved to be stoned."  Finding
the god would not permit this, Clisthenes returned home and
considered of a contrivance by which Adrastus might depart
of himself. When he thought he had found out a way, he
sent to Thebes of Boeotia, and said that he wished to introduce Melanippus, son of Astacus; and the Thebans assented. Clisthenes, therefore, having introduced kIelanippus,
appointed him a precinct in the very prytaneum, and placed it
there in the strongest position. But Clisthenes introduced
Melanippus, for it is necessary to mention this motive, because
he was the greatest enemy of Adrastus, having killed his
brother Mecistes, and his son-in-law Tydeus. When he had
appointed him this precinct, he took away the sacrifices and
festivals of Adrastus, and gave them to Melanippus. But the
Sicyonians had been accustomed to honor Adrastus very
highly; for the country itself belonged to Polybus, and Polybus dying without a son, gave the sovereignty to Adrastus,
the son of his daughter. The Sicyonians paid other honors
to Adrastus, and, moreover, celebrated his misfortune by tragic
choruses: not honoring Bacchus, but Adrastus, to that time.
But Clisthenes transferred these dances to the worship of




332                  HERODOTUS.                  L68-71.
Bacchus, and the rest of the ceremonies to Melanippus. This
he did with reference to Adrastus.  68. He also changed the
names of the Dorian tribes, in order that the Sicyonians and
Argives might not have the same; and in this he very much
ridiculed the Sicyonians; for, changing their names into
names derived from a swine and an ass, he added only the
terminations, except in the case of his own tribe; to this he
gave a name significant of his own sovereignty, for they were
called Archelai; but others IHyatae, some Oneatae, and others
Chcereats.9  The Sicyonians adopted these names for their
tribes, both during the reign of Clisthenes, and after his death,
during sixty years; after that, however, by common consent
they changed them into Iylleans, Pamphylians, and Dymanate; and they added a fourth, after AEgialeus, son of Adrastus,
giving them the name of Egialeans.
69. Now the Sicyonian Clisthenes had done these things;
and the Athenian Clisthenes, who was son to the daughter of
this Sicyonian, and had his name from him, from contempt
for the lonians, as appears to me, that the Athenians might not
have the same tribes as the Ionians, imitated his namesake
Clisthenes; for when he had brought over to his own side
the whole of the Athenian people, who had been before alienated from him, he changed the names of the tribes, and augmented their number; and established ten phylarchs instead
of four, and distributed the people into ten tribes; and having
gained over the people, he became much more powerful than
his opponents. 70. Isagoras, being overcome in his turn, had
recourse to the following counterplot: he called in Cleomenes the Lacedemonian, who had been on terms of friendship with him from the time of the siege of the Pisistratide;
and besides, Cleomenes was suspected of having had intercourse with the wife of Isagoras.  First of all, therefore, Cleomenes, sending a herald to Athens, required the expulsion
of Clisthenes, and with him of many other Athenians, as being
"under a curse."  He sent this message under the instruction
of Isagoras; for the Alcmaonidae, and those of their party,
were accused of the following murder; but neither he himself
had any share in it, nor had his friends.  71. Those of the
Athenians who were "accursed" obtained the name on the
9 IHyatse, from v, a sow; Oneatw, from ovog, an ass; Choereate, from
Xoipo, a pig.




72, 73.]          TERPSICHORE. V.                   333
following occasion. Cylon, an Athenian, had been victorious
in the Olympic games; he, through pride, aspired to the tyranny; and having associated with himself a band of young
men about his own age, attempted to seize the Acropolis, and,
not being able to make himself master of it, be seated himself
as a suppliant at the statue of the goddess. The prytanes of
the Naucrari, who then had the administration of affairs in
Athens, removed them, under promise that they should not
be punished with death. But the Alcmseonidee are accused of
having put them to death. These things were done before the
time of Pisistratus.
72. When Cleomenes sent a herald to require the expulsion of Clisthenes and the accursed, Clisthenes himself withdrew.  But, nevertheless,C leomenes came afterward to Athens
with a small force, and, on his arrival, banished seven hundred Athenian families, whom Isagoras pointed out to him.
Having done this, he next attempted to dissolve the senate,
and placed the magistracy in the hands of three hundred partisans of Isagoras. But when the senate resisted and refused
to obey, Cleomenes and Isagoras, with his partisans, seized
the Acropolis; and the rest of the Athenians, who sided with
the senate, besieged them  two days: on the third day, as
many of them as were Lacedaemonians left the country under
a truce. And thus an omen, addressed to Cleomenes, was
accomplished; for when he went up to the Acropolis, purpos.ing to take possession of it, he approached the sanctuary of
the goddess to consult her; but the priestess, rising from her
seat before he had passed the door, said, "Lacedemonian
stranger! retire, nor enter within this precinct; for it is not
lawful for Dorians to enter here."  He answered, " Woman,
I am not a Dorian, but an Achean."  He, however, paying
no attention to the omen, made the attempt, and was again
compelled to withdraw with the Lacedemonians.  The Athenians put the rest in bonds for execution; and among them
Timesitheus of Delphi, of whose deeds both of prowess and
courage I could say much. These, then, died in bonds.  73.
After this the Athenians, having recalled Clisthenes, and the
seven hundred families that had been banished by Cleomenes,
sent embassadors to Sardis, wishing to form an alliance with
the Persians; for they were assured that the Lacedaemonians
and Cleomenes would make war upon them. When the em



334                  HERODOTUS.                   [74, 75.
bassadors arrived at Sardis, and had spoken according to their
instructions, Artaphernes, son of Hystaspes, governor of Sardis, asked who they were, and what part of the world they
inhabited, that they should desire to become allies of the
Persians. And having been informed on these points by the
embassadors, he answered in few words, that if the Athenians
would give earth and water to king Darius, he would enter
into an alliance with them; but if they would not give them,
he commanded them  to depart. The embassadors, having
conferred together, said that. they would give them, being
anxious to conclude the alliance: they, however, on their return hone, were greatly blamed.
74,, Cleomenes, conceiving that he had been highly insulted
in words and deeds by the Athenians, assembled an army
from all parts of the Peloponnesus, without mentioning for
what purpose he assembled it; but he both purposed to revenge himself upon the Athenians, and desired to establish
Isagoras as tyrant, for he had gone with him out of the Acropolis. Cleomenes accordingly invaded the territory of Eleusis
with a large force, and the Boeotians, by agreement, took }Enoe
and Hysise, the extreme divisions of Attica, and the Chalcidians attacked and ravaged the lands of Attica on the other
side. The Athenians, though in a state of doubt, resolved to
remember the Boeotians and Chalcidians on a future occasion,
and took up their position against the Peloponnesians, who
were at Eleusis. 75. When the two armies were about to
engage, the Corinthians first, considering that they were not
acting justly, changed their purpose and withdrew; and afterward, Demaratus, son of Ariston, who was also king of the
Spartans, and joined in leading out the army from LacedTemon, and who had never before had any difference with Cleomenes, did the same. In consequence of this division, a law
was made in Sparta that the two kings should not accompany
the army when it went out on foreign service; for until that
time both used to accompany it; and that when one of them
was released from military service, one of the Tyndaridam
likewise should be left at home; for before that time both
these also used to accompany the army as auxiliaries. At that
time the rest of the allies, perceiving that the kings of the LaCastor and Pollux, the guardian deities of Sparta.




76 —78.]           TERPSICHORE. V.                   335
cedmemonians did not agree, and that the Corinthians had quitted their post, likewise took their departure. 76. This, then,
was the fourth time that the Dorians had come to Attica;
having twice entered to make war, and twice for the good of
the Athenian people. First, when they settled a colony in
Megara, when Codrus was king of Athens, that may properly
be called an expedition; a second and third, when they were
sent from Sparta for the expulsion of the Pisistratidm; and a
fourth time, when Cleomenes, at the head of the Peloponnesians, invaded Eleusis.  Thus the Dorians then invaded Athens
for the fourth time.
77. When this army was ingloriously dispersed, the Athenians, desirous to avenge themselves, marched first against the
Chalcidians. The Boeotians came out to assist the Chalcidians at the Euripus; and the Athenians, seeing the auxiliaries,
resolved to attack the B3oeotians before the Chalcidians. Accordingly, the Athenians came to an engagement with the
Boeotians, and gained a complete victory; and having killed
a great number, took seven hundred of them prisoners. On
the same day, the Athenians, having crossed over to Eubcea,
came to an engagement also with the Chalcidians; and having
conquered them also, left four thousand men, settlers, in possession of the lands of the I-Iippobote;2 for the most opulent
of the Chalcidians were called Hippobote. As many of them
as they took prisoners, they kept in prison with the Beeotians
that were taken, having bound them in fetters; but in time
they set them at liberty, having fixed their ransom at two
minxe. The fetters in which they had been bound they hung
up in the Acropolis, where th Acrl   hr  hey remained to my time, hanging
on a wall that had been much scorched by fire by the Mede,
opposite the temple that faces the west. And they dedicated
a tithe of the ransoms, having made a brazen chariot with four
horses, and this stands on the left hand as you enter the portico in the Acropolis; and it bears the following inscription:
" The sons of the Athenians, having overcome the nations of
the Boeotians and Chalcidians in feats of war, quelled their
insolence in a dark iron dungeon: they have dedicated these
mares, a tithe of the spoil, to Pallas."  78. The Athenians
accordingly increased in power; and equality of rights shows,
not in one instance only, but in every way, what an excel2 "Feeders of horses."




336                   HERODOTUS.                   [79-81.
lent thing it is; for the Athenians, when governed by tyrants,
were superior in war to none of their neighbors, but when
freed from tyrants, became by far the first.  This, then, shows
that as long as they were oppressed they purposely acted as
cowards, as laboring for a master; but when they were free,
every man was zealous to labor for himself. They accordingly
did this.
79. After this the Thebans sent to the god, wishing to revenge themselves on the Athenians; but the Pythian said
" that they would not obtain vengeance by their own power,
but bade them refer the matter to the many-voiced people,
and ask the assistance of their nearest friends."  Those who
were sent to consult the oracle having returned, called a general assembly, and referred the oracle to them.  But when
they heard them say t    that they were to ask the assistance of
their nearest friends, the Thebans, on hearing this, said, "Do
not the Tanagraeans, Coronmeans, and Thespians live nearest
to us, and do not they always fight on our side, and heartily
share with us in the toils of war?  What need have we, then,
to ask their assistance?  But probably this is not the meaning
of the. oracle."  80. While they were discussing the matter,
one, having at length comprehended it, said, " I think I understand what the oracle means.  Thebe and  fEgina are said
to be daughters of Asopus.  Now, because these were sisters,
I think the god. has admonished us to entreat the Eginetam
to become our avengers."  As no better opinion than this
was brought forward, they immediately sent and entreated the
_Eginetae, calling upon them to assist them, according' to the
admonition of the oracle, as being their nearest friends; but
they, on their petition, promised to send the lEacide3 to their
assistance.' 81. The Thebans, relying on the assistance of the
zEacidae, having tried the fortunes of war, and being roughly
handled by the Athenians, sent again, and restored the Etacidae, and requested a supply of men; whereupon the AEginetae, elated with their present prosperity, and calling to mind
the ancient enmity they had toward the Athenians, at the
request of the Thebans, levied war upon the Athenians without proclamation; for while they were pursuing the Boeotians. having sailed in long ships to Attica, they ravaged
Phalae'lm, and many villages on the rest of the coast; and
3 Meaning "the statues of the JEacidaw."




.82-84.]           TERPSICHORE. V.                    337
in doing this, they did considerable damage to the Athenians.
82. The enmity that was due of old from the JEginetae to
the Athenians proceeded from this origin. The land of the
Epidaurians yielded no fruit; the Epidaurians, therefore, sent
to consult the oracle at Delphi concerning this calamity. The
Pythian bade them erect statues of Damia and Auxesia, and
when they had erected them it would fare better with them.
The Epidaurians then asked whether the statues should be
of brass or stone; but the Pythian did not allow it to be
of either, but of the wood of a cultivated olive. The Epidaurians thereupon requested the Athenians to permit them
to cut down an olive-tree, thinking that they were the most
sacred; and it is said that there were olive-trees in no other
part of tie world at that time. The Athenians said that they
would permit them, on condition that they should annually
bring victims to Minerva Polias and Erectheus.  The Epidaurians, having agreed to these terms, obtained what they
asked for, and having made statues from  these olive-trees,
erected them, and their land became fruitful, and they fulfilled their engagements to the Athenians.  83. At that time,
and before, the AEginetae obeyed the Epidaurians, both in other
respects, and crossing over to Epidaurus, the AEginetse gave
and received4 justice from  one another.  But afterward,
having built ships, and having recourse to foolish confidence,
they revolted from the Epidaurians, and being at variance,
they did them much damage, as they were masters of the sea;
and, moreover, they took away from  them those statues of
Damia and Auxesia, and carried them off; and erected them
in the interior of their own territory, the name of which is
(Ea, and about twenty stades distant from the city.  Having
erected them in this spot, they propitiated them with sacrifices and derisive dances of women, ten men being assigned
to each deity as leaders of the chorus, and the choruses reviled, not any men, but the women of the country.  The Epidaurians also had such religious ceremonies, but their religious
ceremonies are kept secret.  84. When these statues had been
stolen, the Epidaurians ceased to fulfill their engagements to
the Athenians.  The Athenians sent to expostulate with the
Epidaurians, but they demonstrated that they were not in
4 That is, " brought and defended actions there."
P




338                  HERODOTUS.                  [85, 86.
reality guilty of injustice; for as long as they had the statues in their country they fulfilled their engagements, but
when they had been deprived of them it was not just that
they should still pay the tribute, but they bid them demand
it of the 2Eginetse who possessed them. Upon this the Athenians, having sent to JEgina, demanded back the statues; but
the JEginetae made answer that they had nothing to do with
the Athenians. 85. The Athenians say that after this demand some of their citizens were sent in a single trireme,
who, being sent by the commonwealth, and arriving at JEgina, attempted to drag these statues from the pedestals, as
made from their wood, in order that they might carry them
away; but not being able to get possession of them in that
way, they threw cords about the statues, and hauled them
along, and as they were hauling them, thunder, and with the
thunder an earthquake, came on, and the crew of the trireme,
who were hauling them, were in consequence deprived of their
senses, and in this condition slew one another as enemies,.
till only one of the whole number was left and escaped to
Phalerum.  86. Thus the Athenians say that it happened;
but the }Eginitae say that the Athenians did not come with a
single ship, for that they could easily have repulsed one, or a
few more than one, even though they had no ships of their
own. But they say that they sailed against their territory
with many ships, and that they yielded and did not hazard a
sea fight. They are, however, unable to explain this clearly,
whether they yielded because they were conscious that they
would be inferior in a sea fight, or with the purpose of doing
what they did. They say, however, that the Athenians, when
no one prepared to give them battle, disembarked from the
ships and proceeded toward the statues; and that, not being
able to wrench them from their pedestals, they then threw
cords round them, and hauled them until the statues being
hauled did the same thing; herein relating what is not credible to me, but may be so to some one else; for they say
that they fell on their knees, and have ever since continued
in that posture. The }Eginitws say that the Athenians did
this; but concerning themselves, that, being informed that the
Athenians were about to make war upon them, they prepared
the Argives to assist them; and, accordingly, that the Athenians landed on the territory of Egina, and that the Argives




87-89.]           TERPSICHORE. V.                   339
came to their assistance; and that they crossed over to the
island from Epidaurus unperceived, and fell upon the Athenians unexpectedly, cutting off their retreat to the ships; and
at this moment the thunder and earthquake happened.  87.
Such is the account given by the Argives and Eginetae; and
it is admitted by the Athenians that only one of their number
was. saved, and escaped to Attica; but the Argives affirm
that this one man survived when they destroyed the Attic
army; the Athenians, on the contrary, say, when the deity
destroyed it; and that this one did not survive, but perished
in the following manner: on his return to Athens, he gave
an account of the disaster, and the wives of the men who
had gone on the expedition against aEgina, when they heard
it, being enraged that he alone of the whole number should
be saved, crowded round this man, and piercing him with the
clasps of their garments, each asked him where her own husband was: thus he died. This action of the women seemed
to the Athenians more dreadful than the disaster itself; how,
ever, they had no other way of punishing the women, they
therefore compelled them to change their dress for the Ionian;
for before that time the wives of the Athenians wore the
Dorian dress, which closely resembles the Corinthian; they
changed it, therefore, fora linen tunic, that they might not use,clasps. Yet if we follow the truth, this garment is not originally Ionian, but Carian; for the whole ancient Grecian
dress of the women was the same as that which we now call
Dorian. 88. In consequence of this event, it became a custom with both the Argives and the _Eginetm to do this; to
make their clasps one half larger than the measure before
established, and that the women should chiefly dedicate clasps
in the temple of these deities; and to bring no other Attic
article within the temple, not even a pitcher; but a law was
made that they should drink there in future from vessels of
their own country. Accordingly, from that time the wives of
the Argives and JEginetae, on account of their quarrel with
the Athenians, continued even to my time to wear clasps
larger than formerly.
89. The origin of the enmity entertained by the Athenians.against the AEginetae was such as has been described. At that
lime, therefore, when the Thebans called upon them, the
jAEginetj, recalling to mind what had taken place respecting




340                  HERODOTUS.                   [90, 91.
the statues, readily assisted the Boeotians.  The  Eginete
therefore laid. waste the, maritime places of Attica, and when
the Athenians were preparing to march against the JEginete,
an oracle came from Delphi enjoining them " to wait for thirty
years from the period of the injury committed by the IEginetae, and in the thirty-first year, after building a temple to
JEacus, to begin the war against the IEginetae, and then they
would succeed according to their wishes; but if they should
march against them  immediately, they should in the mean
while endure much and also inflict much, but in the end
would subdue them."  When the Athenians heard this answer reported, they erected that temple to JEacus which now
stands in the forum, yet they could not bear to wait thirty
years, when they heard that they ought to wait, though
they had suffered such indignities from the 2Eginetse.  90.
But as they were preparing to take their revenge, an affair,
set on foot by the Lacedaemonians, became an impediment;
for the Lacedemonians, being informed of the practices of
the Alcmeonida  toward the Pythia, and those of the Pythia
against themselves and the Pisistratide, considered it a double
misfortune, because they had expelled men who were their
own friends out of their country, and because, when they
had done this, no gratitude was shown them by the Athenians. In addition to this, the oracles urged them on, telling
them that they would suffer many and grievous indignities
from the Athenians, of which oracles they knew nothing before, but then became acquainted with them on the return of
Cleomenes to Sparta.  Cleomenes got the oracles from the
Acropolis of tl  Athenians; the Pisistratida  had had them
before, and left them in the temple when they were expelled;
and as they were left behind, Cleomenes took them away.
91. When the Lacedemonians obtained the oracles, and saw
the Athenians increasing in power, and not at all disposed to
submit to them, taking into consideration that if the people
of Attica should continue free they would become of equal
weight with themselves, but if depressed by a tyranny would
be weak and ready to obey; having considered each of these
things, they sent for Hippias, son of Pisistratus, from Sigeum,
on the Hellespont, to which place the Pisistratide had retired..
And when Hippias came, in compliance with their invitation,
the Spartans, having summoned also the embassadors of the




93-95.]            TERPSICHORE. V.                   345
when W*e understood you had sent for Hippias; but now we
are still more astonished at hearing you say what you do; and
we entreat you, adjuring you by the GIecian gods, not to establish tyrannies in the cities. Nevertheless, if you will not
desist, but against all right will endeavor to restore Hippias,
know that the Corinthians, at least, do riot approve of your
design." 
93. Sosicles,who was embassador from Corinth, spoke thus.
But Hippias answered him, having invoked the same gods as
he had, that the Corinthians would most of all regret the Pisistratidse when the fated days should come for them to be harassed by the Athenians. Hippias answered thus, as being
more accurately acquainted with the oracles than any other
man. The rest of the confederates, until then, had kept silence; but when they heard Sosicles speak freely, every one
of them, with acclamation, embraced the opinion of the Corinthian; and they adjured the Lacedaemonians not to introduce
any innovation into a Grecian city; and thus that design was
defeated.  94. When' Hippias departed thence, Amyntas the
Macedonian offered him Anthemus, and the Thessalians offered him lolcus; he, however, accepted neither of them, but
returned back to Sigeum, which Pisistratus had taken by force
from the Mityleneans, and having got possession of it, he appointed his natural son, Hegesistratus, born of an Argive woman, to be tyrant; he, however, did not retain without a struggle what he had received from Pisistratus; for the Mityleneans and the Athenians, setting out from the city of Achilleium
and Sygeum, respectively carried on war for a long time; the
former demanding restitution of the place, and the Athenians
not only not conceding it, but showing by argument that the
JEolians had no more right to the territories of Ilium than
they, or any. other of the Greeks, who had assisted Menelaus
in avenging the rape of Helen. 95. While they were at war,
various other events occurred in the different battles; and
among them, Alczeus the poet, when an engagement took
place, and the Athenians were victorious, saved himself by
flight; but the Athenians got possession of his arms, and hung
them up in the temple of Minerva at Sigeum. Alcneus having
described this in' an ode, sent it to Mitylene to inform his friend
M1elanippus of his misfortune. Periander, son of Cypselus,
reconciled the Mityleneans and Athenians, for they referred to
P2




346                  HERODOTUS.                  [9c-98.
him as arbitrator; and he reconciled them on these ternms, that
each should retain what they had. Thus, then, Sigeum became subject to the Athenians.  96. When Hippias returned
from Lacedamon to Asia, he set every thing in motion, accusing the Athenians falsely to Artaphernes, and contriving every
means by which Athens might be subjected to himself and Darius. Hippias accordingly busied himself about this, and the
Athenians, having heard of it, sent embassadors to Sardis,
warning the Persians not to give ear to the Athenian exiles.
But Artaphernes bade them, if they wished to continue safe,
receive Hippias back again. The Athenians, however, would
not consent to the proposed condition; and when they did not
consent, it was determined openly to declare themselves enemies to the Persians.
97. When they were taking this resolution, and were being
falsely accused to the Persians, at that very time Aristagoras
the Milesian, having been expelled from Sparta by Cleomenes
the Lacedaemonian, arrived at Athens; for this city was much
more powerful than the rest. Aristagoras, presenting himself
before the people, said the same he had done at Sparta respecting the wealth of Asia and.the Persian mode of warfare,
how they used neither shield nor spear, and would be easily
conquered. H e said this, and, in addition, that the Milesians
were a colony of the Athenians, and it was but reasonable that
they, having such great power, should rescue them; and there
was nothing he did not promise, as being very much in earnest, until at length he persuaded them; for it appears to be
more easy to impose upon a multitude than one man, since
he was not able to impose upon Cleomenes the Lacedaemonian
sirgly, but did so to thirty thousand Athenians. The Athenians accordingly, being persuaded, decreed to send twenty
ships to succor the lonians, having appointed Melanthius
commander over, them, a citizen who was universally esteemed.: These ships were the source of calamities both to Greeks
and barbarians. 98. Aristagoras having sailed first, and arrived at Miletus, had recourse to a project from which no advantage could result to the Ionians; nor did he employ it for
that purpose, but that he might vex king Darius.  He sent a
man into Phrygia, to the Pseonians, who had been carried
away captive by Megabazus from the river Strymon, and occupied a tract in Phrygia, and a village by themselves. When




-99-101.]          TERPSICIORE. V.                    347
he reached the Pseonians, he spoke as follows: " Men of Pseonia, Aristagoras, tyrant of Miletus, has sent me to suggest to
you a mode of deliverance, if you will take his advice; for all
Ionia has revolted from the king, and offers you an'opportunity of returning safe to your own country; as far as the
coast take'care of yourselves, and we will provide for the rest."
The Pseonians, when they heard these words, considered it a
very joyful event, and having taken with them their' children
and wives, fled to the coast; but some of them, through fear,
remained where they were. When the Paeonians reached the
coast, they thence crossed over to Chios; and just as they had
reached Chios, a large body of Persian cavalry came on their
heels, pursuing the Poeonians; and when they did not overtake them, sent orders to Chios to the Psaonians commanding
them to return; but the Pemonians did not listen to the proposal, but the Chians conveyed them to Lesbos, and the Lesbians forwarded them to Doriscus; thence proceeding on foot,
they reached Paeonia.
99. But Aristagoras, when the Athenians arrived with twenty ships, bringing with them five triremes of the Eretrians,
who engaged in this expedition, not out of good will to the
Athenians, but of the Milesians themselves, in order to repay
a former obligation; for the Milesians had formerly joined
the Eretrians in the war against the Chalcidians, at the time
when the Samians assisted the Chalcidians against the Eretrians and Milesians. When these, then, had arrived, and the
rest of the allies had come up, Aristagoras resolved to make
an expedition to Sardis. He himself did not march with the
army, but remained at Miletus, and appointed others as generals of the Milesians, his own brother Charopinus, and of
the other citizens Hermophantus.  100. The Ionians, having
arrived at Ephesus with this force, left their ships at Coressus, in the Ephesian territory, and they advanced with a
numerous army, taking Ephesians for their guides; and
marching by the side of the river Cayster, from thence they
crossed Mount Tmolus, and reached and took Sardis without
opposition; and they took all except the citadel, but Artaphernles, with a strong garrison, defended the citadel. 101. The
following accident prevented them, after they had taken the
city, from plundering it.  Most of the houses in Sardis were
built rwtlh\ reeds; and such of them  as were built with brick




348                  HERODOTUS.                 [102,103.
had roofs of reeds.  A soldier happened to set fire to one
of these, and immediately the flame spread from  house to
house, and consumed the whole city. While. the city was being burned, the Lydians, and as many of the Persians as were
in the-city, being inclosed on every side, since the fire had got
possession of the extreme parts, and had no means of escaping
from the city, rushed together to the market-place, and to
the river' Pactolus, which, bringing down grains of gold from
Mount Tmolus, flows through the middle of the market-place,
and then discharges itself into the river Hermus, and that
into the sea. The Lydians and Persians, therefore, being assembled on this Pactolus and at the market-place, were constrained to defend themselves; and the Ionians, seeing some
of the enemy standing on their defense, and others coming up
in great numbers, retired through fear to the mountain called
Tmolus, and thence under favor of the night retreated to their
ships. 102. Thus Sardis was burned, and in it the temple
of the native goddess Cybele; the Persians, making a pretext of this, afterward burned in retaliation the temples of
Greece. As soon as the Persians who had settlements on this
side the river Halys were informed of these things, they drew
together, and marched to assist the Lydians; and they happened to find that the Ionians were no longer at Sardis; but
following on their track, they overtook them at Ephesus; and
the Ionians drew out in battle-array against them, and coming
to an engagement, were sorely beaten; and the Persians slew
many of them, and among other persons of distinction, Eualcis, general of the Eretrians, who had gained the prize in the
contests for the crown, and had been much celebrated by Simonides the Cean. Those who escaped from the battle were
dispersed throughout the cities.
103. At that time such was the result of the encounter.
Afterward, the Athenians, totally abandoning the Ionians,
though Aristagoras urgently solicited them by embassadors,
refused to send them  any assistance. The Ionians, being
deprived of the alliance of the Athenians (for they had conducted themselves in such a manner toward Darius from the
first),. nevertheless prepared for war with the king; and
having sailed to the Hellespont, they reduced Byzantium and
all the other cities in that quarter to their obedience.  Then
having sailed out of the Hellespont, they gained over to their




104 —106.]         TERPSICHORE. V.                  349
alliance the greater part of Caria; for the city of Caunus,
which before would not join their alliance, when they had
burned Sardis, came over to their side.  104. And all the
Cyprians, except the Amathusians, came over to them of their
own accord; for they too had revolted from the Mede on the
following oocasion.  Onesilus was younger brother of Gorgus,
king of the Salaminians, and son of Chersis, son of Siromus,
son of Euelthon: this man had frequently before exhorted his
brother to revolt from the king; but when he heard that the
Ionians had revolted, he pressed him very urgently; but, finding he could not persuade Gorgus, Onesilus with his partisans,
thereupon having watched an opportunity when he had gone
out of the city of the Salaminians, shut the gates against him.
Gorgus, being thus deprived of his city, fled to the Medes; and
Onesilus ruled over Salamis, and endeavored to persuade all
the Cyprians to join in the revolt. The rest he persuaded;
but the Amathusians, who would not listen to him, he sat down
and besieged.
105. Onesilus accordingly besieged Amathus. But when it
was told king Darius that Sardis had been taken and burned
by the Athenians and lonians, and that Aristagoras the Milesian was the chief of the confederacy, and the contriver of that
enterprise, it is related that he, when he heard this, took no
account of the Ionians, well knowing that they would not
escape unpunished for their rebellion, but inquired where the
Athenians were: then having been informed, he called for a
bow, and having received one, and put an arrow into it, he
let it fly toward heaven, and as he shot it into the air, he
said, "O Jupiter, grant that I may revenge myself on the
Athenians!"  Having thus spoken, he commanded one of his
attendants, every time dinner was set before him, to say thrice,
"Sire, remember the Athenians."  106. Having given this
order, and summoned to his presence Histieus the Milesian,
whom he had already detained a long time, Darius said, "I
am informed, Histiaeus, that your lieutenant, to whom you intrusted Miletus, has attempted innovations against me; for,
hlaving brought men from the other continent, and with them
lonians, who shall give me satisfaction for what they have done;
having persuaded these to accompany them, he has deprived
me of Sardis.  Now can it appear to you that this is right 
Could such a thing have been done without your advice?  Be



250                  HERODOTUS.                 [107, 108.
ware lest hereafter you expose yourself to blame." To this
Histiaus answered, "O king, what -have you said? that I
should advise a thing from which any grief, great or little,
should ensue to you! With what object should I do so? What
am I in want of? I, who have all things the same as you, and
am deemed worthy to share all your counsels? But if my lieutenant has done any such thing as you mention, be assured he
has done it of his own contrivance. But, in the outset, I do
not believe the account that the Milesians and my lieutenant
have attempted any innovations against your authority; yet,
if they have done any thing of the kind, and you have heard
the truth, consider, O king, what mischief you have done in
withdrawing me from the coast; for the Ionlans seem, when
I was out of their sight, to have done what they long ago desired to do; and had I been in Ionia, not one city would have
stirred. Suffer me, therefore, to go with all speed to Ionia, that
I may restore all things there to their former condition, and
deliver into your hands this lieutenant of Miletus, who has
plotted the whole. When I have done this according to your
mind, I swear by the royal gods not to put off the garments
which I shall wear when I go down to Ionia before I have
made the great island Sardinia tributary to you."  107. Histiaeus, speaking thus, deceived the king. But Darius was
persuaded, and let him go, having charged him to return to
him at Susa so soon as he should have accomplished what he
had promised.
108. While the news concerning Sardis was going up to
the king, and Darius, having done what has been described
relating to the bow, held a conference with Histieus, and
while Histimeus, having been dismissed by Darius, was on his
journey to the sea-during all this time the following events
took place. Tidings were brought to Onesilus the Salaminian,
as he was besieging the Amathusians, that Artybius, a Persian, leading a large Persian force on shipboard, was to be
expected in Cyprus.  Onesilus, having been informed of this,
sent heralds to the different parts of Ionia, inviting them to
assist him; and the lonians, without any protracted deliberation, came with a large armament. The Ionians accordingly
arrived at Cyprus, and the Persians, having crossed over in
ships from Cilicia, marched by land against Salamis; but the
Phcenicians in their ships doubled the promontory, which is




109-111.]          TERPSICHORE. V.                    351
called the key of Cyprus. 109. This having taken place, the
tyrants of Cyprus, having called together the general of the
lonians, said, "Men of Ionia, we Cyprians give you the
choice, to engage with whichever you wish, the Persians or
Phoenicians. If you choose to try your strength with the
Persians drawn up on land, it is time for you to disembark
from your ships, and to draw up on land, and for us to go on
board your ships, in order to oppose the, Phenicians; but if
you would rather try your strength with the Phoenicians, whichever of these you choose, it behooves you so to behave yourselves, that, as far as depends on you, both Ionia and Cyprus
may be free."  To this the lonians answered: " The general
council of the Ionians has sent us to guard the sea, and not
that, having delivered our ships to the Cyprians, we ourselves
should engage with the Persians by land. We therefore shall
endeavor to do our duty in that post to which we have been
appointed; and it behooves you, bearing in mind what you
have suffered under the yoke of the IMedes, to prove yourselves to be brave men."  The Ionians made answer in these
words.  110. Afterward, when the Persians had reached the
plain of the Salaminians, the kings of the Cyprians drew up
their forces in line, stationing the other Cyprians against the
other soldiery of the enemy, but having selected the best of
the Salaminians and Solians, they stationed them against the
Persians. Onesilus voluntarily took up his position directly
against Artybius, the general of the Persians.  111. Artybius
used to ride on a horse that had been taught to rear up against
an armed enemy.  Onesilus, therefore, having heard of this,
and having as a shield-bearer a Carian well skilled in matters
of war, and otherwise full of courage, said to this man, "I am
informed that the horse of Artybius rears up, and with his feet
and mouth attacks whomsoever he is made to engage with; do
you, therefore, determine at once, and tell me which you will
watch and strike, whether the horse or Artybius himself."
His attendant answered, " I am ready to do both, or either
of them, and, indeed, whatever you may command; but I will
declare how it appears to me to be most conducive to your interest. A king and a general ought, I think, to engage with
a king and a general; for if you vanquish one who is a general, your glory is great; and, in the next place, if he should
vanquish you, which may the gods avert, to fall by a noble




352                   HERODOTUS.                [112-115.
hand is but half the calamity; but we servants should engage
with other servants, and also against a horse, whose tricks do
not you fear at all; for I promise you he shall never hereafter rear up against any man."  112. Thus he spoke, and
forthwith the forces joined battle by land and sea. Now the
Ionians, fighting valiantly on that day, defeated the Phoeicians at sea; and of these the Samians most distinguished
themselves; but on land, when the armies met, they engaged
in close combat; and the following happened with respect to
the two generals: when Artybius, seated on his horse, bore
down upon Onesilus, Onesilus, as he had concerted with his
shield-bearer, struck Artybius himself as he was bearing down
upon him; and as the horse was throwing his feet against the
shield of Onesilus, the Carian thereupon struck him with a
scythe, and cut off the horse's feet; so that Artybius, the general of the Persians, fell together with his horse on the spot.
113. While the rest were fighting, Stesenor, who was of Curium, deserted with no inconsiderable body of men; these
Curians are said to be a colony of Argives; and when the
Curians had deserted, the chariots of war belonging to the
Salaminians did the same as the Curians: in consequence of
this, the Persians became superior to the Cyprians; and the
army being put to flight, many others fell, and among them
Onesilus, son of Chersis, who had contrived the revolt of the
Cyprians, and the king of the Solians, Aristocyprus, son of
Philocyprus; of that Philocyprus whom Solon the Athenian,
when he visited Cyprus, celebrated in his verses above all
tyrants.  114. Now the Amathusians, having cut off the head
of Onesilus because he had besieged them, took it to Amathus, and suspended it over the gates; and when the head was
suspended, and had become hollow, a swarm of bees entered
it, and filled it with honey-comb. When this happened, the
Amathusians consulted the oracle respecting it, and an answer
was given them " that they should take down the head and
bury it, and sacrifice annually to Onesilus as to a hero; and
if they did so, it would turn out better for them."   115. The
Amathusians did accordingly, and continued to do so until my
time. The Ionians, who had fought by sea at Cyprus, when
they heard that the affairs of Onesilus were ruined, and that
the rest of the Cyprian cities were besieged except Salamis,
but this the Salaminians had restored to their former king




116-119.]         TERPSICHORE. V.                    353
Gorgus; the Ionians, as soon as they learned this, sailed away
to Ionia. Of the cities in Cyprus, Soli held out against the
siege for the longest time; but the Persians, having undermined the wall all round, took it in the fifth month.
116. Thus the Cyprians, having been free for one year,
were again reduced to servitude; but Daurises, who had
married a daughter of Darius, and Hymees, and Otanes, and
other Persian generals who also had married daughters of Darius, having pursued those of the Ionians who had attacked
Sardis, and having driven them to their ships when they had
conquered them in battle, next divided the cities among themselves and proceeded to plunder them.  117. Daurises, directing his march toward the cities on the Hellespont, took
Dardanus; he also took Abydos, Percote, Lampsacus, and
Paesus: these he took each in one day; but as he was advancing from Psesus against Parium, news was brought him
that the Carians, having conspired with the Ionians, had revolted from the Persians; therefore, turning back from the
IHellespont, he led his army against Caria.  118. Somehow
news of this was brought to the Carians before Daurises arrived.
The Carians, having heard of it, assembled at what are called
the White Columns, on the river Marsyas, which, flowing from
the territory of Idrias, flows into the Maeander. When the
Carians were assembled on this spot, several other prbpositions
were made, of which the best appeared to be that of Pixodarus, son of Mausolus, a Cyndian, who had married the
daughter of Syennesis, king of the Cilicians.  his opinion was,
that the Carians, having crossed the Moeander, and having
the river in their rear, should so engage, in order that the
Carians, not being able to retreat, and being compelled to
remain on their ground, might be made even braver than they
naturally were. This opinion, however, did not prevail, but
that the Mmander should rather be in the rear of the Persians
than of themselves, to the end that if the Persians should be
put to flight, and worsted in the engagement, they might have
no retreat, and fall into the river. 119. Afterward, the Persians having come up and crossed the Maeander, the Carians
thereupon came to an engagement with the Persians on the
banks of the river Marsyas, and they fought an obstinate
battle, and for a long time, but at last were overpowered by
numbers.  Of the Persians there fell about two thousand, and




354                   HERODOTUS.                 [120-124.
of the Carians ten thousand.  Such of them as escaped from
thence were shut up in' Labranda, a large precinct and
sacred grove of plane-trees, dedicated to Jupiter Stratius.
The Carians are the only people we know who offer sacrifices
to Jupiter Stratius. They, then, being shut up in this place,
consulted on the means of safety, whether they would fare better by surrendering themselves to the Persians, or by abandoning Asia altogether. 120. While they were deliberating about
this, the Milesians and their allies came to their assistance;
upon this the Carians gave up what they were before deliberating about, and prepared to renew the war; and they engaged with the Persians when they came up, and having
fought, were more signally beaten than before; though in the
whole many fell, the Milesians suffered most.  121. The Carians, however, afterward recovered this wound, and renewed
the contest; for, hearing that the Persians designed to invade
their cities, they placed an ambuscade on the way to Pedasus,
into which the Persians falling by night, were cut in pieces,
both they and their generals Daurises, Amorges, and Sisamaces; and with them perished Myrses, son of Gyges.  The
leader of this ambuscade was Heraclides, son of Ibanolis, a
Mylassian. Thus the Persians were destroyed.
122. Hymees, who was also one of those who pursued the
Ionians that had attacked Sardis, bending his march toward
the Propontis, took Cius of AMysia; but having taken it, when
he heard that Daurises had quitted the Hellespont, and was
marching against Caria, he abandoned the Propontis, and led
his army on the Hellespont; and he subdued all the Eeolians
who inhabited the territory of Ilium, and subdued the Gergi
thse, the remaining descendants of the ancient Teucrians;
but Hymees himself, having subdued these nations, died of
disease in the Troad. 123. Thus, their, he died; but Artaphernes, governor of Sardis, and Otanes, one of the three generals,8 were appointed to invade Ionia and the neighboring
territory of IEolia.  Of Ionia, accordingly, they took Clazomene; and of the Elolians, Cyme.
124. When these cities were taken, Aristagoras the9 Milesian, for he was not, as it proved, a man of strong courage, who
s The two others were Daurises and Hymees; see ch. 116.
9 The reader will observe that the sentence is broken and imperfect;
it is so in the original.




125, 126.]         TERPSICHORE. V.                     355
having thrown Ionia into confusion, and raised great disturbances, thought of flight when he saw these results; and, besides, it seemed to him impossible to overcome king Darius;
therefore, having called his partisans together, he conferred
with them, saying " that it would be better for them to have
some sure place of refuge in case they should be expelled from
Miletus."  He asked, therefore, whether he should lead them
to Sardinia, to found a colony, or to Myrcinus of the Edonians, which Histieus had begun to fortify, having received it
as a gift from Darius. 125. However, the opinion of Hecataeus the historian, sonr of Hegesander, was, that they should
set out for neither of these places, but that) having built a fortress in the island of Leros, they should remain quiet if they
were compelled to quit Miletus; and that at some future time,
proceeding from thence, they might return to Miletus.  This
was the advice of Hecataus.  126. But Aristagoras himself
was decidedly in favor of proceeding to Myrcinus; he therefore intrusted Miletus to Pythagoras, a citizen of distinction,
and he himself, taking with him all who were willing, sailed
to Thrace, and took possession of the region to which he was
bound.  But, setting out from thence, both Aristagoras himself and all his army perished by the hands of the Thracians
as he was laying siege to a city, and the Thracians were willing to depart on terms of capitulation.




BOOK VI.
ERATO.
AJrSTAGORAS, having induced the Ionians to revolt, thus
died; and Histieus, tyrant of Miletus, having been dismissed
by Darius, repaired to Sardis. When ho arrived from Susa,
Artaphernes, governor of Sardis, asked him for what reason
he supposed the Ionians had revolted.  Histieus said he did
not know, and seemed surprised at what had happened, as if
he in truth knew nothing of the present state of affairs. But
Artaphernes, perceiving that he was dissembling, and being
aware of the exact truth as to the revolt, said, " Histieus, the
state of the case is this: you made the shoe, and Aristagoras
has put it on." 2. Artaphernes spoke thus concerning the revolt; but Histiaeus, fearing Artaphernes, as being privy to the
truth, as soon as night came on, fled to the coast, having deceived king Darius; for, having promised to reduce the great
island of Sardinia, he insinuated himself into the command of
the Ionians in the war against Darius. Having crossed over
to Chios, he was put in chains by the Chians, being suspected
by them of planning some new design against them in favor
of Darius. However, the Chians, having learned the whole
truth, anithat he was an enemy to the king, released him.
3. At that time, Histiaus being questioned by the Ionians why
he had so earnestly pressed Aristagoras to revolt from the
king, and had wrought so much mischief to the Ionians, he
by no means made known to them the true reason, but told
them that " king Darius had resolved to remove the Phoenicians, and settle them itn Ionia, and the JIonians in Phoenicia;
and for this reason he had pressed him."  Although the king
had formed no resolution of the kind, he terrified the Ionians.
4. After this, Histiseus, corresponding by means of a messenger, Hermippus, an Atarnian, sent letters to certain Persians
in Sardis, as if they had before conferred with him on the




.5~-7.]                ERATO. VI.                     357
subject of a revolt; but Hermippus did not deliver the letters to the persons to whom he had been sent, but put them
into the hands of Artaphernes; he, having discovered all that
was going on, commanded Hermippus to deliver the letters of
Histieus to the persons for whom he brought them, and to
deliver to him  the answers that should be sent back to Histieus from  the Persians.  Thus they being discovered, Artaphernes thereupon put many of the Persians to death; and
in consequence, there was a great commotion in Sardis. 5.
Histieus being disappointed of these hopes, the Chians conveyed him to Miletus at his own request; but the Milesians,
delighted at being rid of Aristagoras, were by no'means desirous to receive another tyrant in their country, as they had
tasted of freedom.  Thereupon Histieus, going down to Miletus by night, endeavored to enter it by force, but was wounded in the thigh by one of the Milesians.  When he was repulsed from his own country, he went back to Chios, and
from thence, since he could not persuade the Chians to furnish him with ships, he'crossed over to Mlitylene, and prevailed with the Lesbians to furnish him with ships; and they,
having manned eight triremes, sailed with Histiaeus to Byzantium.  There taking up their station, they took all the ships
that sailed out of the Pontus, except such of them as said they
were ready to submit to Histious.
6. Histieus, then, and the Mitylenians, acted as above
described; but a large naval and land force was expected
against Miletus itself; for the Persian generals, having united
their forces and formed one camp, marched against Miletus,
deeming the other cities of less consequence.  Of the maritime forces, the Phoenicians were the most zealous, and the
Cyprians, who had been lately subdued, served with them,
and the Cilicians and Egyptians.  7. They then advanced
against Miletus and the rest of lonia; but the Ionians,
having heard of this, sent their respective deputies to the Panionium,' and when they arrived at that place and consulted
together, it was determined not to assemble any land forces
to oppose the Persians, but that the Milesians themselves
should defend the walls, and that they should man their
navy, without leaving a single ship behind; and after they
had manned them, to assemble as soon as possible at Lade, to
ee B. I. chap. 143, 148.




3,53                  HERODOTUS.                  [8-10.
fight in defense of Miletus. Lade is a small island lying off
the city of the Milesians. 8. After this, the Ionians came up
with their ships manned, and with them  the 2Eolians who
inhabit Lesbos; and they formed their line in the following
order. The Milesians themselves, who furnished eighty ships,
occupied the east wing; and next to these the Prienians with
twelve ships, and the Myusians with three; the Teians were
next to the Myusians, with seventeen ships; the Chians were
next the Teians, with a hundred ships; next to these, the
Erythreans and the Phoceeans were drawn up, the Erythreans furnishing eight ships, and the Phocamns three;
next the Phoceans were the Lesbians with seventy ships;
last of all the bamians were drawn up, occupying the western
wing with sixty ships.  Of all these, the whole number
amounted to three hundred and fifty-three triremes. Such
was the fleet of the lonians.  9. On the side of the barbarians the number of ships amounted to six hundred; but
when they arrived on the Milesian coast, and all their land
forces were come up, the Persian generals, hearing the
number of the Ionian fleet, began to fear they should not
be strong enough to overcome it, and so should be also
unable to take Miletus, since they were not masters at sea,
and then might be in danger of receiving punishment at the
hands of Darius.  Taking these things into consideration,
they summoned the tyrants of the Ionians, who, having been
deprived of their governments by Aristagoras, had fled to the
Medes, and happened at that time td be serving in the
army against Miletus; having called together such of these
men as were at hand, they addressed them as follows: "Men
of Ionia, let each of you now show his zeal for the king's
house; for let each of you endeavor to detach his own
countrymen from the rest of the confederacy, and hold out to
them and proclaim this, that they shall suffer no hurt on account of their rebellion, nor shall their buildings, whether
sacred or profane, be burned, nor shall they be treated with
more severity than they were before. But if they will not do
this, and will at all events come to the hazard of a battle,
threaten them with this which will surely befall them; that
when conquered in battle, they shall be enslaved; that we
will make eunuchs of their sons, and transport their virgins to
Bactra, and then give their country to others."  10. Thus they




il, 12.]              ERATO. VI.                      359
spoke; but the tyrants of the Ionians sent each by night to
his own countrymen, to make known the warning.  But the
Ionians to whom these messages came continued firm to their
purpose, and would not listen to treachery, for each thought
that the Persians had sent this message to themselves only.
This, then, took place immediately after the arrival of the Persians before Miletus.
11. Afterward, when the Ionians had assembled at Lade,
councils were held, and on occasion others addressed them,
and, among the rest, the Phocaean general Dionysius, who
spoke as follows: "Our affairs are in a critical2 state, O
Ionians, whether we shall be freemen or slaves, and that, too,
as runaway slaves: now, then, if you are willing to undergo hardships, for the present you will have toil, but will be
enabled, by overcoming your enemies, to be free; on the other
hand, if you abandon yourselves to ease and disorder, I have
no hope of you that you will escape punishment at the hands
of the king for your revolt; but be persuaded by me, and
intrust yourselves to my guidance, and I promise you, if the
gods are impartial, either that our enemies will not fight us
at all, or, if they do fight with us, they shall be completely
beaten." 12. The Ionians, having heard this, intrusted themselves to the guidance of Dionysius; and he, daily leading out
the ships into a line, when he had exercised the rowers by
practicing the manceuvre of cutting through one another's line,
and had put the marines under arms, kept the ships at anchor
for the rest of the day: thus he subjected the Ionians to toil
throughout the day. Accordingly, for seven days they continued to obey, and did what was ordered, but on the following day the Ionians, unaccustomed to such toil, and worn
down by hardships and the heat of the sun, spoke one to another as follows: "What deity having offended, do we fill up
this measure of affliction? we who, being beside ourselves,
and having lost our senses, have intrusted ourselves to the
guidance of a presumptuous Phocoean, who has contributed
three ships; but he, having got us under his control, afflicts us
with intolerable hardships. Many of us have already fallen
into distempers, and many must expect to meet with the same
fate.  Instead of these evils, it were better for us to suffer any
thing else, and to endure the impending servitude, be it what
2 Literally, "on a razor's edge."




360                  HERODOTUS.                  [13-15.
it may, than be oppressed by the present;.  Come, then, let us
no longer obey him."  Thus they spoke, and from that moment no one would obey, but having pitched tents on the island,,they continued under the shade, and would not go on
board the ships or perform their exercise. 13. The generals
of the Samians, observing what was passing among the Ionians, and at the same time seeing great disorder among them,
thereupon accepted the proposal of.Eaces, son of Syloson,
which he had before sent them at the desire of the Persians,
exhorting them to abandon the confederacy of the Ionians;
and, moreover, it was clearly impossible for them to overcome
the power of the king, because they were convinced that if they
should overcome Darius with his present fleet, another, five
times as large, would come against them. Therefore, laying
hold of this pretext, as soon as they saw the Ionians refusing
to behave well, they deemed it for their own advantage to preserve their own buildings, sacred and profane. This JEaces,
from whom the Samians received the proposal, was son of Syloson, son of fEaces, and, being tyrant of Samos, had been deprived of his government by Aristagoras the Mlilesian, as the
other tyrants of Ionia.
14. When, therefore, the Phoenicians sailed against them,
the Ionians also drew out their ships in line to oppose them;
but when'they came near and engaged each other, after that I
am unable to affirm with certainty who of the Ionians proved
themselves cowards or brave men in this sea-fight, for they
mutually accuse each other. The Samians, however, are said
at that moment to have hoisted sail, in pursuance of their
agreement with FEaces, and steered out of the line to Samos,
with the exception of eleven ships: the captains of these
staid and fought, refusing to obey their commanders, and for
this action the commonwealth of the Samians conferred upon
them the honor of having their names and ancestry engraved
on a column, as having proved themselves valiant men, and
this column now stands in the forum. The Lesbians also,
seeing those stationed next them flee, did the same as the
Samians, and in like manner most of the Ionians followed
their example. 15. Of those that persisted in the battle, the
Chians were most roughly handled, as they displayed signal
proofs of vapor, and would not act as cowards. They contributed, as has been before mentioned, one hundred ships,




16~-19.]              ERATO. VI.                      361
and on board each of them, forty chosen citizens serving as
marines; and though they saw most of the confederates abandoning the common cause, they disdained to follow the example of their treachery; but choosing rather to remain with the
few allies, they continued the fight, cutting through the enemies'
lines, until, after they had taken many of the enemies' ships,
they lost most of their own. The Chians then fled to their
own country with the remainder of their fleet. 16. Those Chians whose ships were disabled in the fight, when they were
pursued, took refuge in Mycale; and having run their ships
aground, left them there, and marched overland through the
continent; but when the Chians, on their return, entered the
territory of Ephesus, and arrived near the city by night, at a
time when the women there were celebrating the Thesmophoria, the Ephesians thereupon, not having before heard how it
had fared with the Chians, and seeing an army enter their territory, thinking they were certainly robbers, and were come to
seize their women, rushed out in a body, and slew the Chians.
Such was the fate they met with,  17. Dionysius the Phocman, when he perceived that the affairs of the Ionians were utterly ruined, having taken three of the enemies' ships, sailed
away, not indeed to Phocaea, well knowing that it would be enslaved with the rest of Ionia, but sailed directly, as he was, to
Phoenicia; and there having disabled some merchantmen, and
obtained great wealth, he sailed to Sicily; and sallying out
from thence, he established himself as a pirate, attacking none
of the Grecians, but only the Carthaginians and Tyrrhenians.
18. The Persians, when they had conquered the Ionians in
the sea-fight, besieging Miletus both by land and sea, and undermining the walls, and bringing up all kinds of military engines against it, took it completely, in the sixth year after the
revolt of Aristagoras; and they reduced the city to slavery, so
that the event coincided with the oracle delivered concerning
Miletus.  19. For when the Argives consulted the oracle at
Delphi respecting the preservation of their city, a double answer was given; part concerning themselves, and the addition
the Pythian uttered concerning the Milesians. The part relating to the Argives I will mention when I come to that part
of the history;3 the words she uttered relative to the Milesians, who were not present, were as follows: " Then Miletus,
3 See chap. 77.
Q




362                  HIERODOTUS.                 [20-22.
contriver of wicked deeds, thou shalt become a feast and a rich
gift to many: thy wives shall wash the feet of many longhaired masters, and our temple at Didymi shall be tended by
others." These things befell the Milesians at that time; for
most of the men were killed by the Persians, who wear long
hair; and their women and children were treated as slaves;
and the sacred inclosure at Didymi, both the temple and the
shrine, were pillaged and burned. Of the riches in this temple I have frequently made mention in other parts of my his-'tory,4 20. Such of the Milesians as were taken alive were
afterward conveyed to Susa; and king Darius, without having
done them any other harm, settled them on that which is called the Red Sea, in the city of Ampe, near which the Tigrls,
flowing by, falls into the sea. Of the Milesian territory, the
Persians themselves retained the parts round the city and the
plain; the mountainous parts they gave to the Carians of Pedasus to occupy. 21. When the 3Milesians suffered thus at the
hands of the Persians, the Sybarites, who inhabited Laos and
Scydrus, having been deprived of their country, did not show
equal sympathy; for when Sybaris5 was taken by the Crotonians, all the Milesians of every age shaved their heads and
displayed marks of deep mourning; for these two cities had
been more strictly united in friendship than any others we are
acquainted with. The Athenians behaved in a very different
manner; for the Athenians made it evident that they were excessively grieved at the capture of Miletus, both in many other
ways, and more particularly when Phrynichus had composed a
drama of the capture of Miletus, and represented it, the whole
theatre burst into tears, and fined him a thousand drachms for
renewing the memory of their domestic misfortunes; and they
gave order that thenceforth no one should act this drama.
22. Miletus, therefore, was stripped of its Milesian population. But the Samians who had property were by no means
pleased with what had been done by their generals in favor of
the Medes, and determined, on a consultation immediately after the sea-fight, to sail away to a colony, before the tyrant
iEaces should arrive in their country, and not, by remaining,
become slaves to the Medes and LEaces; for the Zanclaeans
of Sicily, at this very time sending messengers to Ionia, invited
the Ionians to Cale Acte, wishing them to found a city of
See B. I. 92, II. 159, and V. 36.    5 See Book V. chap. 44.




23-25.J               ERATO. VI.                    363
Ionians there.  This Cale Acte, as it is called, belongs to. the
Sicilians, and is in that part of Sicily that faces the Tyrrhenians. Accordingly, when they invited them, the Samians
alone of all the Ionians set out, and with them such Milesians
as had escaped by flight. 23. During this time, the following incident occurred.  The Samians, on their way to Sicily,
touched on the country of the Epizephyrian Locrians, and the
Zanclaeans, both they and their king, whose name was Scythes,
were employed in the besieging of a Sicilian city, desiring to
take it; and Anaxilaus, tyrant of Rhegium, who was then at
variance with the Zanclaeans, understanding this, held correspondence with the Samians, and persuaded them that it
would be well not to trouble themselves about Cale Acte, to
which they were sailing, but to seize the city of Zancle, which
was destitute of inhabitants.  The Samians were persuaded,
and possessed themselves of Zancle, whereupon the Zanclaeans,
hearing that their city was occupied, went to recover it, and
called to their assistance Hippocrates, tyrant of Gela, for he
was their ally. But when Hippocrates came with his army,
as if to assist them, he having thrown into chains Scythes,'king of the Zanclaeans, who had already lost his city, and his
brother Pythogenes, sent them away to the city of Inycum.
After having conferred with the Samians, and given and received oaths, he betrayed the rest of the Zanclseans; and this
was the reward agreed upon by the Samians, that he should
have one half of the movables and slaves in the city, and that
Hippocrates should ha-e for his share all that was in the
country. Accordingly, having put in chains the greater part
of the Zanclaans, he treated them as slaves; and three hundred of the principal citizens he delivered to the Samians to
be put to death. The Samians, however, would not do this.
24. Scythes, king of the Zancleans, made his escape from
Inycum to Himera, and from thence passed over into Asia, and
went up to king Darius. Darius considered him the most
just of all the mei who had come up to him from Greece;
for, having asked permission of the king, he. went to Sicily,
and returned back from Sicily to the king, and at last, being
very rich, died among the Persians of old age.  Thus the
Samians, being freed from the Medes, gained without toil the
very beautiful city of Zancle.  25. After the sea-fight which
took place off Miletus, the Phoenicians, by order of the Pcr



364                  HERODOTUS.                  [26-28.
sians, conveyed 2Eaces, son of Syloson, to Samos, as one who
had deserved much at their hands, and had performed great
services. The Samians were the only people of those that revolted from Darius whose city and sacred buildings were not
burned on account of the defection of their ships in the seafight. Miletus being taken, the Persians immediately got possession of Caria; some of the cities having submitted of their
own accord, and others they reduced by force. Now these
things happened thus.
26. While Histiaeus the Milesian was near Byzantium, intercepting the trading ships of the Ionians that sailed out of
the Pontus, news was brought him of what had taken place at
Miletus. He therefore intrusted his affairs on the Hellespont
to Bisaltes, son of Apollophanes of Abydos, and he himself,
having taken the Lesbians with him, sailed to Chios, and engaged with a garrison of Chians, that would not admit him, at
a place called Cceli in the Chian territory; and he killed great
numbers of them; and the rest of the Chians, as they had been
much shattered by the sea-fight, Histiseus, with the Lesbians,
got the mastery of, setting out from Polichne of the Chians.
27. The deity is wont to give some previous warning when
any great calamities are about to befall any city or nation,
and before these misfortunes, great warnings happened to the
Chians; for, in the first place, when they sent to Delphi a
band of one hundred youths, two of them only returned home,
but the remaining ninety-eight a pestilence seized and carried
off; in the next place, about the same time, a little before the
sea-fight, a house in the city fell in upon some boys as they
were learning to read, so that of one hundred and twenty boys
one only escaped. These warnings the deity showed them beforehand. After this, the sea-fight following, threw the city
prostrate; and after the sea-fight, Histieus with the Lesbians
came upon them; and as the Chians had been much shattered,
he easily reduced them to subjection.  28. From thence Histiaeus proceeded to attack Thasus with a large body of lonians
and iEolians; and while he was besieging Thasus, news came
that the Pheenicians were sailing from Miletus against the rest
of Ionia. When he heard this, he left Thasus untaken, and
himself hastened to Lesbos with all his forces; and from Lesbos, because his army was suffering from want, he crossed to
the opposite shore for the purpose of reaping the corn of




29-32.]              ERATO. VI.                     365
Atarneus, and the plain of Caicus, which belonged to the
Mysians. But Harpagus, a Persian, general of a considerable
army, happened to be in those parts; he engaged with him
after his landing, took Histieus himself prisoner, and destroyed the greater part of his army.
29. Histioeus was thus taken prisoner. When the Greeks
were fighting with the Persians at Malene, in the district of
Atarneus, they maintained their ground for a long time, but
the cavalry at length coming up, fell upon the Greeks; then
it was the work of the cavalry; and when the Greeks had betaken themselves to flight, Histiaus, hoping that he should
not be put to death by the king for his present offense, conceived such a desire of preserving his life, that when in his flight
he was overtaken by a Persian, and being overtaken was on
the point of being stabbed by him, he, speaking in the Persian
language, discovered himself to be Histiaeus the Milesian.
30. Now if, when he was taken prisoner, he had been conducted to king Darius, in my opinion he would have suffered
no punishment, and the king would have forgiven him his
fault; but now, for this very reason, and lest, by escaping,
he should again regain his influence with the king, Artaphernes, governor of Sardis, and Harpagus, who received him as soon
as he was conducted to Sardis, impaled his body on the spot,
and having embalmed the head, sent it to Darius at Susa. Darius having heard of this, and having blamed those that had
done it because they had not brought him alive into his presence, gave orders that, having washed and adorned the head
of Histieus, they should inter it honorably, as the remains of
a man who had been a great benefactor to himself and the
Persians. Such was the fate of Histiaeus.
31. The naval force of the Persians having wintered near
Miletus, when it set sail in the second year, easily subdued the
islands lying near the continent, Chios, Lesbos, and Tenedos;
and when they took any one of these islands, the barbarians,
as they possessed themselves of each, netted the inhabitants.
They netted them in this manner. Taking, one another by the
hand, they extend from the northern to the southern sea, and
so march over the island, hunting out the inhabitants. They
also took the Ionian cities on the continent with the same ease;
but they did not net the inhabitants, for that was impossible.
32. Then the Persian generals did not belie the threats which




366                  HERODOTUS.                  [33-35.
they had uttered against the Ionians when arrayed against
them; for when they had made themselves masters of the
cities, they selected the handsomest youths, and castrated
them, and made them eunuchs instead of men, and the most
beautiful virgins they carried away to the king; this they did,
and burned the cities with the very temples. Thus the Ionians
were for the third time reduced to slavery; first by the Lydians, then twice successively by the Persians. 33. The naval
force, departing from Ionia, reduced all the places on the left
of the Hellespont as one sails in; for the places on the right,
being on the continent, had already been subdued by the Persians. The following places on the Hellespont are in Europe:
the Chersonese, in which are many cities, Perinthus, and the
fortified towns toward Thrace, and Selybrie, and Byzantium. The Byzantians, however, aid the Chalcedonians on
the opposite side, did not wait the coming of the Phoenician
fleet, but, having abandoned their country, went inward to
the Euxine, and there founded the city of Mesambria; but
the Phoenicians, having burned down the cities above mentioned, bent their course to Proconnesus, and Artace, and
having devoted these also to flames, sailed back again to the
Chersonese for the purpose of destroying the rest of the cities,
which, when they passed near them before, they had not laid
waste. Against Cyzicus they did not sail at all, for the Cyzicenians had of their own accord submitted to the king before
the arrival of the Phoenicians, having capitulated with (Ebares,
son of Megabazus, governor of Dascylium. All the other cities
of the Chersonese, except Cardia, the Phoenicians subdued.
34. Till that time Miltiades, son of Cimon, son of Stesagoras, was tyrant of these cities, Miltiades, son of Cypselus,
having formerly acquired this government in the following
manner. The Thracian Dolonci possessed this Chersonese;
these Dolonci, then, being pressed in war by the Apsynthians,
sent their kings to Delphi to consult the oracle concerning the
war; the Pythian answered them " that they should take that
man with them to their country to found a colony who, after
their departure from the temple, should first offer them hospitality." Accordingly, the Dolonci, going by the sacred way, went
through.the territories of the Phocians and Boeotians, and when
no one invited them, turned out of theroad toward Athens. 35.
At that time Pisistratus had the supreme power at Athens; but




36, 37.]              ERATO. VI.                    367
Miltiados, son of Cypselus, had considerable Influence. He
was of a family that maintained horses for the chariot-races,
and was originally descended from ]Eacus and lEgina, but in
later times was an Athenian, Philaeus, son of Ajax, having
been the first Athenian of that family. This Miltiades, being
seated in his own portico, and seeing the Dolonci passing by,
wearing a dress not belonging to the country, and carrying
javelins, called out to them; and upon their' coming to him,
he offered them shelter and hospitality. They having accepted his invitation, and having been entertained by him,
made known to him the whole oracle, and:entreated him to
obey the deity. Their words persuaded Miltiades as soon as
he heard them, for he was troubled with the government of
Pisistratus, and desired to get out of his way. He therefore
immediately set out to Delphi to consult the oracle, whether
he should do that which the Dolonci requested of him. 36.
The Pythian having bid him do so, thereupon Miltiades, son
of Cypselus, who had formerly won the Olympic prize in the
chariot-race, taking with him all such Athenians as were willing to join in the expedition, set sail with the Dolonci, and
took possession of the country; and they who introduced him
appointed him tyrant.  He, first of all, built a wall on the
isthmus of the Chersonese, from the city of Cardia to Pactya,
in order that the Apsynthians might not be able to injure
them by making incursions into their country. The width of
this isthmus is thirty-six stades; and from this isthmus, the
whole Chersonese inward is four hundred and twenty stades
in length. 37. Miltiades, then, having built a wall across the
neck of the Chersonese, and by that means repelled the Apsynthians, next made war upon the Lampsacenians; and the
Lampsacenians, having laid an ambush, took him prisoner.
But Miltiades was well known to Crcesus; Croesus therefore,
having heard of this event, sent and commanded the Lampsacenians to release Mailtiades; if not, he threatened that he
would destroy them like a pine-tree. The Lampsacenians,
being in uncertainty in their interpretations as to what was
the meaning of the saying with which Crcesus threatened
them, that he would destroy them like a pine-tree, at length,
with some difficulty, one of the elders, having discovered it,
told the real truth, that the pine alone of all trees, when cut
down, does not send forth any more shoots, but perishes en



G38                   IIHERODOTUS.                [38-41.
tirely; whereupon the Lampsacenians, dreading the power of
Croesus, set Miltiades at liberty.  38. He accordingly escaped
by means of Crcesus, and afterward died childless, having bequeathed the government and his property to Stesagoras, son
of Cimon, his brother by the same mother; and when he was
dead, the Chersonesians sacrificed to him, as is usual to a founder, and instituted equestrian and gymnastic exercises, in which
no Lampsacenian is permitted to contend. The war with the
Lampsacenians still continuing, it also befell Stesagoras to die
childless, being stricken on the head with an axe in the prytaneum by a man who in pretense was a deserter, but was in
fact an enemy, and that a very vehement one.
39. Stesagoras having died in that manner, the JPiistratida thereupon sent Miltiades, son of Cimon, and brother of
Stesagoras who had died, with one ship to the Chersonese, to
assume the government; they had also -treated him with kindness at Athens, as if they had not been parties to the death of
his father Cimon, the particulars of which I will relate in another place.6 Miltiades, having arrived in the Chersonese, kept
himself at home under color of honoring the memory of his
brother Stesagoras; but the Chersonesians having heard of
this, the principal persons of all the cities assembled together
from  every quarter, and having come in a body with the
intention  of condoling with him, were all thrown  into
chains by him. Thus Miltiades: )t possession of the Chersonese, maintaining five hundred auxiliaries, and married
Hegesipyle, daughter of Olorus5e king  of the Thracians.
40. This Miltiades, son of Cimon;-had lately arrived in the
Chersonese; and, after his arrival, other difficulties, greater
than the present,7 befell him; for in the third year before
these things, he fled from the Scythians; for the Scythian nomades, having been provoked by king Darius,-had assembled
their forces, and marched as far as this Chersonese: Miltiades,
not daring to wait their approach, fled from the Chersonese,
until the Scythians departed, and the Dolonci brought him
back again. These things happened in the third year before
the present affairs. 41. Miltiades, having heard that the
LPhonicians were at Tenedos, loaded five triremes with the
6 See chap. 103.
7 By the present difficulties are meant those which I-lerodotus had
begun to relate in chapter 33 of this B6ok.




42, 43.]             ERATO. VI.                     369
property he had at hand, and sailed away for Athens; and
when he had set out from the city of Cardia, he sailed through
the Gulf of Melas, and as he was passing by the Chersonese,
the Phoenicians fell in with his ships. Now Miltiades himself
escaped with four of the ships to Imbrus, but the fifth the
Phoenicians pursued and took: of this ship, Metiochus, the
eldest of the sons of Miltiades, not by the daughter of Olorus
the Thracian, but by another woman, happened to be commander, and him the Phoenicians took, together with the ship.
When they heard that he was son of Miltiades, they took him
up to the king, thinking that they should obtain great favor
for themselves, because Miltiades had given an opinion to the
Ionians advising them to comply with the Scythians when the
Scythians requested them to loose the bridge and return to
thei'r own country,; but Darius, when the Phoenicians had
taken Metiochus, son of Miltiades, up to him, did him no inju.
ry, but many favors; for he gave him a house and estate, and
a Persian wife, by whom he had children, who were reckoned
among the Persians. But Miltiades arrived at Athens from
Imbros.
42. During this year nothing more was done by the Persians relative to the war with the lonians; on the contrary,
the following things were done in this year which were advantageous to the Ionians. Artaphernes, governor of Sardis,
having sent for deputies fr -.the cities, compelled the lonians
to enter into engagements among themselves that they would
submit to legal decisions,..nd not commit depredations one
upon another. This he compelled them to do; and having
measured their lands by parasangs, which name the Persians
give to thirty stades-having measured them into these, he imposed tributes on each, which have continued the same from
that time to the present, as they were imposed by Artaphernes; and they were imposed nearly at the same amount as
they had been before. These things, then, tended to peace.
43. In the beginning of the spring, the other generals having
been dismissed by the king, Mardonius, son of Gobryas, went
down to the coast, taking with him a very large land army,
and a numerous naval force: he was young in years, and had
lately married king Darius's daughter Artazostra.  Mardonius, leading this army, when he arrived in Cilicia, having
gone in person on board ship, proceeded with the rest of the




370                  HERODOTUS.                   [44, 45.
fleet, but the other generals led the land army to the Hellespont.  When Mardonius, sailing by Asia, reached Ionia,
there he did a thing, which, when I mention it, will be
a matter of very great astonishment to those Grecians who
can not believe that Otanes, one of the seven Persians,
gave an opinion that it was right for the Persians to be
governed by a democracy; for Mardonius, having deposed the
tyrants of the Ionians, established democracies in the cities.
Having done this, he hastened to the Hellespont. And when
a vast body of ships and a numerous land army was assembled, having crossed the Hellespont in ships, they marched
through Europe, and directed their march against Eretria and
Athens. 44. These cities, indeed, were the pretext of the
expedition; but purposing to subdue as many Grecian cities as
they could, in the first place they reduced the Thasians with
their fleet, who did not even raise a hand to resist them; and
in the next place, with their land forces they enslaved the Macedonians, in addition to those that were before subject to them;
for all the nations on this side the Macedonians were already
under their power.  Then, crossing over from Thasus, they,
coasted along the continent as far as Acanthus; and proceeding from Acanthus, they endeavored to double Mount Athos,
but a violent and irresistible north wind falling upon them
as they were sailing round, very roughly dealt with a great
number of the ships by driving them against Athos; for it is
said that as many as three hundred ships were destroyed, and
upward of twenty thousand men; for, as this sea around
Athos abounds in monsters, some of them were seized and destroyed by these monsters; and others were dashed against
the rocks, others knew not how to swim and so perished, and
others from cold. Such, then, was the fate of the naval force.
45. Mardonius and the land forces, while encamped in Macedonia, the Thracian Brygi attacked in the night; and the
Brygi slew many of them, and wounded Mardonius himself.
Nevertheless, even they did not escape slavery at the hands
of the Persians; for Mardonius did not quit those parts before he had reduced them to subjection. However, having
subdued them, he led his army back again, having suffered a
disaster with his land forces from the Brygi, and with his
navy a greater one near Athos. Accordingly, this armament,
having met with such disgraceful reverses, retreated into Asia.




46-49.]               ERATO. VI.                    371
46. In the second year after these events, the Thasians having been accused by their neighbors of designing a revolt, Darius sent a messenger and commanded them to demolish their
walls, and to transport their ships to Abdera; for the Thasians, having-been besieged by Histieus the Milesian, and having large revenues, applied their wealtlf in building ships of
war, and fortifying their city with a stronger wall. Their
revenues arose both from the continent and from their mines.
From the gold mines of Scapte-Hyle proceeded in all eighty
talents yearly, and from those in Thasus less indeed than that
amount, yet so much that, as they were exempt from taxes on
the produce of the soil, there came in to the Thasians in all,
from the continent and the mines, a revenue of two hundred
talents yearly; and when the greatest quantity came in, three
hundred talents. 47. I myself have seen these mines; and by
far the most wonderful of them are those which the Phoenicians discovered, who with Thasus colonized this island, which
on that occasion took its name from this Thasus the Phoenician.
These Phoenician mines are in that part of Thasus between a
place called JEnyra and Coenyra, opposite Samothrace: a large
mountain has been thrown upside down in the search. This,
then, is of such a description.  The Thasians, in obedience to
the king, both demolished their walls, and transported all their
ships to Abdera.
48. After this, Darius made trial of what were the intentions
of the Greeks, whether to make war with him, or to deliver themselves up. He therefore dispatched heralds, appointing different persons to go to different parts throughout Greece, with
orders to demand earth and water for the king. These, accordingly, he sent to Greece, and dispatched other heralds to
the tributary cities on the coast, with orders to build ships of
war and transports for horses. 49. They then set about preparing these things; and to the heralds who came to Greece
many of the inhabitants of the continent gave what the Persian
demanded, as did all the islanders to whom they came and made
the demand. Indeed, the other islanders gave earth and water
to Darius, and, moreover, the IEginetae; but when they had
done so, the Athenians forthwith threatened them, thinking
that the 2Eginetm had given earth and water out of ill will toward themselves, in order that they might make war on them
in conjunction with the Persian; they therefore gladly laid




372                  HERODOTUS.                  [50 —52.
hold of the pretext, and going to Sparta, accused the Eginetae
of what they had done, as betraying Greece. 50. On this accusation, Cleomenes, son of Anaxandrides, who -was then king
of the Spartans, crossed over to JEgina, intending to seize the
most culpable of the _Eginetae; but when he attempted to seize
them, others of the ]Eginetse opposed him, and among them
especially Crius, son of Polycritus, who said "that he should
not carry off any one of the ZEginetse with impunity; for that
he was acting as he did without the consent of the commonwealth of the Spartans, being persuaded by bribes from the
Athenians; and that if it had not been so, he would have
come with the other king to seize them."  He said this in consequence of a message from Demaratus. But Cleomenes, being
driven from 1Agina, asked Crius what his name was; and he
told him the truth; whereupon Cleomenes said to him, "Now
then tip your horns with brass, 0 Crius,8 as you will have to
contend with great misfortunes."  51. Mieanwhile Demaratus, son of Ariston, who was likewise king of the Spartans, but
of an inferior family, remaining in Sparta, aspersed the conduct of Cleomenes: he was in no other respect inferior, for
they were sprung from the same origin, but somehow the
family of Eurysthenes was more honored on account of seniority.
52. For the Lacedemonians, agreeing with none of the
poets, affirm that Aristodemus himself, son of Aristomachus,
son of Cleodaeus, son of Hyllus, being king, brought them to
the country which they'now inhabit, and not the sons of
Aristodemus; and that after no long time Aristodemus's wife,
whose name was Argia, brought forth: they say that she
was daughter of Autesion, son of Tisamenes, son of Thersander, son of Polynices; and that she brought twins; and
that Aristodemus, having looked on the children, died of disease: that the Lacedaemonians of that day resolved, according to custom, to make the eldest of the children king; but
they knew not which to choose, since they were alike, and of
equal size. Being unable to determine, they then, or perhaps
before, asked the mother; she replied "that she herself was
unable to distinguish:" she said this, although she knew very
well, but was desirous, if it were possible, that both should be
made kings. That the Lacedaemonians were consequently in
8 Crius signifies "a rain."




53, 54.]            ERATO. VI.                      373
doubt, and being in doubt, sent to Delphi, to inquire of the
oracle what they should do in the matter.  They add that the
Pythian bade them consider both the children as kings, but to
honor the eldest most. This answer the Pythian gave them;
but the Lacedemonians, being still in doubt how they should
discover the eldest of them, a Messenian, whose name was
Panites, made a suggestion to them.  This Panites made the
following suggestion to the Lacedaemonians, to observe which
of the two children the mother would wash and feed first; and
if she should be found constantly doing the same, they would
then have all they were seeking for and desired to know; but
if she should vary; attending to them interchangeably, it would
be evident to them that she knew no more than they did  and
then they must have recourse to some other expedient. Thereupon the Spartans, in pursuance of the suggestion of the Messenian, having watched the mother of Aristodemus's children,
discovered that she constantly gave one the preference both -in
feeding and washing, she not knowing why she was watched.
Therefore, considering that the child which was honored by
its mother was the eldest, they educated it in the palace;
and to him the name of Eurysthenes was given, and to the
younger, Procles. They say that both these, though brothers,
when they had reached manhood, were at variance with each
other throughout the whole course of their lives, and that
their descendants continued to be so. 53. The Lacedaemonians alone of the Grecians give this account; but I now describe these things in the way they are told by the rest of the
Grecians; for they say that these kings of the Dorians up to
Perseus, son of Danae, the deity being omitted, are rightly enumerated by the Greeks, and are proved to have been Greeks;
for even at that time they were ranked among the Greeks. I.
have said up to Perseus for this reason, and have not carried
it any higher, because no surname of any mortal father is attributed to Perseus, as Amphitryon to Hercules.  I have,
therefore, with good reason, and correctly, said up to Perseus;
but if we reckon their progenitors upward from Danae, daughter of Acrisius, the leaders of the Dorians will prove to have
been originally Egyptians. Such is the genealogy according
to the account of the Greeks. 54. But as the account of the
Persians is given, Perseus himself, being an Assyrian, became
a Greek, though the ancestors of Perseus had not been so; but




374                   HERODOTUS.                 [55-57.
that the progenitors of Acrisius, being in no way related to
Perseus, were Egyptians, as the Greeks also say. 55. Let this,
then, suffice for this subject. But why, being Egyptians, and
by what exploits, they obtained the sovereignty of the Dorians,
I will omit to mention, as others have spoken of these matters.
But such particulars as others have not taken in hand, of these
I will make mention.
56. The Spartans have given the following privileges to
their kings: two priesthoods, that of the Lacedaemonian
Jupiter, and that of the Celestial Jupiter; and to levy war
against whatever country they please; and no one of the
Spartans may impede this, otherwise he falls under a curse.
When they march out to war, the kings go first, and retire
last; and a hundred chosen men guard them in the field.
During the expeditions, they sacrifice as many cattle as they
please, and take as their own share the skins and chines of
all the victims. These are their privileges in time of war.
57. The others, those during peace, have been given them as
follows. If-any one make a public sacrifice, the kings sit first
at the feast, and are first served, each receiving double of
whatever is given to the other guests. They have the right
of beginning the libations, and are entitled to the skins of the
cattle that are sacrificed. At every new moon, and.on6the
seventh day of the current month, a perfect victim is presented to each of them, at the public charge, for the temple of
Apollo; and a medimnus of meal, and a Laconian. quart of
wine. At all public games they have seats appointed by way
of distinction; andit is their prerogative to appoint such
citizens as they please to be Proxeni;9 and also to choose
each two Pythii. The Pythii are persons who are sent to
consult the oracle at Delphi, and are maintained with the
kings at the public charge. When the kings do not come to
the banquet, two choenices of flour and a cotyle of wine are
sent home to each of them; but when they are present, a
double portion of every thing is given them; and when invited to a banquet by private persons, they are honored in
the same manner. They have the keeping of the oracles that
are pronounced, but the Pythii are also privy'to them. The
kings alone have to determine the following matters only:
with respect to a virgin heiress, who is to marry her, if her
9 Officers appointed to receive and entertain foreign embassadors.




58-60.]               ERATO. VI.                    375
father has not betrothed her; and with respect to the public
highways; and if any one desires to adopt a son, it must be
done in presence of the kings. They assist at the deliberations
of the senators, who are twenty-eight in number; and if they
do not attend, those of the senators who are most nearly connected with them  enjoy the privileges of the kings, giving
two votes, and a third, their own. 58. These privileges are
given to the kings by the commonwealth of the Spartans during life; and when they die, the following. Horsemen announce through all Laconia what has happened; and women,
going through the city, beat a caldron; when this accordingly is done, it is necessary for two free people of each
house, a man and a woman, to make themselves squalid in
token of grief; and if they neglect to do so, heavy fines are
imposed on them. The Lacedemonians have the same custom
with regard to the deaths of their kings as the barbarians in
Asia; for most of the barbarians observe the same custom
with respect to the deaths of their kings; for when a king of
the Lacedaemonians dies, it is required that from the whole
territory of Lacedamon, besides' the'Spartans, a certain
number of the neighboring inhabitants should of necessity
attend the funeral: when accordingly many thousands of
these, and of the Helots,and of the Spartans themselves, have
assembled together in one place, they promiscuously with the
women strike their foreheads vehemently, and give themselves
up to unbounded lamentation, affirming that the king who'
died last was the best they ever had. Should one of their
kings die in war, having prepared his effigy, they expose it to
public view on a couch richly ornamented; and when they
have buried him, no assembly takes place for ten days, nor is
a meeting held for the election of magistrates, but they mourn
during those days. 59. They also resemble the Persians
in this other respect: when, on the death of a king, another
king is appointed, he, on his accession, releases whatever debts
may be due from any Spartan to the king or the public; and so
among the Persians, a newly-appointed king remiits to all the
cities the arrears of tribute then due. 60. In this respect also
the Lacedamonians resemble the Egyptians: their heralds, musicians, and cooks succeed to their fathers' professions; so that
a musician is son of a musician, a cook of a cook, and a herald
of a herald;'nor do others, on account of the clearness of their




376                  HERODOTUS.                   [61, 62.
voice, apply themselves to this profession and exclude others;
but they continue to practice it after their fathers. These
things, then, are so.
61. At that time, therefore, while Cleomenes was at IEgina,
and co-operating for the common good of Greece, Demaratus
accused him; not so much caring for the iEginetae, as moved
by envy and hatred. But Cleomenes, having returned from
AEgina, formed a plan to deprive Demaratus of the sovereignty,
getting a handle against him by means of the following circumstance. When Ariston reigned in Sparta, and had married
two wives, he had no children; and as he did not acknowledge
himself to be the cause of this, he married a third wife; and
he married her in this manner. He had a'fiend who was a
Spartan, to whom he was more attached than to any other of
the citizens. The wife of this man happened to be by far the
most beautiful of all the women in Sparta, and this, moreover,
having become the most beautiful from being the most ugly;
for her nurse, perceiving that she was misshapen, and knowing her to be the daughter of opulent persons, and deformed,
and seeing, moreover, that her parents considered her form a
great misfortune, considering these several circumstances, devised the following plan. She carried her every day to the
temple of Helen, which is in the place called Therapne, above
the temple of Phoebus. When the nurse brought the child
there, she stood before the image, and entreated the goddess
to free the child from its deformity. And it is related that
one day, as the nurse was going out of the temple, a woman
appeared to her, and having appeared, asked what she was
carrying in her arms; and she answered that she was carrying an infant; whereupon she bid her show it to her, but the
nurse refused, for she had been forbidden by the parents to
show the child to any one. The woman, however, urged her by
all means to show it to her, and the nurse, seeing that the
woman was so very anxious to see the child, at length showed
it; upon which she, stroking the head of the child with her
hands, said that she would surpass all the women in Sparta in
beauty; and from that day her appearance began to change.
When she reached the age for marriage, Agetus, son of Alcides, married her; this, then, was the friend of Ariston.
62. Now love for this woman excited Ariston; he, therefore,
had recourse to the following stratagem. He promised he




63-65.]               ERATO. VI.                    377
would give his friend, whose wife this woman was, a present
of any one thing he should choose out of all his possessions,
and required his friend in return to do the like to him. He,
having no apprehension on account of his wife, seeing that
Ariston already had a wife, assented to the proposal; and
they imposed oaths on each other on these terms. Accordingly, Ariston himself gave the thing, whatever it was, which
Agetus chose out of all his treasures; and himself claiming to
obtain the same compliance from him, thereupon attempted to
carry off his wife with him. Agetus said that he had assented to any thing but this only; nevertheless, being compelled
by his oath, and circumvented by deceit, he suffered him to
take' her away with him. 63. Thus, then, Ariston took to
himself a third wife, having put away the second. But
in too short a time, and before she had completed her ten
months, this woman bore Demaratus; and as he was sitting
on the bench with the Ephori, one of his servants announced
to him that a son was born to him; but he, knowing the time
at which he married the woman, and reckoning the months on
his fingers, said with an oath, " It can not be mine."  This
the Ephori heard. However, at the time, they took no notice. The child grew up, and Ariston repented of what he had
said, for he was fully persuaded that Demaratus was his son.
He gave him the name of Demaratus for this reason: before
this the Spartans had made public supplications that Ariston,
whom they esteemed the most illustrious of all the kings that
had ever reigned in Sparta, might have a son. For this reason the name of Demaratus' was given to him. 64. In process of time Ariston died, and Demaratus obtained the sovereignty.. But it was fated, as it appears, that these things,
when made known, should occasion the deposition of Demaratus from the sovereignty, for Demaratus had incurred the
hatred of Cleomenes, because he had before led away the army
from Eleusis,2 and now more particularly when Cleomenes
had crossed over against those }Eginetae who were inclined to
Medism.  65. Cleomenes, then, being eager to avenge himself,
made a compact with Leutychides, son of Menares, son of
Agis, who was of the same family with Demaratus, on condition, that if he should make him king instead of Demaratus,
Demaratus means " granted to the prayers of the people."
2 Soo B. V. chap. 75.




37 8                 IIERODOTUS.                  [66, 67.
he should accompany him against the Eginete. - Leutychides
had become an enemy to Demaratus chiefly for this reason.
When Leutychides was affianced to Percalus, daughter of
Chilon, son of Demarmenes, Demaratus, having plotted against
him, disappointed Leutychides of his marriage, having himself anticipated him by seizing Percalus and retaining her as
his wife. In this manner the enmity of Leutychides to Demaratus originated, and now, at the instigation of Cleomenes,
Leutychides made oath against Demaratus, affirming "that he
did not legitimately reign over the Spartans, not being the son
of Ariston;" and after making oath against him, he prosecuted
him, recalling the words which Ariston spoke, when the servant announced that a son was born to him; whereupon he,
reckoning the months, denied with an oath, saying "that it
was not his."  Leutychides, insisting on this declaration, maintained that Demaratus was neither the son of Ariston, nor
rightful king of Sparta; and he adduced as witnesses those
Ephori who were then sitting by the king, and heard these
words of Ariston.  66. At length, the matter coming to a
trial,3 the Spartans determined to inquire of the oracle at
Delphi "whether Demaratus was the son of Ariston."  But
the matter being referred to the Pythian at the instance of
Cleomenes, Cleomenes thereupon gained over one Cobon, son
of Aristophantus, a man of very great influence at Delphi;
and Cobon prevailed with Perialla, the prophetess, to say what
Cleomenes wished to be said. The Pythian accordingly, when
the persons sent to consult the oracle made the inquiry, decided that Demaratus was not the son of Ariston. In after
time this came to be known, and Cobon fled from Delphi, and
Perialla, the prophetess, was deposed from her office.
67. Thus, then, it happened with respect to the deposition of
Demaratus from the sovereignty. But Demaratus fled from
Sparta to the Medes on account of the following insult. After
his deposition frori the sovereignty, he was chosen to and held
the office of magistrate. The Gymnopaedim4 were being celebrated; and, when Demaratus was looking on, Leutychides,
who had been appointed king in his room, sent a servant and
3 Baehr has pointed out the proper meaning of the word vedicog in
this passage.
4 An annual festival at Sparta, at which boys danced naked, and
performed various athletic exercises.




68- 69.]             ERATO. VI.                     379
asked him,.by way of ridicule and mockery, "what kind of
thing it was to be a magistrate after having been a king6"'
But he, being vexed with the question, answered, "that he
indeed had tried both, but Leutychides had not; however,
that this question would be the commencement either of infinite calamity or infinite prosperity to the Lacedaemonians."
Having spoken thus and covered his face, he went out of the
theatre to his own house, and having immediately made preparation, he sacrificed an ox to Jupiter, and having sacrificed,
called for his mother.  68. When his mother came, he placed
part of the entrails in her hands, and supplicated her, speaking as follows: "'MVother, I beseech you, calling to witness
both the rest of the gods and this Hectsean Jupiter, to tell me
the truth, who is in reality my father; for Leutychides affirmed on the trial that you, being pregnant by your former
husband, so came to Ariston: others tell even a more idle
story, and say you kept company with one of the servants, a
feeder of asses, and that I am his son. I adjure you, therefore,
by the gods to speak the truth; for even if you have done any
thing of what is said, you have not done it alone, but with
many others; moreover, the report is common in Sparta that
Ariston was incapable of begetting children, for that otherwise
his former wives would have had offspring." Thus he spoke.
69. She answered as follows: " Son, since you implore me with
supplications to speak the truth, the whole truth shall be told
you. When Ariston had taken me to his own house, on the
third night from the first, a spectre resembling Ariston came
to me, and having lain with me, put on me a crown that it
had: it departed, and afterward Ariston came, but when he
saw me with the crown, he asked who it was that gave it me.
I said he did, but he would not admit it, whereupon I took an
oath, and said that he did not well to deny it, for that, having
come shortly before and lain with me, he had given me the
crown. Ariston, seeing that I affirmed with an oath, discovered that the event was superhuman; and, in the first place,
the crown proved to have come from the shrine situate near
the palace gates, which they call Astrabacus's; and, in the next
place, the seers pronounced that it was the hero himself. Thus,
then, my son, you have all that you wish to know; for you
are sprung either from that hero, and the hero Astrabacus is
your father, or Ariston, for I conceived you in that night.




380                   IERODOTUS.                 [70-72.
As to that with which your enemies most violently attack you,
affirming that Ariston himself, when your birth was announced
to him, in the presence of many persons, denied you were his,
for that the time, ten months, had not yet elapsed, he threw
out those words through ignorance of such matters, for women
bring forth at nine months and seven, and all do not complete
ten months. But I bore you, my son, at seven months, and
Ariston himself knew not long after that he had uttered those
words thoughtlessly. Do not listen to any other stories respecting your birth, for you have heard the whole truth; and
from feeders of asses may their wives bring forth children to
Leutychides and such as spread such reports."  Thus she
spoke. 70. But he, having learned what he wished, and having taken provisions for his journey, proceeded to Elis, pretending that he was going to Delphi to.consult the oracle; but
the Lacedaemonians, suspecting that he was attempting to
make his escape, pursued him, and by some means Demaratus
got the start of them, crossing over from Elis to Zacynthus;
but the Lacedaemonians, having crossed over after him, laid
hands on him and took away his attendants. But afterward,
for the Zacynthians would not give him up, he crossed over
from thence to Asia to king Darius, and he received him honorably, and gave him land and cities. Thus Demaratus arrived
in Asia, having met with such fortune, being renowned in
many other respects among the Lacedaemonians, both by his
deeds and counsels, and, moreover, having obtained an Olympic victory with a four-horse chariot, he procured this honor
for his native city, being theonly one of all the kings of Sparta
who had done this.
71. Leutychides, son of Menares, when Demaratus was deposed, succeeded to the kingdom. A son was born to him
named Zeuxidemus, whom some of the Spartans called Cyniscus. This Zeuxidemus was never king of Sparta, for he died
before Leutychides, leaving a son, Archidamus. Leutychides, being bereaved of Zeuxidemus, married a second wife,
Eurydame, who was sister of Menius, and daughter of
Diactorides; by her he had no male offspring, but a daughter, Lanpito; her Archidamus, son of Zeuxidemus, married,
Leutychides having bestowed her upon him. 72. However,
Leutychides did not grow old in Sparta, but made the following reparation, as it were, to Demaratus. He commanded the




73-75.]               ERATO. VI.                      381
Lacedmemonian army in Thessaly, and when it was in his
power to have reduced the whole country/to subjection, he accepted a large sum of money as a bribe; and being caught in
the-very act, sitting there in the camp on a sleeve full of silver, he was banished. from Sparta, having been brought before a court of justice.  His house was razed, and he fled to
Tegea, where he died.  These events happened some time
after.
73. When Cleomenes had succeeded in his design against
Demaratus, he immediately took Leutychides with him, and
went against the JEginete, bearing a deep grudge against
them on account of the insult he had received. The AEginetae
accordingly thought proper to make no farther resistance, as
both kings were coming against them; they, therefore, having
selected ten of the iEginetaa, the most eminent both in wealth
and birth, and among them  Crius, son of Polycritus, and
Casambus, son of Aristocrates, who had the chief authority,
and having carried them away to Attica, they delivered them
as a pledge to the Athenians, the greatest enemies of the
2Eginetse.  74. After this, fer of the Spartans seized upon
Cleomenes, when discovered to have employed wicked artifices against Demaratus, and he withdrew secretly to Thessaly;
and from thence passing into Arcadia, he began to form new
designs, rousing the Arcadians against Sparta, and engaging
them both by other oaths to follow him wherever he should
lead them; and, moreover, he was desirous of leading the
chief men of the Arcadians to the city of Nonacris, to make
them swear by the water of the Styx, for in that city the
water of the Styx is by the Arcadians said to be. And it is
of the following description: a small quantity of water is seen
and drops from a rock into a hollow, and a fence of masonry
surrounds the hollow.  Nonacris, in which this fountain
happens to be, is a city of Arcadia near Pheneum.  75.
The Lacedemonians, being informed that Cleomenes was
acting thus, through fear restored him  to Sparta on the
same terms as those on which he had reigned before; but
as soon as he had returned, madness seized him, though
he was before somewhat cjazed; for whenever he met any
one of the Spartans,.he used to thrust the sceptre into his
face.  When he was found to do this, and to be clearly out of
his mind, his relations confined him in wooden fetters; but he




382                   HERODOTUS.                   [76, 77.
being so confined, and seeing a single guard left alone by the
rest, asked for a knife; and when the guard at first refused to
give it, he threatened what he would do to him hereafter, till at
last the guard, fearing his threats, for he was one of his Helots,
gave him a knife. Then Cleomenes, having got hold of the
blade, began to mutilate himself from the legs, for having cut
the flesh lengthwise, he proceeded from the legs to the thighs,
and from the thighs to the hips and loins; at last he came to
the belly, and having gashed this, in that manner he died; as
most of the Grecians say, because he persuaded the Pythian
to say what she did concerning Demaratus; but as the
Athenians alone say, because, when he invaded Eleusis, he cut
down the grove of the goddesses.5 but as the Argives say,
because he, having called out those Argives who had fled from
battle, from their sacred precinct of Argus, massacred them,
and, holding the grove itself in contempt, set it on fire.
76. For when Cleomenes consulted the oracle at Delphi,
an answer was given him that he. should take Argos. When,
therefore, leading the Spartans, he arrived at the river Era,
sinus, which is said to flow from the Stymphalian lake, for
that this lake, discharging itself into an unseen chasm, reappears in Argos, and from that place this water is, by the
Argives, called Erasinus-Cleomenes, therefore, having arrived at this river, offered te sacrifice to it; but as the victims by
no means gave a favorable omen for his passing over, he said
that he admired the Erasinus for not betraying its people, yet
the Argives should not even thus escape with impunity. After
this, having retired, he marched his forces to Thyrea; and having sacrificed a bull to the sea, he conveyed them in ships to the
Tirynthian territory and Nauplia.  77. The Argives, being informed, of this, went out to meet them on the coast; and when
they were near Tiryns, at that place to which the name of Sepia
is given, they encamped opposite the Lacedaemonians, leaving
no great space between the two armies. There, then, they were
not afraid of coming to a pitched battle, but lest they should
be taken by stratagem; for it was to this-event the oracle
had reference which the Pythian pronounced in common to
them and the Milesians,6 running thus: "When the female,
having conquered the male, shall drive him out, and obtain
5 Ceres and Proserpine.
/For the part of the oracle relating to the Milesians, see chap. 19.




78-81.]             ERATO. VI.                    383
glory among the Argives, then shall she make many of the
Argive women rend their garments; so that one of future
generations shall say, a terrible triple-coiled serpent has
perished, overcome by the spear."  All these things concurring, spread alarm among the Argives, therefore they resolved to avail themselves of the herald of the enemy; and
having so resolved, they did as follows: when the Spartan
herald gave any signal to the Lacedaemonians, the Argives
did the same. 78. Cleomenes, having observed that the Argives did whatever his herald gave the signal for, ordered his
troops, when the herald should give the signal for going to
dinner,, then to seize their arms, and advance against the
Argives. This, accordingly, was accomplished by the Lacedamonians, for they fell upon the Argives as they were taking
their dinner, according to the herald's signal; and they killed
many of them, and a far greater number, who had taken
refuge in the grove of Argus, they surrounded and kept watch
over. 79. Cleomenes then adopted the following course:
having some deserters with him, and having received information from them, he sent a herald and called them out, summoning by name those Argives who were shut up in the sacred
precinct; and he called them out, saying that he had received
their ransom; but the ransom among the Peloponnesians is a
fixed sum of two minae to be paid for each prisoner. Cleomenes therefore, having called them out severally, put to death
about fifty of the Argives; and somehow this went on unknown to the rest who were within the precinct; for as the
grove was thick, those within did not see those without, or
what they were doing, until at last one of them, getting up
into a tree, saw what was being done. They, therefore, no
more went out when called for. 80. Thereupon Cleomenes
ordered all the Helots to heap up wood around the grove, and
when they had executed his orders, he set fire to the grove.
When all was in a flame, he asked one of the deserters to
which of the gods the grove belonged; he said that it belonged to Argus. Cleomenes, when he heard this, uttering a
deep groan, said, "O  prophetic Apollo! thou hast indeed
greatly deceived me in saying that I should take Argos. I
conjecture thy prophecy is accomplished."  81. After this,
Cleomenes sent away the greater part of his army to Sparta;
and he himself, taking a thousand chosen men with him, went




384                  HERODOTUS.                  [82-84.
to offer sacrifice at the temple of Juno; but when he wished
himself to- offer sacrifice on the altar, the priest forbade him,
saying that it was not lawful for a stranger to offer sacrifice
there; upon which Cleomenes commanded the Helots to drag
the priest from the altar and scourge him, while he himself
sacrificed;'and having done this, he went away to Sparta.
82. On his return, his enemies, accused him before the Ephori,
alleging that he had been bribed not to take Argos, when he
might easily have taken it. He said to them, whether speaking falsely or truly I am unable to say for certain; he affirmed, however, "that when he had taken the sacred precinct of
Argus, he thought that the oracle of the god was accomplished, and therefore he did not think it right to attempt the city,
before he had had recourse to victims, and ascertained whether the god would favor or obstruct him; and that while he
was sacrificing favorably in the temple of Juno, a flame of fire
shone forth from the breast of the image; and thus he learned
for certain that he should not take Argos; for if it had shone
forth from the head of the image, he should have taken the
city completely; but as it shone forth from the breast, he
thought that every thing had been done by him which the
deity wished to happen."  In saying this, he appeared to the
Spartans to say what was credible and reasonable, and was
acquitted by a large majority. 83. Argos, however, was left
so destitute of men, that their slaves had the management of
affairs, ruling and administering them, until the sons of those
who had been killed grew up. Then they, having recovered
Argos, expelled the slaves; and the slaves, being driven out,
took Tiryns by assault.  For a time concord subsisted between
them, but then there came to the slaves one Cleander, a prophet, who was by birth a Phigalean of Arcadia; he persuaded
the slaves to attack their masters. From this circumstance
there was war between them for a long time, till at last the
Argives with difficulty got the upper hand.
84. Now the Argives say that on this account Cleomenes
became mad and perished miserably; but the Spartans themselves say that Cleomenes became mad from no divine influence, but that by associating with the Scythians he became
a drinker of unmixed wine, and from  that cause became
mad; for that the Scythian nomades, since Darius had invaded their country, were afterward desirous to take venge



85, 86.]             ERATO. VI.                     385
ance on him, and having sent to Sparta to make an alliance,
and agree that the Scythians themselves should endeavor to
make an irruption into Media near the river Phasis, and to
urge the Spartans to set out from Ephesus, and march upward, and then for both armies to meet at the same place.
They say that Cleomenes, when the Scythians came for this
purpose, associated with them too intimately; and being more
intimate with them than was proper, contracted from them a
habit of drinking unmixed wine; and the Spartans think
that he became mad from this cause. And from that time,
as they themselves say; when they wish to drink stronger
drink, they say, " Pour out like a Scythian."  Thus, then, the
Spartans speak concerning Cleomenes. But Cleomenes appears to me to have suffered this retribution on account of
Demaratus.
85. When the JEginette were informed of the death of
Cleomenes; they sent embassadors to Sparta to complain loudly against Leutychides, on account of the hostages detained at
Athens; and the Lacedemonians, having assembled a court
of judicature, determined that the AEginete had been very
much injured by Leutychides, and condemned him to be
deliv6red up and taken to }Egina, in the place of the men
who were detained at Athens. But when the 1Egineta were
about to take Leutychides away, Theasides, son of Leoprepes,
an eminent man in Sparta, said to them, "Men of AEgina,
what are you going to do, to take away the king of the
Spartans, who has been delivered into your hands by the
citizens'? If the Spartans, yielding to anger, have so decided, take care lest, if you do these things, they hereafter
pour into your country a calamity which will utterly destroy
you."  The JEginete, having heard this, refrained from taking him away, and came to this agreement, that Leutychides
should accompany them to Athens, and restore the men to
the. Eginetae.  86. When Leutychides, on his arrival at
Athens, demanded back the pledges, the Athenians had recourse to evasions, not wishing to give them up; and said
that two kings had deposited them, and it would not be right
to deliver them up to one without the other.  When the
Athenians refused to give them up, Leutychides addressed
them as follows: " 0 Athenians, do whichever you yourselves
wish; for if you deliver them up, you will do what is just,
P.




386                  HERODOTUS.                      [86.
and if you do not deliver them  up, the contrary. I will,
however, tell you what once happened in Sparta respecting
a deposit. We Spartans say, that about three generations
before my time, there lived in Lacedaemon one Glaucus, son
of Epicydes: we relate that this man both attained to the
first rank in all other respects, and also bore the highest character for justice of all who at that time dwelt at Lacedaemon.
We say that in due time the following events befell him. A
certain Milesian, having come to Sparta, wished to have a
conference with him, and made the following statement:'I
am a Milesian, and am come, Glaucus, with the desire of
profiting by your justice; for since throughout all the rest
of Greece, and particularly in Ionia, there was great talk of
your justice, I considered with myself that lonia is continually
exposed to great dangers, and that, on the contrary, Peloponnesus is securely situated, and consequently that with us one
can never see the same persons retaining property. Having,
therefore, reflected and deliberated on these things, I have
determined to change half of my whole substance into silver
and deposit it with you, being well assured that, being placed
with you, it will be safe. Do you, then, take this money,
and preserve these tokens; and whosoever possessing these
shall demand it back again, restore it to him.' (2.) The
stranger who came from Miiletus spoke thus. But Glaucus
received the deposit on the condition mentioned. After a
long time had elapsed, the sons of this man who had deposited
the money came to Sparta, and having addressed themselves
to Glaucus, and shown the tokens, demanded back the money.
Glaucus repulsed them, answering as follows: I neither remember the matter, nor does it occur to me that I know any
of the circumstances you mention; but if I can recall it to
my mind, I am willing to do every thing that is just; and if,
indeed, I have received it, I wish to restore it correctly; but
if I have not received it at all, I shall have recourse to the
laws of the Greeks against you. I therefore defer settling
this matter with you for four months from the present time.
(3.).. The Milesians, accordingly, considering it a great calamity, departed, as being deprived of their money.  But
Glaucus went to Delphi to consult the oracle; and when
he asked the oracle whether he should make a booty of the
money by an oath, the Pythian assailed him in the following




87, 88.]             ERATO. VI.                     387
words:'Glaucus, son of Epicydes,: thus to prevail by an
oath, and to make a booty of the money, will be a present
gain: swear, then; for death even awaits the man who keeps
his oath. But there is a nameless son of Perjury, who has
neither hands nor feet; he pursues swiftly, until, having
seized, he destroys the whole race, and all the house. But
the race of a man who keeps his oath is afterward more
blessed.' Glaucus, having heard this, entreated the god to
pardon the words he had spoken; but the Pythian said that
to tempt the gods and to commit the crime were the same
thing.  Glaucus, therefore, having sent for the Milesian
strangers, restored them the money. With what design this
story has been told you, 0 Athenians, shall now be mentiqned. There is at present not a single descendant of Glaucus, nor any house which is supposed to have belonged to
Glaucus; but he is utterly extirpated from Sparta. Thus it
is right to have no other thought concerning a deposit than to
restore it when it is demanded."  Leutychides having said
this, but finding the Athenians did not even then listen to him,
departed.
87. But the 1Eginetae, before they received punishment for
the injuries they had done to the Athenians, to gratify the
Thebans,7 acted as follows. Being offended with the Athenians, and thinking themselves injured, they prepared to revenge themselves on the Athenians; and as the Athenians
happened to have a five-benched galley at Sunium, they
formed an ambuscade and took the ship Theoris,s filled with
the principal Athenians; and having taken the men, they put
them in chains. 88. The Athenians, having been treated thus
by the 2Eginetse, no longer delayed to devise all sorts of plans
against them. Now there was in ]Egina/ an eminent man
named Nicodromus, son of Cncethus; he, being incensed
against the 1Eginetae on account of his former banishment
from  the island, and now hearing that the Athenians were
preparing to do a mischief to the 2Eginetoe, entered into an
agreement with the Athenians for the betrayal of iEgina,
mentioning on what day he would make the attempt, and on
what it would be necessary for them to come to his assistance.
7 See B. V. chap. 80, 81.
s The Theoris was a vessel which was sent every year to Delos to
offer sacrifice to Apollo.




388                   IERODOTUS.                 [89-92.
After this, Nicodromus, according to his agreement with the
Athenians, seized that which is called the old town.  89. The
Athenians, however, did not arrive, at the proper time, for
they happened not to have a sufficient number of ships to engage with the AEginete; and while they were entreating the
Corinthians to furnish them with ships, their plan was ruined.
The Corinthians, for they were then on very friendly terms
with them, at their request supplied the Athenians with
twenty ships; and they furnished them, letting them to hire
for five drachmme for each, because by their laws they were
forbidden to give them for nothing. The Athenians, therefore, having taken these and their own, manned seventy ships
in all, and sailed to IEgina, and arrived one day after that
agreed upon.  90. Nicodromus, when the Athenians did nfot
arrive at the proper time, embarked on shipboard and made
his escape from AEgina; and others of the 2Eginetae accompanied him, to whom  the Athenians gave Sunium  for a
habitation; and they, sallying from thence, plundered the.Eginetae in the island.  This, however, happened subsequently.  91. In the mean time, the most wealthy of the
ZEginetse overpowered'the common people, who, together
With Nicodromus, had revolted against them, and afterward
having subdued them, they led them out to execution; and
on this occasion they incurred a guilt which they were unable to expiate by any contrivance; but they were ejected out
of the island before the goddess became propitious to them;
for, having taken seven hundred of the common people prisoners, they led them  out to execution; and one of them,
having escaped from his bonds, fled to the porch of Ceres the
lawgiver, and seizing the door-handle, held it fast; but they,
when they were unable, by dragging, to tear him away, cut off
his hands, and so took him away; and the hands were left
sticking on the door-handles.  92. Thus, then, the AEginetae
treated their own people. But when the Athenians arrived
with their seventy ships, they came to an engagement, and
being conquered in the sea-fight, they called on the same persons as before for assistance, that is, on the Argives. They,
however, would not any longer succor them, but complained
that the ships of the JEginetae, having been forcibly seized
by Cleomenes, had touched on the territory of Argos, and
the crews had disembarked with the Lacedaemonians.  Some




93 —95.              ERATO. VI.                     389
men had also disembarked from Sicyonian ships in the same
invasion; and a penalty was imposed upon them  by the
Argives, to pay a thousand talents, five hundred each. The
Sicyonians, accordingly, acknowledging that they had acted
unjustly, made an agreement to pay one hundred talents, and
be free from the rest; but the AEginete would not. own themselves in the wrong, and were very obstinate. On this account,
therefore, none of the Argives were sent by the commonwealth to assist them; but, on their request, volunteers went
to the number of a thousand: a general, whose name was
Eurybates, and who had practiced for the pentathlon, led
them: the greater number of these never returned home, but
rere slain by the Athenians in lEgina. The general, Eurybates, engaging in single combat, killed three several antagonists in that manner, but was slain by the fourth, Sophanes
of Decelea.  93. The }Eginete, however, having attacked
the fleet of the Athenians when they were in disorder, obtained a victory, and took four of their ships, with the men
on board.
94. War was accordingly kindled between the Athenians
and JEginetae. But the Persian pursued his own design, for
the servant continually reminded him to remember the Athenians, and the Pisistratida  constantly importuned him  and
accused the Athenians; and, at the same time, Darius, laying
hold of this pretext, was desirous of subduing those people
of Greece who had refused to give him earth and water. He
therefore dismissed Mardonius from his command, because he
had succeeded ill in his expedition; and having appointed
other generals, he sent them against Eretria, and Athens,
namzely, Datis, who was a Mede by birth, and Artaphernes,
son of Artaphernes, his own nephew; and he dispatched them
with strict orders, having enslaved Athens and Eretria, to
bring the bondsmen into his presence.  95. When these
generals who were appointed left the king, and reached the
Aleian plain of Cilicia, bringing with them a numerous and
well-equipped army, while they were there encamped the
whole naval force required from each people came up: the
horse-transports were also present, which Darius in the preceding year had commanded his tributaries to prepare. HIaving put the horses on board of these, and having embarked the
land-forces in the ships, they sailed for Ionia with six hundred




390                   HERODOTUS.                   [96-98.
triremes.  From thence they did not steer their ships along
the continent direct toward the Hellespont and Thrace, but,
parting from  Samos, they directed their course across the
Icarian sea, and through the islands; as appears to me, chiefly
dreading the circumnavigation of Athos, because in the preceding year, in attempting a passage that way, they had sustained great loss; and besides, Naxos compelled them, not
having been before captured.  96. When, being carried out
of the Icarian sea, they arrived off Naxos (for the Persians,
bearing in mind what had formerly happened,9 purposed to
attack this place first), the Naxians fled to the mountains,
and did not await their approach: the Persians, therefore,
having seized as many of them  as they could lay hold of,,as slaves, set fire to both the sacred buildings and the city;
and having done this, they proceeded against the rest of the
islands.
97. While they were doing this, the Delians also, abandoning Delos, fled to Tenos; but as the fleet was sailing down
toward it, Datis, having sailed forward, would not permit the
ships to anchor near the island, but farther on, off Rhenea;
and he, having ascertained where the Delians were, sent a
herald and addressed them  as follows: " Sacred men, why
have you fled. forming an unfavorable opinion of me  for
both I myself have so much wisdom, and am so ordered by
the king, that in the region where the two deities' were born,
no harm should be done either to the country itself or its
inhabitants.  Return, therefore, to your houses, and resume
possession of the island." This message he sent to the Delians
by means of a herald; and afterward having heaped up three
hundred talents of frankincense upon the altar, he burned it.
98. Datis, accordingly, having done this, sailed with the army
first against Eretria, taking with him both Ionians and AEoVlians. But after he had put out to sea from thence, Delos
was shaken by an earthquake, as the Delians say, the first
and last time that it was so affected to my time; and the
deity assuredly by this portent intimated to men the evils
that were about to befall them; for during the reigns of
Darius, son of Hystaspes, of Xerxes, son of Darius, and of
Artaxerxes, son of Xerxes-  during these three successive
9 See B. V. ch. 34.             1 Apollo and Diana.




99-101.]              ERATO. VI.                    391
generations, more disasters befell Greece than during the
twenty generations that preceded the time of Darius; partly
brought upon it by the Persians, and partly by the chief men
among them  contending for power; so that it is nothing
improbable that Delos should be moved at that time, having
been until then unmoved; and in an oracle respecting it, it
had been thus written: "I will move even Delos, although
hitherto unmoved."  And in the Grecian language these
nrames mean, Darius, " one who restrains;" Xerxes, "a
warrior;" and Artaxerxes, "a mighty warrior."   Thus,
then, the Greeks may rightly designate these kings in their
language.
99. The barbarians, 1fter they had parted from  Delos,
touched at the islands, and from thence they took with them
men to serve in the army, and carried away the sons of the
islanders for hostages; and when, having sailed round the
islands, they touched at Carystus, as the Carystians would
not give, hostages, and refused to bear arms against their
neighboring dities, meaning Eretria and Athens, they thereupon besieged them and ravaged their country, until at last
the Carystians also submitted to the will of the Persians. 100.
The Eretrians, being informed that the Persian armament was
sailing against them, entreated the Athenians to assist them;
and the Athenians did not refuse their aid, but gave them as
auxiliaries those four thousand men to whom had been allotted the territory of the horse-feeding Chalcidians.2  But the
councils of the Eretrians were not at all sound: they sent for
the Athenians indeed, but held divided opinions; for some of
them proposed to abandon the city, and to retire to the fastnesses of Euboea; but others of them, hoping that they should
derive gain to themselves from the Persians, were planning
to betray their country.  But JEschines, son of Nothon, a
man of rank among the Eretrians, being informed of the views
of both parties, communicated to the Athenians who had come
the-whole state of their affairs, and entreated them to return
to their own country, lest they too should perish. The Athenians followed this advice of 2Eschines, and, having crossed
over to Oropus, saved themselves.  101. In the mean time, the
Persians, sailing on, directed their ships' course to Tamynae,
Chcerea, and  EIgilia, of the Eretrian territory; and having
See B. V. ch. 77.




392                  HERODOTUS.                 [102, 103.
taken possession of these places, they immediately disembarked
the horses, and made preparations to attack the enemy. But
the Eretrians had no thoughts of going out against them and
fighting, but since that opinion had prevailed, that they should
not abandon the city, their only care now was if by any means
they could defend the walls. A violent attack on the walls
ensuing, for six days many fell on both sides, but on the seventh, Euphorbus, son of Alcimachus, and Philargus, son of Cyneus, men of rank among the citizens, betrayed the city to the
Persians. But they, having gained entrance into the city, in
the first place pillaged and set fire to the temples, in revenge
for those that had been burned at Sardis, and, in the next,
they enslaved the inhabitants, in oedience to the commands
of-Darius.
102. Having subdued Eretria and rested a few days, they
sailed to Attica, pressing them very close, and expecting to
treat the Athenians in the same way as they had the Eretrians. Now, as Marathon was the spot in Attica best adapted
for cavalry, and nearest to Eretria,.Hippias, son of Pisistratus,
conducted them there.  103. But the Athenians, when they
heard of this, also sent their forces to Marathon; and ten
generals led them, of whom the tenth was Miltiades, whose
father, Cimon,3 son of Stesagoras, had been banished from
Athens by Pisistratus, son of Hippocrates. During his exile,
it was his good fortune to obtain the Olympic prize in the
four-horse chariot race, and having gained this victory, he
transferred the honor to Miltiades, his brother by the same
mother; and afterward, in the next Olympiad, being victorious with the same mares, he permitted Pisistratus to be proclaimed victor, and having conceded the victory to him, he returned home under terms; and after he had gained another
Olympic prize with these same mares, it happened that he died
by the hands of the sons of Pisistratus, when Pisistratus himSelf was no longer alive: they slew him near the Prytaneum,
having placed men to waylay him by night.  Cimon was
buried in front of the city, beyond that which is called the
road through Ccela, and opposite him these same mares were
buried which won the three Olympic prizes. Other mares
also had already done the same thing, belonging to Evagoras
the Lacedaemonian, but besides these none others.  Stesagoras,
See ch. 39-41.




104 —106.]           ERATO. VI.                    393
the elder of the sons of Cimon, was at that time being educated by his paternal uncle Miltiades in the Chersonese, but the
younger by Cimon himself at Athens, and he had the name
of Miltiades from Miltiades, the founder of the Chersonese.
104. At that time, then, this Miltiades, coming from the Chersonese, and having escaped a twofold death, became general
of the Athenians; for, in the first place, the Phoenicians, having pursued him as far as Imbros, were exceedingly desirous
of seizing him, and carrying him up to the king; and, in the
next, when he had escaped them, and had returned to his owl
country, and thought himself in safety, his enemies thereupon,
having attacked him, and brought him before a court of justice,
prosecuted him for tyranny in the Chersonese; but having escaped these also, he was at length appointed general of the
Athenians, being chosen by the people.
105. And, first, while the generals were yet in the city,
they dispatched a herald to Sparta, one Phidippides, an Athenian, who was a courier by profession, one who attended to
this very business. This man, then, as Phidippides himself
said and reported to the Athenians, Pan met near Mount
Parthenion, above Tegea; and Pan, calling out the name of
Phidippides, bade him ask' the Athenians why they paid no
attention to him, who was well inclined to the Athenians,
and had often been useful to them, and would be so hereafter.
The Athenians, therefore, as their affairs were then in a
prosperous condition, believed that this was true, and erected
a temple to Pan beneath the Acropolis, and in consequence
of that message they propitiate Pan with yearly sacrifices. and
the torch race.  106. This Phidippides, being sent by the
generals at that time when he said Pan appeared to him, arrived in Sparta on the following day after his departure from
the city of the Athenians, and on coming in presence of the
magistrates, he said, "Lacedaemonians, the Athenians entreat
you to assist them, and not to suffer the most ancient city
among the Greeks to fall into bondage to barbarians; for
Eretria is already reduced to slavery, and Greece has become
weaker by the loss of a renowned city." He accordingly delivered the message according to his instructions, and they
resolved indeed to assist the Athenians; but it was out of
their power to do so immediately, as they were' unwilling to
violate the law; for it was the ninth day of the current month,
2




394                  HERODOTUS.                 [107, 108.
and they said they could not march out on the ninth day, the
moon's circle not being full. They therefore waited for the
full moon.
107. Meanwhile Hippias, son of Pisistratus, had led the
barbarians to Marathon, having the preceding night seen the
following vision in his sleep. Hippias fancied that he lay vvih
his own mother; he inferred, therefore, from the dream, that,
having returned to Athens and recovered the sovereignty, he
should die an old man in his own country. He drew this inference from the vision. At that time, as he was leading the
way, he first of all landed the slaves from Eretria on the island
of the Styreans, called 2Egilia; and next he moored the ships
aus they came from Marathon, and drew up the barbarians as
they disembarked on land; and as he was busied in dc&.ig
this, it happened that he sneezed and coughed more violently
than he was accustomed; and as he was far advanced in years,
several of his teeth were loose, so that through the violence of
his cough he threw out one of these teeth; and as it fell on
the sand, he -used every endeavor to find it, but when the tooth
could nowhere be found, he drew a deep sigh, and said to the
by-standers, " This country is not ours, nor shall we be able
to subdue it; whatever share belongeth to me, my tooth possesses."  Hippias accordingly inferred that his vision had been
-thus fulfilled.
108. When the Athenians were drawn up in a place sacred
to Hercules, the Platmeans came to their assistance with all
their forces; for the Plataeans had given themselves up to
the Athenians, and the Athenians had already undergone many
toils on their account; and they gave themselves up on the
following occasion. The Plataeans, being hard pressed by
the Thebans, first offered themselves to Cleomenes, son of
Anaxandrides, and to the Lacedaemonians who happened to
be present. They would not receive them, but addressed
them as follows: " We live at too great a distance, and such
assistance would be of little value to you; for you would often
be enslaved before any of us could be informed of it. We
advise you, therefore, to give yourselves up to the Athenians,
who are your neighbors, and are not backward in assisting."
The Lacedemonians gave this advice, not so much from any
good will to the Platreans, as from a desire that the Athenians
might be subject to toil by being set at variance with the




109.]                 ERATO. VI.                    395
B3ceotians.  The Lacedaemonians accordingly gave this advice to the Plataeans, and they did not disregard it; but when
the Athenians were performing the sacred rites to the twelve
gods, they sat down at the altar as suppliants, and delivered
themselves up. But the Thebans, having heard of this,
niarched against the Plataeans, and the Athenians went to
assist; and as they were about to engage in battle, the Corinthians interfered; for, happening to be present, and mediating between them, at the request of both parties, they prescribed the limits to the country in the following manner:
that the Thebans should leave alone those of the Boeotians
who did not wish to be ranked among the Bceotians.  The
Corinthians, having made this decision, returned home; but
toi6 Boeotians attacked the Athenians as they were departing,
but, having attacked them, were worsted in the battle. The
Athenians, therefore, passing beyond the limits which the
Corinthians had fixed for the Plataeans-passing beyond these,
they made the Asopus and Hysia to be the boundary between
the Thebans and Plataans.  The Plataeans, therefore, gave
themselves up to the Athenians in the manner above described,
and at that time came to assist them at Marathon.
1. The opinions of the Athenian generals were divided;
one party not consenting to engage, "because they were too
few to engage with the army of the Medes;" and the others,
among whom was Miltiades, urging them to give battle. When,
therefore, they were divided, and the worst opinion was likely
to prevail, thereupon, for there was an eleventh voter who
was appointed minister of war among the Athenians, for the
Athenians in ancient times gave the minister of war an equal
vote with the generals, and at that time Callimachus of
Aphidnae was minister of war-to him, therefore, Miltiades
came, and spoke as follows: "It now depends on you, Callimachus, either to enslave Athens, or, by preserving its
liberty, to leave a memorial of yourself to every age, such as
not even Harmodius and Aristogiton have left; for the
Athenians were never in so great danger from the time they
were first a people; and if they succumb to the Medes, it
has been determined what they are to suffer when delivered
up to Hippias; but if the city survives, it will become the
first of the Grecian cities. How, then, this can be brought
to pass, and how the power of deciding this matter depends




396                  HERODOTUS.                [110-112.
on you, I will now proceed to explain. The opinions of us
generals, who are ten, are divided, the one party urging that
we should engage, the other that we should not engage.
Now if we do not engage, I expect that some great dissension arising among us will shake the minds of the Athenians,
so as to induce them to a compliance with the Medes; but if
we engage before any dastardly thought arises in the ninds
of some of the Athenians, if the gods are impartial, we shall
be able to get the better in the engagement. All these things,
therefore, are now in your power, and entirely depend on you;
for if you will support my opinion, your country will be free,
and the city the first in Greece; but if you join with those
who would dissuade us from  an engagement, the contrary
of the advantages I have enumerated will fall to your lot."
110. Miltiades, by these words, gained over Callimachus, and
the opinion of the minister of war being added, it was determined to, engage. Afterward the generals whose opinions had
been given to engage, as the command for the day devolved
upon each of them, gave it up to Miltiades; but he, having
accepted it, would not come to an engagement before his own
turn to command came.
111.  When it came round to his turn, then the Athjpians
were drawn out in the following order for the purpose of engaging. The war-minister, Callimachus, commanded the right
wing, for the law at that time was so settled among the Athenians that the war-minister should have the right wing. He
having this command, the tribes succeeded as they were usually
reckoned, adjoining one another; but the Plataeans were drawn
out last of all, occupying the left wing. Now, ever since that
battle, when the Athenians offer sacrifices and celebrate the
public festivals which take place every five years, the Athenian
herald prays, saying, "'May blessings attend both the Athenians and the Plataeans."  At that time, when the Athenians
were drawn out at Marathon, the following was the case:
their line was equal in extent to the Medic line, but the
middle of it was but few deep, and there the line was weakest;
but each wing was strong in numbers.  112. When they were
thus drawn out, and the victims were favorable, thereupon, the
Athenians, as soon as they were ordered to charge, advanced
against the barbarians in double-quick time; and the space
between them was not less than eight stades. But the Persians,




113-116.]            ERATO. VI.                     397
seeing them charging, at full speed, prepared to receive them;
and they imputed madness to them, and that utterly destructive, when they saw that they were few in number, and that
they rushed on at full speed, though they had no cavalry nor
archers. So the barbarians surmised. The Athenians, however, when they engaged in close ranks with the barbarians,
fought in a manner worthy of record; for they, the first of
all the Greeks whom we know of, charged the enemy at full
speed, and they first endured the sight of the Medic garb, and
the men that wore it; but until that time the very name of
the Medes was a terror to the Greeks.  113. The battle at
Marathon lasted a long time; and in the middle of the line,
where the Persians themselves and the Sacse were arrayed, the
barbarians were victorious; in this part, then, the barbarians
conquered, and having broken the line, pursued to the interior; but in both wings the Athenians and the Platseans were
victorious; and having gained the victory, they allowed the
defeated portion of the barbarians to flee; and having united
both wings, they fought with those who had broken their centre, and the Athenians were victorious. They followed the
Persians, in their flight, cutting them to pieces, till, reaching
the shore, they called for fire and attacked the ships.
114. And, in the first place, in this battle the war-minister,
Callimachus, was killed, having proved himself a brave man;
and among the generals, Stesilaus, son of Thrasylas, perished;
and, in the next place, Cynsegeirus, son of Euphorion, having
laid hold of a ship's poop, had his hand severed by an axe
and fell; and, besides, many other distinguished Athenians
were slain. 115. In this manner the Athenians made themselves masters of seven ships; but with the rest the barbarians,
rowing rapidly back, and after taking off the Eretrian slaves
from the island in which they had left them, sailed round Sunium, wishing to anticipate the Athenians in reaching the
city. The charge prevailed among the Athenians that they
formed this design by the contrivance of the Alcmaeonidse; for
that they, having agreed with the Persians, held up a shield to
them when they were on board their ships.  116. They then
sailed round Sunium. But the Athenians marched with all
speed to the assistance of the city, and were beforehand in
reaching it before the barbarians arrived; and having come
from the precinct of Hercules at Marathon, they took up their




398                  HERODOTUS.               C117-119.
station in another precinct of Hercules at Cynosarges; but the
barbarians, having laid to with their fleet offPhalerum, for this
was at that time the port of the Athenians, having anchored
their ships there for a time, they sailed away for Asia. 117.
In this battle at Marathon there died of the barbarians about
six thousand four hundred men; and of the Athenians, one
hundred and ninety-two: so many fell on both sides. The
following prodigy occurred there: an Athenian, Epizelus, son
of Cuphagoras, while fighting in the medley, and behaving
valiantly, was deprived of sight, though wounded in no part
of his body, nor struck from a distance; and he continued to
be blind from that time for the remainder of his life. I have
heard that he used to give the following account of his loss.
He thought that a large heavy-armed man stood before him,
whose beard shaded the whole of his shield; that this spectre
passed by him, and killed the man that stood by his side. Such
is the account, I have been informed, Epizelus used to give.
118. Datis, on his way back with the armament to Asia,
when he came to Myconus, saw a vision in his sleep: what the
vision was is not related; but he, as soon as day appeared,
caused a search to be made through the ships; and having
found in a Phoenician ship a gilded image of Apollo, he inquired whence it had been robbed; and having learned from
what temple it was, he sailed in his own ship to Delos, and,
as at that time the Delians had come back to the island, he
deposited the image in the temple, and charged the Delians
to convey the image to Delium of the Thebans; that place
is on the coast, opposite Chalcis: Datis, accordingly, having given this charge, sailed away. The Delians, however,
did not convey back this statue, but the Thebans themselves,
twenty years afterward, carried it to Delium, in obedience to
an oracle. 119. Those of the Eretrians who had been enslaved, Datis and Artaphernes, as soon as they reached Asia,
took up to Susa; but king Darius, before the Eretrians
were made captive, harbored deep resentment against them,
as the Eretrians had been the first to begin acts of injustice;
but when he saw them brought into his presence, and subject
to his power, he did them no other harm, but settled them in
the Cissian territory at a station of his own, the name of
which is Ardericca: it is two hundred and ten stades distant
from Susa, and forty from the well which produces three




120-122.]             ERATO. VI.                      399
different Substances; for asphalt, salt, and oil are drawn up
from it in the following manner. It is pumped up by means
of a swipe, and, instead of a bucket, half of a wine-skin is attached to it; having dipped down with this, a man draws it
up and then pours the contents into a receiver; and, being
poured from this into another, it assumes three different forms:
the asphalt and the salt immediately become solid, but the oil
they collect, and the Persians call it rhadinace: it is black, and
emits a strong odor. Here king Darius settled the Eretrians,
who, even to my time, occupied this territory, retaining their
ancient language.  Such things took place with regard to the
Eretrians. 120. Two thousand of the Lacedaemonians came to
Athens after the full moon, making such haste to be in time
that they arrived in Attica on the third day after leaving
Sparta; but having come too late for the battle, they.nevertheless desired to see the Medes; and having proceeded to
Marathon, they saw  the slain; and afterward, having commended the Athenians and their achievement, they returned
home.
121. It is a marvel to me, and I can not credit the report,
that the Alcmoeonidae ever held up a shield to the Persians by
agreement, wishing that the Athenians should be subject to
the barbarians and to Hippias; for they were evidently haters
of tyrants more than, or equally with Callias, son of Phoenippus, and father of Hipponicus; for Callias was the only one
of all the Athenians who, when Pisistratus was driven from
Athens, dared to purchase his goods when put up to sale by
the public crier; and he devised every thing else that was
most hostile to him.  122. This Callias deserves to have frequent mention made of him by every one: first of all, on account of what has been already mentioned, as being a man
ardent in asserting the freedom of his country; and, in the
next place, on account of what he did at Olympia, having been
victorious in the horse-race, and second in the chariot-race,
and having before won the prize in the Pythian games, he was
distinguished among all the Greeks for the greatest munificence.  Moreover, with regard to his daughters, who were
three in number, he behaved in the following manner: when
they were of fit age for marriage, he gave them a most magnifi-'cent present, and gratified their wishes; for he gave each to that
man of all the Athenians whom she wished to select for her own




400                  HERODOTUS.                [123-125.
husband.' 123. And the Alcmaonida were haters of tyrants,
equally with, or not at all less than him. It is therefore a
marvel to me, and I can not admit the charge that they held
up a shield, who at all times shunned the tyrants, and by
whose contrivance the Pisistratidae abandoned the tyranny.4
Thus, in my judgment, these were the persons who liberated
Athens much more than Harmodius and Aristogiton, for
they, by slaying Hipparchus, exasperated the survivors of the
Pisistratide, but did not any the more put an end to the tyranny of the rest; whereas the Alcmaonidae manifestly liberated
their country, if indeed they were the persons who persuaded the
Pythian to enjoin the Lacedemonians to liberate Athens, as I
have already shown.5  124. But, perhaps, having some grudge
against the Athenian people, they betrayed their country?
There were not, however, any other men who were more highly
esteemed among the Athenians than them, or who were more
honored; so that it is not consistent with reason that a shield
was held up by them frpm such a motive.  Still, a shield was
held up; and this can not be denied, for so it was; but who it
was that held it up I am not able to say farther than this.
125. The Alcmoeonidam were even from a very early period
distinguished at Athens; for through Alcmaeor, and again
through Megacles, they became very distinguished. For, in
the first place, Alcmaeon, son of Megacles, was coadjutor to
the Lydians from Sardis, who came on the part of Croesus to
consult the oracle at Delphi,6 and he assisted them zealously;
and Croesus being informed by the Lydians, who had gone to
consult the oracle, that he had done him good service, sent for
him to Sardis,'and when he arrived, presented him with so
much gold as he could carry away at once on his own person.
Alcmaeon, for the purpose of such a present, had recourse to
the following expedient: having put on a large cloak, and
having left a deep fold in the cloak, and having drawn on the
widest boots he could find, he went into the treasury to which
they conducted him; and meeting with a heap of gold-dust, he
first stuffed around his legs as much gold as the boots would
contain; and then, having filled the whole fold with gold, and
having sprinkled the gold-dust over the hair of his head, and
put more into his mouth, he went.out of the treasury, dragging
4 B. V. chap. 62-65.   5 B. V. chap. 63.   6 B. I. chap. 47, 53,55.




126, 127.]           ERATO. VI.                     401
his boots with difficulty, and resembling any thing rather than
a man; for his mouth was stuffed, and he was all over swollen.
Crcesus, when he saw him, burst into laughter; and he gave
him all that, and, besides, presented him with other things not
of less value than it. Thus this family became extremely
rich; and this Alcmaeon, having by these means bred horses,
won the prize in the Olympic games.  126. In the second
generation after, Clisthenes, tyrant of Sicyon, raised the
family, so that it became far more celebrated among the
Greeks than it had been before; for Clisthenes, son of
Aristonymus, son of Myron, son of Andreas, had a daughter
whose name was Agarista: her he resolved to give in marriage to the man whom he should find the most accomplished
of all the Greeks. When, therefore, the Olympian games were
being celebrated, Clisthenes, being victorious in them in the
chariot race, made a proclamation, "that whoever of the
Greeks deemed himself worthy to become the son-in-law of
Clisthenes, should come to Sicyon on the sixtieth day, or even
before; since Clisthenes had determined on the marriage in a
year, reckoning from the sixtieth day." Thereupon such of
the Greeks as were puffed up with themselves and their country came as suitors; and Clisthenes, having made a racecourse and palestra for them, kept it for this very purpose.
127. From Italy, accordingly, came Smindyrides, son of Hippocrates, a Sybarite, who more than any other man reached
the highest pitch of luxury (and Sybaris was at that time in
a most flourishing condition); and Damasus of Siris, son of
Amyris called the Wise: these came from Italy. From the
Ionian gulf, Amphimnestus, son of Epistrophus, an Epidamnian: he came from the Ionian gulf. An _Etolian came,
Males, brother of that Titormus who surpassed the Greeks in
strength, and fled from the society of men to the extremity of
the ZEtolian territory. And from Peloponnesus, Leocedes, son
of Pheidon, tyrant of the Argives, a descendant of that Pheidon who introduced measures among the Peloponnesians, and
was the most insolent of all the Greeks, who, having removed
the Elean umpires, himself regulated the games at Olympia;
his son accordingly came. And Amiantus, son of Lycurgus,
an Arcadian from Trapezus; and an Azenian from the city
of Pos, Laphanes, son of Euphorion, who, as the story is told
in Arcadia, received the Dioscuri in his house, and after that




402                  HERODOTUS.                 [128, 129.
entertained all men; and an Elean, Onomastus, son ofAgaeus:
these accordingly came from the Peloponnesus itself. From
Athens there came Megacles, son of Alcmaeon, the same who
had visited Croesus, and another, Hippoclides, son of Tisander, who surpassed the Athenians in wealth and beauty. From
Eretria, which was flourishing at that time, came Lysanias:
he was the only one from Euboea. And from Thessaly there
came, of the Scopades, Diactorides a Cranonian; and from the
Molossi, Alcon.  128. So many were the suitors. When
they had arrived on the appointed day, Clisthenes made inquiries of their country, and the family of each; then detaining them for a year, he made trial of their manly qualities,
their dispositions, learning, and morals; holding familiar intercourse with each separately, and with all together, and leading
out to the gymnasia such of them as were younger; but most
of all he made trial of them at the banquet; for as long as he
detained them, he did this throughout, and at the same time
entertained them  magnificently.  And somehow, of all the
suitors, those that had come from Athens pleased him most,
and of these Hippoclides, son of Tisander, was preferred both
on account of his manly qualities, and because he was distantly related to the Cypselide in Corinth. 129. When the day
appointed for the consummation of the marriage arrived, and
for the declaration of Clisthenes himself, whom  he would
choose of them all, Clisthenes, having sacrificed a hundred
oxen, entertained both the suitors themselves and all the Sicyonians; and when they had concluded the feast, the suitors had
a contest about music, and any subject proposed for conversation. As the drinking went on, Hippoclides, who much
attracted the attention of the rest, ordered the flute-player to
play a dance; and when the flute-player obeyed, he began to
dance; and he danced, probably, so as to please himself; but
Clisthenes, seeing it, beheld the whole matter with suspicion.
Afterward, Hippoclides, having rested a while, ordered some
one to bring in a table; and when the table came in, he first
danced Laconian figures on it, and then Attic ones; and in the
third place, having leaned his head on the table, he gesticulated with his legs. But Clisthenes, when he danced the first
and second time, revolted from the thought of having Hippoclides for his son-in-law, on account of his dancing and want
of decorum, yet restrained himself, not wishing to burst out




130-133.]              ERATO. VI.                     403
against him; but when he saw him  gesticulating with his
legs, he was no longer able to restrain himself, and said,
"Son of Tisander, you have danced away your marriage."
But Hippoclides answered, " No matter to Hippoclides."
Hence this answer became a proverb.  130. Clisthenes, having commanded silence, thus addressed the assembled company: "Gentlemen, suitors of my daughter, I commend you all,
and, if it were possible, would gratify you all, not selecting
one of you above the others, nor reject the rest; but as it is
not possible, since I have to determine about a single damsel,
to indulge the wishes of all, to such of you as are rejected
from the marriage, I present a talent of silver to each, on account of your condescending to take a wife from my family,
and of your absence from home; but to Megacles, son of Alcmaeon, I betroth my daughter Agarista, according to the laws
of the Athenians."  When Megacles said that he accepted the
betrothal, the marriage was celebrated by Clisthenes. 131.
This happened respecting the decision between the suitors,
and thus the Alcmaeonidne became celebrated throughout
Greece.  From  this marriage sprung Clisthenes, who established the tribes and a democracy among the Athenians, taking his name from his maternal grandfather the Sicyonian; he
was born to Megacles, as was also Hippocrates; and from
Hippocrates, another Megacles, and another Agarista, who
took her name from Agarista, daughter of Clisthenes; she
having married Xanthippus, son of Ariphron, and being with
child, saw a vision in her sleep, and fancied that she brought
forth a lion; and after a few days she bore Pericles to Xanthippus.
132. After the defeat of the Persians at Marathon, Miltiades, who was before highly esteemed among the Athenians,
then still more increased his reputation.  Having, therefore,
asked of the Athenians seventy ships, and troops and money,
without telling them what country he purposed to invade, but
saying that he would make them rich if they would follow
him, for that he would take them to such a country, from
whence they would easily bring abundance of gold; speaking
-thus, he asked for the ships; and the Athenians, elated by
these hopes, granted them.  133. Miltiades, accordingly,
having taken with him the troops, sailed against Paros, alleging as a pretext that the Parians had first begun hostilities




404                  HERODOTUS.                 [134, 135.
by sending a trireme with the Persian to Marathon. This
was his pretended reason; but, in fact, he had a grudge
against the Parians on account of Lysagoras, son of Tisias,
who was a Parian by birth, and had calumniated him to Hydarnes the Persian. Miltiades, having arrived with his forces
at the place to which he was sailing, besieged the Parians,
who were driven within their walls; and, sending a herald to
them, he demanded a hundred talents, saying that if they did
not give him that sum, he would not draw off his army until
he had destroyed them.  The Parians, never entertained
the thought whether they should give Miltiades any money,
but devised means by which they might defend the city; and,
in addition to other plans, they also, in the several parts where
the wall was most exposed to attack, there raised it, during
the night, to double its former height.  134. Up to this point
of the story all the Greeks agree; but after this, the Parians
themselves say that it happened as follows: that when Mliltiades was in a state of perplexity, a captive woman, who was
by birth a Parian, and her name was Timo, conferred with
him; she was an inferior priestess of the infernal goddesses.
When she came into the presence of Miltiades, she advised
him, if he deemed it of great consequence to take Paros, to act
as she should suggest. She then made some suggestion; and
he, coming to the mound that is before the city, leaped over
the fence of Ceres Thesmophora, as he was unable to open the
door; and having leaped over, he went to the temple, for the
purpose of doing something within, either to move some of the,things that may not be moved, or. to do something or other;
and he was just at the door, when suddenly a thrill of horror
came over him, and he went back by the same way; and, in
leaping over the fence, his thigh was dislocated; others say
that he hurt his knee. 135. Miltiades, accordingly, being in
a bad plight, sailed back home, neither bringing money to the
Athenians, nor having reduced Paros, but having besieged it
for six and twenty days, and ravaged the island. The Parians,
being informed that Timo, the priestess of the goddesses, had
directed Miltiades, and desiring to punish her for so doing,
sent deputies to the oracle at Delphi as soon as they were
relieved from the siege: they sent to inquire whether they
should put to death the priestess of the goddesses for having
made known to the enemy the means of capturing her country,




136, 137.]           ERATO. VI.                     405
and for having discovered to Miltiades sacred things, which
ought not to be revealed to the male sex. But the Pythian
did not allow them, saying "that Timo was not to blame for
this, but that it was fated Miltiades should come to a miserable
end, and she had appeared to him as a guide to misfortunes."
The Pythian gave this answer to the Parians.  136. When
Miltiades returned from Paros, the Athenians were loud in
their complaints against him, both all others, and especially
Xanthippus, son of Ariphron, who, bringing a capital charge
against Miltiades before the people, prosecuted him on a charge
of deceiving the Athenians.  Miltiades, though present in
person, made no defense; for he was unable, and his thigh had
begun to mortify. But while he lay on a couch, his friends
made a defense for him, dwelling much on the battle that had
been fought at Marathon, and on the capture of Lemnos;
since, having taken Lemnos, and inflicted vengeance on the
Pelasgians, he had given it up to the Athenians. The people
so far favoring him as to acquit him of the capital offense,
and having fined him fifty talents for the injury he had done,
Miltiades soon after ended his life by the putrefaction and
mortification of his thigh.  His son Cimon paid the fifty
talents.
137. Miltiades, son of Cimon, had possessed himself of
Lemnos in the following manner.  The Pelasgians, when
they had been driven out of Attica by the Athenians, whether justly or unjustly-(for this I am unable to determine, except so far as is related), Hecataeus, however, son of Hegesander, says in his history that it was "unjustly, for that,
when the Athenians saw the lands under Hymettus, which
they had given to the Pelasgians in payment for the wall
they had formerly built upon the Acropolis-when the Athenians saw this well cultivated, which was before barren and
of no value, jealousy and a desire of the land took possession
of them, and so the Athenians drove them out, without alleging any other pretense whatever."  But as the Athenians
say, "they justly expelled them; for that the Pelasgians,
while settled under Mount Hymettus, made incursions from
thence, and committed the following injuries: for that their
daughters and sons used constantly to go for water to the
Nine Springs, because at that time neither they, nor the other
Greeks had domestic servants; and whenever the young worn



406                  HERODOTUS.                 [138, 139.
en went there, the Pelasgians used, out of insolence and
contempt, to offer violence to them; nor were they satisfied
with doing this, but at last they were discovered in the very
act of plotting to attack the city.. They add that they themselves showed themselves so much better men than them, in
that, when it was in their power to put the Pelasgians to death,
since they had found them plotting against them, they would
not do so, but warned them to depart the country; and that
they, accordingly, withdrawing, possessed themselves of other
places; and among them of Lemnos."  Hecataus has given
the former account, and the Athenians give the latter. 138.
But these Pelasgians, who then inhabited Lemnos, and desired to be revenged on the Athenians, being well acquainted
with the festivals of the Athenians, stationed fity-oared galleys and laid an ambuscade for the Athenian women, as they
celebrated the festival of Diana in Brauron, and having carried many of them away from thence, they sailed off, and
taking them to Lemnos, kept them as concubines. But when
these women were fully supplied with children, they instructed their sons in the Attic language and the manners of the
Athenians; they, therefore, would not hold any intercourse
with the sons of the Pelasgian women, but if any one of their
number was beaten by one of them, they all immediately
assisted, and revenged one another; moreover, these boys
thought they had a right to govern the other boys, and proved
far superior to them.  But the Pelasgians, observing this,
consulted together, and, on consideration, considerable alarm
came over them as to what these boys would do when they
were grown up, if they already determined to assist each other
against the sons of their lawful wives, and even now endeavored to rule over them.  Thereupon they resolved to murder
the children they had by the Attic women; and, accordingly,
they did so, and, moreover, put their mothers to death. From
this crime, and that which the women perpetrated before this,
who, with the assistance of Thaos, killed their own husbands,
all enormous actions are wont to be called Lemnian throughout Greece.  139. But when the Pelasgians had murdered
their own children and women, neither did their land yield
fruit, nor were their wives and flocks equally prolific as be,
fore; being, therefore, afflicted by famine and childlessness,
they sent to Delphi to seek for some deliverance from their




140.]              POLYMNIA. VII.                  407
present distresses. But the Pythian bade them  give such
satisfaction to the Athenians as the Athenians themselves
should impose.  The Pelasgians, therefore, went to Athens,
and professed themselves ready to give satisfaction for the
whole injury. But the Athenians, having spread a couch in
the Prytaneum in the handsomest way they were able, and
having placed by it a table full of all sorts of good things,
commanded the Pelasgians to surrender their country to them
in such a condition. But the Pelasgians said, in answer,
"When a ship shall perform the voyage in one day by the
north wind from your country to ours, we will then deliver it
up."  This they- said, supposing that it was impossible the
thing should happen, becaulse Attica lies far to the south of
Lemnos.  140. This took place at that time. But very many
years after this, when the Chersonese in the Hellespont became subject to the Athenians, Miltiades, son of Cimon, at a
time when the Etesian winds prevailed, having performed the
voyage in a ship from Elaus, on the Hellespont, to Lemnos,
required the Pelasgians to quit the island, reminding them of
the oracle, which the Pelasgians expected could never be accomplished.  The Hephestians accordingly obeyed; but the
Myrineans, not acknowledging the Chersonese to be Attica,
were besieged until they also surrendered.  Thus the Athenians and Miltiades got possession of Lemnos.
BOOK VII.
POLYMNIA.
WHEN the news of the battle fought at Marathon reached
Darius, son of Hystaspes, who was before much exasperated
with the Athenians on account of the attack upon Sardis, he
then became much more incensed, and was still more eager to
prosecute the war against Greece. Having, therefore, immediately sent messengers to the several cities, he enjoined them
to prepare an army, imposing on each a much greater number




408                   HERODOTUS.                     [2, 3.
than they had furnished before, and ships, horses, corn, and
transports.  When these orders were proclaimed round about,
Asia was thrown into agitation during the space of three
years, the bravest men being enrolled and prepared for the
purpose of invading Greece; but in the fourth year the Egyptians, who had been subdued by Cambyses,: revolted from the
Persians, whereupon Darius only became more eager to
march against both.: 2. When Darius was preparing for his
expeditions against Egypt and Athens, a violent dissension
arose between his:sons. concerning the sovereignty; for, by
the customs of the Persians, he was obliged to nominate his
successor before he marched out on any expedition. Now
Darius, even before he became king, had three sons born to
him by his former wife, the daughter of Gobryas; and after
his accession to the throne, four others by Atossa, daughter: of.: Cyrus.:Of the former, Artabazanes was the eldest;
of those, after born, Xerxes: and these. two-, not being of the
same. mother, were -at variance.  Artabazanes:' trged that he
was the: eldest of all the sons, and that it was the established
usage among all men that the eldest son should succeed to the
sovereignty.  On the other hand, Xerxes alleged that he was
son of Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, and that it was Cyrus who
had acquired freedom for the Persians. 3. When Darius had
not yet declared his opinion, at this very conjuncture, Demaratus, son of Ariston, happened to come up to Susa, having
been deprived of the kingly office at Sparta,l and having imposed on himself a voluntary exile from Lacedaemon.  This
man, having heard of the difference between the sons of Darius, went to Xerxes, as report says, and advised him to say,
in addition to what he had already said, that " he was born to
Darius after he had become a king, and was possessed of the.empire of the Persians; whereas Artabazanes was born to
Darius while he was yet a private person; wherefore it was
not reasonable or just that any other should possess that dignity in preference to himself, since in Sparta, also," Demaratus
continued:. tol suggest, ".this custom prevailed, that if some
children were born before: their father became king, and one
was born subsequently when he had' now come to the throne,
this last-born son should succeed to the kingdom."  Xerxes
having availed himself of the suggestion of Demnaratus, DaSee B. VI. chap. 70.




4 —6.]             POLYMNIA. VII.                   409
rius, acknowledging that he said what was just, declared him
king. But it appears to me that even without this suggestion
Xerxes would have been made king, for Atossa had unbounded influence.  4. Darius, having appointed Xerxes to be king
over the Persians, prepared to march. However, after these
things,,and in the year after the revolt of Egypt, it happened
that Darius himself, while he was making preparations, died,
having reigned thirty-six years in all; nor was he able to
avenge himself either on the Egyptians, who had revolted, or
on the Athenians. When Darius was dead, the kingdom devolved on his son Xerxes.
5. Xerxes, however, was at first by no means inclined to
make war against Greece, but he levied forces for the reduction of Egypt; but Mardonius, son of Gobryas, who was
cousin to Xerxes, and son of Darius's sister, being present,
and having the greatest influence with him of all the Persians,
constantly held the following language, saying, " Sir, it is not
right that the Athenians, having already done much mischief
to the, Persians, should go unpunished for what they have
done. However, for-the present, finish the enterprise you
have in hand, and when you have quelled the insolence of
Egypt, lead your army against Athens, that you may acquire
a good reputation among men, and any one for the future may
be cautious of marching against your territory."  This language was used by him for the purposes of revenge, but he
frequently made the following addition to it, that " Europe
was a very beautiful country, and produced all kinds of cultivated trees, and was very fertile, and worthy to be possessed
by the king alone of all mortals."  6. I-He spake thus, because he was desirous of new enterprises, and wished to be
himself governor of Greece: in time he effected his purpose,
and persuaded Xerxes to do as he advised, for other things
happening favorably assisted him in persuading Xerxes. In
the first place, messengers coming from Thessaly on the part
of the Aleuadas,Y invited the king, with earnest importunity, to
invade Greece: these Aleuadm were kings of Thessaly; and,
in the next place, those of the Pisistratidae who had gone up
to Susa,.holding the same language as the Aleuadas, still more
eagerly pressed him, having with them Onomacritus, an Athenian, a soothsayer, and dispenser of the oracles of Musaeus;
for they went up to Susa, having first reconciled their former
S




410                  HERODOTUS.                    [7, 8.
enmity with hi;m; for Onomacritus had been banished from
Athens by Hipparchus, son of Pisistratus, having been detected by Lasus the Hermionian in the very act of interpolating among the oracles of Msusaeus one importing that the
islands lying off Lemnos would disappear beneath the sea:
wherefore Hipparchus banished him, although he had before
been very familiar with him. But at that time, having gone
up with them, whenever he came into the presence of the king,
as the Pisistratidae spoke of him in very high terms, he recited
some of the oracles; if, however, there was among them any
that portended misfortune to the barbarians, of these he made
no mention; but, selecting such as were most favorable, he
said it was fated that the HIellespont should be bridged over
by a Persian, describing the march. Thus he continually
assailed2 the king, rehearsing oracles, as did the Pisistratidae
and Aleuadae, by declaring their opinions. 7. When Xerxes
was persuaded to make war against Greece, he then, in the
second year after the death of Darius, first made an expedition
against those who had revolted; and, having subdued them
and reduced all Egypt to a worse state of servitude than it was
under Darius, he committed the government to Achaemenes, his
own brother, and son of Darius.  Some time after, Inarus,3
son of Psammitichus, a Libyan, slew Achmemenes, to whom the
government of Egypt was committed.
8. Xerxes, after the reduction of Egypt, when he was about
to take in hand the expedition against Athens, convoked an assembly of the principal Persians, that he might both hear their
opinions, and himself make known his intentions before them all.
When they were assembled Xerxes addressed them as follows:
(1.) " Men of Persia, I shall not be the first to introduce this
custom among you, but shall adopt it, having received it from
my forefathers; for, as I learn from older men, we have never
remained inactive since we wrested the sovereign power from
the Medes, and Cyrus overthrew Astyages: but the deity thus
leads the way, and to us who follow his guidance many things
result to our advantage. What deeds Cyrus, and Cambyses,
and my father Darius have achieved, and what nations they
have added to our empire, no one need mention to you who
know them well; but I, since I have succeeded to the throne,
2 Or "conducted himself."    3 See B. II. chap 12.




8.]                POLYMNIA. VII.                   411
have carefully considered this, in what way I may not fall
short of my predecessors in this honor, nor acquire less additional power to the Persians. And, on mature consideration,
I find that we may at once acquire an increase of glory, and a
country not inferior nor poorer, but even more productive than
that we now possess; and, at the same time, that satisfaction
and vengeance will accrue to us. Wherefore I have now called you together, that I may communicate to you what I purpose to do. (2.) I intend to throw a bridge over the Hellespont, and to march an army through Europe against Greece,
that. I may punish the Athenians for the injuries they have
done to the-Persians and to my father.  You have already
seen Darius preparing to make war against those people; but
he died, and had it not in his power to avenge himself. But
I, in his cause and that of the other Persians, will not rest till
I have taken and burned Athens, for they first began by doing
acts of injustice against my father and me. First of all, having
come toSardis with'Aristagoras the Milesian, our servant, on
their arrival they burned down both the groves and the temples; and, secondly, how they treated us on our making a
descent on their territory, when Datis and Artaphernes led our
forces, you all know well enough. (3.) For these reasons,
therefore, I have resolved to make war upon them; and, on
reflection, I find the following advantages -in this course: if we
shall subdue them, and their neighbors, who inhabit the country ofPelops the Phrygian, we shall make tile Persian territory coextensive with the air of heaven; nor will the sun look
down upon any land that borders on ours; but I, with your
assistance, will make them all one territory, marching through
the whole of Europe; for I am informed that such is the case;
and that no city or nation of the world will remain, which
will be able to come to a battle with us, when those whom I
have mentioned have been brought into subjection.  Thus
both those who are guilty and those who are not guilty must
equally submit to the yoke of servitude. (4.) But you, by doing what I require, will gratify me exceedingly; when I shall
have informed you of the time, it will be the duty of each of
you to come promptly; -and whosoever shall appear with the
best-appointed troops, to him I will give such presents as are
accounted most honorable in' our country. But that I may
not appear to follow my own counsel only, I lay the matter be



412                  HERODOTUS.                      [9.
fore you, bidding any one of you who wishes to declare his
opinion."  Having said this, he ceased.
9. After him Mardonius spoke: "Sir, not only are you the
most excellent of all the Persians that have yet been, but even
of all that ever shall be; you als6, in other respects, have in
speaking touched upon the most important topics and the most
exact truth, and especially will not suffer the Ionians, who
dwell in Europe, to mock us, worthless as they are; for it
would indeed be a great indignity if,'having subdued the
Sacae, Indians, Ethiopians, and Assyrians, and other nations,
many and powerful, which never did the Persians any wrong,
but, in order only to enlarge our dominions, we hold them in
servitude, and yet shall not avenge ourselves on the Greeks,
who were the first to commit injustice. Having what to fear?
what confluence of numbers? what power of wealth   (1.)
We are acquainted with their manner. of fighting; and we
are acquainted with their power, that it is weak. We hold
their children in subjection, those who dwell within their territories, and are called Ionians, 2Eolians, and Dorians.. I myself have made trial of these men already, marching against
them at the command of your father; and when I advanced
as far as Macedonia, and was within a short distance of reaching Athens itself, no one opposed me in battle. (2.) And yet
the Greeks are accustomed, as I am informed, to undertake
wars without deliberation, from  obstinacy and folly; for
when they have declared war against one another, having
found out the fairest and most level spot, they go down to it
and fight; so that the conquerors depart with great loss, and
of the conquered I say nothing at all, for they-are utterly
destroyed; whereas, being of the same language, they ought,
by the intervention of heralds and embassadors, to adjust their
differences, and in any way rather than by fighting; but if
they must needs go to war with each other, they ought to find
out where they are each least likely to be conquered, and there
try the issue of a battle. The Greeks accordingly, adopting a
disadvantageous method, when I marched as far as Macedonia,
never ventured so far as to come to a battle. (3.) Will any
one, then, O king, have recourse to war, and oppose you, when
you lead the multitudes of Asia, and all her ships? In my
opinion, indeed, the Grecians will never proceed to such a
degree of audacity.. But if I should happen to be deceived




10.]               POLYMNIA. VII.                   413
in my opinion, and they, elated by folly, should come to battle
with us, they will learn that of all men we are the most
skilled in war. Let nothing, then, be untried; for nothing is
accomplished of its own self; but all things are usually achieved
by men through endeavors." Mardonius, having thus smoothed
over the opinion of Xerxes, ceased to speak.
10. The rest of the Persians continuing silent, and not
daring to declare an opinion to the one proposed, Artabanus,
son of Hystaspes, being uncle to Xerxes, and relying on this,
spoke as follows: (1.) "O king, unless opinions opposite to
each other are spoken, it is impossible to choose the better,
but it becomes necessary to adoft that which has been advanced-  whereas, when various opinions have been given, it
is possible: just as with unalloyed gold, we can not distinguish
it by itself, but when we have rubbed it by the side of other
gold, we do distinguish the better. I warned your father and
my brother not to make war upon the Scythians,4 a people
who have no city in any part of their territory; but he,
hoping to subdue the Scythian nomades, heeded not my advice, and, having led an army against them, returned with the
loss of many brave men of his army. But you, 0 king, are
about to make war upon men far superior to the Scythians,
who are said to be most valiant both by sea and land; it is
therefore right that I should inform  you of the danger we
have to fear.  (2.) You say that, having thrown a bridge
over the Hellespont, you will march an army through Europe..nto Greece; now it may happen that we shall be worsted
either by land or by sea, or even by. both, for the people are
said to be valiant; and this we may infer, since the Athenians
alone destroyed so great an army that invaded the Attic territory under Datis and Artaphernes.  They were not, however, successful in both; but if they. should attack us with
their fleet, and, having obtained a naval victory, should sail
to the Hellespont and destroy the bridge, this surely, O king,
were a great danger. (3.) Nor do I found this conjecture on
any wisdom of my own, but from the calamity that once all
but befell us, when your father, having joined the shores of
the Thracian Bosphorus, and thrown a bridge over the Ister,
crossed over to attack the Scythians; then the Scythians used
every means to induce the Ionians, to whom the guard of the
4 See B. IV. ch. 83.




414                  HERODOTUS.                       [10.
passage over the Ister had been intrusted, to break up the
bridge; and if, at that time, I-istimus, tyrant of Miletus, had
assented to the opinion of the other tyrants, and had not opposed it, the power of the Persians would have been utterly
ruined. It is dreadful even to hear it said that the whole
power of the king depended on a single man. (4.) Do not,
therefore, willingly expose yourself to any such danger, when
there is no necessity, but be persuaded by me; dismiss this
assembly; and hereafter, whenever it shall seem fit to you,
having considered with yourself, proclaim what appears to
you to be most advantageous; for to deliberate well I find is
the greatest gain; for if the result prove unfortunate, the
matter has nevertheless been well deliberated on, but our deliberation is defeated by fortune; but he who has deliberated
badly, if fortune attend him, has met with a success he had no
right to expect, but has nevertheless formed bad plans. (5.)
Do you see how the deity strikes with his thunder the tallest
animals, arid suffers them not to be ostentatious, but the smaller
ones do -not at all offend him? Do you see how he ever hurls
his bolts against the loftiest buildings, and trees of the like
kind? for the deity is wont to cut off every thing that is too
highly exalted.  Thus even a large army is often defeated
by a small one in such a manner as this: when the deity,
through jealousy, strikes them  with  terror or lightning,
whereby they perish in a manner unworthy of themselves;
for the deity will not suffer any one but himself to have high
thoughts.  (6.) Again, to hasten any matter produces failures,
from whence great losses are wont to follow; but in delay
there are advantages, which, though not immediately apparent,
yet one may discover after a time.  This, then, O king, is
the advice I give you.  (7.) But do you, Mardonius, son of
Gobryas, cease to speak vain words of the Grecians, who do
not deserve to be spoken lightly of; for by calumniating the
Greeks you urge the king himself to lead an army against
them; and to this end you appear to me to exert all your
efforts. But it may not so be; for calumny is the worst of
evils; in it there are two who commit injustice, and one who
is injured; for he who calumniates another acts unjustly, by
accusing one that is iiot present; and he acts unjustly who
is persuaded before he has learned the exact truth; and he that
is absent when the charge is made is thus doubly injured,




11.]                POLYMNIA. VII.                     415
being calumniated by the one, and by the other deemed to be
base.. (8.) But if, at all events, it must needs be that war
must be made on these people, come, let the king himself remain in the abodes of the Persians; let both of us risk our
children, and do you lead the expedition, having selected what
men you choose, and taken with you as large a force as you
think fit; and if matters.succeed to the king in the manner you
say, let my children be put to death, and me also with them;
but if the event prove such as I foretell, then let your children
suffer the same, and you also with them, if ever you return.
If, however, you are unwilling to submit to these terms, and
will at all events lead an army against Greece, I tffirm that
some of those who are left in this country will hear that Mardonius, having brought some great disaster upon the Persians,
and being torn in pieces by dogs and birds, either in the territory of the Athenians or in that of the Lacedemonians, if not
sooner on his march, has discovered5 against what sort of men
you now persuade the king to make war."
11. Artabanus thus spoke, but Xerxes, inflamed with anger,
answered as follows: "Artabanus, you are my father's brother; this will protect you from receiving the just recompense
of your foolish words.  However, I inflict this disgrace upon
you, base and cowardly as you are, not to accompany me in my
expedition against Greece, but to remain here with the women,
and I, without your assistance, will accomplish all that I have
said; for I should not be sprung from Darius, son of Hystaspes, son of Arsames, son of Ariaramnes, son of Teispes, son
of Cyrus, son of Cambyses, son of Achmemenes, if I did not
avenge myself on the Athenians, knowing full well that if we
continue quiet, yet they will not, but will even invade our
territories, if we may conjecture from what has been already
done by them, who have both burned Sardis and advanced into
Asia; wherefore it is not possible for either party to retreat,
but the alternative lies before us, to do or suffer; so that all
these dominions must fall under the power of the Grecians, or
all theirs under that of the Persians, for there is no medium in
this enmity.  It is, therefore, honorable for us, who have first
5 Larcher, with whom Baehr appears to agree, refers yvovra to riva:
in that case, the meaning of the passage being that "those who remain
at home will, when they hear of the disasters that have befallen Mardonius and the army, learn what an enemy they have had to contend with."




416                  HERODOTUS.                 [12-14.
suffered, to take revenge, that I may also be informed of the
danger to which I shall expose myself by marching against
those men whom Pelops the Phrygian, who was a slave of my
ancestors, so completely subdued that, even to this day, the people themselves and their country are called after the name of
the conqueror."
12. These- things were said so far, but afterward night
came on, and the opinion of Artabanus. occasioned uneasiness
to Xerxes, and deliberating with himself during the night, he
clearly discovered that it would not be to his interest to make
war. on Greece: having thus altered his resolution, he fell
asleep, and some time in the night he saw the following
vision, as is related by the Persians. Xerxes imagined that a
tall and handsome man stood by him and said, "Do you, then,
change your mind; 0 Persian, and resolve not to lead an army
against Greece, after having ordered the Persians to assemble
their forces?  You do not well to change your resolution, nor
is there any man who will agree with you; therefore pursue
that course which you resolved upon in the day."  Xerxes
thought that the man, having pronounced these words, flew
away. 13. When day dawned, he paid no attention to this
dream, but having assembled those Persians whom he had before convened, he addressed them as follows: "Pardon me,
0 Persians, that I suddenly change my plans, for I have not
yet attained to the highest perfection of judgment, and they
who persuade me to this enterprise are never absent from me.
When, therefore, I heard the opinion of Artabanus, my youth
immediately boiled with rage against him, so that I threw out
words more unbecoming than I ought to a person of his years;
but now, conscious of my error, I will follow his advice: since,
therefore, I have changed my resolution, and determined not to
make war against Greece, do you remain quiet."  The Persians, when they heard this, being transported with joy, did him
homage.  14. When night came, the same dream, again standing by Xerxes as he slept, said, " Son of Darius, you have, then,
openly renounced, in the presence of the Persians, the intended
expedition, and make no account of my words, as if you had
not heard them from any one. Be well assured, however, of
this, that unless you immediately undertake this expedition,
this will be the consequence to you: as you have become
great and powerful in a short time, so you shall become low




15, 16.]           POLYMNIA  VII.                   417
again in an equally short space." 15. Xerxes, being alarmed
by this vision, rushed from his bed, and sent a messenger to
call Artabanus; and when he came, Xerxes spoke to him as
follows: " Artabanus, I on the moment was not in my senses
when I used hasty words to you in return for your good advice;
however, after no long time I repented, and acknowledged that
those measures which you suggested ought to be adopted by
me. I am not, however, able to perform them, though desirous
of doing so; for, after I had altered my resolution and acknowledged my error, a dream frequently presents itself to me
by no means approving of my so doing; and it has just now
v'anished, after threatening me. If, then, it is a deity who'sends this dream, and it is his pleasure that an expedition
against Greece should at all events take place, this same dream
will also flit before you, and give the same injunction as to
me. This I think will happen, if you should take all my apparel, and, having put it on, should afterward sit on my throne,
and then go to sleep in my bed."  16. Xerxes thus addressed
him.; but Artabanus not obeying the first order, as he did not
think'himself worthy to sit on the royal throne, when he was
at last compelled, did as he was desired, after he had spoken
as follows. (1.) "I deem it an equal merit, O king, to form
good plans, and to be willing to yield to one who gives good
advice; and though both of these qualities attach to you, the
converse of wicked men leads you astray; just as blasts of
wind falling on the sea, which of all things is the most useful
to mankind, do not suffer it to follow its proper nature. As
for me, grief did not so much vex me at hearing your reproaches, as that when two opinions were proposed by the
Persians, one tending to increase their arrogance, the other to
check it, and to show how hurtful it is to teach the mind to be
constantly seeking for more than we already possess; that,
when these two opinions were proposed, you should choose that
which is more dangerous both to yourself and the Persians.
(2.) Now, however, after you have changed to the better resolution, you say, that since you have given up the expedition
against the Greeks, a dream has come to you, sent by some
god, which forbids you to abandon the enterprise. But these
things, my son, are not divine, for dreams which wander
among men are such as I will explain to you, being many
years older than you are. Those visions of dreams most comS2




418                  HERODOTUS.                   [17, 18.
monly hover around men respecting things which one has
thought of during the day; and we, during the preceding
days, have been very much busied about this expedition. (3.)
If, however, this is not such as I judge, but has something
divine in it, you have correctly summed up the whole in few
words; then let it appear, and give the same injunction to me
as to you; and it ought not to appear to me any the more for
my having your apparel than my own'; nor the more because
I go to sleep on your bed than on my own, if, indeed, it will
appear at all; for that which has appeared to you in your
sleep, whatever it be, can never arrive at such a degree of
simplicity as to suppose that when it sees me% it is you, conjecturing from your apparel; but if it shall hold me in contempt, and not deign to appear to me, whether I be clothed in
your robes or in my own, and if it shall visit you again, this
indeed would deserve consideration; for if it should repeatedly
visit you, I should myself confess it to be divine. If, however,
you have resolved that so it should be,.and it is not possible
to avert this, but I must needs sleep in your bed, well, when
this has been done, let it appear also to me. But till that
time I shall persist in my present opinion."  17. Artabanis,
having spoken thus,.and hoping to show that Xerxes had said
nothing of any moment, did what was ordered; and having
put on the apparel of Xerxes, and sat in the royal throne,
when he afterward went to bed, the same dream which had
appeared to Xerxes came to him when he was asleep, and
standing over Artabanus, spoke as follows:;" Art thou, then, the
man who dissuadeth Xerxes. from invading Greece, as if thou
wert very anxious for him? But neither hereafter nor at present shalt thou escape unpunished for endeavoring to avert
what is fated to be. i What Xerxes must suffer if he continues
disobedient, has been declared to him himself." 18. Artabanus
imagined that the dream uttered these threats, and was about
to burn out his eyes with hot irons. He therefore, having uttered a loud shriek, leaped up, and seating himself by Xerxes,
when.he had related all the'particulars of the vision in the
dream, spoke to him -in this manner: " I, O king, being a man
who have seen already many and great powers overthrown by
inferior ones, would not suffer you to yield entirely to youth;
knowing how mischievous it is to desire much, calling to mind
the expedition of Cyrus against the Massagetae, how it fared,




tlJ, 20.]          POLYMNIA. VII.                   419
and calling to mind also that of Cambyses against the Ethiopians, and having accompanied Darius in the invasion of Scythia, knowing all these things, I was of opinion, that if you
remained quiet, you must be pronounced happy by all men;
but since some divine impulse has sprung up, and, as it seems,
some heaven-sent destruction impends over the Greeks, I myself am converted, and change my opinion. Do you, then,
make known to the Persians the intimation sent by the deity,
and command them to follow the orders first given by you for
the preparations; and act so, that, since the deity permits,
nothing on your part may be wanting."  When he had thus
spoken, both being carried away by the vision, as soon as
it was day Xerxes acquainted the Persians with what had
happened; and Artabanus, who before was the only man who
greatly opposed the expedition, now as openly promoted it.
19. After this, when Xerxes was resolved to undertake
the expedition, another vision appeared to him in his sleep,
which the magi, when they heard it, interpreted to relate to
the whole world, And to signify that all mankind should serve
him. The vision was: as follows: Xerxes imagined that he
was crowned with the sprig of an olive-tree, and that branches
from this olive covered the whole earth; and that afterward
the crown that was placed on his head disappeared.  The magi
having given this interpretation, every one of the.Persians,
who were then assembled, departed immediately to his own
government, and used all diligence to execute what had been
ordered; every man hoping to obtain the proposed reward.
Xerxes thus levied his army, searching out every region of
the continent.  20. For from  the reduction of Egypt, he
was employed four whole years in. assembling his forces, and
providing things necessary for the expedition. In the course
of the fifth year he began his march with a vast multitude of
men; for of the expeditions with which we are acquainted, this.was by far the greatest, so that that of Darius against
the Scythians appears nothing in comparison with this, nor
the Scythian, when the Scythians, pursuing the Cimmerians,
and invading the Medic territory, subdued almost the whole
of the upper part of Asia, on. account of which Darius afterward attempted to inflict vengeance on them; nor, according
to what is related, that of the Atride against Ilium; nor that
of the Mysians and Teucrians, which took place before the




420                  HERODOTUS.                  [21-23.
Trojan war, who, having passed over into Europe by the Bosphorus, subdued all the Thracians, and went down to the Ionian Sea, and marched southward as far as the river Peneus.
21. All these expeditions, and any others, if there have been
any besides them, are not to be compared with this one. For
what nation did not Xerxes lead out of Asia against Greece?
what stream, being drunk, did not fail him, except that of great
rivers? Some supplied ships; others were ordered to furnish
men for the infantry, from others cavalry were required, from
others transports for horses, together with men to serve in the
army; others had to furnish long ships for the bridges, and
others provisions and vessels.
22. And first of all, as those who had first attempted to
double Mount Athos had met with disasters, preparations
were being made for nearly three years about Athos; for
triremes were stationed at Eleus in the Chersonese, and proceeding from thence, men of every nation from the army dug
under the lash; and they went in succession; and the people
who dwelt round Athos dug also. Bubares, son of Megabazus,
and Artachaeus, son of Artseus, both Persiansj presided over
the work. Athos is a vast and celebrated mountain, stretching into the sea, and inhabited by men. Where the mountain
terminates toward the continent, it is in the form of a peninsula, and is an isthmus of about twelve stades: this is a plain
with hills of no great height from the sea of the Acanthians
to the sea which is opposite Torone. On this isthmus, in
which Mount Athos terminates, stands Sana, a Grecian city;
but those within Sana, and situate on Athos itself, which the
Persian then was proceeding to make insular instead of continental, are the following, Dion, Olophyxus, Acrothoon, Thyssus, and Cleone. These are the cities which occupy Mount
Athos, 23. They made the excavation as follows: the barbarians divided the ground among the several nations, having
drawn a straight line near the city of Sana; and when the
trench was deep, some standing at the bottom continued to dig,
and others handed the soil that was dug out to men who stood
above on ladders; they again in turn handed it to others, until they reached those that were at the top; these last carried
it off and threw it away. To all the rest, except the Phcenicians, the brink of the excavation falling in gave double labor, for as they made the upper opening and the lower of




24-26.]            POLYMNIA. VII.                   421
equal dimensions, this must necessarily happen.  But the
Phoenicians show their skill in other works, and especially
did so in this; for having received tIhe portion that fell to
their share, they dug it, making the upper opening of the
trench twice as large as it was necessary for the trench itself
to be; and as the work proceeded, they contracted it gradually,
so that when they came to the bottom, the work was equal in
width to the rest: near adjoining is a meadow, where they
had a market and bazar, and great abundance of meal was
brought to them from Asia.  24. According to my deliberate
opinion,6 Xerxes ordered this excavation to be made from motives of ostentation, wishing to display his power, and to leave
a memorial of himself; for though it was possible, without
any great labor, to have drawn the ships over the isthmus, he
commanded them to dig a channel for the" sea of such a width
that two triremes might pass through rowed abreast. And
the same persons, to whom the excavation was committed,
were ordered also to throw a bridge over the river Strymon.
25. These things, then, he thus contrived: he also caused cables of papyrus and of white'flax to be prepared for the bridges,
having ordered the Phoenicians and Egyptians also to lay up
provisions for the army, that neither the men nor the beasts
of burden might suffer from famine on their march toward
Greece; and having informed himself of the situations of the
places, he ordered them to lay up the provisions where it was
most convenient, conveying them to various quarters in merchant-ships and transports from all parts of Asia. Of these
provisions the largest quantity they conveyed to a place called
Leuce-Acte, in Thrace; some were ordered to Tyrodiza of the
Perinthians, others to Doriscus, others to Eion on the Strymon,
and others to Macedonia.
26. While these men were employed in their appointed
task, the whole land forces, having been assembled, marched
with Xerxes to Sardis, having set out from Critalla in Cappadocia, for it was ordered that all the troops throughout the
continent, that were to march with Xerxes himself, should be
assembled at that place. Now which of the generals, bringing the best-appointed troops, received the gifts promised by
the king) I am unable to mention;, oP I am not at all aware
6 Literally, " as I conj-cturing discover."




422                   HERODOTUS.                 [27-29.
that they came to any decision on this point. They then,
when having crossed the river Halys they entered Phrygia,
marching through that country, arrived at Celenae, where rise
the springs of the Maeander, and of another river not less than
the Maeander, which is called the Catarractes, which, springing
up in the very forum of the Celaenians, discharges itself into
the Maeander; in this city, also, the skin of Silenus Marsyas
is suspended, which, as the Phrygians report, was stripped off
and suspended by Apollo.  27. In this city Pythius, son of
Atys, a Lydian, being in waiting, entertained the whole army
of the king and Xerxes himself with most sumptuous feasts;
and he offered money, wishing to contribute toward the expense of the war.  When Pythius offered money, Xerxes
asked the Persians near him who this Pythius was, and what
riches he possessed, that he made such an offer.  They answered, " O king, this is the person who presented your father
Darius with the golden plane-tree and the vine; and he is
now the richest man we knfow of in the world, next to yourself."  28. Xerxes, surprised with these last words, next asked Pythius what might be the amount of his wealth. iHe
said, "O'king, I will not conceal it from you, nor will I pretend to be ignorant of my own substance, but as I know it perfectly I will tell you the exact truth.  As soon as I heard you
were coming down to the Grecian sea, wishing to present you
with money for the war, I made inquiry, and found by computation that I had two thousand talents of silver, and of gold
four millions of Daric staters, all but seven thousand. These
I freely give you; for myself, I have sufficient subsistence from
any slaves and lands."  29. Thus he spoke; but Xerxes, delighted with his offer, replied: " My Lydian friend, since I left
the Persian country I have met with no man to the present
moment who was willing to entertain my army, or who, having come into my presence, has voluntarily offered to contribute money toward the war. But you have entertained my
army magnificently, and have offered me vast sums; therefore, in return for this, I confer on you the following rewards:
I make you my friend, and will make up the sum of four millions of staters from my own treasures, by adding the seven
thousand; so that the four millions may not be short of seven
thousand, but the full sum may be completed by me. Do you
retain what you have acquired,.and be careful always to con



30-33.]             POLYMNIA. VII.                    423
tinue such as you are; for if you do this, you shall never repent, either now or hereafter."
30. Having said this, and performed his promises, he continued his march; and passing by a city of the Phrygians
called Anaua, and a lake from which salt is obtained, he arrived
at Colosse, a considerable city of Phrygia, in which the river
Lycus, falling into a chasm of the earth, disappears; then reappearing'after a distance of about five stades, it also discharges
itself into the Mmander. From Colossae the army, advancing
toward the boundaries of the Phrygians and Lydians, arrived
at the city of Cydrara, where a pillar, planted in the ground,
and erected by Crcesus, indicates the boundaries by an inscription.  31. When from Phrygia he entered Lydia, the way dividing into two, that on the left leading to Caria, the other on
the right to Sardis, by which latter a traveler is compelled to
cross the river Mleander, and to pass by the city of Callatebus,
in which confectioners make honey with tamarisk and wheat;
Xerxes, going by this way, met with a plane-tree, which, on
account of its beauty, he presented with golden ornaments, and,
having committed it to the care of one of the immortals;7 on
the next day he arrived at Sardis, the capital of the Lydians.
32. On his arrival at Sardis, he first of all sent heralds to
Greece to demand earth and water, and to require them to
provide entertainment for the king; except that he did not
send either to Athens or Lacedaemon,8 but he did to every other place. And he sent the second time for earth and water
for the following reason: such as had not given them before
when Darius sent, he thought would then certainly do so
through fear; wishing, therefore, to know this for certain, he
sent.  And after this he prepared to march to Abydos.
33. In the mean while, those who were appointed had joined the Hellespont from Asia to Europe. There is in the Chersonese on the Hellespont, between the city of Sestos and Madytus, a craggy shore extending into the sea, directly opposite
Abydos: there, not long after these events, under Xanthippus,
son of Ariphron, a general of the Athenians, having taken Artayctes, a Persian, governor of Sestos, they impaled him alive
against a plank; for he, having brought women into the temOne of the ten thousand chosen men called immortals, of whom
we shall hear more hereafter. See chap. 83.
s See chalp. 133.




424                  HERODOTUS.                  [34-36.
pie of Protesilaus at Elaeus, committed atrocious crimes.9 34.
To this shore, then, beginning at Abydos, they, on whom this
task was imposed, constructed bridges, the Phoenicians one
with white flax, and the Egyptians the other with papyrus.
The distance from Abydos to the opposite shore is seven
stades. When the strait was thus united, a violent storm
arising, broke in pieces and scattered the whole work. 35.
When Xerxes heard of this, being exceedingly indignant, he
coimmanded that the Hellespont should be stricken with three
hundred lashes with a scourge, and that a pair of fetters should
be let down into the sea. I have moreover heard that with
them he likewise sent branding instruments to brand the Hellespont. He certainly charged those who flogged the waters
to utter these barbarous and impious words: "Thou bitter
water! thy master inflicts this punishment upon thee, because
thou hast injured him, although thouhadst not suffered any
harm  from  him; and king Xerxes will cross over thee,
whether thou wilt or not; it is with justice that no man sacrifices to thee, because thou art both a deceitful and briny
river I"  He accordingly commanded them to chastise the sea
in this manner, and to cut off the heads of those who had
to superintend the joining of the Hellespont. 36. They on
whom this thankless office was: imposed, carried it into execution; and other engineers constructed bridges; and they
constructed them in the following manner. They connected
together penteconters and triremes, under that toward the
Euxine sea, three hundred and sixty; and under the other,
three hundred and fourteen, obliquely in respect of the Pontus,
but in the direction of the current in respect of the Hellespont,
that it might keep up the tension of the cables. Having connected them together, they let down very long anchors, some
on the one bridge toward the Pontus, on account of the winds
that blew from it within; others on the other bridge toward
the west and the AEgean, on account of the south and southeast winds. They left an opening as a passage through between the penteconters, and that in three places, that any one
who wished might be able to sail into the Pontus in light vessels, and from the Pontus outward. -Having done this, they
stretched the cables from the shore, twisting them with wooden
capstans, not as before using the two kinds separately, but as9 See B. IX. cha). 116.




37, 38.]:         POLYMNIA. VII.                  425
signing to each two of white flax and four of papyrus. The
thickness and quality was the same, but those of flax were
stronger in proportion, every cubit weighing a full talent.
When the passage was bridged over, having sawn up trunks
of trees, and having made them equal to the width of the
bridge, they laid them regularly upon the extended cables;
and having laid'them in regular order, they then fastened
them together. And having done this, they put brush-wood
on the top; and having laid the brush-wood in regular order,
they put earth over the whole; and having pressed down the
earth, they drew a fence on each side, that the beasts of
burden and horses might not be frightened by looking down
upon the sea.
3[. When the works at the bridges were completed, and
those at Mount Athos, as well as the mounds at the mouths
of the canal, which had been made on account of the tide,
in order that the mouths of the trench might not be choked
up, and.news was brought that the canal was entirely completed; thereupon the army, having wintered at Sardis, and
being fully prepared, set out at the beginning of the spring
from thence toward Abydos. But as it was on the point of
setting out, the sun, quitting his seat in the heavens, disappeared, though there were no clouds, and the air was perfectly
serene, and night ensued in the place of day. When Xerxes
saw and perceived this, it occasioned him much uneasiness;
he therefore inquired of the magi what the prodigy might
portend. They answered that "the deity foreshows to the
Greeks the extinction of their cities;" adding, "that the sun
is the portender of the future to the Greeks, and the moon to
the Persians." Xerxes, having heard this, was much delighted,
and set out upon his march. 38. As he'was leading his army
away, Pythius the Lydian, terrified by the prodigy in the
heavens, and emboldened by the gifts, went to Xerxes the
king, and spoke thus: " Sire, would you indulge me by granting a boon I should wish to obtain, which is easy for you to
grant, and of great importance to me."  Xerxes, expecting
that he would wish for any thing rather than what he did ask,
said that he would grant his request, and bade him declare
what he wanted; whereupon he, when he heard this, spoke
confidently as follows: "Sire, I have five sons; and it happens that they are all attending you in the expedition against




426                   HERODOTUS.                   [39, 40.
Greece. But do you, 0 king, pity me, who am thus advanced
in years, and release one of my sons from the service, that he
may take care of me and my property.  Take the other four
with you, and, having accomplished your designs, may you
return home." 39. Xerxes was highly incensed, and answered
as follows: "Base man! hast thou dared, when I am marching in person against Greece, and taking with me my children,
and brothers, and kinsmen, and friends, to make mention of
thy son? thou, who art my slave, and who wert bound in duty
to follow me with all thy family, even with thy wife. Now
learn this well, that the spirit of man dwells in his ears; which,
when it hears pleasing things, fills the whole body with delight, but when it hears the contrary, swells with indignation.
When, therefore, you did well, and gave promise of the like,
you can not boast of having surpassed the king in generosity;
but now that you have adopted a' more shameless conduct,
you shall not receive your deserts, but:less than your deserts;
for your hospitality preserves four of your children, but you
shall be punished with the loss of the one whom you cherish
most."  When he had given this answer, he immediately commanded those whose office it was to execute such orders, to
find out the eldest of the sons of Pythius, and to cut his body
in two; and having so done, to deposit the halves, one on the
right of the road, the other on the left; and that the army
should pass between them.? 40. When they had done this, the army afterward passed
between.  The baggage-bearers and beasts of burden first led
the way; after them came a host of all nations promiscuously,
not distinguished: after more than one half of the army had
passed, an interval was left, that they might not mix with the
king's troops. Before him a thousand horsemen led the van,
chosen from among all the Persians; and next to them  a
thousand spearmen, these also chosen from among all, carrying
their lances turned downward to the earth.  After these came
ten sacred horses called Nisaean, gorgeously caparisoned.
These horses are called Nisasan on the following account:
there is a large plain in the Medic territory which is called
the Nisaean; now this plain produces these large horses. Behind these ten horses was placed the sacred chariot of Jupiter,
drawn by eight white horses; behind the horses followed a
charioteer on foot, holding the reins; because no mortal ever




41-43.]             POLYMNIA. VII.                  427
ascends this seat. Behind this came Xerxes himself, oin a
chariot drawn by Nissean horses; and a charioteer walked
at his side, whose name was Patiramphes, son of Otanes, a
Persian.  41. In this manner, then, Xerxes marched out of
Sardis, and whenever he thought right, he used to pass
from the chariot to a covered carriage. Behind him marched
a thousand spearmen, the bravest and most noble of the
Persians, carrying their spears in the usual manner; and
after them another body of a thousand horse, chosen from
among the Persians: after the cavalry came ten thousand
men chosen from  the rest of the Persians; these were infantry; and of these, one thousand had golden pomegranates
on their spears instead of ferules, and they inclosed the
others all round; but the nine thousand, being within them,
had silver pomegranates. Those also that carried their spears
turned to the earth had golden pomegranates, and those
that followed nearest to Xerxes had golden apples. Behind
the ten thousand foot were placed ten thousand Persian
cavalry; and after the cavalry was left an interval of two
stades; and then the rest of the throng followed promiscuously. 42. The army directed its march from Lydia to the
river Caicus. and the Mysian territory; and proceeding from
the Caicus, leaving Mount Cane on the left, passed through
Atarneus to the city Carina. From thence it marched through
the plain of Thebes, and passing by the city of Adramyttium
and the Pelasgian Antrandus, and keeping Mount Ida on the
left, it entered the territory of Ilium. But before this, as the
army halted during the night under Mount Ida, thunder and
lightning fell upqn them, and destroyed a considerable number
of the troops on the spot. 43. When the army arrived at
the Scamander, which was the first river since they had set
out on their march from Sardis, whose stream failed and did
not afford sufficient drink for the army and beasts of burden;
when, accordingly, Xerxes arrived at this river, he went up
to the Pergamus' of Priam, being desirous of seeing it; and
having seen it, and inquired into every particular, he sacrificed
a thousand oxen to the Iian Minerva, and the magi poured
out libations to the honor of the heroes. After they had done
this, a panic fell on the camp during the night, and at the
dawn of day they marched from thence, on the left skirting
i That is, "the citadel."




428                  HERODOTUS.                 [44-47.
the city of Rhoetium, and Ophrynium, and Dardanus, whichi
borders on Abydos, and on the right the Gergithem Teucrians.
44. When they were at Abydos, Xerxes wished to behold
the whole army; and there had been previously erected on
a hill at this place, for his express use, a lofty throne of white
marble; the people of Abydos had made it, in obedience to a
previous order of the king.. When he was seated there, looking down toward the shore, he beheld both the land army
and the fleet; and when he beheld them, he desired to see a
contest take place between the ships; and when it had taken
place, and the Sidonian Phoenicians.were victorious, he showed
himself exceedingly gratified both with the contest and the
army. 45. And when he saw the whole Hellespont covered
by the ships, and all the shores and the plains of Abydos full
of men, Xerxes thereupon pronounced himself happy, but
afterward shed tears.  46. Artabanus, his paternal uncle,
having observed him, the same who had before freely declared
his opinion, and advised Xerxes not to invade Greece; this
man, having perceived Xerxes shedding tears, addressed him
thus: " O king, how very different from each other are what
you are now doing and what you did a little while ago! for
having pronounced yourself happy, now you weep."  He
answered, "Commiseration seized me when I considered how
brief all human life is, since of these, numerous as they are,
not one shall survive to the hundredth year." But Artabanus
replied, saying, " We suffer during life other things more
pitiable than this; for in this so brief life, there is not one,
either of these or of others, born so happy, that it will not
occur to him, not only once but oftentimes, to wish rather to
die than to live; for calamities befalling him, and diseases disturbing him, make life, though really short, appear
to be long; so that death, life being burdensome, becomes
the most desirable refuge for man; and the deity, having
given us to taste of sweet existence, is found to be jealous
of his gift."  47. Xerxes answered, saying,'Artabanus, of
human life, which is such as you have described it, let us
say no more, nor let us call evils to mind, now that we have
good things before us. But tell me this: if the vision of
the dream had not appeared so clearly, would you have retained your former opinion, and dissuaded me from making
war against Greece, or would you have changed your opinion?




48-50.]             POLYMNIA. VII.                    429
Come, tell me this explicitly."  He answered, saying, "O
king, may the vision of the dream that appeared terminate as
we both desire; but I am still full of alarm, and not master
of myself, when I consider many other circumstances, and,
moreover, perceive two things of the greatest importance
most hostile to you."  48. To this Xerxes answered as follows: "Strange man! what are these two things which you
say are most hostile to me? whether do you find fault with
the land army on account of numbers, and do you think that
the Grecian army will be much more nutmerous than ours,
or that our navy will fall short of theirs? or both these together? for, if you think our forces deficient in this respect,
we can quickly assemble another army.",49. He answered,
saying, "   king, no man of common understanding can find
fault either with this army or the number of the ships. (1.)
But even if you should muster more, the two things which I
mean would become still more hostile. v These two things are
land and sea; for, as I conjecture, there is nowhere any
harbor of the sea so large as to be capable, in case a storm
should arise, of receiving this your navy, and sheltering the
ships. And yet. there is need, not only that there be one such
harbor, but others along the whole continent, by which you
are about to coast.  Since there are not harbors sufficiently
capacious, remenber that accidents rule men, not men accidents. (2.) One of the two things having thus been mentioned, I now proceed to mention the other. The land will
be hostile to you in this way: if nothing else should stand in
your way, it will become more hostile to you the farther you
advance, as you are continually drawn on unawares; for men
are never satiated with success; and even if I should grant
that no one will oppose you, I say that the country, becoming
more extensive in process of time, will produce a famine.
A man would therefore thus prove himself most wise if in
deliberation he should be apprehensive, and consider himself
likely to suffer every misfortune, but in action should be bold."
50. Xerxes answered in these words: "Artabanus, you have
discussed each of these particulars plausibly; but do not fear
every thing, nor weigh every circumstance with equal strictness.  (1.) For if, in every matter that is proposed, you should
weigh every thing with equal care, you would never do any
thing at all; it is better, being confident on all occasions, to




430                  IHERODOTUS.                   [51, 52.
suffer half the evils, than, fearing every thing beforehand,
never suffer any thing at all; but if you oppose every thing
that is proposed, and do not advance something certain, you
must fail in your plans equally with the person who has given
a contrary opinion. This, therefore, comes to the same. (2.)
Can any one who is a man know for a certainty what ought
to be done?2  I think certainly not.  To those, howeyer, who
are ready to act, gain for the most part is wont to accrue;
but to those that weigh every thing and are timid, it seldom
does. You see to what a degree of power the empire of the
Persians has advanced; if, then, they who were kings before
ine had entertained such opinions as you do, or, not entertaining such opinions, had such counselors, you would never
have seen their power advanced to this pitch. But now, by
hazarding dangers, they carried it to this height; for great undertakings are wont to be accomplished at great hazards.
We, therefore, emulating them, set out at the most favorable
season of the year, and having subdued all Europe, will return
home, without having met with famine any where, or suffered
any other reverse; for, in the first place, we march, carrying
with us abundant provisions, and, in the next place, whatever
land and nation we invade, we shall have their corn; and we
are making war on men who are husbandmen, and not feeders
of cattle."  51. After this Artabanus said, "O king, since
you will not allow us to fear any thing, yet hearken to my
advice; for it is necessary, when speaking on many topics, to
extend one's discourse.  Cyrus, son of Cambyses, subdued all
Ionia except the Athenians, so as to be tributary to the Persians.  I advise you, therefore, on no account to lead these
men agaist their fathers; for even without them we are able
to get the better of our enemies; for if they accompany you,
they must either be most unjust in assisting to enslave their
mother-city,'or. most just in endeavoring to maintain its freedom. Now if they should be most unjust, they will not add.
any great gain to us; but if just, they are able to damage your
army to a great degree.  Consider, therefore, on this ancient
saying, since it has been well said, that the termination is not
always evident at the beginning.". 52. To this Xerxes an-.2 I have followed the reading and punctuation of Matthis and Baehr.
The latter, though he approves the mark of interrogation, omits it in
his version of this passage.




53-55..]           I'OLYMNIA. VII.                   431
swered, "Artabanus, of all the opinions you have given, you
are deceived most in this, in fearing lest the Ionians should desert us; of whom we have the strongest proofs, and of whom
you are a witness, as well as all the rest who accompanied
Darius in his expedition against the Scythians, that the whole
Persian army was in their power to destroy or to save, yet.
they evinced justice and fidelity, and committed nothing ungrateful. Besides this, since they have left their children, and
wives, and possessions in our territories, we must not expect
that they will form any new design. Do not, therefore, fear
this, but be of good courage, and preserve my house and my
government i for to you alone, of'all men, I intrust my sceptre."
53. Having spoken thus, and dispatched Artabanus to Susa,
Xerxes again summoned the most distinguished of the Persians,
and when they were assembled he addressed them as follows:
"  Persians, I have called you together to desire this of you,
that you would acquit yourselves like brave men, and not disgrace the former exploits of the Persians, which are great and
memorable; but let each and all of us together show our zeal,
for this which we are endeavoring to accomplish is a good
common to all.  On this account, then, I call on you to apply
yourselves earnestly to the war; for, as I am informed, we are
marching against brave men; and if we conquer them, no other army in the world will, dare to oppose us. Now, then, let
us cross over, having first offered up prayers to the gods who
protect the Persian territory."  54. That day they made preparations for the passage over; and on the following they waited for the sun, as they wished to see it rising, in the mean time
burning all sorts of perfumes on the bridges, and strewing the
road with myrtle branches. When the sun rose, Xerxes, pouring a libation into the sea out of a golden cup, offered up a
prayer to the sun that no such accident might befall him as
would prevent him from subduing Europe until he had reached
its utmost limits. After having prayed, he threw the cup into
the Hellespont, and a golden bowl, and a Persian sword, which
they call acinace; but I can not determine with certainty
whether he dropped these things into the sea as an offering to
the sun, or whether he repented of having scourged the Hellespont, and presented these gifts to the sea as a compensation.
55. When these ceremonies were finished, the infantry and all




432                   HERODOTUS.                   [56 —8.
the cavalry crossed over by that bridge which was toward the
Pontus, and the beasts of burden and attendants by that toward
the.Egean. First of all, the ten thousand Persians led the
van, all wearing crowns, and after them the promiscuous host
of all nations.,hese crossed on that day.  On the following,
first the horsemen, and those who carried their lances downward: these also wore crowns; next came the sacred horses
and the sacred chariot; afterward Xerxes himself, and the
spearmen, and the thousand horsemen; after them the rest of
the army closed the march, and at the same time the ships got
under weigh to the opposite shore. I have also heard that
Xerxes crossed over last of all. 56. Xerxes, when he had
crossed over into Europe, saw the army crossing over under
the lash: his army crossed over in seven days and seven nights
without halting at all.  On this occasion, it is related that
when Xerxes had crossed over the Hellespont, a certain Hellespontine said, " O Jupiter, why, assuming the form of a Persian,
and taking the name of Xerxes, do you wish to subvert Greece;
bringing all mankind with you, since without them it was in
your power to do this?"
57. When all had crossed over and were proceeding on
their march, a great prodigy appeared to them, which Xerxes
took no account of, although it was easy to be interpreted.  A
mare foaled a hare: this, then, might easily have been interpreted thus: that Xerxes was about to lead an army into
Greece with exceeding pomp and magnificence, but would
return to the same place running for his life. Another prodigy had also happened while he was at Sardis: a mule brought
forth a colt with double parts, both those of a male and those
of a female; those of the male were uppermost.' 58. But,
taking nro account of either of these; he proceeded forward,
and with him the land forces; but the fleet, sailing out of
the Hellespont, stood along by the land, taking a contrary
course to that of the army; for it sailed toward the west,
steering for cape Sarpedon, where, on its arrival, it was ordered to wait; but the army on the continent marched toward the east and the rising sun, through the Chersonese,
having on the right hand the sepulchre of Helle, daughter of
Athamas, and on the left the city of Cardia, and going through
the middle of a city, the name of which happened to be Agora;
and from thence, bending round a bay called Melas, and hav



59 —61.]            POLYMNIA. VII.                    433
ing come to the river Melas, whose stream did not suffice for
the army, but failed —having crossed this river, from which
the bay derives its name, they marched westward, passing by
JEnos, an lEolian city, and the lake Stentoris, until they reached Doriscus.  59. Doriscus is a shore and extensive plain of
Thrace.  Through it flows a large river, the Hebrus.  On it a
royal fort had been built, the same that is now called Doriscus,
and a Persian garrison had.been established in it by Darius
from the time that he marched against the Scythians. This
place, therefore, appeared to Xerxes to be convenient for reviewing and numbering his army; this accordingly he did.
All the ships, therefore, having arrived at Doriscus, the captains, at the command of Xerxes, brought them to the shore
adjoining Doriscus.  On this coast stood Sala, a Samothracian
city, and Zona, and at its extremity Serrhium, a celebrated
promontory: this region formerly belonged to the Ciconians.
Having steered to this shore, they hauled up the ships and repaired them, and in the mean time Xerxes numbered his army
at  oriscus.  60.      great a number of men each contributed I am unable to say with certainty, for it is not mentioned
by any one, but the amount of the whole land forces was found
to be seventeen hundred thousand.  They were computed in
this manner: having drawn together ten thousand men in one
place,- and having crowded them as close together as it was
possible, they traced a circle on the outside, and having traced
it, and removed the ten thousand, they threw up a stone fence
on the circle, reaching to the height of a man's navel.  Having
done this, they made others enter within the inclosed space,
until they had in this manner computed all, and having numbered them, they drew out according to nations.
61. Those who served in this expedition were the following.
The Persians, equipped as follows: on their heads they wore
loose coverings, called tiaras; on the body, various-colored
sleeved breastplates, with iron scales like those of fish; and
on their legs, loose trowsers; and, instead of shields, bucklers
made of. osiers; and under them  their quivers were hung.
They had'short spears, long bows, and arrows made of cane;
and, besides, daggers suspended from the girdle on the right
thigh.  They had for their general Otanes, father of Amestris,
wife of Xerxes.  They were formerly called Cephenes by the
Grecians, but by themselves and neighbors Artaeans;. but
T




434                  HERODOTUS.                  L62-66.
when Perseus, son of Danae and Jupiter, came to Cepheus, son
of Belus, and married his daughter Andromeda, he had a son
to whom he gave the name of Perses; and him he left in the
country, for Cepheus had no male offspring; from him, therefore, they derived their appellation. 62. The Medes marched
equipped in the same manner as the Persians, for the above
is a Medic and not a Persian costume. The Medes had for
their general Tigranes, of the family of the Achaemenidme:
they were formerly called Arians by all nations, but when
Medea of Colchis came from Athens to these Arians, they
also changed their names: the Medes themselves give this
account of their nation.  The Cissians, who served in the
army, were in other respects accoutred like the Persians, except that, instead of turbans, they wore mitres. Anaphes, son
of Otanes, commanded the Cissians. The Hyrcanians were
also armed like the Persians, and had for their general Megapanus, who was afterward governor of Babylon. 63. The
Assyrians who served in the army had helmets of brass, twisted in a barbarous manner not easy to be described, and they
had shields, and spears, and daggers similar to those of the
Egyptians, and, besides, wooden clubs knotted with iron, and
linen cuirasses. By the Greeks they were called Syrians, but
by the barbarians Assyrians.  Among them were the Chaldeans, and Otaspes, son of Artacheus commanded them. 64.
The Bactrians joined the army, having turbans on their heads
very much like those of the Medes, and bows made of cane
peculiar to their country, and short spears. The Sacae, who are
Scythians, had on their heads caps which came to a point and
stood erect; they also wore loose trowsers, and carried bows
peculiar to their country, and daggers, and also battle-axes
called sagares. These, though they are Amyrgian Scythians,
they called Sacae, for the Persians call all the Scythians Sace.
Hystaspes, son of Darius and Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, commanded the Bactrians and Sacae. 65. The Indians, clad with
garments made of cotton, had bows of cane, and arrows of cane
tipped with iron. Thus the Indians were equipped, and they
were marshaled under the command of Phanazathres, son of
Artabates. 66. The Arians were furnished with Medic bows,
and in other respects were accoutred like the Bactrians. Sisamnes, son of Hydarnes, commanded the Arians. The Parthians, Chorasmians, Sogdians, Gandarians, and Dadicae joined




67-70.]             POLYMNIA. VII.                  435
the army, having the same accoutrements as the Bactrians.
The following leaders commanded them. Artabazus, son of
Pharnaces, commanded the Parthians and Chorasmians; Azanes, son of Artaeus, the Sogdians; and Artyphius, son of Atabanus, the Gandarians and Dadicae. 67. The Caspians, clothed
in goat-skin mantles, and carrying bows made of cane peculiar
to their country, and cimeters, joined the expedition.  These
were thus equipped, having for their general Ariomardus,
brother of Artyphius.  The Sarangae were conspicuous by having dyed garments; they also wore buskins reaching up to the
knee, and had bows and Medic javelins. Pherendates, son of
Megabazus, commanded the Sarangae. The Pactyes also wore
goat-skin mantles, and had bows peculiar to the country and
daggers. The Pactyes had for their general Artyntes, son
of Ithamatres.  68. The Utians, Mycians, and Paricanians
were equipped like the Pactyes. The following leaders commanded them.  Arsamenes, son of Darius, led the Utians
and Mycians; and Siromitres, son of CEobazus, the Paricanians.- 69. The Arabians wore cloaks fastened by a girdle,
and carried on their right sides long bows which bent backward. The Ethiopians were clothed in panthers' and lions'
skins, and carried long bows, not less than four cubits in
length, made from branches of the palm-tree; and on them
they placed short arrows made of cane, instead of iron, tipped
with a stone, which was made sharp, and of that sort on which
they engrave seals. Besides, they had javelins, and at the tip
was an antelope's horn, made sharp like a lance; they had
also knotted clubs. When they were going to battle, they
smeared one half of their body with chalk, and the other half
with red ochre. The Arabians and Ethiopians who dwell
above Egypt were commanded by Arsames, son of Darius and
Artystone, daughter of Cyrus, whom Darius loved more than
all his wives, and, whose image he had made of beaten gold.
70. The Ethiopians from the sun-rise (for two kinds served
in the expedition) were marshaled with the Indians, and did
not at all differ from the others in appearance, but only in
their language and their hair; for the eastern Ethiopians
are straight-haired, but those of Libya have hair more curly
than that of any other people. These Ethiopians from Asia
were accoutred almost the same as the Indians; but they wore
on their heads skins of horses' heads as masks, stripped off




436                  HERODOTUS.                  [71-75.
with the ears and mane; and the mane served instead of a
crest, and the horses' ears were fixed erect; and as defensive
armor:they used the skins of cranes instead of shields. 71.
The Libyans marched clad in leathern garments, and made
use of javelins hardened by fire.' They had for their general
Massages, son of Oarizus.  72. The Paphlagonians joined the
expedition, wearing on their heads plaited helmets, and carried
small shields, and not large spears; and, besides, javelins and
daggers; and on their feet they wore boots, peculiar to their
country, reaching up to the middle of the leg. The Ligyes
and the Matienians, the Mariandynians and Syrians, marched
in the same dress as the Paphlagonians.  These Syrians are
called by the Persians Cappadocians. Now Dotus, son of
Megasidrus, commanded the Paphlagonians and Matienians;
and Gobryas, son of Darius and Artystone, the Mlariandynians, Ligyes, and Syrians.  73. The Phrygians had very
nearly the same dress as that of Paphlagonia, varying it
a little.  The Phrygians, as the Macedonians say, were called
Briges, as long as they were Europeans, and dwelt with the
Macedonians; but having passed over into Asia, they changed
their name, with their country, into that of Phrygians. The
Armenians, being colonists of the Phrygians, were equipped
like the Phrygians. Artochmes, who had married a daughter
of Darius, commanded both  these.  74. The Lydians had
arms very like the Grecian. The  Lydians were. formerly
called Meionians, but took their appellation from Lydus, the
son of Atys, having changed their name'. The Mysians wore
on their. heads a helmet peculiar to their country, and small
shields; and they used javelins hardened by fire. They are
colonists of the Lydians, and from the mountain Olympus are
called Olympieni. Artaphernes, son of Artaphernes who invaded Marathon with Datis, commanded the Lydians and
Mysians. 75. The Thracians joined the expedition, having
fox-skins on their heads, and tunics around their body, and
over them they were clothed with various-colored cloaks,
and on their feet and legs they had buskins of fawn-skin, and,
besides, they had javelins, light bucklers, and small daggers.
These people, having crossed over into Asia, were called Bi-.thynians; but formerly, as they themselves say, were called
Strymonians, as-they dwelt on the river Strymon: they say
that they were removed from their original settlements by the




76-81.]             POLYMNIA. VII.                    437
Teucrians and Mysians. Bassaces, son of Artabanus, commanded the Thracians of Asia.  76. The X   * X *  e 3 had
small shields made of raw hides, and each had two javelins
used for hunting wolves, and on their heads brazen helmets;
and in addition to the helmets, they wore the ears and horns
of an ox in brass. And over these were crests; and as
to their legs, they were enwrapped in pieces of purple cloth.
Among these people there is an oracle of Mars.  77. The
Cabalian Meionians, who are also called Lasonians, had the
same dress as the Cilicians, which I shall describe when I come
to speak of the army of the Cilicians. The Milyse had short
lances, and their garments were fastened by clasps. Some of
them had Lycian bows, and on their heads helmets made of
tanned skins.  Badres, son of Hystanes, commanded all these.
78. The Moschians had on their heads wooden helmets, and
small bucklers, and spears; but there were large points on the
spears.  The Tibarenians, Macrones, and Mosynceci joined
the expedition equipped as the Moschians.  The following
generals marshaled these: the Moschians and Tibarenians,
Ariomardus, son of Darius and Parmys, daughter of Smerdis,
son of Cyrus; the Macrones and Mosynoeci, Artayctes, son
of Cherasmis, who was intrusted with the government of Sestos on the Hellespont.  79. The Mares wore helmets on their
heads, painted after the manner of their country; and small
shields made of skin, and javelins.  The Colchians had about
their heads wooden helmets, and small shields of raw hides, and
short lances; and, besides, they had swords. Pherendates, son
of Teaspes, commanded the Mares and Colchians.  The'Alarodi and the Saspires marched armed like the Colchians;
Masistius, son of Siromitres, commanded them.  80. The insular nations that came from the Erythrean Sea, and from the
islands in which the king makes those dwell who' are called
"the banished," had clothing and arms very similar to the
Medic.  Mardontes, son of Bagoeus, who, when commanding
the army, at Mycale, two years after this, died in battle, commanded these islanders.
81. These were the nations that marched on the continent
and composed the infantry.; They, then, who have been mentioned commanded this army, and these were they who set in
3 There is a hiatus in the manuscripts, which the ingenuity of annotafors and editors has been unable to supply.




438                  HERODOTUS.                  [82 —85.
order, and numbered them, and appointed commanders of
thousands and of ten thousands; but the commanders of ten
thousands appointed the captains of hundreds and captains of
tens. There were other subaltern officers over the troops and
nations, but those who have been mentioned were the commanders.  82. Over these and the whole infantry were appointed as generals, Mardonius, son of Gobryas; Tritantaechmes, son of Artabanus, who gave his opinion against the
invasion of Greece; Smerdomenes, son of Otanes (both these
were sons to brothers of Darius, and cousins to Xerxes);
Masistes, son of Darius and Atossa; Gergis, son of Arizus;
and Megabyzus, son of Zopyrus.  83. These were generals of
the whole land-forces, except the ten thousand; of these ten
thousand chosen Persians, Hydarnes, son of Hydarnes, was
general. These Persians were called Immortal for the following reason: if any one of them made a deficiency in the number, compelled either by death or disease, another was ready
chosen to supply his place, so that they were never either
more or less than ten thousand.  The Persians displayed the
greatest splendor of all, and were also the bravest; their
equipment was such as has been described; but, besides this,
they were conspicuous from having a great profusion of gold.
They also brought with them covered chariots, and concubines
in them, and a numerous and well-equipped train of attendants.  Camels and' other beasts of burden conveyed their provisions apart from that of the rest of the soldiers.
84. All these nations have cavalry; they did not, however,
all furnish horse, but only the following. First, the Persians,
equipped in the same manner as their infantry, except that on
their heads some of them wore brazen and wrought-steel ornaments. 85. There is a certain nomadic race, called Sagartians, of Persian extraction and language; they wear a dress
fashioned between the Persian and the Pactyan fashion; they
furnished eight thousand horse, but they are not accustomed
to carry arms either of brass or iron, except daggers: they
use ropes made of twisted thongs; trusting to these, they go
to war. The mode of fighting of these men is as follows:
when they engage with the enemy, they throw out the ropes,
which have nooses at the end, and whatever any one catches,
whether horse or man, he drags toward himself, and they
that are entangled in the coils are put to death. This is their




86-89.]            POLYMNIA. VII.                    439
mode of fighting; and they were marshaled with the Persians. 86. The Medes had the same equipment as that used
in the infantry, and the Cissians in like manner. The Indians
were also equipped like their infantry, but they used saddlehorses and chariots, and in their chariots they yoked horses
and wild asses. The Bactrians were equipped in the same
manner as their infantry, and the Caspians likewise. The
Libyans too were accoutred like their infantry, but they all
drove chariots. In like manner, the Caspiri and Paricanii
were equipped in the same way as their infantry; and the
Arabians had the same dress as their infantry, but all rode
camels not inferior to horses in speed. 87. These nations only
furnished cavalry. The number of the horse amounted to
eighty thousand, besides the camels and chariots. All the rest
of the cavalry were marshaled in troops, but the Arabians
were stationed in the rear; for as horses can not endure camels,
they were stationed behind,'that the horses might not be
frightened.  88. Armamithres and Tithams, sons of Datis,
were generals of the cavalry. Their third colleague in command, Pharnuches, had been left at Sardis sick; for as they
were setting out from Sardis he met with a sad accident; for
when he was mounted, a dog ran under the legs of his horse,
and the horse, not being aware of it, was frightened, and, rearing up, threw Pharnuches; upon which, he, having fallen,
vomited blood, and the disease turned to a consumption. With
respect to the horse, his servants immediately did as he ordered; for, leading him to the place where he had thrown his
master, they cut off his legs at the knees. Thus Pharnuches
was deprived of the command.
89. The number of the triremes amounted to twelve hundred and seven; the following nations furnished them. The
Phoenicians, with the Syrians of Palestine, furnished three
hundred, being thus equipped: on their heads they had helmets, made very nearly after the Grecian fashion, and, clothed
in linen breastplates, they carried shields without rims, and
javelins. These Phoenicians, as they themselves say, anciently
dwelt on the Red Sea; and having crossed over from thence,
they settled on the sea-coast of Syria: this part of Syria, and
the whole as far as Egypt, is called Palestine. The Egyptians
contributed two hundred ships. These had on their heads
plaited helmets, and carried hollow shields, with large rims,




440                   HERODOTUS.                   [90-95.
and pikes fit for a sea-fight, and large hatchets.  The greater
part of them had breastplates, and carried large swords.  90.
The Cyprians contributed a hundred and fifty ships, and were
equipped as follows: their kings had their heads wrapped in
turbans; the rest wore tunics, and were in other respects attired like the Greeks. Of these there are the following nations:
some from Salamis and Athens, others from Arcadia, others
from Cythnus, others from Phcenicia, and others from Ethiopia, as the Cyprians themselves say.  91. The Cilicians contributed a hundred ships.  These, again, wore on their heads
helmets peculiar to their country, and had bucklers instead of
shields, made of raw hides, And were clothed in woolen tunics;
every one had two javelins, and a sword made very much like the
Egyptian cimeters.  They were anciently called Hypacheans,
and took their present name from Cilix, son of Agenor, a Phoenician.  The Pamphylians contributed thirty ships, and were
equipped in Grecian armor. These Pamphylians are descended
from:those who, in their return from Troy, were dispersed with
Amphilochus and Calchas.  92. The Lycians contributed fifty
ships, and wore breastplates and greaves.  They had bows
mtade of cornel-wood, and cane arrows without feathers, and
javelins; and, besides, goat-skins were suspended over their
shoulders, and round their heads caps encircled with feathers;
they had also daggers and falchions. The Lycians were called
Termilae, being sprung from  Crete, but took their present
name from Lycus, son of Pandion, an Athenian.  93. The
Dorians of Asia contributed thirty ships, wearing Grecian
armor,. and sprung from  the Peloponnesus.  The Carians
contributed seventy ships, and were in other respects accoutred like the Greeks, but had falchions and daggers. What
these were formerly called I have mentioned in the first part4
of my history.  94. The Ionians contributed a hundred ships,
and, were equipped as Greeks.  The Ionians, as long as they
inhabited that part of the Peloponnesus which is now called
Achaia, and before Danaus and Xuthus arrived in the Peloponnesus, as the Greeks say, were called Pelasgian.Egialees;
but Ionians from Ion, son of Xuthus. 95. The Islanders contributed seventeen ships, and were armed like the Greeks.
This race is also Pelasgic, but was afterward called Ionian for
the same reason as the Ionians of the twelve cities, who came
See B. I. chap. 171.




9  0-99.]          POLYMNIA. VII.                   441
from Athens. The AEolians contributed sixty ships, and were
equipped like the Greeks; they were anciently called Pelasgians, as the Grecians say. The Hellespontines, except those
of Abydos, for the people of Abydos were ordered by the king
to stay at home and guard the bridges-the rest, however,
who joined the expedition from the Pontus, contributed a
hundred ships; they were equipped like the Greeks: these are
colonists of the Ionians and Dorians.
96. Persians, Medes, and Sacm served as marines on board
all the ships.  Of these the Phoenicians furnished the best
sailing ships, and of the Phoenicians the Sidonians.  Over all
these, as well as over those that formed the land-army, native
officers were appointed to each; but I do not mention their
names, for I am not necessarily constrained to do so for the
purpose of the history; nor were the officers of each nation
worthy of mention; and in each nation, as many as the cities
were, so many were the leaders. They did not, however, follow in the quality of generals, but like the other subjects who
joined the expedition. Moreover, the generals, who had all the
power, and were the commanders of the several nations, such
of them as were Persians have been already mentioned by me.
97. The following were admirals of the navy: Ariabignes, son.of Darius; Prexaspes, son of Aspathines; Megabazus, son of
Megabates; and Achoemenes,.son of Darius: of the Ionian
and Carian force, Ariabignes, son of Darius and the daughter
of Gobryas; Achemenes, who was brother to Xerxes on both
sides, commanded the Egyptians; and the other two commanded the rest of the fleet. Trieconters, penteconters, light
boats, and long horse transports were found to assemble to the
number of three thousand. 98. Of those who served in the
fleet, the following, next to the admirals, were the most illustrious: Tetramnestus, son of Anysus, a Sidonian; Mapen, son
of Siromus, a Tyrian; Merbalus, son of Agbalus, an Aridian;
Syennesis, son of Oromedon, a Cilician; Cybernisus, son of
Sicas, a Lycian; Gorgus, son of Chersis, and Timonax, son
of Timagoras, Cyprians; and of the Carians, Histious, son
of Tymnes; Pygres, son of Seldomus, and Damasithymus, son
of Candaules. 99. Of the other captains I make no mention,
as I deem it unnecessary, except of Artemisia, whom I most
admire, as having, though a woman, joined this expedition
against Greece; who, her husband being dead, herself holdT2




442                  H-IERODOTUS.               [100, 101.
ing the sovereignty while her son was under age, joined the
expedition from a feeling of courage and manly spirit, though
there was no necessity for her doing so. Her name was Artemisia, and she was the daughter of Lygdamis, and by birth
she was of Halicarnassus on her father's side, and on her
mother's a Cretan.  She commanded the Halicarnassians, the
Coans, the Nisyrians, and the Calydnians, having contributed
five ships; and of the whole fleet, next to the Sidonians, she
furnished the most renowned ships, and of all the allies, gave
the best advice to the king. The cities which I have mentioned as,, being under her command, I pronounce to be all
of Doric origin; the Halicarnassians being Troezenians, and
the rest Epidaurians. Thus far the naval armament has been
spoken of.
100. Xerxes, when he had numbered his forces, and the
army was drawn up, desired to pass through and inspect them
in person. Accordingly he did so, and driving through on a
chariot, by each separate nation, he made inquiries, and his
secretaries wrote down the answers, until he had gone from
one extremity to the other, both of the horse and foot. When:
he had finished this, and the ships had been launched into the
sea, Xerxes thereupon removing from his chariot to a Sidonian
ship, sat under a gilded canopy, and then sailed by the prows
of the ships, asking questions of each, as he had done with
the land-forces, and having the answers written down. The
captains of the ships having drawn their vessels about four
plethra from the beach, lay to, all having turned their ships
frontwise to land, and having armed the marines as if for a
battle; but Xerxes, sailing between the prows and the beach,
inspected them.
101. When he had sailed through them, and had landed
from the ship, he sent for Demaratus, son of Ariston, who accompanied him in the expedition against Greece; and having
called. him, he addressed him thus: "Demaratus, it is now
my pleasure to ask of you certain questions that I wish. You
are a Greek, and, as I am informed by you, and other Greeks
who have conversed with me, of a city neither the least nor
the weakest. Now, therefore, tell me this, whether the Grecians will venture to lift their hands against me; for, as I
think, if all the Grecians, and all the rest of the nations that
dwell toward the west, were collected together, they would




i0z, 103.]         POLYMNIA. VII.,                  443
not be able to withstand my attack unless they were united
together.  However, I am desirous to know what you say on
this subject."  Such was the question he asked; but Demaratus answering, said, " 0 king, whether shall I speak truth to
you, or what is pleasing?   He bade him speak truth, assuring him that he would not be at all less agreeable than.he was before.  102. When Demaratus heard this, he spoke
thus: "0 king, since you positively require me to speak truth,
I will say such things as whoever should utter them would
not hereafter be convicted of falsehood.  Poverty has ever
been familiar to Greece, but virtue has been acquired, having.
been accomplished by wisdom and firm laws; by the aid of
which, Greece has warded off poverty and tyranny. I commend, indeed, all those Greelks who dwell round those Doric
lands; but I shall now proceed to speak, not of all, but of the
Lacedaemonians only. In the first place, I say it is not possible that they should ever listen to your proposals, which
bring slavery on Greece; secondly, that they will meet you
in battle, even if all the rest of the Greeks should side with
you. With respect to their number, you need not ask how
many they are, that they are able to do this; for whether a
thousand men, or more, or even less, should have marched out,
they will certainly give you battle."  103. Xerxes, having
heard this, replied, " Demaratus, what have you said? that a
thousand men will fight with such an army as this?  Come,
tell me, you say that you were yourself king of these men;
are you, then, willing on the spot to fight with ten men?
And yet, if all your citizens are such as you represent, you,
who are their king1 ought, by your own institutions, to be
matched against twice that number; for if each of them is a
match for ten men in my army, I expect that you should be
a match for twenty, so the opinion you have given utterance
to would prove correct; but if, being such as yourself, and
of the same stature as you and other Greeks who have conversed with me, ye boast so much, beware that the opinion
you have uttered be not an idle vaunt; for come, let us consider every probability: how could a thousand men, or even
ten thousand, or even fifty thousand, being all equally free,
and not subject to the command of a single person, resist such
an army as this? for if they are five thousand, we are more
than a thousand against one. Were they, indeed, according




444                  HERODOTUS.                 [104, 105.
to our custom, subject to the command of a single person,
they might, through fear of him, prove superior to their
natural courage; and, compelled by the lash, might, though
fewer, attack a greater number; but now, being left to their
own freewill, they will do nothing of the kind. And I am
of opinion that, even if they were equal in numbers, the
Grecians would hardly contend with the Persians alone. For
the valor that you speak of exists among us; it is not,
however, common, but rare; for there are Persians among'my body-guards who would readily encounter three Greeks
at once; and you, having no experience of these men, talk
very idly."  104. To this Demaratus replied, "   king, I
knew from the first that by adhering to the truth I should
not say what would be agreeable to you; but since you constrained me to speak the exact truth, I told you the real character of the Spartans. However, you yourself well know
how tenderly I must love them, who, after they had deprived
me of my paternal honors and dignity, have made me citiless
and an exile; but your father, having received me, gave me
maintenance and a home; it is not probable, therefore, that a
prudent man should repel manifest benevolence, but should by
all means cherish it.  For my part, I do not pretend to be
able to fight with ten men, nor with two; nor would I willingly fight with one; but if there was any necessity, or any
great stake to rouse me, I would most willingly fight with one
of those men who pretend to be singly a match for three Grecians. In like manner, the Lacedemonians in single combat
are inferior to none, but together are the bravest of all men;
for, though free, they are not absolutely free, for they have a
master over them, the law, which they fear much more than
your subjects do you. They do, accordingly, whatever it enjoins; and it ever enjoins the same thing, forbidding them
to fly from battle before any number of men, but to remain
in their ranks, and conquer or die. If I appear to you, in
saying this, to talk idly, I will for the future observe silence
on this subject, and now I have spoken through compulsion;
however, may events, 0 king, turn out according to your
wish."
105. Such was the reply he made; but Xerxes turned it
into ridicule, and evinced no anger, but dismissed him kindly.
Xerxes, having held this conversation, and appointedo Mas



[10o-108.          POLYMNIA. VII.                   445
cames, son of Megadostes, to be governor of this Doriscus, and
having deposed the person placed there by Darius, marched
his army through Thrace toward Greece. 106. Mascames,
whom he left, proved so excellent a man, that Xerxes used to
send presents every year to him alone, as being the best of all
the governors whom either he or Darius had appointed; and
he used to send them every year, as did also Artaxerxes, son
of Xerxes, to the descendants of Mascames; for even before
this expedition governors had been appointed in Thrace, and
throughout the Hellespont.  Now all these, both in Thrace
and on the Hellespont, except the one in Doriscus, were driven
out by the. Greeks after this invasion; but none were able to
drive out Mascames, who was in Doriscus, though many made
the attempt.  On this account presents are. sent to his family
by the reigning king of Persia.  107. But of all those who
were driven out by the Greeks, king Xerxes thought no one
had behaved himself with courage except Boges, who was governor of Eion. Him he never ceased praising, and conferred
the highest honors on his sons who survived in Persia. And,
indeed, Boges deserves great praise; for when he was besieged
)bythe Athenians under Cimon, son of Miltiades, and might
have marched out by capitulation and returned to Asia, he
would not do so, lest the king should think he saved his life
through cowardice; but he held out to the last; and when
there was no longer any food in the fort, having raised a great
pile, he slew his children and wife, and concubines and servants, and then threw their bodies into the fire; after this he
cast all the gold and silver that was in the tower from the fort
into the Strymon, and, having done this, he threw himself
into the fire, so that he is with justice commended by the Persians even to this day.
108. Xerxes set out from Doriscus toward Greece, and
compelled such nations as he met with to join his army; for,
as I before observed,5 the whole country as far as Thessaly
had been brought to subjection, and made tributary to the
king, Megabazus, and afterward Mardonius, having subdued
it. In his march from Doriscus, he first passed the Samothracian fortresses, the last of which is situate toward the west,
and is a city called Mesambria; near this is Stryme, a city of
the Thasians. Between these two places the river Lissus flows;
See B. V. ch. 12, 15; and B. VI. ch. 43-45.




446                   HERODOTUS.                 109-113.]
which did not supply sufficient water for the army of Xerxes,
but failed. This country was anciently called Gallaica, but
now Briantica; in strict right, however, it belongs to the Ciconians.
109. Xerxes, having crossed the dried-up channel of the
river Lissus, passed by the following Grecian cities, Maronea,
Dicaea, and Abdera; he accordingly went by these, and near
theni, the following celebrated lakes: the Ismaris, situate between Maronea and Stryme; and Bistonis, near Dicaea, into
which two rivers empty their water, the Travus and Compsatus.  Near Abdera Xerxes passed by no celebrated lake,
but the river Nestus, which flows into the sea. After these
places he passed in his march by several continental cities,
in one of which is a lake about thirty stades in circumference:
it abounds in fish, and is very brackish. The beasts of burden
alone, being watered there, dried this up. The name of this
city is Pistyrus.  These cities, then, maritime and Grecian, he
passed by, leaving them on the left hand.  110. The nations
of Thrace, through whose country he marched, are these: the
Paeti, Ciconians, Bistonians, Sapaei, Derssei, Edoni, and Satrae.
Of these, such as dwelt near the sea attended him with their
ships; and such as dwelt inland, who have been enumerated
by me, all, except the Satrae, were compelled to follow by
land.  111. The Satre. as far as we are informed, were never
subject to any man, but alone, of all the Thracians, have continued free to this day; for they inhabit lofty mountains,
covered with all kinds of wood and snow, and are courageous
in war. These are the people that possess an oracle of Bacchus; this oracle is on the highest range of their mountains.
The Bessi are those among the Satrae who interpret the oracles
of the temple; a priestess delivers them, as in Delphi, and they
are not at all more ambiguous.  112. Xerxes, having traversed the country that has been mentioned, after this passed by
the forts of the Pierians, one of which is called Phagres, and
the other Pergamus: here he marched close to the very forts,
keeping on his right hand Mount Pangaeus, which is vast and
lofty, and in it are gold and silver mines, which the Pierians
and Odomanti, and especially the Satrae, work.  113. Passing
by the Pauonians, Doberes, and Peoplae, who dwell above
Pangaeus to the north, he went westward till he arrived at
the river Strymon and the city of Eion, of which Boges,




114-117.]           POLYMNIA. VII.                  447
whom I have lately mentioned,6 being still alive, was governor.  The land itself, which is about Mount Pangaeus, is
called Phillis, extending westward to the river Angites, which
falls into the Strymon; and on the south, reaching to the
Strymon itself, which the magi propitiated by sacrificing
white horses to it.  114. Having used these enchantments to
the river, and many others besides, they marched by the
Nine Ways of the Edonians to the bridges, and found the
banks of the Strymon united by a bridge.d  But being informed that this place was called the Nine Ways, they buried
alive in it so many sons and daughters of the inhabitants.  It
is a Persian custom to bury people alive; for I have heard
that Amestris, wife of Xerxes, having grown old, caused
fourteen children of the best families in Persia to be buried
alive, to show her gratitude to the god who is said to be beneath the earth.
115. When the army marched from the Strymon, there is a
shore toward the sun-set on which it passed by a Grecian
city called Argilus; this and the country above it is called
Bisaltia; from  thence keeping the bay near the temple of
Neptune on the left hand, it went through what is called the
plain of Soleus; and passing by Stagirus, a Grecian city, arrived at Acanthus; taking with them each of the above nations, and those that dwell round Mount Pangeus, as well as
those which I have before enumerated; having those that
dwelt near the sea to serve on shipboard, and those above the
sea to follow on foot. This road, along which king Xerxes
marched his army, the Thracians neither disturb nor sow, but
regard it with great veneration even to my time.  116. When
he arrived at Acanthus, the Persian enjoined the Acanthians
to, show them hospitality, and presented them with a Medic
dress, and commended them, seeing them ready for the war,
and hearing of the excavation at Mount Athos.8  117. While
Xerxes was at Acanthus, it happened that Artachaees, who
had superintended the canal, died of disease; he was much
esteemed by Xerxes, and was of the race of the Achaemenida,
and in stature the tallest of the Persians, for he wanted only
four fingers of five royal cubits; and he had the loudest voice
6 Chap. 107.             7 See chap. 24.
8 See chap. 22. The Acanthians, who bordered on Mount Athos,
had probably facilitated the work.




448                   HIERODOTUS.                L118-120.
of any man, so that Xerxes, considering his loss very great,
had him carried to the grave and buried him with great pomp,
and the whole army raised up a mound for his sepulchre. To
this Artachsees the Acanthians, in obedience to an oracle, offer
sacrifice as to a hero, invoking him by name.  King Xerxes
therefore, when Artachaees died, considered it a great loss. 118.
Those of the Grecians who received the army and entertained
Xerxes were reduced to extreme distress, so that they were
obliged to abandon their homes; since Antipater, son of
Orges, one of the most distinguished citizens, being selected
by the Thasians, who received and entertained the army of
Xerxes on behalf of the cities on the continent, showed that
four -undred talents of silver had been expended on the banquet.  119. In like manner, those who superintended in the
other cities gave in their accounts; for the banquet was of
the following kind, as being ordered long beforehand, and
considered of great importance. In the first place, as soon as
they heard the heralds proclaiming it all around, the citizens,
having-distributed the corn that was in the cities, all made
flour and meal for many months; and, in the next place, they
fatted cattle, finding the best they could for money, and fed
land and water fowl in coops and ponds for the entertainment of the army: moreover, they. made gold and silver cups
and vessels, and all such things as are placed on a table. But
these things were made for the king himself, and those who
sat'at table with him; for the rest of the army provisions only
were required. Whenever the army arrived, a tent was readily
pitched, in which Xerxes himself lodged, but the rest of the
army remained in the open air. When meal-time came, those
who received them had all the trouble; but the guests, when
they had been satisfied and passed the night there, on the following day, having torn up the tent and taken all the furniture,
went away, leaving nothing, but carrying away every thing.
120. On this occasion, a clever remark was made by Magacreon of Abdera, who advised the Abderites "to go in a body,
themselves and their wives, to their own temples, and to seat
themselves as suppliants of the gods, beseeching them also
for the future to avert one half of.the evils that were coming
upon them, and to express their hearty thanks for what was
passed, that king Xerxes was not accustomed to take food twice
every day; for if they had been ordered to prepare a dinner




121-123.]           POLYMNIA. VII.                   449
as well as a supper, they, the Abderites, would have been compelled either not to await the arrival of Xerxes, or, if they had
awaited him, they must have been worn down the most miserably of all men."  They, however, though hard put to it, executed the order imposed on them.
121. At Acanthus Xerxes dismissed the ships from  his
presence to proceed on their voyage, having given orders to
the admirals that the fleet should await his arrival at Therma —at Therma, which is situated on the Thermaean gulf, and
from which that gulf derives its name, for he had heard that
that was the shortest way. As far as Acanthus the army
marched from Doriscus in the following order.  Xerxes, having divided the whole land forces into three bodies,'irdered
one of them to accompany the fleet along the coast; )f this
division Mardonius and Masistes were commanders.  Another
of the three divisions of the army marched inland, commanded
by Trintantaechmes and'Gersis. But the third division, with
which Xerxes himself went, marched between the other two,
and had for generals Smerdomenes and Megabyzus.  122.
The fleet accordingly, when it had been dismissed by Xerxes,
and had passed through the canal which was at Athos extending to the bay on which the cities of Assa, Pilorus, Singus,
and Sarta are situate, after that, when it had taken troops on
board from those cities, sailed with all speed to the Thermaean
bay. Doubling Ampelus, the Toronaean foreland, it lfssed
by the following Greek cities, from which it took ships and
men, Torone, Galepsus, Sermyla, Mecyberna, and Olynthus;
all which country is now  called Sithonia.  123. Xerxes's
fleet, stretching across from the cape of Ampelus to the cape
of Canastrseum, which is the most prominent point of all
Pallene, thence took ships and men from'Potidea, Aphytis,
Neapolis,- Ega, Therambus, Scione, Menda, and Sana, for
these are the cities that belong to what is now Pallene, but
was formerly called Phlegra.  Coasting along thisf country, it
sailed to the appointed place, taking with them troops also
from the cities near Pallene and bordering on the Thermtean
gulf; their names are as follows: Lipaxus, Combrea, Lisas,
Gigonus, Campsa, Smila, and -Enea.  The country in which
these cities are situate is to the present time called by the
name of Crossea.. From  lEnea, with which I ended my
enumeration of the cities, the course of the fleet was direct to




450                  HERODOTUS.                [124-128J
the Thermsean gulf and the Mygdonian territory; and sailing
on, it reached the appointed place, Therma, and Sindus and
Chalestra, on the river Axius, which divides the territories of
Mygdonia and Bottiseis; on a narrow tract of which, near the
sea, stand the cities of Ichnse and Pella.
124. The naval force encamped there. near the river Axius,
and the city of Therma, and the intermediate places, awaiting
the arrival of the king; but Xerxes and the land army marched from Acanthus, taking the road through the interior, wishing to reach Therma; and he marched through the Pseonian
and Crestonian territories toward the river Echidorus, which,
beginning from the Crestonians, flows through the Mygdonian
territory, and discharges itself into the marsh which is above
the river Axius. 125. While he was marching in this direction, lions fell upon his camels that carried provisions; for the
lions, coming down by night and leaving their usual haunts,
seized nothing else, whether beast of burden or man, but they
attacked.the camels only; and I wonder what the reason could
be that induced the lions to abstain from all the rest, and
set upon the camels, a beast which they had never before
seen or made trial of. 126. But in those parts lions are numerous, and wild bulls, which have very large horns that are
brought into Greece. The boundaries of the lions are the
river Nestus, which flows through Abdera, and the Achelous,
which flows through Acarnania; for no one would ever see a
lion any where eastward of the Nestus, throughout the forepart of Europe, nor to the west of the Achelous, in the rest
of the continent, but they breed in the tract between these
two rivers.  127. When Xerxes arrived at Therma, he there
ordered his army to halt; and his army, when encamped, occupied the following district along the coast; commencing
from the city of Therma, and from Mygdonia, to the rivers
Lydias and Haliacmon, which divide the territories of Bottioeis
and Macedonia, uniting their waters into the same channel.
In these countries, then, the barbarians encamped. Of the
rivers above mentioned, the Echidorus, which flows from the
Crestonians, was the only one that was not sufficient for the
army, but failed.
128. Xerxes, seeing from Therma the Thessalonian mountains, Olympus and Ossa, which are of vast size, and having
learned that there was a narrow pass between them, through




129.]              POLYMNIA. VII.                   451
which the river Peneus runs, and hearing that at that spot
there was a road leading to Thessaly, very much wished to
sail and see the mouth of the Peneus, because he designed to
march by the upper road through the country of the Macedonians; who dwell higher up, to the territory of the Perrhaebi,
near the city of Gonnus; f6r he was informed that this was
the safest way. Accordingly, as he wished, so he did. Having gone on board a Sidonian ship, in which he always embarked whenever he wished to do any thing of this kind, he
made a signal for all the rest of the fleet to get under weigh,
leaving the land forces where they were. When Xerxes arrived, and beheld the mouth of the Peneus, he was struck with
great astonishment, and having called his guides, asked if it
would be possible to turn the river and conduct it by another
channel into the sea.  129. It is said that Thessaly was anciently a lake, since it is inclosed on all sides by lofty mountains; for the side next the east Mount Pelion and Ossa shut
in, mingling their bases with each other; and the side toward
the north Olympus shuts in; and the west, Pindus; and the
side toward the midday and the south wind, Othrys: the
space in the midst of the above-mentioned mountains is Thessaly, which is hollow. Since, then, several other rivers flow
into it, and these five most noted ones, the Peneus, the Apidanus, the Onochonus, the Enipeus, and the Pamisus-these
that have been named, accordingly, meeting together in this
plain from  the mountains that inclose Thessaly, discharge
themselves into the sea through one channel, and that a narrow one, having all before mingled their waters into the same
stream; but as soon as they have mingled together, from
that spot the names of the other rivers merge in that of the
Peneus.9  It is said that formerly, when the pass and outlet
did not yet exist, these rivers, and besides them the lake
B3cebeis, were not called by the names they now bear, though
they flowed not less than they do now; but that by their
stream they made all Thessaly a lake. However, the Thessalians themselves say that Neptune made the pass through
which the Peneus flows; and their story is probable, for whoever thinks that Neptune shakes the earth, and that rents occasioned by earthquakes are the works of this god, on seeing
9 Literally, "the river Peneus gaining the victory as to the name,
causes the others to be nameless."




452                  HERODOTUS.                [130-133.
this, would say that Neptune formed it, for it appears evident
to me that the separation of these mountains is the effect of
an earthquake.  130. The guides, when Xerxes asked if there
was any other exit for the Peneus to the sea, being accurately:
acquainted with the country, said, " O king, this'river has no
other outlet that extends to the sea except this one, for all
Thessaly is surrounded by mountains."  Xerxes is reported
to have said to this, " The Thessalians are prudent men, and
therefore they long ago took precautions, and altered their
minds, both on other accounts, and because they possessed a
country which might be easily subdued and quickly taken;
for it would only be necessary to turn the river on to their
territdry, by forcing it back by a mound at the pass, and diverting it from the channels through which it now flows, so
that all Thessaly, except the mountains, would be inundated."
Xerxes expressed himself thus in reference to the sons of
Aleuas,l because they, being Thessalians, were the first of the
Greeks who gave themselves up to the king, Xerxes supposing that they promised alliance in behalf of the whole nation.
Having thus spoken, and viewed the spot, he sailed back to
Therma.
131. He remained several days about Pieria, for a third
division of his army was employed in felling the trees on the
Macedonian range, that the whole army might pass in that
direction to the Perrhaebi. In the mean time, the heralds2 who
had been sent to Greece to demand earth returned to Xerxes,
some empty, and others bringing earth and water. 132. Of
those who gave them were the following: the Thessalians,
the Dolopes, the Enienes, the Perrhaebi, the Locrians, the Magnetes, the Melians, the Achaeans of Phthiotis, and the Thebans,
and all the rest of the Bceotians except the Thespians and
Plataeans. Against these the Greeks, who engaged in war
with the barbarians, made a solemn oath. i The oath ran as
follows: "Whatever Greeks have given themselves up to the
Persian without compulsion, so soon as their affairs are restored to order, that these should be compelled to pay a tithe
to the god at Delphi."  Such was the oath taken by the
Greeks.  13.3. To Athens and Sparta he did not send heralds
to demand earth for the following reasons: on a former occasion, when Darius sent for the same purpose, the former
See chap. 6.              -See chap. 32.




134, 135.]          FOLYMNIA. VII.                    453
having thrown those who made the demand into the barathrum,3
and the latter into a well, bade them carry earth and water to
the king from those places; for; that reason, Xerxes did not
send persons to make the. demand. What calamity befell the
Athenians, in consequence of their having treated the heralds
in this manner,,I can not say, except that their territory and
city were ravaged; but I do not think that happened in consequence of that crime.  134. On the Lacedemonians, however, the anger of Talthybius, Agamemnon's herald, alighted;
for Talthybius has a temple in Sparta; and there are descendants of Talthybius, called Talthybiadae, to whom  all
embassies from Sparta are given as a privilege. After these
events, the Spartans were unable, when they sacrificed, to get
favorable omens; and this continued for a long time.  The
Lacedaemonians being grieved, and considering it a great
calamity, and having frequently held assemblies, and at length
made inquiry by public proclamation whether any Lacedaemonian was willing to die for Sparta, Sperthies, son of Aneristus, and, Bulis, son of Nicolaus, both Spartans. of distinguished birth, and eminent for their wealth, voluntarily offered
to give satisfaction to Xerxes for the heralds of Darius who
had perished at Sparta.  Accordingly, the Spartans sent them
to the Medes for the purpose of being put to death.  135.
And both the courage of these men deserves admiration, and
also, the following words on this occasion; for on their way
to Susa they came to Hydarnes; but Hydarnes was a Persian
by birth, and governor of the maritime people in Asia; he
having offered them hospitality, entertained them, and while
he was entertaining them, he questioned them as follows, saying, "Men of Lacedaemon, why do you refuse to be friendly
with the king? for you may see how well the king knows
how to honor brave men, by looking at me and my condition;
so also, if you would surrender yourselves to the king, for
you are deemed by him to be brave men, each of you would
obtain a government in some part of Greece at the hands of
the king."  To this; they answered as follows: " Hydarnes,
the advice you hold out to us is not impartial; for you advise
us,, having tried the one state, but being inexperienced in the
other: what it is to be a slave you know perfectly well, but
3 The barathrum was a deep pit at Athens, into which certain criminals who were sentenced to death were thrown.




454                  HERODOTUS.                1136-138.
you have never tried liberty, whether it is sweet or not; for
if you had tried it, you would advise us to fight for it, not
with spears, but even with hatchets." -Thus they answered
Hydarnes.  136. Afterward, when they went up to Susa, and
were come into the king's presence, in the first place, when
the guards commanded and endeavored to compel them to
prostrate themselves and worship the king, they said they
would by no means do so, although they were thrust by them
on their heads; for that it was not their custom to worship
a man, nor had they come for that purpose. When they had
fought off this, and on their addressing Xerxes in words to
the following effect, "King of the Medes, the Lacedaemonians
have sent us in return for the heralds who wvere killed at
Sparta, to make satisfaction for them;" on their saying this,
Xerxes answered with magnanimity "that he would not be
like the Lacedamonians, for that they had violated the law of
all nations by murdering his heralds; but he would not do
the very thing which he blamed in them, nor by killing them
in return would relieve the Lacedaemonians from guilt." 137.
Thus the wrath of Talthybius,'when the Spartans acted in
this manner, ceased for the time, although Sperthies and Bulis
returned to Sparta. But some time afterward it was again
aroused, during the war between the Peloponnesians and
-Athenians, as the Lacedaemonians say; and this appears to
me to have happened in a most extraordinary manner; for
that the wrath of Talthybius alighted on the messengers, and
did not cease until it was satisfied, justice allowed; but that
it should fall on the sons of the men who went up to the king
on account of that wrath, on Nicolaus, son of Bulis, and on
Aneritus, son of Sperthies, who, sailing in a merchaut vessel
fully manned, captured some fishermen from Tiryns, makes it
clear to me that the occurrence was extraordinary in consequence of that wrath; for they, being sent by the Lacedaemonians as embassadors to Asia, and being betrayed by Sitalces, son of Teres, king of the Thracians, and by Nymphodorus,
son of Pytheas of Abdera, were taken near Bisanthe,on the
Hellespont, and being carried to Attica, were put to death by
the Athenians; and with them Aristeas, son of Adimantus, a
Corinthian. These things, however, happened many years after the expedition of the king.
138. But I return to my former subject. This expedition




139, 140.]          POLYMNIA. VII.                  455
of the king was nominally directed against Athens, but was
really sent against all Greece. The Greeks, however, though
they had heard of it long beforehand, were not all affected
alike; for those who had given earth and water to the Persian felt confident that they should suffer no harm from the
barbarian; but those who had refused to give them were in
great consternation, since the ships in Greece were not sufficient in number to resist the invader, and many were unwilling to engage in the war, and were much inclined to side
with the Medes. 139. And here I feel constrained by necessity to declare my opinion, although it may excite the envy
of most men; however, I will not refrain from  expressing
how the truth appears to me to be. If the Athenians, terrified with the impending danger, had abandoned their country,
or, not having abandoned it, but remaining in it, had given
themselves up to Xerxes, no other people would have attempted to resist the king at sea. If, then, no one had opposed Xerxes by sea, the following things must have occurred
on land. Although many lines of walls had been built by
the Peloponnesians'across the Isthmus, yet the Lacedaemonians, being abandoned by the allies (not willingly, but by necessity, they being taken by the barbarian city by city), would
have been alone; and being left' alone, after having displayed
noble deeds, would have died nobly. They would either have
suffered thus, or, before that, seeing the rest of the Greeks
siding with the Medes, would have made terms with Xerxes;
and so, in either case, Greece would have become subject to
the Persians; for I am unable to discover what would have
been the advantage of the walls built across the Isthmus if
the king had been master of the. sea.  Any one, therefore,
who should say that the Athenians were the saviors of
Greece, would not deviate, from the truth; for to.whichever
side they turned, that must have preponderated. But having
chosen that Greece should continue free, they were the people
who roused the rest of the Greeks who did not side with the
Medes, and who, next to the gods, repulsed the king. Neither
did alarming oracles, that came from Delphi, and inspired
them with terror, induce them to abandon Greece, but, standing their ground, they had courage to await the invader of
their country.
140. For the Athenians, having sent deputies to Delphi, were




456                  HERODOTUS.                 [141, 142.
anxious to consult the oracle; and after they had performed
the usual ceremonies about the temple, when they entered the
sanctuaryand sat down, the Pythian, whose name was Aristonica, uttered the following warning: "O wretched men,
why sit ye here? fly to the ends of the earth, leaving your
houses and the lofty summits of your wheel-shaped city; for
neither does the head remain firm nor the body, nor the lowest
feet nor the hands, nor is aught of the middle left, but they are
all fallen to ruin. For fire and fleet Mars, driving the Syrian
chariot, destroys it; and he will destroy many other turrets,
and not yours alone; and he will deliver many temples of
the immortals to devouring fire, which now stand dripping
wtith sweat, shaken with terror; and from the topmost roofs
trickles black blood, pronouncing inevitable woe. But go
from  the sanctuary, and infuse your mind with courage to
meet misfortunes."  141. The deputies of the Athenians,
having heard this, deemed it a very great calamity; and'when
they were dejected at the predicted evil, Timon, son of Androbulus, a man reputed at Delphi equally with the best, advised them to take supplicatory branches, and go again and
consult the oracle as suppliants. The Athenians yielding to
this advice, and saying, "0O ling, vouchsafe to give us a
more favorable answer; concerning. our country, having regard to these supplicatory branches which we have brought
with us; otherwise we will never depart from thy sanctuary,
but will remain here till we die."  When they had said this,
the priestess gave a second answer, in these terms: "Pallas
is unable to propitiate Olympian Jove, entreating him with
many a prayer and prudent counsel. But to you again I
utter this speech, making it like adamant; for when all is
taken that the limit of Cecrops contains within it, and the
recesses of divine Citheron, wide-seeing Jupiter gives a
wooden wall to the Triton-born goddess, to be alone impregnable; which shall preserve you and your children. Nor do
you quietly.wait for the cavalry and infantry advancing in
multitudes from the continent, but turn your backs and withdraw; you will still be able to face them.  0. divine Salamis,
thou shalt cause the sons of women to perish, whether Ceres
is scattered or gathered ii."  142. Having written this answer down, for it appeared to them to be of milder import than
the, former one, they departed for Athens; and when the




143, 144.1         POLYMNIA. VII.                   457
deputies, on their return, reported it to the people, many different opinions were given by persons endeavoring to discover the meaning of the oracle, and among them the two following most opposed each other.  Some of the old men said
they thought the god foretold that the Acropolis should be
saved; for formerly the Acropolis was defended by a hedge;
they therefore, on account of the hedge, conjectured that this
was the wooden wall.  Others,.on the other hand, said that
the god alluded to their ships, and therefore advised that,
abandoning every thing else, they should get them  ready.
However, the two last lines uttered by the Pythian perplexed
those who said that the wooden wall meant the ships: "O
divine Salamis, thou shalt cause the sons of women to perish,
whether Ceres is scattered or gathered in."  By these words
the opinions of those who said that the ships were the wooden
wall were disturbed, for the interpreters of oracles took them
in this sense, that they should be defeated off Salamis if they
prepared for a sea-fight. 143. There was a certain Athenian
who had lately risen to eminence, whose name was Themistocles, but he was commonly called the son of Neocles; this man
maintained that the interpreters had not rightly understood
the whole, saying thus: "If the word that had been uttered
really did refer to the Athenians, he did not think that it
would have been expressed so mildly, but thus,'0 unhappy
Salamis' instead of'  divine Salamis,' if the inhabitants
were about to perish on its shores; therefore whoever understood them rightly would conclude that the oracle was pronounced by the god against their enemies, and not against the
Athenians." He advised them, therefore, to make preparations
for fighting by sea, since that was the wooden wall.  When
Themistocles thus declared his opinion, the Athenians con-.
sidered it preferable to that of the interpreters who dissuaded
them from making preparations for a sea-fight, and, in short,
advised them not to make any resistance at all, but to abandon the Attic territory, and settle in some other. 144. Another opinion of Themistocles had before this opportunely
prevailed. When the Athenians, having great riches in the
treasury, which came in from the mines of Laureum, were
about to share them man by man, to each ten drachmas,
then Themistocles persuaded them to refrain from this distribution, and to build two hundred ships with this money,
U




458                  HERODOTUS.                 [145, 146.
meaning for the war with the JEginetse; for that war springing up, at this time saved Greece, by compelling the Athenians to apply themselves to maritime affairs. The ships, however, were used for the purpose for which they were built, but
were thus very serviceable to Greece. These, therefore, were
already built for the Athenians, and it was necessary to construct others besides. And it was resolved, on their consulting
after the receipt of the oracle, to await the barbarian who
was invading Greece with their whole people on shipboard,
in obedience to. the god, together with such Greeks as would
join them.  Such, then, were the oracles delivered to the
Athenians.
145. When the Greeks who were. better. affected toward
Greece were assembled together, and consulted with each
other, and gave pledges of mutual fidelity, it was thereupon
determined, on deliberation, that, before all things, they should
reconcile all existing enmities and wars with each other; for
there were wars on hand between several others, but the most
considerable was that between the Athenians and.Eginetae.
After this, being informed that Xerxes was with his army at
Sardis, they determined to send spies into Asia, in order to
discover the true state of the king's affairs; and to send embassadors to Argos to conclude an alliance against the Persians,
and others to Sicily, to Gelon, son of Dinomenes, and to Corcyra, and others to Crete, begging them to come to the assistance of Greece; purposing, if possible, that Greece should be
united, and that all should combine in adopting the same plan
in dangers which threatened all the Greeks alike; but the
power of Gelon was said to be very great, being far superior
to that of any other Grecian states.  146. When these things
were determined on by them, having reconciled their enmities,'
they first of all sent three men as spies into Asia; and they
having arrived at Sardis, and endeavored to get intelligence
of the king's forces, when they were discovered, were examined by the generals of the land-army, and led. out to execution, for sentence of death had been passed upon them;. but
when Xerxes heard of this, disapproving of the decision of the
generals, he sent some of his guards, with orders to bring the
spies to him if they should find them still alive; and when they
found them yet living, and brought them into the king's presence, he thereupon, having inquired for what purpose they came,




147, 148.]          POLYMNIA. VII.                    459
commanded the guards to conduct them round, and show them
all the infantry and cavalry, and when they should be satisfied
with seeing them, to send them away unharmed, to whatever
country they should choose.  147. He issued these orders,
alleging the following reason, that "if the spies were put to
death, the Greeks would neither be informed beforehand of
his power, that it was greater than could be described, nor
would he do any great harm to his enemies by putting three
men to death; whereas, if they returned to Greece, it.was
his opinion," he said, "that the Greeks, having heard of his
power, would, of their own accord, surrender their liberty
before the expedition should take place, and so it would not
be necessary to have the trouble of marching against them."
This opinion of his was like this other one. When Xerxes
was at Abydos, he saw certain ships laden with corn from the
Pontus sailing through the. Hellespont on their way to IEgina
and the Peloponnesus. Those who sat.near him, having heard
that the ships belonged to the enemy, were ready to capture
them, and fixing their eyes on the king, watched when.he
would give the order. But Xerxes asked his attendants where
they were sailing.  They. answered, "To your enemies, sire,
carrying corn,". He answering, said, "Are not we also sailing
to the:same place to which these men are, and provided with
other things, and with corn?  What hurt, then, can they do
us by carrying corn thither for us?" The spies, accordingly,
having seen the army, and being sent away, returned to
Europe.
148.. But the Greeks who had engaged in a confederacy
against the Persian, after the dispatch of the spies, next sent
embassadors to Argos. But the Argives say that what' concerned them occurred as follows; that they heard from the
very first of the design of the barbarian against Greece, and
having heard, of it, and learned that the Greeks would endeavor to obtain their assistance against the Persian, they sent
persons to consult the oracle of Delphi, and inquire of the
god "what course it would be best for them to adopt; for
six thousand of their number had recently been slain by the
Lacedaemonians, and by Cleomenes, son of Anaxandrides;"
for this reasoil they sent, and the Pythian gave the following
answer to their inquiries: "Hated by your neighbors, beloved by the immortal gods, holding your lance at rest, keep




460                   HERODOTUS.                [149, 150.
on the watch, and guard your head; the head shall save the
body."  They say that the Pythian gave this answer first,
and afterward, when the embassadors came to Argos, they
were introduced to the council, and delivered their message;
and they answered to what was said that " the Argives were
ready to comply, having first made a thirty years' truce with
the Lacedamonians, and provided they might have an equal
share of the command of the allied forces; though in justice
the whole command belonged to them, yet they would be content with the command over half." 149. This, they say, was
the answer of their senate, although the oracle had forbidden
them to enter into any alliance with the Grecians; and that
they were anxious to make a thirty years' truce, although they
feared the oracle, in order that their children might become
men during that time; but if a truce was not made, they were
apprehensive lest, if in addition to their present calamity,
another failure should befall them in the Persian war, they
might in future become subject to the Lacedaemonians. Those
of the embassadors who came from Sparta gave the following
answer to what was said by the council: "that with respect
to a truce, it should be referred to the people; but with respect
to the command, they were instructed to answer and say
that they had two kings, but the Argives only one, and
therefore it was not possible to deprive either-of their kings
of his command, but that there was nothing to hinder the
ArgiVe king from having an equal vote with their two." Thus
the Argives say that they could not put up with the arrogance
of the Spartans, but that they rather chose to be subject to
the barbarians than to yield to the Lacedaemonians; and that
they ordered the embassadors to quit the territories of the
Argives before sunset, otherwise they would treat them as
enemies.  150. Such is the account which the Argives themselves give of this affair.  But another report is prevalent
throughout Greece, that Xerxes sent a herald to Argos before
he set out on his expedition against Greece, and it is related
that he, on his arrival, said, "Men of Argos, king Xerxes
speaks thus to you. We are of opinion that Perses, from
whom we are sprung, was son of Perseus, son of Danae, born
of Andromeda, daughter of Cepheus. Thus, then, we must
be your descendants; it is therefore neither right that we
should lead an army against our progenitors, nor that you




151-153.]          POLYMNIA. VII.                   461
should assist others and be opposed to us, but should remain
quiet by yourselves; and if I succeed according to my wish, I
shall esteem none greater than you."  It is said that the Argives, when they heard this, considered it a great thing, and
at once determined neither to promise any thing nor demand
any thing in return; but when the Greeks wished to take
them into the confederacy, they then, knowing that the Lacedaemonians would not share the command with them, made
the demand in order that they might have a pretext for remaining quiet.  151. Some of the Greeks also say that the
following circumstance, which occurred many years after, accords with this: Callias, son of Hipponicus, and those who
went up With him as embassadors of the Athenians, happened
to be at the Memnonian Susa on some other business; and the
Argives at the same time having sent embassadors to Susa,
asked Artaxerxes, son of Xerxes, "whether the alliance which
they had formed with Xerxes still subsisted, or whether they
were considered by him as enemies."  King Artaxerxes answered "that it certainly subsisted, and that he considered no
city more friendly than Argos."  152. Now whether Xerxes
did send a herald to Argos with such a message, and whether
embassadors of-the Argives, having gone up to Susa, asked
Artaxerxes about the alliance I can not affirm with certainty;
nor do I declare any other opinion on the subject than what
the Argives themselves say; but this much I know, that if all
men were to bring together their own faults into one place,
for the purpose of making an exchange with their neighbors;
when they had looked closely into their neighbors' faults,
each would gladly take back those which they brought with
them. Thus the conduct of the Argives was not the most
base. /But I am bound to relate what is said, though I am
not by any means bound to believe every thing; and let this
remark apply to the whole history; for even this is reported,
that the Argives were the people who invited the Persian to
invade Greece, since their war with the Lacedaemonians went
on badly, wishing that any thing might happen to them rather
than continue in their present troubles. This is sufficient concerning the Argives.
153. Other embassadors went from the allies to Sicily to
confer with Gelon, and among them Syagrus on the part of
the Lacedaemonians. An ancestor of this Gelon, who was an




462                   HERODOTUS.                [154, 155.
inhabitant of Gela, came from the island of Telus, which lies
off Triopium; when Gela was founded by the Lindians from
Rhodes and by Antiphemus, he was not left behind; and, in
course of time, his descendants becoming priests of the infernal
deities, continued to. be so, Telines, one of their ancestors, having acquired that dignity in the following manner.  Some of
the inhabitants of Gela, being. worsted in a sedition, had fled
to Mactorium, a city situated above Gela; these men, then,
Telines conducted back again without the  assistance of any
human force, but with the sacred things to those deities;
though whence he got them, or how he became possessed of
them, I am unable to say. However, relying on these, he
brought back the fugitives on condition that his descendants
should be priests of the deities. From what I hear, I am
much astonished that Telines should have achieved such an
action; for I have ever thought that such actions are not in
the reach of every man, but proceed from a brave spirit and
manly vigor; whereas, on the contrary, he is reported by
the inhabitants of Sicily to. have been an effeminate and delicate man.  Thus, however, he acquired this dignity.  154.
On the death of Cleander, son of Pantares, who reigned seven.
years over Gela, but was killed by Sabyllus, a citizen of Gela,
thereupon Hippocrates, who w.s brother to Cleander, succeeded to the sovereignty.  While Hippocrates held the tyranny,
Gelon, who was a descendant of Telines the priest, was with
many others, and with ZEnesidemus, son of Pataicus, one of'the guards of Hippocrates, and soon after was made commander of the whole cavalry on account of his valor; for
when Hippocrates besieged the Callipolite, the Naxians, the
Zanciheans, the Leontines, and, besides, the Syracusans, and
divers of the barbarians, Gelon signalized himself in these
several wars; and of the cities that I have mentioned, not one,
except the Syracusans, escaped servitude at the hands of Hippocrates. But the Corinthians and Corcyrseans saved the Syracusans after they had been defeated in battle on the river Elorus,
and they saved them, having reconciled them on the following
terms, that the Syracusans should give up Camarina to Hippocrates; but Camarina originally belonged to the Syracusans.
1.55. When Hippocrates, having reigned the same number of
years as his brother Cleander, met with his death before Hybla
while carrying on the war against the Sicilians, Gelon there



156,,157.]         POLYMNIA. VII.                   463
upon, under color of defending the rights of Euclides and
Cleander, sons of Hippocrates, the citizens refusing to be any
longer subject to them-in fact, when he had defeated the
Geloans in battle, possessed himself of the sovereignty, and
deposed the sons of Hippocrates. After this success, Gelon,
leading back those Syracusans who were called Gamori,4 and
had been expelled by the people, and by their own slaves,
called Cyllyrii, leading them back from the city of Casmene
to Syracuse, got possession of this also, for the people of
the Syracusans gave up the city and themselves to Gelon on
his first approach.  156. When he had made himself master
of Syracuse, he took less account of the government of Gela,
and intrusted it to'his brother Hiero; but he strengthened
Syracuse, and Syracuse was every thing to him; and it grew
up rapidly and flourished; for, first of all, he removed all
the Camarinseans to Syracuse, and made them citizens, and
destroyed the city of Camarina; and, in the next place, he did
with more than half the Geloans the same that he had done
with the Camarinaeans. Moreover, the Megarians in Sicily,
when being besieged they came to terms, the more opulent of
them, who had raised the war against him, and, therefore, expected to be put to death, he took to Syracuse and made citizens; but the populace of the Megarians, who had no part in
promoting this war, nor expected to suffer any harm, he also
took to Syracuse, and sold them for exportation from Sicily.
He treated the Eubceans in Sicily in the same manner, and
made the same distinction; and he treated them  both in
this way, from an opinion that a populace is a most disagreeable neighbor. By such means Gelon became a powerful
tyrant.
157. At this time, when the embassadors of the Grecians
arrived at Syracuse, having come to a -conference with him,'they-:spoke as follows: "The Lacedaemonians, the Athenians,
and their allies, have sent us to invite you to join with them
against the barbarian; for doubtless you have heard that he is
marching against Greece, and that a Persian, having thrown
a bridge over the Hellespont, and bringing with him all the
eastern host out of Asia, is about to invade Greece, holding
out as a pretense that he is advancing against Athens, but
really designing to reduce all Greece under his own power.
4'Landholders.




464                   IIERODOTUS.               [158, 159.
But you have attained to great power, and possess not the
least part of Greece, since you rule Sicily; assist, therefore,
those who are asserting the liberty of Greece, and join them
in maintaining its liberty; for if all Greece is assembled, a
large force is collected, and we become able to resist the invaders. But if some of us should betray the common cause,
and others refuse to assist, so that the sound part of Greece
should be small, then there is great danger that the whole
of Greece will fall; for you must not expect that if the
Persian should subdue us, having conquered in battle, he
will.not proceed also against you, but take precautions beforehand; for, by assisting us, you protect yourself. A favorable result is generally wont to attend a well-devised plan."
Thus they spoke.  158. Gelon was very vehement, speaking
as follows: "Men of Greece, holding arrogant language, you
have dared to invite me to come to your assistance against the
barbarian; and yet you yourselves, when I formerly besought
you to assist me in attacking a barbarian army when a quarrel was on foot between me and the Carthaginians, and when
I exhorted you to avenge the death of Doricus,5 son of Anaxandrides, upon the iEgestaeans, and promised that I would join
in freeing the ports, from whence great advantages and profits
accrued to you, neither for my sake did you come to assist
me, nor to avenge the death of Doricus; so that, as far as
you are concerned, all this country is subject to barbarians.
However, matters turned out well with me, and prospered;
and now, when. the war has come round and reached you, at
length you remember Gelon. But, though I met with disgraceful treatment from you, I shall not imitate your example, but am ready to assist you, furnishing two hundred triremes, twenty thousand heavy-armed troops, two thousand
horse, two thousand bowmen, two thousand slingers, and two
thousand light-horse; I likewise undertake to supply corn for
the whole Grecian army until we have finished the war. But
I promise these things on this condition, that I shall be general and leader of the Greeks against the barbarian; on no other condition will I come myself or send others.  159. Syagrus, when he heard this, could not contain himself, but spoke.s follows: "Agamemnon, the descendant of Pelops, would
indeed groan  aloud if he heard that the Spartans had
5 See B. V. chap. 45, 46.




160,161.]          POLYMNIA. VII.                   465
been deprived of the supreme command by a Gelon and by
Syracusans. Never mention this proposition again, that we
should give up, the command to you; but if you are willing
to succor Greece, know that you must be commanded by
Lacedmemonians, or, if you will not deign to be commanded,
you need not assist us."  160. Upon this, Gelon, when he
observed the indignant language of Syagrus, made this last
proposal: "Spartan stranger, reproaches uttered against a
man are wont to rouse his indignation; yet, though you
have used insulting, words in your speech, you have not provoked me to be unseemly in return. Nevertheless, since you
are so exceedingly anxious for the supreme command, it is
reasonable that I also should be more anxious for it than you,
since I am leader of a far greater army and many more ships.
However, since my proposal is so repugnant to you, I will
abate something of my first demand. If, then, you choose to
command the army, I will command the fleet; or, if it please
you rather to have the command at sea, I will lead the landforces; and you must either be content with these terms, or
return destitute of such allies." 161. Gelon, then, proposed
these terms; but the embassador of the Athenians, anticipating that of the Lacedaemonians, answered him in these words:
" King of the Syracusans, the Grecians sent us to you, not to
ask for a general, but an army. You declare that you will
not send an army unless you have the command of Greece,
and you are anxious to be made general of it: as long as
you required to command all the forces of the Grecians, we
Athenians were contented to remain silent, as we knew that
the Spartan would be sufficient to answer for us both; but
since, being excluded from the whole command, you require
to governm the navy, the matter stands thus. Even if the
Lacedmemonians should allow you to govern it, we shall not
allow it- for that is ours, unless the Lacedaemonians wish to
take it themselves. If they, indeed, wish to have the command, we shall not oppose them, but we will never cede to
any one else the command of the navy; for in vain should
we possess the greatest naval power of the Greeks, if we,
being Athenians, should yield the command to the Syracusans, we who are the most ancient nation, and the only people
of the Greeks who have never changed their country; from
whom also Homer, the epic poet, said, the best man went to




466                  HERODOTUS.                [162-164.
Troy, both for arraying and marshaling an army, so that it
is no disgrace to us to speak as we do."  162. To this Gelon
answered, "Athenian stranger, you seem to have commanders,
but as if you would not have men to be commanded.  Since,
therefore, you are resolved to concede nothing, but to retain
the whole power, you can not be too quick in returning back
again, and informing Greece that the spring of the year has
been taken from her."  The meaning of this saying is, which
he wished to intimate, that as the spring is evidently the most
valuable season in the year, so of the army of the Grecians,
his was the best: Greece, therefore, deprived of his alliance,
he compared to a year from which the spring should be taken
away.
163. The embassadors of the Greeks, having thus negotiated with Gelon, sailed away; but Gelon, upon this, fearing
for the Grecians, that they would not be able to withstand
the barbarian, but deeming it an intolerable disgrace that he
who was tyrant of Sicily should go to Peloponnesus, and be
subject to the Lacedaemonians, gave up all thoughts of that
course and adopted another. As soon as he was informed
that the Persian had crossed the Hellespont, he dispatched
Cadmus, son of Scythes, a Coan, to Delphi, with three penteconters, taking with him much treasure and friendly messages,
for the purpose of watching the contest, in what way it would
terminate; and if the barbarian should conquer, he was to
present him with the treasure, and earth and water for the
countries which Gelon ruled over,; but if the Greeks should
be victorious, he was to bring back the treasure.  164. This
Cadmus, having before these events received from his father
the sovereignty of the Coans, firmly established, of his own
accord, when no danger threatened him, but from a sense of
justice, surrendered the government into the hands of the
Coans, and retired into Sicily; there, with the Samians, he
possessed and inhabited the city of Zancle, which changed its
name to Messana. This Cadmus, therefore, who had in this
manner come to Sicily, Gelon sent, on account of other proofs
which he had of his uprightness; and he, in addition to other
instances of uprightness that had been given by him, left this
not the least monument of them; for having in his possession
vast treasures, which Gelon had intrusted to him, when it
was in his power to appropriate them, he would not; but




1 G5-167.]          POLYMNIA. VII.                  467
when the Greeks conquered in the sea-fight, and Xerxes had
retired, he also returned to Sicily, and took back all the
treasures.
165. However, the following account is given by those who
inhabit Sicily, that Gelon, notwithstanding that he must be
governed -by the Lacedaemonians, would have assisted the
Greeks, had not Terillus, son of Crinippus, who was tyrant
of Himera, being expelled from Himera by Theron, son of
A]nesidemus, king of the Agrigentines, at that time brought
in an army of three hundred thousand men, consisting of Phoenicians, Libyans, Iberians, Ligyans, Elisycians, Sardinians,
and Cyrnians, under the conduct of Amilcar, son of Hanno,
king of the Carthaginians.  Terillus persuaded him by the
hospitality which existed between them, and especially by the
zeal of Anaxilaus, son of Critines, who being tyrant of Rhegium, and having given his children as hostages into the hands
of Amilcar, induced him to enter Sicily in order to revenge
the injury done to his father-in-law; for Anaxilaus had
married a daughter of Terillus, whose name was Cydippe.
Thus, as Gelon was not able to assist the Greeks, he sent the
treasures to Delphi. 166. In addition to this, they say that
it happened on the same day that Gelon and Theron conquered Amilcar the Carthaginian in Sicily, and the Greeks conquered the Persian at Salamis. I am informed that Amilcar,
who was a Carthaginian by his father and a Syracusan by his
mother, and chosen king of Carthage for his virtue, when the
engagement took place, and he was defeated in battle, vanished
out of sight; for he was seen nowhere on the earth, either
alive or dead, though Gelon had search made for him every
where.  167. The following story is also related by the Carthaginians themselves, who endeavor to give a probable account that the barbarians fought with the Grecians in Sicily
from. the morning till late in the evening, for it is said that the
conflict lasted so long; and during this time, Amilcar, continuing in the camp, offered sacrifices, and observed the omens,
burning whole victims upon a large pile; and when he saw
the defeat of his own army, as he happened to be pouring libations on the victims, he threw himself' into'the flames, and
thus, being burned to ashes, disappeared. But whether Amilcar disappeared in such manner as the Phoenicians relate, or
in another manner, as the Syracusans, the Carthaginians, in the




468                  HERODOTUS.                 [168, 1t9.
first place, offer sacrifices to him, and in the next, have erected
monuments to his memory in all the cities inhabited by colonists, and the most considerable one in Carthage itself.  So
much for the affairs of Sicily.
168. The Corcyraeans, having given the following answer to
the iembassadors, acted as I shall relate; for the same embassadors who went to Sicily invited them to join the league,
using' the same language to them as they had done to Gelon.
They indeed immediately promised to send and give assistance,
adding "that they could not look on and see the ruin of Greece,
for if it should be overthrown, nothing else would remain for
them than to become slaves on the very first day; therefore
they would assist to the utmost of their power."  Thus speciously they answered; but when they ought to have assisted,
with different intentions they manned sixty ships, and having
put to sea, after great delays, drew near to the Pelopon,
nesus, and anchored about Pylus and Tmnarus of the Lacedaemonian territory; they also carefully watched the war, in
what way it would terminate, having no expectation that the
Grecians would get the better, but thinking that the Persian,
having gained a decided superiority, would become master of
all Greece. They therefore acted thus purposely, in order
that they might be able to say to the Persian, " O king, when
the Greeks invited us to take part in the war, we, who have a
considerable force, and were able to supply not the least number of ships, but the greatest number, next to the Athenians,
would not oppose you, nor do any thing displeasing to you."
By saying this they hoped to get better terms than the rest,
which would have been the case, as appears to me; and toward the Greeks their excuse was ready prepared, which
indeed they did make use of; for when the Greeks accused them  of not having sent assistance, they said "that'
they had manned sixty ships, but were unable to double Malea
by reason of the Etesian winds; and so they could not reach
Salamis, and were absent from the sea-fight from no bad motive."  In this manner they attempted to elude the! charge of
the Greeks.'
169. The Cretans, when those Greeks who were appointed
for that purpose invited them to join the league, acted as
follows. Having sent, in the name of the commonwealth, persons to consult the oracle at Delphi, they inquired of the god




170, 171.]          POLYMNIA. VII.                  469
whether it would be for their advantage to assist Greece.
The Pythian answered, " Fools, you complain of all the woes
which Minos in his anger sent you for aiding Menelaus, because they would not assist you in avenging his death at Camicus, and yet you assisted them in avenging a woman who was
carried off from Sparta by a barbarian."  When the Cretans
heard this answer reported, they refrained from sending assistance. 170. For it is said that Minos, having come to Sicania,
which is now called'Sicily, in search of Daedalus, met with a
violent death; that after some time the Cretans, at the instigation of a deity, all except the Polichnita and the Praesians, went with a large force to Sicania, and during five
years besieged the city of Camicus, which in my time the
Agrigentines possessed; and at last, not being able either to
take it or to continue the siege, because they were oppressed
by famine, they abandoned it and went away; and when they
were sailing along the coast of Iapygia, a violent storm overtook them, and drove them ashore; and as their ships were
broken to pieces, and there appeared no means of their returning to Crete, they thereupon founded the city of Hyria, and
settled there, changing their name from Cretans to Messapian
lapygians, and becoming, instead of islanders, inhabitants of the
continent. From the city of Hyria they founded other cities,
which a long time after the Tarentines endeavoring to destroy,
signally failed; so that this was the greatest Grecian slaughter of all that we know of, both of the Tarentines themselves,
and.of the Rhegians, who, being compelled by Micythus, son
of Cheerus, and coming to assist the Tarentines, thus perished
to the number of three thousand; but of the Tarentines themselves no number was given.  This Micythus was a servant
of Anaxilaus, and had been left in charge of Rhegium. He
is the same person that was expelled from Rhegium, and who,
having settled in Tegea, a city of Arcadia, dedicated the many
statues in Olympia. 171. These events relating to the Rhegians and Tarentines are a digression from my history. To
Crete, then, destitute of inhabitants, as the Praesians say, other
men, and especially the Grecians, went, and settled there; and
in the third generation after the death of Minos, the Trojan
war took place, in which the Cretans proved themselves not
the worst avengers of Menelaus: as a punishment for this,
when they returned from Troy, famine and pestilence fell




470                   IIERODOTUS.                  [172, 173.
both on themselves and their cattle; so that Crete being a
second time depopulated, the Cretans are the third people
who, with those that were left, now inhabit it.  The Pythian,
therefore, putting them in mind of these things, checked them
in their desire to assist the Grecians.
172. The Thessalians at first sided with the Mede from
necessity, as they showed, in that the intrigues of the Aleuada56
did not.please them; for as soon as they were informed that
the Persian was about to cross over into Europe, they sent
embassadors to the Isthmus; aid at the Isthmus deputies from
Greece were assembled, chosen from those cities that were better
disposed toward Greece. The embassadors of the Thessalians,
having come to them, said, "Mfen of Greece, it is necessary to
guard the pass of Olympus, that Thessaly and all Greece may
be sheltered from the war. Now we are ready to assist in guarding it, but you must also send a large army; for if you will
not send, be assured we shall come to terms with the Persian; for it is not right that we, who are situated so far in
advance of the rest of Greece, should perish alone in your defense.  If you will not assist us, you can not impose any obligation upon us; for obligation was ever inferior to inability;
and we must ourselves endeavor to contrive some means of
safety."  173. Thus spoke the Thessalians; and the Grecians thereupon resolved to send an army by sea to Thessaly,
to guard the pass; and when the army was assembled, it
sailed through the Euripus, aud having arrived at Alus of
Achaia, disembarked, and marched to Thessaly, having left
the ships there, and arrived at Tempe, at the pass that leads
from the lower Macedonia into Thessaly, by the river Peneus,
between Mount Olympus and Ossa. There heavy-armed troops
of the Grecians, being assembled together to the number of
ten thousand, encamped, and to them was added the cavalry
of the Thessalians. The Lacedemmonians were commanded by
Euaenetus, son of Carenus, chosen from among the Polemarchs,
though not of the royal race, and the Athenians were cornmlcanded by Themistocles, son of Neocles.  There they remained but a few days; for messengers coming from Alexander, son of Amyntas, a MIacedonian, advised them  to retire,
and not to stay in the pass and be trampled under foot by the
invading army, describing the numbers of the army and the
G See chap. G and 130.




174-176.].           POLYMNIA.  VII.                      471
ships.  When the messengers gave this advice, as the Grecians conceived the advice to be good, and the Macedonian
was evidently well-disposed to them, they determined to follow
it; but, in my opinion, it was fear that persuaded them, when
they heard that there was another pass into Thessaly and Upper Macedonia, through the country of the Perrhmbi, near the
city of Gonnus; by which, indeed, the army of Xerxes did
enter.  The Grecians, therefore, going down to their ships,
went back again to the Isthmus.  174. This expedition into
Thessaly took place while the king was about to cross over
from  Asia into Europe, and was still at Abydos; but the
Thessalians, being abandoned by their allies, then readily took
part with the Btedes, and with no farther hesitation, so much
so, that in emergency they proved most useful to the king.
175. The Greeks, when they arrived at the Isthmus, consuited on the message they had received from Alexander, in
what way and in what places they should prosecute the war.
The opinion which prevailed was, that they should defend the
pass at Thermopylse; for it appeared to be narrower than that
into Thessaly, and at the same time nearer to their own territories; for the path by which the Greeks who were taken at
Thermopyl  were afterward surprised, they knew nothing of,
till, on their arrival at Thermopylae, they were informed of it
by the Trachinians.  They accordingly resolved to guard this
pass, and not suffer the barbarian to enter Greece; and that
the naval force should sail to Artemisium, in the territory of
HI-istieotis, for these places are near one another, so that they
could hear what'happened to each other.  These spots are
thus situated.  176. In the first place, Artemisium  is contracted from a wide space of the Thracian sea into a narrow
frith, which lies between the island of Sciathus and the continent of Magnesia.  From  the narrow frith begins the coast
of Eubcoa, called Artemisium, and in it is a temple of Diana.
iBut the entrance into Greece through Trachis, in the narrowest part, is no more than a half plethrum in width; however,
the narrowest part of the country is not in this spot, but before and behind Thermopyl1e; for near Alpeni, which is behind, there is only a single carriage-road, and before, by the
river Phcenix, near the city of Anthela, is another single car-.
riage-road.  On the western side of Thermopyle is an inaccessible and precipitous mountain, stretching to Mount (Eta,




472                    HERODOTUS.'[177-179.
and on tlhe eastern side of the way is the sea and a morass.
In this passage there are hot baths, which the inhabitants call
Chytri, and above these is an altar to Hercules.  A wall had
been built in this pass, and formerly there were gates in it.
The Phocaans built it through fear, when the Thessalians
came from Thesprotia to settle in the iEolian territory which
they now possess: apprehending that the Thessalians would
attempt to subdue them, the Phoceans took this precaution;
at the same time, they diverted the hot water into the entrance,
that the place might be broken into clefts, having recourse to
every contrivance to prevent the Thessalians from making inroads into their country. Now this old wall had been built a
long time, and the greater part of it had already fallen through
age; but they determined to rebuild it, and in that place to
repel the barbarian from Greece. Very near this road there
is a village called Alpeni; from this the Greeks expected to
obtain provisions. 177. Accordingly, these situations appeared suitable for the Greeks; for they, having weighed every
thing beforehand, and considered that the barbarians would
neither be able to use their numbers nor their cavalry, there
resolved to await the invader of Greece.  As soon as they
were informed that the Persian was in Pieria, breaking up
from the Isthmus, some of them proceeded by land to Thermopyle, and others by sea to Artemisium.
178. The Greeks, therefore, being appointed in two divisions, hastened to meet the enemy; but, at the same time, the
Delphians, alarmed for themselves and for Greece, consulted
the oracle, and the answer given them was, " that they should
pray to the winds, for that they would be powerful allies to
Greece."  The Delphians, having received the oracle, first of
all communicated the answer to those Greeks who were zealous to be free; and as they very much dreaded the barbarians,
by giving that message they acquired a claim to everlasting
gratitude.  After that, the Delphians erected an altar to the
winds at Thyia, where there is an inclosure consecrated to
Thyia, daughter of Cephisus, from whom this district derives
its name, and conciliated them with sacrifices; and the Delphians, in obedience to that oracle, to this day propitiate the
winds.
179. The naval force of Xerxes, setting out from the city
of Therma, advanced with ten of the fastest sailing ships




180-183.]          POLYMNIA. VII.                  473
straight to Scyathus, where were three Grecian ships keeping
a look-out, a Troezenian, an iEginetan, and an Athenian.
These, seeing the ships vof the barbarians at a distance, betook themselves to flight. 180. The Troezenian ship, which
Praxinus commanded, the barbarians pursued and soon captured; and then, having led the handsomest of the marines to
the prow of the ship, they slew him, deeming it a good omen
that the first Greek they had taken was also very handsome.
The name of the man that was slain was Leon, and perhaps
he in some measure reaped the fruits of his name. 181. The
IEginetan ship, which Asonides commanded, gave them some
trouble, Pytheas, son of Ischenous, being a marine on board,
a man who on this day displayed the most consummate valor;
who, when the ship was taken, continued fighting until he
was entirely cut to pieces. But when, having fallen, he was
not dead, but still breathed, the Persians who served on board
the ships were very anxious to save him alive, on account of
his valor, healing his wounds with myrrh, and binding them
with bandages of flaxen cloth; and when they returned to
their own camp, they showed him with admiration to the
whole army, and treated him well; but the others, whom they
took in this ship, they treated as slaves.  182. Thus, then,
two of the ships were taken; but the other, which Phormus,
an Athenian, commanded, in its flight ran ashore at the mouth
of the Peneus, and the barbarians got possession of the ship,
but not of the men; for as soon as the Athenians had run the
ship aground, they leaped out, and, proceeding through Thessaly, reached Athens. The Greeks who were stationed at
Artemisium were informed of this event by signal-fires from
Sciathus; and being informed of it, and very much alarmed,
they retired from Artemisium to Chalcis, intending to defend
the Euripus, and leaving scouts on the heights of Euboea.
183. Of the ten barbarian ships, three approached the sunken
rock called Myrmex, between Sciathus and Magnesia. Then
the barbarians, when they had erected on the rock a stone column, which they had brought with them, set out from Therma, now that every obstacle had been removed, and sailed forward with all their ships, having waited eleven days after the
king's departure from Therma. Pammon, a Scyrian, pointed
out to them this hidden rock, which was almost directly in
their course. The barbarians, sailing all day, reached Sepias




474                  HERODOTUS.                 [184, 185.
in Magnesia, and the shore that lies between the city of Casthanaa and the coast of Sepias.
184. As far as this place and Thermopyl, the army had
suffered.no loss, and the numbers were at that time, as I find
by calculations, of the following amount: of those in ships
from Asia, amounting to one thousand two hundred and seven, originally the whole number of the several nations was two
hundred forty-one thousand four hundred men, allowing two
hundred tp each ship; and on these ships thirty Persians,
Medes, and Sacse served as marines, in addition to the native
crews of each; this farther number amounts to thirty-six
thousand two hundred and ten. To this and the former number I add those that were on the penteconters, supposing eighty
men on the average to be on board of each; but, as I have
before said,7 three thousand of these vessels were assembled;
therefore the men on board them must have been two hundred and forty thousand. This, then, was the naval force from
Asia, the total being five hundred and seventeen thousand six
hundred and ten.  Of infantry there were seventeen hundred thousand, and of cavalry eighty thousand; to these I
add the Arabians who drove camels, and the Libyans who
drove chariots, reckoning the number at twenty thousand men.
Accordingly, the numbers on board the ships and on the land,
added together, make up two millions three hundred and seventeen thousand six hundred and ten. This, then, is the force
which, as has been mentioned, was assembled from Asia itself, exclusive of the servants that followed, and the provision
ships, and the men that were on board them.  185. But the
force brought from Europe must still be added to this whole
number that has been summed up; but it is necessary to speak
by guess. Now the Grecians from Thrace, and the islands
contiguous to Thrace, furnished one hundred and twenty
ships; these ships give an amount.of twenty-four thousand
men. Of land-forces, which were furnished by Thracians,
Paeonians, the Eordi, the Bottimans, the Chalcidian race,
Brygi, Pierians, AMacedonians, Perrhebi, Enianes, Dolopians,.
WHagnesians, and Acheans, together with those who inhabit
the maritime parts of Thrace, of these nations I suppose that
there were three hundred thousand men, so that these myriads, added to those from Asia, make a total of two millions
7 Chap. 97.




S8G-'18 x93]       POLYMNIA. VII.                   475
six hundred forty one thousand six hundred and ten fighting
men.  186. I think that the servants who followed them, and
with those on board the provision ships and other' vessels that
sailed with the fleet, were not fewer than the fighting men, but
more numerous; but supposing them to be equal in number
with the fighting men, they make up the former number of
myriads.  Thus Xerxes, son of Darius, led five millions two
hundred and eighty-three thousand two hundred and twenty
men to Sepias and Thermopylae.  187. This, then, was the
number of the whole force of Xerxes. But of women who
made bread, and concubines, and eunuchs, no one could mention the number with accuracy; nor of draught-cattle and
other beasts of burden; nor of Indian dogs that followed could
any one mention the number, they were so many; therefore
I am not astonished that the streams of some rivers failed,
but rather it is a wonder to me how provisions held out for
so many myriads; for I find by calculation, if each man had
a choenix of wheat daily, and no more, one hundred and ten
thousand three hundred and forty medimni must have been
consumed every day; and I have not reckoned the food for
the women, eunuchs, beasts of burden, and dogs. But of so
many myriads of men, not one of them, for beauty and stature, was more entitled than Xerxes himself to possess this
power.
188. When the fleet, having set out, sailed and reached the
shore of Magnesia that lies between the city of Casthanta
and the coast of Sepias, the foremost of the ships took up their
station close to land, others behind rode at anchor (the beach
not being extensive enough), with their prows toward the sea,
and eight deep.  Thus they passed the night; but at day-'break, after serene and tranquil weather, the sea began to
swell, and a heavy storm, with a violent gale from the east,
which those who inhabit these parts call a Hellespontine,
burst upon them; as many of them, then, as perceived the
gale increasing, and who were able to do so fromltheir position,
anticipated the'storm by hauling their ships on shore, and both
they and their ships escaped. But such of the ships as the
storm caught at sea it carried away, some to the parts called
Ipni, near Pelion, others to the beach; some were dashed on
Cape Sepias itself; some were wrecked at MIelibcea, and others
at Casthanaa.  The storm was indeed irresistible.  189. A




476                   IERODOTUS..[190, 191.
story is, told, that the Athenians invoked Boreas, in obedience
to an oracle, another response having come to them  "that
they should call their son-in-law to their assistance."  But Boreas, according to the account of the Greeks, married a woman
of Attica, Orithyia, daughter to Erectheus. On account of
this marriage, the Athenians, as the report goes, conjecturing
that Boreas was their son-in-law, and having stationed their
fleet at Chalcis of Eubcea, when they saw the storm increasing, or even before, offered sacrifices to and invoked Boreas
and Orithyia, praying that they would assist them, and destroy the ships of the barbarians, as they had done before at
Mount- Athos.  Whether, indeed, the, north wind in consequence of this fell upon the barbarians as they rode at anchor,
I can not undertake to say; however, the Athenians say that
Boreas, having assisted them before, then also produced this
effect, and on their return they erected a temple to Boreas
near the river Ilissus. 190. In this disaster, those who give
the lowest account say that not fewer than four hundred ships
perished, and innumerable lives, and an infinite quantity of
treasure; so that this wreck of the fleet proved a source
of great profit to Aminocles, son of Cretinus, a Magnesian,
who possessed land about Sepias; he some time afterward
picked up many golden cups that had been driven ashore, and
many silver ones; he also found treasures belonging to the
Persians, and gained an unspeakable quantity. of other golden
articles.  He then, though in other respects unfortunate, became very rich by what he found; for a sad calamity, which
occasioned the death of his son,8 gave him great affliction. 191.
The provision ships and other vessels destroyed were beyond
number, so that the commanders of the naval force, fearing
lest the Thessalians should attack them in their shattered condition, threw up a high rampart from the wrecks; for the
storm lasted three days.  But at length the magi, having
sacrificed victims, and endeavored to charm the winds by incantations, ahd, moreover, having offered sacrifices to Thetis
and the Nereids, laid the storm on the fourth day, or perhaps
it abated of its own accord. They sacrificed to Thetis, having
heard from the Ionians the story that she had been carried off
from this country by Peleus, and that all the coast of Sepias
8 TiatL6of6vog is by others understood to imply "that he killed his
own son." I have followed Baehr.




192-~195.           POLYMNIA. VII.                  477
belonged to her and the other Nereids. Accordingly, the wind
was lulled on the fourth day. 192. The scouts on the heights
of Euboea, running down on the second day after the storm
first began, acquainted the Greeks with all that had occurred
with respect to the wreck of the fleet. They, when they heard
it, having offered up vows and poured out libations to Neptune
the Deliverer, immediately hastened back to Artemisium, hoping that there would be only some few ships to oppose them.
Thus they, coming there a second time, took up their station at
Artemisium, and from that time to the present have given to
Neptune the surname of the Deliverer.
193. The barbarians, when the wind had lulled and the
waves had subsided, having.hauled down their ships, sailed
along the continent; and having doubled the promontory of
Magnesia, stood directly into the bay leading to Pagasae. There
is a spot in this bay of Magnesia where it is said Hercules
was abandoned by Jason and his companions when he had
been sent from the Argo for water, as they were sailing to
Asia in Colchis for the golden fleece; for from thence they
purposed to put out to sea after they had taken in water: from
this circumstance, the name of Aphetms was given to the place.
In this place, then, the fleet of Xerxes took up its moorings.
194. Fifteen of these ships happened to be driven out to sea
some time after the rest, and somehow saw the ships of the
Greeks at Artemisium; the barbarians thought that they
were their own, and sailing on, fell in among their enemies.
They were commanded'by Sandoces, son of Thaumasius,
governor of Cyme, of JEolia. He, being one of the royal
judges, had been formerly'condemned by king Darius, who
had detected him in the following offense, to be crucified.
Sandoces gave an unjust sentence for a bribe; but while he
was actually hanging on the cross, Darius, considering with
himself, found that the services he had done to the royal family
were greater than his faults; Darius, therefore, having discovered this, and perceiving that he himself had acted with
more expedition than wisdom, released him. Having thus
escaped being put to death by Darius, he survived; but now,
sailing down among the Grecians, he was not to escape a second time; for when the Greeks saw them  sailing toward
them, perceiving the mistake they had committed, they bore
down upon them and easily took them.  195. In one of these,




478                   HERODOTUS.                 [196, 197.
Aridolis, tyrant of the Alabandians, in Caria, was taken; and
in another, the Paphian commander; Penthylus, son of Deironous.  He brought twelve ships from Paphos; but having
lost eleven in the storm that took place off Sepias, he was taken
with the one that escaped, as he was sailing to Artemisium.
The Grecians, having learned by inquiry what they wished to
know respecting the forces of Xerxes, sent these men away
bound to the isthmus of the Corinthians.
196. Accordingly, the naval force of the barbarians, with
the exception of the fifteen ships which I have mentioned
Sandoces commanded, arrived at Aphetse. But Xerxes and
the land-forces, marching through Thessaly and Achaia, had
entered on the third, day into the territories of the Malians.
In-Thessaly he made a match with his own horses for
the purpose of trying the Thessalian cavalry, having heard
that it was the best of all Greece; and on that occasion the
Grecian horses proved very inferior.  Of the rivers in Thessaly, the Onochonus alone did not supply a sufficient stream
for the army to drink; but of the rivers that flow in Achaia,
even the largest of them, the Epidanus, scarcely held out. 197.
When Xerxes arrived at Alos in Achaia, the guides, wishing
to tell every thing, related to him the tradition of the country concerning the temple of Laphystian Jupiter; how Athamas, son of JEolus, conspiring with Ino, planned the death of
Phryxus; and then, how the Achseans, in obedience to an
oracle, imposed the following penalty on his descendants.
Whoever is the eldest person of this race, having ordered him
to be excluded from the prytaneum, they themselves keep watch;
the Acheans call the prytaneum Leitum; and if he should enter,
he can not possibly go out again except in order to be sacrificed;
and how, moreover, many of those who were on the point of
being sacrificed, through fear, went away and fled the country;
but in process of time having returned back again, if they were
taken entering the prytaneum, they related how such an one,
being covered with sacred fillets, is sacrificed, and how conducted with great pomp.  The descendants of Cytissorus, son
of Phryxus, are liable to this punishment; because, when the
Achaians, in obedience to an oracle, were about to make an
expiation for their country by the sacrifice of Athamas, son of
ZEolus, Cytissorus, arriving from  Aia of Colchis, rescued
him, and having done so, drew down the anger of the gods




198-201.]             OLYMNIA. YII.                   479
upon his descendants.  Xerxes having heard this, when he
came to the grove, both abstained from entering it himself, and
commanded all the army to do the same, and he showed the
same respect to the dwelling of the descendants of Athamas as
he did to the sacred precinct.
198. These things occurred in Thessaly and in Achaia.
From  these countries Xerxes advanced to Malis, near a bay
of the sea in which an ebb and flow takes place every day.
About this bay lies a plain country, in one part wide, and in
the other very narrow, and around it high and impassable
mountains, called the Trachinian rocks, inclose the whole
Malian territory.  The first city in the bay, as one comes
from Achaia, is Anticyra, by which the river Sperchius, flowing from the country of the iEnianes, falls into the sea; and
from thence about twenty stades is another river, to which
the name of Dyras is given, which, it is said, rose up to assist
Hercules when he was burning.  From this, at a distance of
another twenty stades, is another river, which is called Melas.
199.. The city of Trachis is distant five stades from this river
Melas, and in this part where Trachis is built is the widest
space of all this country from the mountains to the sea, for
there are twenty-two thousand plethra of plain.  In this
mountain, which incloses the Trachinian territory, there is a
ravine to the south of Trachis, and through the ravine the
river Asopus flows by the base of the mountain.  200. To
the south of the Asopus is another river, the Phoenix, not
large, which, flowing, from  these mountains, falls into the
Asopus.  At the river Phcenix it is the narrowest, for only a
single carriage-road has been constructed there.  From  the
river P-lcenix it is fifteen stades to Thermopylae, and between
the river Phoenix and Thermopylae is a village, the name of
which is Anthela, by which the Asopus flowing falls into the
sea: the country about it is wide, and in it is.situated a temple of Ceres Amphictyonis, and there are the'seats of the
Amphictyons and a temple of Amphictyon himself.  201.
King Xerxes, then, encamped in the Trachinian territory of
Malis, and the Greeks in the pass. This spot is called by
most of the Greeks Thermopyla, but by the inhabitants and
neighbors Pyle.  lBoth parties, then, encamped in these
places.  The one was in possession of all the parts toward
the north as far as Trachis, and the others of the parts




480                  HERODOTUS.                [202-205,
which stretch toward the south and meridian on this continent.
202. The following were the Greeks who awaited the Persian in this position.  Of Spartans, three hundred heavy-armed
men; of Tegeans and Mantineans, one thousand, half of each;
from Orchomenus in Arcadia, one hundred and twenty; and
from the rest of Arcadia, one thousand-there were so many
Arcadians; from Corinth, four hundred; from Phlius, two
hundred men; and from Mycenae, eighty. These came from
Peloponnesus. From Boeotia, of Thespians seven hundred,
and of Thebans four hundred.  203. In addition to these,
the Opuntian Locrians, being invited, came with all their
forces, and a thousand Phocians  for the Greeks themselves
had invited them, representing by their embassadors that
"they had arrived as forerunners of the others, and that the
rest of the allies might be daily expected; that the sea was
protected by them, being guarded by the Athenians, the JEginetas, and others, who were appointed to the naval service;
and that they had nothing to fear, for that it was not a god
who invaded Greece, but a man; and that there never was,
and never would be, any mortal who had not evil mixed with
his prosperity from his very birth, and to the greatest of them
the greatest reverses happen; that it must therefore needs
be that he who is marching against us, being a mortal, will
be disappointed in his expectation."  They, having heard this,
marched with assistance to Trachis.  204. These nations had
separate generals for their several cities, but the one most
admired, and who commanded the whole army, was a Lacedaemonian, Leonidas, son of Anaxandrides, son of Leon, son
of Eurycratides, son of Anaxander, son of Eurycates, son
of Polydorus, son of Alcamenes, son of Teleclus, son of
Archelaus, son of Agesilaus, son, of Doryssus, son of Leobotes, son of Echestratus, son of Agis, son of Eurysthenes,
son of Aristodemus, son of Aristomachus, son of Cleodaeus,
son of Hyllus, son of Hercules, who had unexpectedly succeeded to the throne of Sparta.  205. For, as he had two
elder brothers, Cleomenes and Dorieus, he was far from any
thought of the kingdom. However, Cleomenes having died
without male issue, and Dorieus being no longer alive, having
ended his days in Sicily,9 the kingdom thus devolved upon
9 B. V. chap. 42-45.




206-208.J          POLYMNIA. VI..                    81
Leonidas; both because he was older than Cleombrotus (for
he was the youngest son of Anaxandrides), and also because
he had married the daughter of Cleomenes. He then marched to Thermopylhe, having chosen the three hundred men allowed by law,1 and such as had children.  On his march he
took with him the Thebans, whose numbers I have already
reckoned,2 and whom Leontiades, son of Eurymachus, commanded. For this reason Leonidas was anxious to take with
him the Thebans alone of all the Greeks, because they were
strongly accused of favoring the Medes: he therefore' summoned them to the war, wishing to know whether they would
send their forces With him, or would openly renounce the alliance of the Grecians; but they, though otherwise minded,
sent assistance.  206. The Spartans sent these troops first
with Leonidas, in order that the rest of the allies, seeing them,
might take the field and. might not go over to the Medes if
they heard that they were delaying; but afterward, for the
Carnean festival was then an obstacle to them, they purposed,
when they had kept the feast, to leave a garrison in Sparta,
and to march immediately with their whole strength.  The
rest of the confederates likewise intended to act in the same
nanner; for the Olympic games occurred at the same period
as these events. As they did not, therefore, suppose that the
engagement at Thermopyle would so soon be decided, they
dispatched an advance-guard.  Thus, then, they intended
to do.
207. The Greeks at Thermopylae, when the Persian came
near the pass, being alarmed, consulted about a retreat; accordingly, it seemed best to the other Peloponnesians to retire
to Peloponnesus, and guard the Isthmus; but Leonidas, perceiving the Phocians and Locrians very indignant at this proposition, determined to stay there, and to dispatch messengers
to the cities, desiring them to come to their assistance, as being too few to repel the army of the Medes. 208. While they
were deliberating on these matters, Xerxes sent a scout on
horseback, to see how many they were, and what they were
doing; for while he was still in Thessaly, he had heard that a
small army had been assembled at that spot, and as to their
1 For the various methods of rendering Trvc Ka7rorTeSTac, see Baehr's
note and Cary's Lexicon.
Chap. 202.              X




482                  HERODOTUS.                [209, 210.
leaders, that they were Lacedsemonians, and Leonidas, who
was of the race of Hercules. When the horseman rode up to
the camp, he reconnoitred, and saw not indeed the whole
camp, for it was not possible that they Should be seen who
were posted within the wall, which, having rebuilt, they were
now guarding; but he had a clear view of those on the outside, whose arms were piled in front of the wall. At this time
the Lacedemonians happened to be posted outside; and some
of the men he saw performing gymnastic exercises, and others
combing their hair. On beholding this he was astonished,
and ascertained their number; and having informed himself
of every thing accurately, he rode back at his leisure, for no
one pursued him, and he met with general contempt. On his
return he gave an account to Xerxes of all that he had seen.
209. When Xerxes heard this, he could not comprehend the
truth that the Grecians were preparing to be slain and to slay
to the utmost of their power; but, as they appeared to behave
in a ridiculous manner, he sent for Demaratus, son of Ariston,
who was then in the camp; and when he was come into his
presence, Xerxes questioned him as to each particular, wishing to understand what the Lacedoemonians were doing. Demaratus said, " You before heard me, when we were setting out
against Greece, speak of these men; and when you heard, you
treated me with ridicule, though I told you in what way I
foresaw these matters would issue; for it is my chief aim, O
king, to adhere to the truth in your presence; hear it, therefore, once more. These men have to fight with us for the
pass, and are now preparing themselves to do so; for such is
their custom, when they are going to hazard their lives, then
they dress their heads; but' be assured, if you conquer these
men, and those that remain in Sparta, there is no other nation in the world that will dare to raise their hand against
you, O king; for you are now to engage with the noblest
kingdom and city of all among the Greeks, and with the.most valiant men."  What was said seemed very incredible to
Xerxes, and he asked again " how, being so few in number,
they could contend with his army."  He answered, " O king,
deal with me as with a liar if these things do not turn out as
I say."
210. By saying this he did not convince Xerxes. He therefore let four days pass, constantly expecting that they would




21, 212.]           POLYMNIA. VII.                     483
betake themselves to flight; but on the fifth day, as they had
not retreated, but appeared to him to stay through arrogance
and rashness, he, being enraged, sent tie Medes and Cissians
against them, with orders to take them alive, and bring them
into his presence.  When the lMedes bore down impetuously
upon the Greeks, many of them fell; others followed to the
charge, and were not repulsed, though they suffered greatly;
but they made it evident to every one, and not least of all to
the king himself, that they were indeed many men, but few
soldiers.  The engagement lasted through the day.  211.
When the Medes were roughly handled, they thereupon retired; and the Persians whom  the king called " Immortal,"
and whom Hydarnes commanded, taking their place, advanced
to the attack, thinking that they indeed should easily settle
the business; but when they engaged with the Grecians,
they succeeded no better than the Medic troops, but just the
same, as they fought in a narrow  space, and used shorter
spears than the Greeks, and were unable to avail themselves
of their numbers.  The Lacedcmonians fought memorably
both in other respects, showing that they knew how to fight
with men who knew not, and whenever they turned their
backs, they retreated in close order; but the barbarians seeing
them retreat, followed with a shout and clamor; then they,
being overtaken, wheeled round so as to front the barbarians,
and having faced about, overthrew an inconceivable number
of the Persians; and then some few of the Spartans themselves fell; so that when the Persians were unable to gain
any thing in their attempt on the pass, by attacking in troops
and in every possible manner, they retired.  212. It is said
that during these onsets of the battle, the king, who witnessed
them, thrice sprang fiom his throne, being alarmed for his
army. Thus they strove at that time.  On the following day
the barbarians fought with no better success; for considering
that the Greeks were few in number, and expecting that they
were covered with wounds, and would not be able to raise
their heads against them any more, they renewed the contest.
But the Greeks were marshaled in companies and according
to their several nations, and each fought in turn, except only
the Phocians; they were stationed at the mountain to guard
the pathway.  When, therefore, the Persians found nothing




44:                   IHERODOTUS.                 [2 13 —215.
different from what they had seen on the preceding day, they
retired.
213. While the king was in doubt what course to take in
the present state of affairs, Ephialtes, son of Eurydemus, a
Malian, obtained an audience3 of him, expecting that he should
receive a great reward from the king, and informed him of the
path which leads over the mountain to Thermopyle, and by
that means caused the destruction of those Greeks who were
stationed there; but afterward, fearing the Lacedamonians,
he fled to Thessaly; and when he had fled, a price was set on
his head by the Pylagori, when the Amphictyons were assembled at Pylae; but some time after, he went down to Anticyra, and was killed by Athenades, a Trachinlan. This Athenades killed him for another reason, which I shall mention in a
subsequent part of my history; he was, however, rewarded
none the less by the Lacedanmonians.  214. Another account is
given, that Onetes, son of Phanagoras, a Carystian, and Corydallus of Anticyra, were the persons who gave this information to the king, and conducted the Persians round the mountain; but to me this is by no means credible; for, in the first
place, we may draw that inference from this circumstance, that
the Pylagori of the Grecians set a price on the head, not of
Onetes and Corydallus, but of Ephialtes the Trachinian, having
surely ascertained the exact truth; and, in the next place, we
know that Ephialtes fled on that account.  Onetes, indeed,
though he was not a Malian, might be acquainted with this
path, if he had been much conversant with the country; but
it was Ephialtes who conducted them round the mountain by
the path, and I charge him as the guilty person. 215. Xerxes,
since he was pleased with what Ephialtes promised to perform,
being exceedingly delighted, immediately dispatched Hydarnes
and the troops that Hydarnes commanded; and he started'
from the camp about the hour of lamp-lighting.  The native
Alalians discovered this pathway, and, having discovered it,
conducted the Thessalians by it against the Phocians at the
time when the Phocians, having fortified the pass by a wall,
were under shelter from an attack.  From  that time it ap3 Literally, " came to speak with him."
The promised reward is nowhere given in any extant writings of
the historian.




216 —219.]         FOLYMNIA. VII.                   485
peared to have been of no service to the Malians. 216. This
path is situated as follows: it begins from the river Asopus,
which flows through the cleft; the same name is given both
to the mountain and to the path, Anopeea; and this Anopaea
extends along the ridge of the mountain, and ends near Alpeius, which is the first city of the Locrians toward the Malians, and by the rock called Melampygus, and by the seats of
the Cercopes; and there the path is the narrowest. 217. Along
this path, thus situate, the Persians, having crossed the Asopus, marched all night, having on their right the mountains
of the (Etaeans, and on their left those of the Trachinians:
morning appeared, and they were on the summit of the mounta;n. At this part of the mountain, as I have already mentioned, a thousand heavy-armed Phocians kept guard, to defend their own country, and to secure the pathway; for the
lower pass was guarded by those before mentioned; and the
Phocians had voluntarily promised Leonidas to guard the path
across the mountain.  218. The Phocians discovered them
after they had ascended in the following manner; for the
Persian ascended without being observed, as the whole mountain was covered with oaks; there was a perfect calm, and, as
was likely, a considerable rustling taking place from the leaves
strewn under foot, the Phocians sprung up and put on, their
arms, and immediately the barbarians made their appearance.
But when they saw men clad in armor they were astonished;
for, expecting to find nothing to oppose them, they fell in with
an army; thereupon Hydarnes, fearing lest the Phocians
~might be Lacedemonians, asked Ephialtes of what nation the
troops were; and being accurately informed, he drew up the
Persians for battle. The Phocians, when they were hit by
many and thick-falling arrows, fled to the summit of the mountain, supposing that they had come expressly to attack them,
and prepared to perish. Such was' their determination. But
the Persians, with Ephialtes and Hydarnes, took no notice of
the Phocians, but marched down the mountain with all speed.
219. To those of the Greeks who were at Thermopylae, the
augur Megistias, having inspected the sacrifices, first made
known the death that would befall them in the morning; certain deserters afterward came and brought intelligence of the
circuit the Persians were taking; these brought the news
while it was yet night; and, thirdly, the scouts running down




486                  HERODOTUS.                 [220 221.
from the heights, as soon as day dawned, brought the same
intelligence. Upon this the Greeks held a consultation, and
their opinions were divided; for some would not hear of
abandoning their post, and others opposed that view. After
this, when the assembly broke up, some of them departed, and
being dispersed, betook themselves to their several cities; but
others of them prepared to remain there with Leonidas. 220.
It is said that Leonidas himself sent them away, being anxious
that they should not perish; but that he and the Spartans
who were there could not honorably desert the post which
they originally came to defend. For my own part, I am
rather inclined to think that Leonidas, when he perceived
that the allies were averse and unwilling to share the danger
with him, bade them withdraw, but that he considered it dishonorable for himself to depart: on the other hand, by remaining there, great renown would be left for him, and the
prosperity of Sparta would not be obliterated; for it had
been announced to the Spartans by the Pythian, when they
consulted the oracle concerning this war, as soon as it commenced, " that either Lacedsemon must be overthrown by the
barbarians, or. their king perish."  This answer she gave in
hexameter verses to this effect: "To you, 0 inhabitants of
spacious Lacedaemon, either your vast, glorious city shall be
destroyed by men sprung from Perseus, or, if not so, the confines of'Lacedsemon mourn a king deceased of the race of
Hercules.  For neither shall the strength of bulls nor of lions
withstand him5 with force opposed to force, for he has the
strength of Jove, and I say he shall not be restrained before
he has certainly obtained one of these for his share."  I think,
therefore, that Leonidas, considering these things, and being
desirous to acquire glory for the Spartans alone, sent away
the allies, rather than that those who went away differed in
opinion, and went away in such an unbecoming manner. 221.
The following in no small degree strengthens my conviction6
on this point; for not only did he send away the others, but
it is certain that Leonidas also sent away the augur who followed the army, Megistias the Acarnanian, who was said to
have been originally descended from Melampus, the same who
announced from an inspection of the victims what was about
to befall them, in order that he might not perish with them.
5 The Persian king.   6," Is not the least proof to me."




222-224.]           POLYMNIA. VIL.                  48
He, however, though dismissed, did not himself depart, but
sent away his son, who served with him in the expedition,
being his only child.  222. The allies accordingly, that were
dismissed, departed, and obeyed Leonidas; but only the Thespians and the Thebans remained with the Lacedmmonians;
the Thebans, indeed, remained unwillingly, and against their
inclination, for Leonidas detained them, treating them as hostages; but the Thespians willingly, for they refused to go away
and abandon Leonidas and those with him, but remained and
died with them. Demophilus, son of Diadromas, commanded
them.
223. lerxes, after he had poured out libations at sunrise,
having waited a short time, began his attack about the tieme
of full market, for he had been so instructed by Ephialtes;
for the descent from the mountain is more direct, and the
distance much shorter, than the circuit and ascent. The barbarians, therefore, with Xerxes, advanced; and the Greeks,
with Leonidas, marching out as if for certain death, now advtnced much farther than before into the wide part of the
defile; for the fortification of the wall had protected them,
and they on the preceding days, having taken up their position in the narrow part, there fought; but now engaging
outside the narrows, great numbers of the barbarians fell;
for the officers of the companies from behind, having scourges,
flogged every man, constantly urging them forward; in consequence, many of them, falling into -the sea, perished, and
many more were trampled alive under foot by one another, and
no regard was paid to any that perished; for the Greeks,
knowing that death awaited them at the hands of those who
were going round the mountain, being desperate, and regardless of their own lives, displayed the utmost possible valor
against the barbarians.  224. Already were most of their javelins broken, and they had begun to dispatch the Persians with
their swords. In this part of the struggle fell Leonidas, fighting valiantly, and with him  other eminent Spartans, whose
names, seeing they were deserving men, I have ascertained;
indeed, I have ascertained the names of the whole three hundred.  On the side of the Persians, also, many other eminent
men fell on this occasion, and among them two sons of Darius, Abrocomes and Hyperanthes, born to Darius of Phrataguna, daughter of Artanes; but Artanes was brother to king




488                  -IHERODOTUS.              [22 —228.
Darius, and son of Hystaspes, son. of Arsames. He, when he
gave his daughter to Darius, gave him also all his property,
as she was his only child. 225. Accordingly, two brothers
of Xerxes fell at this spot, fighting for the body of Leonidas,
and there was a violent struggle between the Persians and
lLacedaemonians, until at last the Greeks rescued it by their
valor, and four times repulsed the enemy. Thus the contest continued until those with Ephialtes came up. When
the Greeks heard that they were approaching, from this time
the battle was altered; for they retreated to the narrow part
of the way, and passing beyond the wall, came and took up
their position on the rising ground, all in a compact body,
with the exception of the TIhebans. The rising ground is at
the entrance where the stone lion now stands to the memory
of Leonidas.  On this spot, while they defended themselves
with swords, such as had them still remaining, and their hands
and teeth, the barbarians overwhelmed them with missiles,
some of them  attacking them in front, and having thrown
down the wall, and others surrounding and attacking them on
every side..
226. Though the Lacedsemonians and Thespians behaved in
this manner, yet Dieneces, a Spartan, is said to have been
the bravest man. They relate that he made the following remark before they engaged with the Medes, having heard a
Trachinian say that. when the barbarians let fly their arrows,
they would obscure the sun by the multitude of their shafts,
so great were their numbers; but he, not at all alarmed at
this, said, holding in contempt the numbers of the Medes,
that "their Trachinian friend told them every thing to their
advantage, since if the Medes obscure. the sun, they would
then have to fight in the shade, and not in the sun."  This,
and other sayings of the same kind, they relate that Dieneces
the Lacedsemonian left as memorials.  227. Next to him, two
Lacedaemonian brothers, Alpheus and Maron, sons of Orisiphantus, are said to have distinguished themselves most; and of
the Thespians, he obtained the greatest glory whose name was
Dithyrambus, son of Harmatides. 228. In honor of the slain,
who were buried on the spot where they fell, and of those who
died before they who were dismissed by Leonidas went away,
the following inscription has been engraved over-them: " Four
thousand from Peloponnesus once fought on this spot with




229-231.]          POLYMNIA. VIi.                   489
three hundred myriads."' This inscription was made for all;
and for.the Spartans in particular: "Stranger, go tell the
Lacedaemonians that we lie here, obedient to their commands."
This' was for the Lacedemonians; and for the prophet, the
following: "This is the monument of the illustrious Megistias, whom once the Medes, having passed the river Sperchius,
slew; a prophet who, at the time well knowing the impending fate, would not abandon the leaders of Sparta."  The
Amphictyons are the persons who honored them with these
inscriptions and columns, with the exception of the inscription to the prophet; that of the prophet Megistias, Simonides, son of Leoprepes, caused to be engraved, from personal
friendship.
229. It is said that two of these three hundred, Eurytus
and Aristodemus, when it was in the power of both, if they
had agreed together, either to return alike safe to Sparta, since
they had been dismissed from the camp by Leonidas, and were
lying at Alpeni desperately afflicted with a disease of the eyes,
or, if they would not return, to have died together with the
rest-when it was in their power to do either of these, they
could not agree; and being divided in opinion, Eurytus, having
heard of the circuit made by the Persians, and having called
for apd put on his arms, ordered his helot to lead him to the
combatants; and when he had led him, the man who led him
ran away, but he, rushing into the midst of the throng, perished;
but Aristodemus, failing in courage, was left behind. Now if it
had happened that Aristodemus alone, being sick, had returned
to Sparta, or if both had gone home together, in my opinion the
Spartans would not have shown any anger against them; but
now, since one of them perished, and the other, who had only
the same excuse, refused to die, it was necessary for them to
be exceedingly angry with Aristodemus. 230. Some say that
Aristodemus thus got safe to Sparta, and on such a pretext;
but others, that being sent as a messenger from the army,
though he might have arrived while the battle was going on,
he would not, but having lingered on the road, survived;
while his fellow-messenger, arriving in time for the battle,
died. 231. Aristodemus, having returned to Lacedaemon, met
with insults and infamy. He was declared infamous by being
treated as follows: not one of the Spartans would either give
him fire or converse with him; and he met with insult, being
X2




490                   HERODOTUS.               [232-234.
called Aristodemus the coward. However, in the battle of
Plataea, he removed all the disgrace that attached to him.7
232. It is also said that another of the three hundred, whose
name was Pantites, having been sent as a messenger to Thessaly, survived; and that he, on his return to Sparta, finding
himself held in dishonor, hung himself. 233. The Thebans,
whom Leontiades commanded, as long as they were with the
Greeks, being constrained by necessity, fought against the
king's army; but when they saw the forces of the Persians
gaining the upper hand, as the Greeks with Leonidas were
hastening to the hill, having separated from them, they held
out their hands and went near the barbarians, saying the truest
thing they could say, that "they were both on the side of the
Medes, and were among the first who gave earth and water
to the king, and that they came to Thermopyle from compulsion, and were guiltless of the blow that had been inflicted on
the king."  So that, by saying this, they saved their lives; for
they had the Thessalians as witnesses to what they said: they
were not, however, fortunate in every respect; for when the
barbarians seized them as they came up, some they slew, and
the greater number of them, by the command of Xerxes, they
branded with the royal mark, beginning with the general,
Leontiades, whose son, Eurymachus, some time afterward,
the Plataeans slew, when he was commanding four hundred
Thebans, and had got possession of the citadel of the Platseans.
234. Thus, the Greeks fought at Thermopylae.  And Xerxes,
having sent for Demaratus, questioned him, beginning as follows: "Demaratus, you are an honest man; I judge so from
experience; for whatever you said has turned out accordingly. Now tell me how many the rest of the Lacedaemonians
may be, and how many of them, or whether all, are such as
these in war?"  He answered, "0 king, the number of all
the Lacedaemonians is great, and their cities are many; but I
shall inform you of that which you desire to know. In Laconia is Sparta, a city containing about eight thousand men;
all these are equal to those who have fought here; the rest
of the Lacedaemonians, however, are not equal to these, though
brave."  To this Xerxes said, " Demaratus, in what way can
we conquer these men with the least trouble? come tell me,
for you must be acquainted with the course of their counsels,
7 See B. IX. chap. 71.




245, 236.]          POLYMNIA. VII.                  491
1ince you have been their king."  235. He replied, " 0 king,
since you ask my -advice so earnestly, it is right that I should
tell you what is best. You should, then, dispatch three hundred ships of your naval force to the Laconian coast. Off that
coast there lies an island called Cythera, which Chilon, the
wisest man among us, said would be more advantageous to
the Spartans if sunk to the bottom of the sea than if it remained above the water, always apprehending that some such
thing would come from it as I am going to propose; not that
he foresaw the arrival of your fleet, but fearing equally every
naval force. Sallying from this island, then, let them alarm
the Lacedsemonians; and when they have a war of their own
near home, they will no longer give you cause to fear, lest
they should succor the rest of Greece, while it is being taken
by your land-forces. But when the rest of Greece is subdued, the Laconian territory, being left alone, will be feeble.
If you will not act in this manner, you may expect that this
will happen. There is in Peloponnesus a narrow isthmus; in
this place, all the Peloponnesians being combined against you,
expect to meet more violent struggles than the past; whereas,
if you do as I advise, both this isthmus and the cities will submit to you without a battle."  236. After him spoke Achsemenes, who was brother of Xerxes, and commander of the naval forces, having been present at the conversation, and fearing lest Xerxes might be induced to adopt that plan: " O
king, I perceive you listening to the suggestions of a man
who envies your prosperity, or would betray your cause; for
the Greeks are commonly of that character; they envy success, and hate superior power. If; therefore, in the present
state of our affairs, after four hundred ships have been wreckedj
y6u should detach three hundred more from the fleet to sail
round Peloponnesus, our enemies may fight us upon equal
terms; but if our fleet is kept together, it becomes invincible,
and they will be unable to fight with us at all; moreover, the
whole fleet will assist the land-forces, and the land-forces the
fleet, by advancing together; but if you separate them, neither
will they be useful to you, nor you to them. Having, therefore, ordered your own matters well, resolve to pay no attention to what your enemies are doing, how they will carry on
the war, what they will do, or how much their numbers are;
for they are able to think about themselves, and we, in like




492,                 HERODOTUS.                [237-239.
manner, about ourselves; but the Lacedamonians, if they
venture a'battle against the Persians, will not cure this one
present wound."  237. To'this Xerxes answered: "Achaemenes, you appear to me to speak well, and I will act accordingly. But Demaratus-said what he thought was best for me,
though he is surpassed by you in judgment; for that I will
not admit, that Demaratus is not well-disposed to my interests,
forming my conclusion from what was before said by him,
and from the fact that a citizen envies a fellow-citizen who is
prosperous, and hates him in silence; nor, when a citizen asks
for advice, will a fellow-citizen suggest what seems to him to
be best, unless he has reached a high degree of virtue; such
persons, however, are rare. But a friend bears the greatest
regard for his friend in prosperity; and, when he asks his advice, gives him the best advice he can. I therefore enjoin all
men for the future to abstain from calumny concerning Demaratus, since he is my friend." 238. Xerxes having spoken
thus, passed through the dead; and having heard that Leonidas was king and general of the Lacedgemonians, he commanded them to cut off his head, and fix it upon a pole. It
is clear to me from many other proofs, and not least of all
from this, that king Xerxes was more highly incensed against
Leonidas during his life than against any other man, for
otherwise he would never have violated the respect due to
his dead body, since the Persians, most of all men with whom
I am acquainted, are wont to honor men who are brave in
war. They, however, to whom the order was given to do
this, did it.
239. But I return to that part of my narration where I
before left it incomplete. The Lacedmmonians first had information that the king was preparing to invade Greece, and
accordingly they sent to the oracle at Delphi, whereupon the
answer was given them which I lately mentioned.8 But they
obtained their information in a remarkable manner; for
Demaratus, son of Ariston, being in exile among the Medes,
as I conjecture, and appearances support my opinion, was not
well affected to the Lacedaemonians. However, it is a question whether he acted as he did from a motive of benevolence
or by way of exultation; for when Xerxes had determined
to invade Greece, Demaratus, who was then at Susa, and had
8 Chap. 220.




1,2.]               URANIA. VIII.                   493
-beard of his intention, communicated it to the Lacedaemonians;
but he was unable to make it known by any other means, for
there was great danger of being detected.; he, therefore, had
recourse to the following contrivance. Having taken a folding
tablet, he scraped off the wax, and then wrote the king's intention on the wood of the tablet; and having done this, he melted the wax again over the writing, in order that the tablet, being cariied with nothing written on it, might occasion him no
trouble from the guards upon the road. When it arrived at
Sparta, the Lacedamonians were unable to comprehend it, until, as I am informed, Gorgo, daughter of Cleomenes, and wife
to Leonidas7 made a suggestion, having considered the matter
with herself, and bade them scrape off the wax and they would
find letters written on the wood. They, having obeyed, found
and read the contents, and forwarded them to the rest of the
Greeks. These things are reported to have happened in this
manner.
BOOK VIII.
URANIA.
THE Greeks who were assigned to the navy were these.
The Athenians, who furnished one hundred and twenty-seven
ships; but the Plataans, from a spirit of valor and zeal, though
inexperienced in the sea-service, assisted the Athenians ilL
manning the ships. The Corinthians furnished forty ships;
the Megareans, twenty; the Chalcidians manned twenty, the
Athenians having furnished them with ships; the }Eginetae,
eighteen; the Sicyonians, twelve; the Lacedaemonians, ten;
the Epidaurians, eight; the Eretrians, seven; the Trcezenians,
five; the Styreans, two; and the Ceians, two ships and two
penteconters; the Opuntian Locrians also came to their assistance with seven penteconters. 2. These, then, were they who
were engaged in the war at Artemisium, and I have mentioned
how each contributed to the number of the ships. The total




494                   HERODOTUS.                    [3-5.
of the ships assembled at Artemisium, besides the penteconters,
was two hundred and seventy-one. The admiral, who had the
chief power, the Spartans supplied, Eurybiades, son of Euryclides, for the allies had refused, " if the Lacedaemonian did not
command, to follow Athenian leaders, but said they would break
up the intended fleet."  3. For from the first there was a talk,
even beforethey sent to Sicily to solicit an alliance, that it would
be proper to intrust the navy to the Athenians; but as the allies opposed, the Athenians gave way, deeming it of high importance that Greece should be saved, and knowing that if they
should quarrel about the command, Greece would be lost; herein thinking justly; for intestine discord is as much worse than
war carried on.in concert, as war is than peace. Being, therefore, convinced of this, they did not resist, but yielded as long
as they had need of their assistance, as they clearly showed;
for when, having repulsed the Persian, they were now contending for his country, they put forward as a pretext the arrogance of Pausanias, and deprived the Lacedaemonians of the
chief command; but these things occurred afterward.  4. But
at that time, those Greeks who had arrived at Artemisium,
when they saw a vast number of ships drawn up at Aphetse,
and all parts full of troops, since the affairs of the barbarian
turned out contrary to their expectation, in great consternation deliberated about retiring from Artemisium to the inner
parts of Greece. The Euboeans, knowing that they were deliberating on this matter, entreated Eurybiades to remain a
short time longer, until they could remove their children and
domestics to a place of safety; but finding they could not
persuade him, they then went over tod the Athenian general, and prevailed on Themistocles, by a bribe of thirty talents, to promise that they would stay and engage the enemy
by sea before Euboea. 5. Themistocles, to retain the Greeks,
did as follows.  Of this money he gave five talents to Eurybiades, as if, indeed, he gave it from himself; and when he
had gained him over, as Adimantus, son of Ocytus, the Corinthian commander, was the only person who resisted, affirm-.ing that he would sail away from Artemisium, and not stay,.to him Themistocles said with an oath, "You shall not aban-'don us, for I will make you a greater present than the king
of the Medes would send-you for abandoning the allies."  He
at the same time said this, and sent three talents of silver on




G-8.]               URANIA. VIII.                   495
board the ship of Adimantus. They therefore, being swayed
by the present, were gained over, and complied with the wishes of the Eubceans; but Themistocles himself was a considerable gainer, as he secretly kept the, rest; but those who took
part of this money thought it came from the Athenians on
that condition.
6. They accordingly remained in Eubcea, and came to an
engagement by sea. It happened in this manner. When the
barbarians arrived at Aphetae, in the afternoon, having been
already informed that a few Grecian ships; were stationed, and
then descrying them at Artemisium, they were eager to attack,
in the hope of taking them. However, they did not think it
advisable to sail directly upon them for the following reasons,
lest the Greeks, seeing them sailing toward them, should betake themselves to flight, and the night should cover their retreat, by which means they would escape; but, according to
their saying, they thought that not even the.torch-bearer
would escape alive. 7. For this purpose, then, they had recourse to the following plan: having detached two hundred
ships from  the whole fleet, they sent them  round, outside
Sciathus, that they might not be seen by the enemy sailing
round Euboea, by Caphareus and round Gervestus to the Euripus; that'so they might surround them, the one party arriving at the place appointed in that way, and intercepting their
retreat, and themselves attacking them in front. Having determined on this, they dispatched the ships appointed for this
service, themselves not intending to attack the Greeks that
day, nor before the agreed signal should be seen, given by
those who sailed round, announcing their arrival. These, then,
they sent round, and set about taking the number of the rest
of the ships at Apheta.  8. At this time, while they were taking the number of their ships, there was in this camp Scyllias
of Scyone, the best diver of his time; he, in the shipwreck that
happened off Pelion, had saved much of their treasure for the
Persians, and had acquired a good deal for himself. This
Scyllias had long before entertained the design of deserting to
the Greeks,'but had had no opportunity of doing so until that
time.  In what way he at length made his escape to the
Grecians I can not certainly affirm, and I wonder whether the
account given is true; for it is said that, having plunged
into the sea at Aphets, he never rose until he reached Arle



496                  HERODOTUS.                   [9-11.
misium, having passed this distance through the sea, as near
as can be, eighty stadia. Many other things are related of
this man that are very like falsehood, and some that are true.
If, however, I may give my opinion of this matter, it is, that
he came to Artemisium in a boat.  On his arrival, he immediately informed the commanders of the shipwreck, how it had
occurred, and of the ships that were sent round to Euboea.
9. The Greeks, having heard this, held a conference among
themselves; and, after much debate, it was resolved that, remaining there and continuing in their station during that
day, then, when midnight was passed, they should proceed,
and meet the ships that were sailing round. But after* this,
when no ship sailed against them, having waited for the
evening of the day, they sailed of themselves against the
barbarians, being desirous to make trial of their manner of
fighting, and of breaking through the line.  10. The other
soldiers of Xerxes, and the commanders, seeing them sailing
toward them with so few ships, attributed their conduct to
madness, and, on their part, got their ships under weigh, expecting that they should easily take them; and their expectations were very reasonable, when they saw that the Grecian
ships were few, and their own many more in number, and better sailers; taking these things into consideration, they inclosed them in the middle of a circle. Now such of the Ionians as were well-affected to the Greeks, and joined the expedition unwillingly, regarded it as a great calamity when they
saw them surrounded, feeling convinced that not one of them
would return, so weak did the Grecian forces appear to them
to be. But such as were pleased with what was going on,
vied with each other how each might be the first to take an
Athenian ship, and receive a reward from  the king; for
throughout the fleet they had the highest opinion of the Athenians.  11. When the signal was given to the Greeks, first of
all turning their prows against the barbarians; they contracted their sterns inwardly to the middle; and when the second
signal was given, they commenced the attack, though inclosed
in a narrow space, and that prow to prow.  On this occasion
they took thirty ships of the barbarians, and Philaon, son of
Chersis, the brother of Gorgus, king of the Salaminians, a
man highly esteemed in their army. Lycomedes, son Qf Eschreus, an Athenian, was the first of the Greeks who took a




12-14.]              URlANIA. VIII.                   497
ship from  the enemy, and he received the palm  of valor.
But night coming on separated the combatants, who in this
engagement fought with doubtful success.  The Greeks returned to Artemisium, and the barbarians to Apheta, having
fought with far different success than they expected.  In this
engagement, Antidorus, a Lemnian, was the only one of the
Greeks in the king's service who went over to the Grecians,
and on that account the Athenians presented him with lands
in Salamis.
12. When night came on, and it was now the middle of
summer, heavy rain fell through the whole night, and violent
thunder about Pelion; but the dead bodies and pieces of
wreck were driven to Aphete, and got entangled round the
prows of the ships, and impeded the blades of the oars. But
the soldiers who were on board, when they heard the thunder,
were seized with terror, expecting that they must certainly
perish, into such calamities had they falleri-; for before they
had recovered breath, after the wreck and tempest that had
occurred off Pelion, a fierce engagement followed, and after
the engagement, impetuous rain and mighty torrents rushing
into the sea, and violent thunder.  Such was the night to
them.  13. But to those who had been appointed to sail
round Eubcea, this same night proved so much the more wild,
in that it fell upon them while they were in the open sea,
and the end was grievous to them; for as they were sailing,
the storm  and rain overtook them when they were near the
Ccola of Euboea, and being driven by the wind, and not knowing where they were driven, they were dashed upon the rocks.
All this was done by the deity, that the Persian might be
brought to an equality with the Grecian, or, at least, not be
greatly superior.  Thus they perished near the Ccela of
Euboea.  14. The barbarians at Aphete, when to their great
joy day dawned, kept their ships at rest, and were content,
after they had suffered so much, to remain quiet for the present; but three and fifty Attic ships came to re-enforce the
Greeks, and both these by their arrival gave them additional
courage, as did the news that came at the same time, that
those of the barbarians who were sailing round Euboea had
all perished in the late storm; therefore, having waited to the
same hour, they set sail and attacked the Cilician ships, and,




498                   HERODOTUS.                   [15-19.
having destroyed them, as soon as it was night they sailed back
to Artemisium.
15. On the third day, the commanders of the barbarians,
indignant at being insulted by so few ships, and fearing the
displeasure of Xerxes, no longer waited for the Greeks to begin the battle, but, encouraging one another, got under weigh
about the middle of the day. It happened that these actions
by sea and those by land at Thermopylm took place on the
same days; and the whole struggle for those at sea was for
the Euripus, as for those with Leonidas to guard the pass;
the one party encouraging each other not to suffer the barbarians to enter Greece, and the other to destroy the Grecian
forces, and make themselves masters of the channel.  16.
When the barbarians, having formed in line, sailed onward,
the Grecians remained still at Artemisium; but the barbarians, -having drawn up their ships in the form of a crescent, encircled them as if they would take them, whereupon the Greeks
sailed out to meet them, and engaged. In this battle they
were nearly equal one to another, for the fleet of Xerxes, by
reason of its, magnitude and number, impeded itself, as the
ships incommoded and ran foul of one another; however, they
continued to fight, and would not yield, for they were ashamed
to be put to flight by a few ships.  Accordingly, many ships
of the Grecians perished, and many men, and of the barbarians a much greater number both of ships and men.  Having
fought in this manner, they separated from each other. 17.
In this engagement the Egyptians signalized themselves among
the forces of Xerxes, for they both achieved other great actions,
and took five Grecian ships, with their crews.  On the part of
the Greeks, the Athenians signalized themselves on this day,
and among the Athenians, Clinias, son of Alcibiades, who at
his own'expense joined the fleet with two hundred men and a
ship of his own,
18. When they had separated, each gladly hastened to their
own stations; but the Grecians, when, having left the battle,
they had withdrawn, were in possession of the dead and of'
the wrecks, yet, having been severely handled, and especially
the Athenians, the half of whose ships were disabled, they
consulted about a retreat to the interior of Greece.  19. lut'J helaistocles having considered with himself that if the loni



20-22.]               URANIA. VIII.                      499
ans and Carians could be detached from the barbarian, they
would be able to overcome the rest; as the Euboeans were
driving their cattle down to the shore, he there assembled the
Grecian commanders together, and told them that he thought
he had a contrivance by which he hoped to draw off the best
of the king's allies.  This, then, he so far discovered to them,
but in the present state of affairs he told them  what they
ought to do; every one should kill as many of the Euboean
cattle as. he thought fit; for it was better that their own army
should have them  than the enemy.  He also advised them
each to direct their own men to kindle fires, and promised
that he would choose such a time for their departure that
they should all arrive safe in Greece. These things they were
pleased to do; and forthwith, having kindled fires, they fell
upon the cattle.  20. For the Euboeans, disregarding the oracles of Bacis as importing nothing, had neither carried out
any thing to a place of safety, nor collected stores, as if war
was approaching, and so had brought their affairs into a precarious state.  The oracle of Bacis respecting them  was as
follows: "Beware of the barbarian-tongued, when he shall
casf a byblus-yoke across the sea, remnove the bleating goats
from Euboea."  As they paid no attention to these verses, in
the calamities then present and those that were impending,
they fell into the greatest distress. 21. They, then, were acting thus, and in that conjuncture the scout arrived from Trachis; for there was a scout stationed off Artemisium, Polyas
of'Anticyra, who had been ordered (and he had a well-furnished boat ready), if the fleet should be in difficulty, to make it
known to those that were at Thermopylhe; and in like manaer Abronychus, son of Jysicles an Athenian, was with Leonidas, ready to carry the tidings to those at Artemisium in a
trieconter, if any reverse should happen to the land-forces.
This Abronychus then arriving, informed them  of what had
befallen Leonidas and his army; but they, when they heard
it, no longer deferred their departure, but retired each in the
order in which they were stationed, the Corinthians first, and
the Athenians last.
22. Themistocles, having selected the best sailing ships
of the Athenians, went to the places where there was water
/it for drinking, and engraved upon the stones inscriptions,
which the Ionians, upon arriving next day at Artemisium,




500                   tIERODOTUS.                 [23-25.
read. The inscriptions were to this effect: "Men of Ionia,
you do wrong in fighting against your fathers, and helping to
enslave Greece; rather, therefore, come over to us; or, if you
can not do that, withdraw your forces from the contest, and
entreat the Carians to do the same; but if neither of these
things is possible, and you are bound by too strong a necessity
to revolt, yet in action, when we are engaged, behave ill on
purpose, remembering that you are descended from us, and
that the enmity of the barbarian against us originally sprung
from you."  Themistocles, in my opinion, wrote this with two
objects in view; that either, if the inscriptions escaped the
notice of the king, he might induce the lonians to change sides
and come over to them; or, if they were reported to hirm -.id
made a subject of accusation before Xerxes, they might mael,
the Ionians suspected, and cause them to be excluded from tlie
sea-fights.  23. Themistocles left this inscription, and immediately afterward a certain Histisan came to the barbarians
in a boat, announcing the flight of the Greeks from Artemisium; but they, through distrust, kept the man who brought
the news under guard, and dispatched some swift vessels to
reconnoitre.  When they reported the truth as it was, the
whole fleet, as soon as the sun's rays were spread, sailed in a
body to Artemisium; and having waited in that place until
midday, they then sailed to Histiea, and on their arrival possessed themselves of the city of the Histineans, and ravaged all
the maritime villages of the Ellopian district, in the territory
of H-istimotis.
24. ~While they were on this coast, Xerxes, having made
preparations with respect to the dead, sent a herald to the
fleet. And he made the following previous preparations.  Of
those of his own army who were slain at Thermopylm, and
they were about twenty thousand, of these, having left about
one thousand, the remainder, having caused pits to be dug, he
buried, throwing leaves over them and heaping up earth, that
they might not be seen by those who should come from the
fleet. When the herald crossed over to I-Iistiea, having convened a meeting of the whole encampment, he spoke as follows: " Allies, king Xerxes permits any of you who please to
leave his post, and come and see how he fights against those
senseless men who hoped to overcome the king's power."
25. After he had made this announcement, nothing was more




2S, 27.]            URANIA. VIII.                    501
scarce than boats, so many were anxious to behold the sight;
and, having crossed over, they went through and viewed the
dead; and all thought that those that lay there were all Lacedaemonians and Thespians, though they also saw the Helots;
however, Xerxes did not deceive those who had crossed over by
what he had done with respect to his own dead, for indeed it
was ridiculous; of the one party a thousand dead were seen
lying; but the others lay all heaped up together, to the number
of four thousand.  This day they spent in the view, and on
the next they returned to Histivea, to their ships, and those
with Xerxes set out on their march.  26. Some few deserters
came to them  from Arcadia in search of subsistence, and
dv Pd to be actively employed: taking these men into the
kiigl' presence, the Persians inquired concerning the Greeks,
-vnat they were doing. One in particular it was who asked
them this question. They answered that they were celebrating
the*Olympic games, and viewing gymnastic combats and horseraces. He then asked what was the reward proposed to them
for which they contended. They mentioned the crown of olive
that is given. Upon which Tritantaechmes, son of Artabanus,
having uttered a noble sentiment, incurred the charge of cowardice from the king; for, having heard that the prize was a
crown, and not riches, he could not remain silent, but spoke
as follows before all: "Heavens, Mardonius, against what
kind of men have you brought us to fight, who contend, not
for wealth, but for glory!"  This, then, was said by him.
27. In the mean time, and when the defeat had occurred at
Thermopylm, the Thessalians immediately sent a herald to the
Phocians, as they had always' entertained a grudge against
them, and particularly since their last defeat; for not many
years before this expedition of the king, the Thessalians themselves and their allies, having invaded the territories of the
Phocians with all their forces, had been worsted by the Phocians and roughly handled; for when the Phocians had been
shut up in Mount Parnassus, having with them the Elean
prophet Tellias, this Tellias thereupon devised the following
stratagem  for them. Having smeared over with chalk six
hundred of the bravest Phocians, both the men themselves
and their armor, he attacked the Thessalians by night, having
ordered them to kill every man they should see not covered
See B. VII. chap. 176.




502                   IIERODOTUS.                L28-31.
with white.  The sentinels of the Thessalians, accordingly,
seeing them first, were terrified, supposing it was some strange
prodigy, and after the sentinels, the whole army, so that the
Phocians got possession of four thousand dead and shields;
of these they dedicated one half at Abae, and the other at
Delphi. The tenth of the treasures taken in this battle composed those great statues which stand about the tripod in the
front of the temple at Delphi, and others like them were dedicated at Abe.  28. Thus the Phocians dealt with the infantry
of the Thessalians who were besieging them, and they inflicted an irreparable blow on their cavalry when they made
an irruption into their territory; for in the entrance which is
near Hyampolis, having dug a large pit, they put empty jars
in it, and having heaped soil over and made it like the rest of
the ground, they waited the attack of the Thessalians; but
they, hoping to overwhelm the Phocians, being borne violently
on, fell among the jars, whereupon the horses had their legs
broken.  29. The Thessalians, bearing a grudge against them
for these two things, sent a herald, and made the following
announcement: "   Phocians, now at length learn better, and
know that you are not equal to us; for both before among
the Greeks, as long as that party pleased us, we always proved
superior to you; and now, we have so great influence with.
the barbarian, that it is in our power to deprive you of your
country, and, moreover, to reduce you to slavery. We, however, though possessing full power, are not mindful of injuries;
therefore, let fifty talents of silver be given us by way of reparation, and we promise you to avert the evils that impend over
your country."
30. The Thessalians sent them  this message; for the
Phocians were the only people of those parts who did not
side with the Mede; for no other reason, as I conjecture,
than their hatred of the Thessalians; but if the Thessalians
had taken part with the Greeks, in my opinion the Phocians
would have sided with the Mede. When the Thessalians sent
this message, they said they would not give money, and that
it was in their power to join the Mede as well as the Thessalians, if they only chose to do so, but that they would not
willingly be traitors to Greece.  31. When this answer was
brought back, the Thessalians thereupon, being incensed with
the Phocians, became guides to the barbarian; and, accord



32 —35.]             URANIA. VIII.                    503
ingly, they entered from Trachinia into Doris; for a narrow
strip of Doric territory extends that way, about thirty stades
in breadth, and situate between the Malian and Phocian territory, and which was anciently Dryopis.  This region is the
mother country of the Dorians in Peloponnesus.  The barbarians, in their passage through, did not ravage this Doric territory; for the inhabitants sided with the Mede, and the Thessalians wished them not to do so.  32. When they entered
from the Doric to the Phocian territory, they did not take the
Phocians themselves, for some of the Phocians had ascended
to the heights of Parnassus; and the summit of Parnassus lying near the city of Neon, which stands apart, is well adapted
to receive a multitude; its name is Tithorea; to this, then,
they carried their property, and ascended themselves; but the
greater number of them had conveyed their effects to the Locrian Ozolae, to the city of.Amphissa, which is situate on the
Crisean plain. But the barbarians overran the whole Phocian territory.  33. For marching this way along the river
Cephissus, they ravaged the whole country, and burned down
the cities of Drymus, Charadra, Erochus, Tethronium, Amphicea, Neon, Pedieae, Triteae, Elatea, Hyampolis, Parapotamii,
and Abse, where was a rich temple of Apollo, adorned with
many treasures and offerings, and there was then, and still is,
an oracle there; this temple they plundered and burned; and
pursuing some of the Phocians, they took them near the mountains; and they caused the death of some women by having intercourse with them in great numbers. 34. The barbarians,
having passed by Parapotamii, arrived at Panopeas, and from
thence their army, being divided, proceeded in two bodies.
The largest and most powerful part of the army, marching with
Xerxes himself toward Athens, entered Boeotia at the territory
of the Orchomenians. But the Boeotians sided with the Mede;
Macedonian soldiers, therefore, posted in different places, having been sent by Alexander, saved their cities; and they saved
them in order by this means to make it known to Xerxes that
the Boeotians favored the cause of the Medes. These barbarians, then, took this route.
35. The rest of them, having guides, proceeded toward
the temple of Delphi, keeping Parnassus on their right; and
whatever parts of Phocis they came to, they pillaged; for they
set fire to the city of the Panopians, and of the Daulians, and




504                  IHERODOTUS.                 [36-38.
the SEolidas.  They marched this way. detached from  the
rest of the army for this reason, that having plundered the
temple at Delphi, they might present the treasures to king
Xerxes; but Xerxes, as I am  informed, knew every thing
that was of value in the temple better than what he had left
at home, many persons continually telling him, especially of
the offerings of Crcesus, son of Alyattes. 36. The Delphians
having heard of this, fell into a great consternation; and being
in a state of great terror, consulted the oracle respecting the
sacred treasures, whether they should hide them under ground,
or transport them to another country. But the god would
not suffer them to be moved, saying "that he was able to
protect his own." The Delphians, having received this answer,
began to think of themselves; accordingly, they sent their
children and wives across to Achaia, and the greater part of
the men ascended to the tops of Parnassus, and carried their
effects into the Corycian cavern, while others withdrew to
the Locrian Amphissa.  Thus all the Delphians abandoned
the city except only sixty men and the prophet. 37. When
the barbarians were advanced near, and saw the temple in the
distance, then the prophet, whose name was Aceratus, saw the
sacred arms, which it was not lawful for any mortal to touch,
lying before the temple, having been brought out from within
the fane. He therefore went to make known the prodigy to
the Delphians who were at hand. But when the barbarians,
hastening their march, were near the temple of Minerva Pronmea, prodigies still greater than the former succeeded. And
this, indeed, is a great wonder, that warlike instruments should
be seen, self-moved, lying before the temple, yet the second
prodigies, which succeeded after this, are worthy of admiration beyond all other portents; for when the barbarians had
advanced near the temple of Minerva Pronaa, at that moment
thunder fell on them from heaven, and two crags, broken away
from Parnassus, bore down upon them with a loud crash, and
killed many of them, and a loud cry and a war-shout issued
from the temple of the Pronaa.  38. All these things being
commingled together, a panic struck the barbarians; and the
Delphians, having learned that they had fled, came down after
them, and slew a great number of them: the survivors fled direct into Boeotia. Those of the barbarians who returned, as I
am informed, declared that, besides these, they saw other mirac



9-t41.]              URANIA. VIII.                    505
ulous things, for that two heavy-armed men, of more than human stature, followed them, slaying and pursuing them. 39.
The Delphians say these two were heroes of the country, Phylacus and Autonous, whose precincts are near the temple; that
of Phylacus by the road-side, above the temple of the Pronaa,
and that of Autonous near the Castalian spring under the Hyampeian summit. The rocks that fell from Parnassus were
still preserved in my time, lying in the inclosure of Minerva
Pronasa, where they fell when borne among the barbarians.
Such, then, was the retreat of these men from the temple.
40. The Grecian fleet from Artemisium, at the request of
the Athenians, put in at Salamis.  For this reason, the Athenians requested them to direct their course to Salamis, that
they might remove their children and wives out of Attica, and,
moreover, might consult of what measures were to be taken;
for, in the present posture of affairs, they intended to hold a
consultation, as they had been disappointed in their expectation; for whereas they expected to find the Peloponnesians
with all their forces waiting in Boeotia to receive the barbarian, they found nothing of the kind, but were informed that
they were fortifying the isthmus leading into the Peloponnesus, considering it of the greatest importance that it should
be saved, and that, keeping guard there, they gave up all the
rest.  Having been informed of this, they therefore entreated
them to direct their course to Salamis.  41. The rest, there,
fore, held on to Salamis, but the Athenians to their own country; and on their arrival they caused proclamation to be
made " that every one should save his children and family by
the best means he could;" thereupon the greatest part sent
away their families to Troezene, some to ]Egina, and others to
Salamis.  They used all diligence to remove them to a place
of safety, both from a desire to obey the oracle, and more
particularly for the following reason: the Athenians say that
a large serpent used to live in the temple as a guard to the
Acropolis; they both say this, and, as if it were really there,
they do it honor by placing before it its monthly food: the
monthly food consists of a honey-cake; this honey-cake having
been in former time always consumed, now remained untouched. When the priestess made this known, the Athenians
with more readiness abandoned the city, since even the god.
dess had forsaken the Acropolis.  As soon as every thing had
Y




506                  HERODOTUS.                  [42-46.
been deposited in a place of safety, they sailed to the encampment.  42. When those from Artemisium stationed their ships
at Salamis, the rest of the naval forces of the Greeks being informed of this, joined them from Troezene; for they had been
ordered to assemble at Pogon, a harbor of the Trcezenians.
Many more ships were assembled together than had fought at
Artemisium, and from a greater number of cities. The same
admiral commanded them as at Artemisium, Eurybiades, son
of Euryclides, a Spartan, though he was not of the royal family. The Athenians, however, furnished by far the most and
the best sailing ships.
43. The following joined the fleet. From the Peloponnesus, the Lacedaemonlans, furnishing sixteen ships; the Corinthians, furnishing the same number as at Artemisium; the Sicyonians furnished fifteen ships; the Epidaurians, ten; the
Troezenians, five; and the Hermionians, three: all these, except the Hermionians, being of Doric and Macednic extraction, having come from Erineum, and Pindus, and last of all
from Dryopis. The Hermionians are Dryopians, driven out by
Hercules and the Malians from the country now called Doris.
These, then, of the Peloponnesians, served in the fleet. 44.
The following were from the outer continent: the Athenians,
beyond all the rest, alone furnished one hundred and eighty
ships; for at Salamis the Platseans did not join their forces to
the Athenians, on account of the following circumstance.
When the Greeks retired from Artemisium, and were off Chalcis, the Plateans, having landed on the opposite coast in Boeotia, set about carrying away their families; they, therefore,
while saving them, were left behind. The Athenians, when
the Pelasgians possessed that which is now called Greece,
were Pelasgians, and went by the name of Cranai: under the
reign of Cecrops they were surnamed Cecropidae; but when
Erectheus succeeded to the government, they changed their
name for that of Athenians; and when Ion, son of Xuthus,
became their leader, from him they were called Ionians. 45.
The Megarenes furnished the same complement as at Artemisium; the Ambraciots assisted with seven ships; and the
Leucadians, three: these are of Doric extraction, from Corinth.
46. Of the islanders, the IEgineta furnished thirty ships;
they had also other ships ready manned, but with some they
guarded their own country, and with thirty the best sailing




47-49.]             URANIA. VIII.                     507
vessels, they fought at Salamis. The JEginetae are Dorians
from Epidaurus, and their island formerly had the name of
CEnone.  Next to the AEgineta, the Chalcidians furnished the
same twenty as at Artemisium, and the Eretrians the same
seven: these are Ionians.  Next, the Ceians furnished the
same: they are of Ionian extraction, from Athens. The Naxians, four, though they had been sent by their fellow-citizens to join the Medes, like the rest of the islanders; but,
disregarding their orders, they went over to the Greeks, at
the instigation of,Democritus, a man eminent among the citizens, and then commander of a trireme.  The Naxians also
are Ionians, sprung from  Athens. The Styreans furnished
the same ships as at Artemisium; the Cythnians, one and a
penteconter:. both these people are Dryopians. The Seriphians, the Siphnians, and the Malians also joined the fleet, for
they only of the islanders refused to give earth and water to
the barbarian.  47. All these nations, situate on this side the
Thesprotians and the river Acheron, joined the fleet, for the
Thesprotians border on the Ampraciots and Leucadians, who
joined the fleet from the most distant countries. Of those
that dwell beyond them, the Crotoniatme were the only people
who came to assist Greece in this time of danger, with one
ship, which Phayllus, who had thrice been victorious in the
Pythian games, commanded.  The Crotoniatm are Achicans
by extraction.  48. Now the rest joined the fleet, furnishing
triremes, but th6 Malians, Siphnians, and Seriphians penteconters. The Malians, who are by extraction from Lacedoemon, furnished two; the Siphnians and the Seriphians, who
are Ionians from Athens, one each; so that the whole number
of ships; besides the penteconters, amounted to three hundred
and seventy-eight.
49. When the leaders from the above-mentioned cities met
together at Salamis, they held a council, in which Eurybiades
proposed that any one who chose should deliver his opinion
where he thought it would be most advantageous to come to
an engagement by sea, of all the places of which they were
still in possession; for Attica was already given up, and he
made this proposition concerning the rest. Mlost of the opinions of those who spoke coincided that they should -sail to the
Isthmus and fight before Peloponnesus, alleging this reason,
that if they should be conquered by sea while they were at




508                 IHERODOTUS.                  [50-53.
Salamis, they should be besieged in the island, where no succor
could reach them; but if at the Isthmus, they might escape to
their own cities.
50. While the commanders from Peloponnesus were debating these matters, an Athenian arrived with intelligence that
the barbarian had entered Attica, and was devastating the
whole of it by fire; for the army with Xerxes, having, taken
its route through Boeotia, after having burned the city of the
Thespians, who had departed to Peloponnesus, and likewise
the city of the Plataeans, had arrived at Athens, and was laying waste every part of it. They set fire to Thespia and
Platea, being informed by the Thebans that they were not on
the side of the Medes. 51. From the passage over the Hellespont, thence the barbarians began to march, having spent one
month there, including the time they were crossing over into
Europe; in three months more they were in Attica, when
Calliades was archon of the Athenians. They took the city,
deserted of inhabitants, but found some few of the Athenians
in the temple, with the treasurers of the temple, and some
poor people, who, having fortified the Acropolis with planks
and stakes, tried to keep off the invaders: they had not withdrawn to Salamis, partly through want of means, and, moreover, they thought they had found out the meaning of the
oracle which the Pythian delivered to them, that the wooden
wall "should be impregnable," imagining that this was the
refuge according to the oracle, and not the ships. 52. The
Persians, posting themselves on the hill opposite the Acropolis, which the Athenians call the Areopagus, besieged them
in the following manner: when they had wrapped tow' round
their arrows and set fire to it, they shot them at the fence;
thereupon those Athenians who were besieged still defended
themselves, though driven to the last extremity, and the fence
had failed them; nor, when the Pisistratidm proposed them,
would they listen to terms of capitulation, but, still defending
themselves, they both contrived other means of defense, and
when the barbarians approached the gates. they hurled down
large found stones, so that Xerxes was for a long time kept
in perplexity, not being able to capture them. 53. At length,
in the midst of these difficulties, an entrance was discovered
by the barbarians; for it was necessary, according to the oracle, that all Attica on the continent should be subdued by tho




54_ —7.]            URANIA. VII.                    509
Persians. In front of the Acropolis, then, but behind the gates
and the road up, where neither any one kept guard, nor would
ever have expected that any man would ascend that way, there
some of them ascended near the temple of Cecrops's daughter Aglauros, although the place was precipitous. When the
Athenians saw that they had ascended to the Acropolis, some
threw themselves down from the wall and perished, and others took refuge in the recess of the temple; but the Persians
who had ascended first turned to the gates, and having opened
them, put the suppliants to death; and when all were thrown
prostrate, having pillaged the temple, they set fire to the whole
Acropolis.
54. Xerxes, having entire possession of Athens, dispatched a
messenger on horseback to Susa to announce to Artabanus his
present success; and on the second day after the dispatch of
the herald, having summoned the exiled Athenians who attended him, he ordered them to offer sacrifices after their own
manner, having ascended to the Acropolis; whether he gave
this order from having seen a vision in a dream, or a religious
scruple came upon him for having set fire to the temple. The
exiles of theAthenians performed what was commanded. 55.
Why I ha;ve recorded these things I will now mention. There
is in this Acropolis a shrine of Erectheus, who is said to be
earth-born: in this is an olive-tree and a sea, which, as the
story goes among the Athenians, Neptune and Minerva, when
contending for the country, placed there as testimonies. Now
it happened that this olive-tree was burned by the barbarians
with the rest of the temple; but on the second day after the
burning, the Athenians who were ordered by the king to sacrifice, when they went up to the temple, saw a shoot from the
stump sprung up to the height of a cubit. This they affirmed.
56. The Greeks at Salamis, when intelligence was brought
them how matters were with respect to the Acropolis of the
Athenians, were thrown into such consternation, that some of
the generals would not wait until the subject before them was
decided on, but rushed to their ships and hoisted sail, as about
to hurry away; by such of them as remained it was determined to come to an engagement before the Isthmus. Night
came on, and they, being dismissed from the council, went on
board their ships. 57. Thereupon Mnesiphilus, an Athenian,
inquired of Themistocles, on his return to his ship, what had




510                  HtERODOTUS.                   [58-60.
been determined on by them; and being informed by him
that it was resolved to conduct the ships to the Isthmus, and
to come to an engagement before the Peloponnesus, he said,
" If they remove the' ships from Salamis, you will no longer
fight for any country, for they will each betake themselves to
their cities; and neither will Eurybiades nor any one else be
able to detain them, so that the fleet should not be dispersed;
and Greece will perish through want of counsel.  But, if
there is any possible contrivance, go and endeavor to annul
the decree, if by any means you can induce Eurybiades to alter his determination, so gs to remain here."  58. The suggestion pleased Themistocles exceedingly; and, without giving any
answer, he went to the ship of Eurybiade, and on reaching
it, he said that he wished to confer with him on public business. He desired him  to come on board his ship, and say
what he wished; thereupon Themistocles, seating himself by
him, repeated all that he had heard from Mnesiphilus, making
it his own, and adding much more, until he prevailed, on him,
by entreaty, to leave his ship, and assemble the commanders in
council.  59. When they were assembled, before Eurybiades
brought forward the subject on account of which he had convened the commanders, Themistocles spoke much, as being
very earnest; and as he was speaking, the Corinthian general,
Adimantus, son of Ocytus, said, " O Themistocles, in the games,
those. who start before the time are beaten with stripes."
But he, excusing himself, answered, " But they who are left
behind are not crowned."  60. At that time he answered the
Corinthian mildly; but to Eurybiades he said not a word of
what he had before mentioned, that if they should remove
from Salamis, they would disperse themselves; for when the
allies were present, it would be by no means becoming in him
to accuse any one; he therefore made use of another argument,
speaking as follows: (1.) "It rests now with you to save,
Greece, if you will listen to me, and, remaining here, give
battle, and not attend to those who advise you to remove the
fleet to the Isthmus.  For hear and compare each opinion.
In engaging near the Isthmus, you will fight. in the open sea,
where it is least advantageous to us who have heavier ships
and fewer in number.  Besides, you will lose Salamis, and
Megara, and 2Egina, even if we succeed in other respects;
for the land-forces will follow close upon their navy; thus




61, 62.]            URANIA. VIII.                   511
you will yourself lead them to the Peloponnesus, and expose
all Greece to danger.  (2.) But if you should do what I advise, you will find the following advantages in it. First of all,
by engaging in a narrow space with few ships against many, if
the probable results of war happen, we shall be much superior;
for to fight in a narrow space is advantageous to us, but in a
wide space to them.  Again, Salamis is preserved, in which
our children and wives are deposited. Moreover, there is
advantage in the plan I advise, for which, too, you are very
anxious: by remaining here, you will fight for the Peloponnesus just as much as at the Isthmus; nor, if you are wise,
will you lead them to the Peloponnesus. (3.)'But if what I
hope should happen, and we conquer with our fleet, neither
will the barbarians come to you at the Isthmus, nor will they
advance farther than Attica, but will retreat in disorder, and
we shall gain, by saving Megara, and Egina, and Salamis,
where it is announced by an oracle we shall be superior to our
enemies. To men who determine on what is reasonable, corresponding results are for the most part wont to follow; but
to those who do not determine on what is reasonable, the deity
is not wont to further human designs."  61. When Themistocles had spoken thus, Adimantus the Corinthian again attacked him, bidding him who had no country be silent, and
urging Eurybiades not to go to the vote for a man. who had
no city; for when Themistocles showed a city, then he would
allow him to give his suffrage.  He threw out this against
him because Athens had been taken, and was in the possession
of the enemy. Then, at length, Themistocles spoke with much
severity of Adimantus and the Corinthians, and showed by
his speech that the Athenians themselves had a city and a territory greater than they, so long as they had two hundred
ships fully manned, for that none of the Greeks could repel
their attack.  62. Having intimated this, he transferred his
discourse to Eurybiades, saying, with great earnestness, "If
you remain here, by remaining you will show yourself a brave
man; if not, you will subvert Greece, for the whole success
of the war depends on our fleet; therefore yield to my advice;
but if you will not do so, we, as we are, will take our families
on board and remove to Siris in Italy, which is an ancient
possession of ours, and oracles say it is fated to be founded
by us; and you, when bereft of such allies, will remember my




512                  HERODOTUS.                  [63-65.
words."  63. When Themistocles had spoken thus, Eurybiades changed his opinion: in my opinion, he changed his
opinion chiefly from a dread of the Athenians, lest they should
desert them  if he took the fleet to the Isthmus; for if the
Athenians deserted them, the rest would no longer be a match
for the enemy. He therefore adopted this advice, to stay
there and come to a decisive engagement.  64. Thus they at
Salamis, having skirmished in words, when Eurybiades had
come to a determination, made preparations to come to an
engagement there. Day came, and at sunrise an earthquake
took place on land and at sea. They determined to pray to
the gods, and to invoke the 2Eacide as allies; and as they
had determined, so they did; for, having prayed to all the
gods, they forthwith, from Salamis, invoked Ajax and Telamon, and sent a ship to iEgina for }Eacus and the EFacide.
65. Dicaus, son of Theocydes, an Athenian, and an exile at
that time esteemed by the Medes, related, that when the Attic
territory was being devastated by the land-forces of Xerxes,
having been deserted by the Athenians, he happened then to
be with Demaratus the Lacedaemonian in the Thriasian plain,
and he saw a cloud of dust coming from Eleusis, as if occasioned by about thirty thousand men; they were wondering
at the cloud of dust, from whatever it might proceed, and suddenly heard a voice, and the voice appeared to him to be that
of the mystic lacchus. Demaratus was unacquainted with
the mysteries of Eleusis, and asked Dicseus what it might be
that was uttered; but he said, "0 DOemaratus, it can not be
otherwise than that some great damage will befall the king's
army; for this is clear, since Attica is deserted, that what is
uttered is supernatural, proceeding from Eleusis to the assistance of the Athenians and the allies; and if it should rush
toward the Peloponnesus, there will be danger to the king
himself, and his army on the continent; but if it should turn
toward the ships at Salamis, the king will be in danger of
losing his naval armament. The Athenians celebrate this feast
every year to the Mother and the Damsel,2 and whoever wishes of them and the other Greeks is initiated; and the sound
which you hear, they shout in this very festival."  To this
Demaratus said, 4Be silent, and tell this story to no one
else; for if these words should be reported to the king, you
2 Ceres and Proserpine.




66-68.]             TIURANIA. VIII.                  513
would lose your head; and neither should I nor any other
human being be able to save you. Keep quiet, therefore, and
the gods will take care of the army."  He accordingly gave
this advice; but from the dust and voice there arose a cloud,
and being raised aloft it was borne toward Salamis, to the
encampment of the Greeks. Thus they understood that the
fleet of Xerxes was about to perish. This account Dicseus,
son of Theocydes, gave, calling on Demaratus and others as
witnesses.
66. When the men belonging to the fleet of Xerxes, having
viewed the Lacedaemonian loss, crossed over from Trachis to
Histiea, they remained there three days, and then sailed
through the Euripus, and in three days more arrived off
Phalerus.  In my opinion, they were not fewer in number
when they entered Athens, as well those that came by the
continent as those in the ships, than when they arrived at
Sepias and at Thermopyle; for I set off against those that
perished by the storm, and at Thermopyle, and at the seafight at Artemisium, the following, who, at that time, did not
attend the king: the Malians, Dorians, Locrians, and Beotians, who attended with all their forces, except the Thespians
and Plataeans; and, besides, the Carystians, Andrians, Tenians,
and all the rest of the islanders, except the five cities whose
names I have before mentioned; for the farther the Persian
advanced into the interior of Greece, a greater number of
nations attended him. 67. When, therefore, all these, except
the Parians, arrived at Athens, the Parians,. being left behind
at Cythnus, watched the war, in what way it would turn out;
when, however, the rest arrived at Phalerus, then Xerxes
himself went down to the ships, wishing to mix with them,
and to learn the opinion of those on board. When he had
arrived and taken the first seat, the tyrants and admirals of
the several nations, being summoned from their ships, came,
and seated themselves according as the king had given precedence to each: first, the Sidonian king; next, the Tyrian;
and then. the others. When they had seated themselves in
due order, Xerxes, having sent Mardonius, asked, in order to
make trial of the disposition of each, whether he should come
to an engagement by sea. 68. When Mardonius, going round,
asked the question, beginning from the Sidonian, all the others
gave an opinion.to the same effect, advising that battle should
Y2




614                   HERODOTUS.                      [69.
be given, but Artemisia spoke as follows: " Tell the king from
me, Mardonius, that I say this.  It is right that I, sire, who
proved myself by no means a coward in the sea-fight off
Euboea, and performed achievements not inferior to others,
should declare my real opinion, and state'what I think best
for your interest.  Therefore I say this, abstain from using
your ships, nor risk a sea-fight; for these men are so much
superior to your men by sea, as men are to women.  And
why must you run a risk by a naval engagement?  Have you
not possession of Athens, for the sake of which you undertook
this expedition, and have you not the rest of Greece?  No
one stands in your way; and those who still held out against
you have fared as they deserved.  (2.) In what way the affairs of your enemies will turn out, I will not say. If you
should not hasten to engage in a sea-fight, but keep your fleet
here, remaining near land, or even advancing to the Peloponnesus, you will easily effect what you came purposing to do;
for the Greeks will not be able to hold out long -against you,
but you will disperse them, and they will respectively fly to
their cities; for neither have they provisions in this island,
as I am informed, nor is it probable, if you march your landforces against the Peloponnesus, that those of them who came
from thence will remain quiet, nor will they care to fight by
sea for the Athenians. (3.) But if you should hasten forthwith
to engage, I fear lest the sea-forces, being worsted, should at
the same time bring ruin on the land-forces. Besides, 0 king,
consider this, that the good among men commonly have bad
slaves, and the bad ones good; and you, who are the best of all
men, have bad slaves, who are said to be in the number of allies, such as the Egyptians, Cyprians, Cilicians, and Pamphylians, who are of no use at all."  69. When she said this to
Mardonius, such as were well affected to Artemisia were
grieved at her words, thinking she would suffer some harm at
the king's hand, because she dissuaded him from giving battle
by sea; but those who hated and envied her, as being honored
above all the allies, were delighted with her decision, thinking
she would be ruined.  When, however, the opinions were reported to Xerxes, he was very much pleased with the opinion
of Artemisia; and having before thought her an admirable
woman, he then praised her much more. However, he gave
orders to follow the advice of the majority in this matter,




70-73.]             URANIA. VII.                    515
thinking that they had behaved ill at Euboea on purpose, because he was not present; he now prepared in person to behold them engaging by sea.
70. When they gave the signal for putting to sea, they got
the ships under weigh for Salamis, and drew up near it, taking their stations in silence: at that time, however, there was
not day enough for them to enter on a naval engagement, for
night was coming on; they therefore held themselves in readiness for the next day. But fear and dismay took possession
of the Greeks, and not least those from Peloponnesus. They
were dismayed, because, being posted at Salamis, they were
about to fight for the territory of the Athenians; and if conquered, they would be shut up and besieged in the island,
having left their own country defenseless.  71. The landforces of the barbarians marched that same night against the
Peloponnesus, although every possible expedient had been
contrived to hinder the barbarians from entering by the main
land; for as soon as the Peloponnesians heard that those
with Leonidas at Thermopyle had perished, they flocked together from the cities and stationed themselves at the Isthmus;
and Cleombrotus, son of Anaxandrides, and brother of Leonidas, commanded them.  Having stationed themselves, therefore, at the Isthmus, and having blocked up the Scironian way,
they then, as they determined on consultation, built a wall
across the Isthmus. As they were many myriads in number,
and every man labored, the work progressed rapidly; for
stones, bricks, timber, and baskets full of sand were brought
to it, and those who assisted flagged not a moment in their
work, either by night or day. 72. Those who assisted at the
Isthmus with all-their forces were the following of the Greeks;
the Lacedaemonians, and all the Arcadians, the Eleans, Corinthians, Sicyonians, Epidaurians, Phliasians, Troezenians, and
Hermionians. These were they who assisted, and were very
much alarmed at the dangerous situation of Greece; but the
rest of the Peloponnesians did not concern themselves about it;
however, the Olympian and Carnian festivals were now past.
73. Seven nations inhabit the Peloponnesus: of these, two,
being indigenous, are now seated in the same country in which
they originally dwelt, the Arcadians and Cynurians.  One
nation, the Achaeans, never removed from the Peloponnesus,
though they did from their own territory, and now occupy




510                   HERODOTUS.                   [7 75.
another. The remaining four nations of the seven are foreign,
Dorians, IEtolians, Dryopians, and Lemnians.  The Dorians
have many and celebrated cities; the AEtolians, only Elis;
the Dryopians, Hermione and Asine, situate near Cardamyle
of Laconia: the Lemnians have all the Paroreatae.  The Cy.
nurians, who are indigenous, are the only people that appear
to be Ionians; but they have become Dorians by being
governed by the Argives, and through lapse of time, being
Orneata3 and neighboring inhabitants.  Of these seven nations, the remaining cities, except those I have enumerated,
remained neutral; or, if I may speak freely, by remaining neutral, favored the Mede.
74. Those at the Isthmusl then, persevered with such zeal,
as having now to contend for their all, and as they did not
expect to distinguish themselves by their fleet; meanwhile,
those at Salamis, having heard of these things, were alarmed,
not fearing so much for themselves as for the Peloponnesus.
For some time, one man standing by another began to talk in
secret, wondering at the imprudence of Eurybiades, till at last
their discontent broke out openly, and a council was called,
and much was said on the same subject.  Some said that
they ought to sail for the Peloponnesus, and hazard a battle
for that, and not stay and fight for a place already taken by
the enemy; but the Athenians, IEginetm, and Megareans,
that they should stay there and defend themselves. 75. Thereupon, Themistocles, when he saw his opinion was overruled
by the Peloponnesians, went secretly out of the council; and
having gone out, he dispatched a man in a boat to the encampment of the Medes, having instructed him what to say: his
name was Sicinnus; and he was a domestic, and preceptor to
the children of Themistocles; him, after these events, Themistocles got made a Thespian, when the Thespians augmented the number of their citizens, and gave him a competent
fortune. He then, arriving in the boat, spoke as follows to
the generals of the barbarians: "The general of the Athenians has sent me unknown to the rest of the Greeks (for he
is in the interest of the king, and wishes that your affairs
a Baehr takes the word Orneatse to describe people who were transplanted from a distance, and made to dwell near Argos. One advantage in following his interpretation is, that it obviates the necessity of
altering the text.




76, 77.]            URANIA. VIII.                   517
may prosper rather than those of the Greeks), to inform you
that the Greeks, in great consternation, are deliberating on
fight, and you have now an opportunity of achieving the
most glorious of all enterprises, if you do not suffer them to
escape; for they do not agree among themselves, nor will
they oppose you; but you will see those who are in your interest, and those who are not, fighting with one another."  He,
having delivered this message to them, immediately departed.
76. As these tidings appeared to them worthy of credit, in the
first place, they landed a considerable number of Persians on
the little island of Psyttalea, lying between Salamis and the
continent; and, in the next place, when it was midnight, they
got their western wing under weigh, drawing it in a circle
toward Salamis, and those who were stationed about Ceos and
Cynosura got under weigh, and occupied the whole passage as
far as Munychia with their ships. And for this reason they
got their ships under weigh, that the Greeks might have no
way to escape, but being shut up in Salamis, might suffer punishment for the conflicts at Artemisium; and they landed the
Persians at the little island of Psyttalea for this reason, that,
when an engagement should take place, as they expected most
part of the men and wrecks would be driven thither (for that
island lay in the strait where the engagement was likely to
take place), they might save the one party and destroy the
other. Bust these things they did in silence, that the enemy
might not know what was going on. They therefore made
these preparations by night, without taking any rest.
77. I am unable to speak against the oracles as not being
true, nor wish to impugn the authority of those that speak
clearly, when I look on such occurrences as the following.
"When they shall bridge with ships the sacred shore of Diana
with the golden sword, and sea-girt Cynosura, having with
mad hope destroyed beautiful Athens, then divine Vengeance
shall quench strong Presumption, son of Insolence, when think-.
ing to subvert all things; for brass shall engage with brass,
and Mars shall redden the sea with blood. Then the farthundering son of Saturn and benign victory shall bring a day
of freedom to Greece." Looking on such occurrences, and regarding Bacis, who spoke thus clearly, I neither dare myself
say any thing in contradiction to oracles, nor allow others to
do so.




518                  HERODOTUS.                  [78-81.
78. There was great altercation between the generals at
Salamis; and they did not yet know that the barbarians had
surrounded them  with their ships, but they supposed that
they were in the same place as they had seen them stationed
in during the day.  79. While the generals were disputing, Aristides, son of Lysimachus, crossed over from IEgina:
he was an Athenian, but had been banished by ostracism:
having heard of his manner of life, I consider him to have
been the best and most upright man in Athens.  This person, standing at the entrance of the council, called Themistocles out, who was not indeed his friend, but his most
bitter enemy; yet, from  the greatness of the impending
danger, he forgot that, and called him, wishing to confer
with him; for he had already heard that those from Peloponnesus were anxious to get the ships under weigh for the Isthmus. When Themistocles came out to him, Aristides spoke
as follows: "It is right that we should strive, both on other
occasions, and particularly on this, which of us shall do the
greatest service to our country. I assure you, that to say
little or much to the Peloponnesians about sailing from hence
is the same thing; for I, an eye-witness, tell you, now, even
if they would, neither the Corinthians, nor Eurybiades himself, will be able to sail away, for we are on all sides inclosed
by the enemy.  Go in, therefore, and acquaint them  with
this."  80. He answered as follows: " You both give very
useful advice, and have brought good news; for you are come
yourself as an eye-witness of what I wished should happen.
Know, then, that what has been done by the Medes proceeds from me; for it was necessary, since the Greeks would
not willingly come to an engagement, that they should be
compelled to it against their will. But do you, since you
come bringing good news, announce it to them yourself; for if
I tell them, I shall appear to speak from my own invention,
and shall not persuade them, as if the barbarians were doing
no such thing. But do you go in, and inform them how the
case is; and when you have informed them, if they are persuaded, so much the better; but if they attach no credit to
what you say, it will be the same to us; for they can no
longer escape by flight, if, as you say, we are surrounded on
all sides." 81. Aristides, going in, gave this account, saying
that he came from JEgina, and with difficulty sailed through




82-85.]             URANIA. VIII.                   519
unperceived by those who were stationed round, for that the
whole Grecian fleet was surrounded by the ships of Xerxes.
He advised them, therefore, to prepare themselves for their
defense; and he, having said this, withdrew. A dispute, however, again arose, for the greater part of the generals gave
no credit to the report. 82. While they were still in doubt,
there arrived a trireme of Tenians that had deserted, which
Panoetius, son of Sciomenes, commanded, and which brought
an account of the whole truth. For that action the name of
the Tenians was engraved on the tripod at Delphi, among
those who had defeated the barbarian.^, With this ship that
came over at Salamis, and with the Lemnian before, off Artemisium,4 the Grecian fleet was made up to the full number of
three hundred and eighty ships, for before it wanted two of that
number.
83. When the account given by the Tenians was credited by
the Greeks, they prepared for an engagement. Day dawned,
and when they had mustered the marines, Themistocles, above
all the others, harangued them most eloquently. His speech
was entirely taken up in contrasting better things with worse,
exhorting them to choose the best of all those things which
depended on the nature and condition of man. Having finished
his speech, he ordered them to go on board their ships: they
accordingly vwere going on board, when the trireme from
JEgina, which had gone to fetch the IEacidm, returned;
thereupon the Greeks got all their ships under weigh. 84.
When they were under weigh, the barbarians immediately fell
upon them. Now all the other Greeks began. to back water
and made for the shore; but Aminias of Pallene, an Athenian,
being carried onward, attacked a ship; and his ship becoming
entangled with the other, and the crew not being able to clear,
the rest thereupon coming to the assistance of Aminias, engaged. Thus the Athenians say the battle commenced; but
the IEginetm affirm that the ship which went to IAgina to
fetch the JEacida5 was the first to begin. This is also said,
that a phantom of a woman appeared to them, and that on
her appearance she cheered them on, so that the whole fleet of
the Greeks heard her, after she had first reproached them in
these words: "Dastards, how long will you back water 2"
85. Opposite the Athenians the Phoenicians were drawn up,
4 See chap. 11.




520                  HERODOTUS.                  C8G, 87.
for they occupied the wing toward Eleusis and westward;
opposite the Laceddaemonians, the lonians occupied the wing
toward the east and the Pireus.  Of these, some few behaved ill on purpose, in compliance with the injunctions of
Themistocles;5 but most of them  not so. I am  able to
mention the names of several captains of triremes who took
Grecian ships; but I shall make no use of them, except of
Theomestor, son of Androdamas, and Phylacus, son of HistiMus, both Samians. I mention these two only for this reason,
because Theomestor, on account of this exploit, was made
tyrant of Samos by the appointment of the Persians; and
Phylacus was inscribed as a benefactor to the king, and a
large tract of land was given to him. The benefactors of the
king are called in the Persian language Orosangse. Such was
the case with regard to these men. 86. The greater part of
the ships were run down at Salamis, some being destroyed
by the Athenians, others by the IEginetae; for as the Greeks
fought in good order, in line, but the barbarians were neither
properly formed nor did any thing with judgment, such an
event as did happen was likely to occur. However, they were
and proved themselves to be far braver on this day than off
Eubea, ev'ery one exerting himself vigorously, and dreading
Xerxes, for each thought that he himself was observed by the
king.
87. As regards the rest, of some of them I am unable to
say with certainty how each of the barbarians or Greeks
fought; but with respect to Artemisia the following incident
occurred, by which she obtained still greater credit with the
king; for when the king's forces were in great confusion, at
that moment the ship of Artemisia was chased by an Attic
ship, and she not being able to escape, for before her were
other friendly ships, and her own happened to be nearest the
enemy, she resolved to do that which succeeded in the attempt; for, being pursued by the Athenian, she bore down
upon a friendly ship, manned by Calyndians, and with Damasithymus himself, king of the Calyndians, on board; whether
she had any quarrel with him while they were at the Hellespont I am unable to say, or whether she did it on purpose,
or whether the ship of the Calyndians happened by chance
to be in her way; however, she ran it down, and sunk it, and
5 See chap. 22.




88-90.]            URANIA. VIII.                    521
by good fortune gained a double advantage to herself; for
the captain of tte Attic ship, when he saw her bearing down
on a ship of the barbarians, concluding Artemisia's ship to be
either a Grecian, or one that had deserted from the enemy
and was assisting them, turned aside and attacked others.
88. In the first place, this was the result to her, that she
escaped and did not perish; and, in the next, it fell out that
she, having done an injury, in consequence of it became still
more in favor with Xerxes; for it is said that Xerxes, looking on, observed her ship making the attack, and that some
near him said, "Sire, do you see Artemisia, how well she
fights, and has. sunk one of the enemy's ships'"  Whereupon
re- asked if it was in truth the exploit of Artemisia: they
answered "that they knew the ensign of her ship perfectly
well," but they thought that it was an enemy that was sunk;
for, as has been mentioned, other things turned out fortunately
for her, and this in particular, that no one of the crew of the
Calyndian ship was saved so as to accuse her. And it is related that Xerxes said in answer to their remarks, " My men
have become women, and my women men." They relate that
Xerxes said this.
89. In this battle perished the admiral, Ariabignes, son of
Darius, and brother of Xerxes, and many other illustrious
men of the Persians and Medes, and the other allies, but only
some few of the Greeks; for as' they knew how to swim, they
whose ships were destroyed, and who did not perish in actual
conflict, swam safe to Salamis, whereas many of the barbarians, not knowing how to swim, perished in the sea. When
the foremost ships were put to flight, then the greatest numbers were destroyed; for those who were stationed behind,
endeavoring to pass on with their ships to the front, that
they, too, might give the king some proof of their courage,
fell foul of their own flying ships. 90. The following event
also occurred in this confusion.  Some Phoenicians, whose
ships were destroyed, going to the king, accused the Ionians
that their ships had perished by their means, for that they
had betrayed him. It, however, turned out that the Ionian
captains were not put to death, but that these Phoenicians
who accused them received the following reward; for while
they were yet speaking, a Samothracian ship bore down on
an Athenian ship; the Athenian was sunk, and an ]Eginetan




522                  HERODOTUS.                   [91, 92.
ship, coming up, sunk the ship of the Samothr;acians; but the
Samothracians being javelin-men, by hurling their javelins,
drove the marines from the ship that had sunk them, and
boarded and got possession of it.  This action saved the
Ionians; for when Xerxes saw them perform so great an
exploit, he turned round to the Phoenicians, as being above
measure grieved, and ready to blame all, and ordered their
heads to be struck off, that they who had proved themselves
cowards might no more accuse those who were braver. (For
whenever Xerxes saw any one of his own men performing a
gallant action in the sea-fight, being seated at the foot of the
mountain opposite Salamis, which is called lEgaleos, he inquired the name of the person who did it, and his secretaries
wrote down the family and country of the captain of the trireme.) Moreover, Ariaramnes, a Persian, who was a friend
to the Ioniazs, and happened to be present, contributed to the
ruin of the Phoenicians. They accordingly betook themselves
to the Phoenicians.6
91. The barbarians being turned to flight, and sailing away
toward Phalerus, the 1Eginets, waylaying them in the strait,
performed actions worthy of record;. for the Athenians in
the rout ran down both those ships that resisted and those
that fled, and the IEginete those that sailed away from the
battle; so that when any escaped the Athenians, being borne
violently on, they fell into the hands of the iEginetam.  92.
At this time there happened to meet together the ship of
Themistocles, giving chase to one of the enemy, and that of
Polycritus, son of Crius, an 1Eginetan, bearing down upon a
Sidonian ship, the same that had taken the JEginetan ship
which was keeping watch off Sciathus, and on board of which
sailed Pytheas, son of Ischenous, whom, though covered with
wounds, the Persians kept in the ship from admiration of his
valor.  The Sidonian ship that carried him about was taken
with the Persians on board, so that Pytheas, by this'means,
returned safe to -Egina. But when Polycritus saw the Athenian ship, he knew it, seeing the admiral's ensign; and shouting to Themistocles, he railed at him, upbraiding him with
the charge of Medism brought against the IZEginetae.8  Polycritus, accordingly, as he was attacking the ship, threw out
6 That is, "the executioners put them to death."
See B. VII. chap. 181.       8 See B. VI. chap. 49, 50.




93-95.]              URANIA. VIII.                  523
these reproaches against Themistocles.  But the barbarians,
whose ships survived, fled, and arrived at Phalerus under the
protection of the land-forces.
93. In this engagement of the Greeks, the iEginitm obtained the greatest renown, and next, the Athenians; of particular persons, Polycritus of lEgina, and Athenians, Eumenes
the Anagyrasian, with Aminias a Pallenian, who gave chase
to Artemisia; and if he had known that Artemisia sailed in
that ship, he would not have given over the pursuit till he
had either taken her or been himself taken, for such had
been the order given to the Athenian captains; and, besides,
a reward of ten thousand drachmas was offered to whoever
should take her alive, for they considered it a great indignity
that a woman should make war against Athens.  She, however, as has been before mentioned, made her escape, and
the others, whose ships survived, lay at Phalerus.  94. The
Athenians say that Adimantus, the Corinthian admiral, immediately from the commencement, when the ships engaged,
being dismayed and excessively frightened, hoisted sail and
fled, and that the Corinthians, seeing their admiral's ship
flying, likewise bore away; and when, in their flight, they
arrived off the temple of Minerva Sciras, on the coast of
Salamis, a light bark fell in with them by the guidance of
heaven; that no one appeared to have sent it, and that it came
up to tlk Corinthians, who knew nothing relating to the fleet.
From this circumstance they conjectured the circumstance to
be divine, for that when those on board the bark neared the
ships, they spoke as follows: " Adimantus, having drawn off
your ships, you have hurried away in flight, betraying the
Greeks; they, however, are victorious as far as they could
have desired to conquer their enemies."  Having said this, as
Adimantus did not credit them, they again spoke as follows:
that " they were iready to be taken as hostages, and be put to
death if the Greeks were not found to be victorious;" upon
which, having put about ship, he and the rest returned to the
fleet when the work was done. Such a story is told of them
by thie Athenians; the Corinthians, however, do not admit its
truth, but affirm that they were among the foremost in the engagemnent, and the rest of Greece bears testimony in their favor. 95. Aristides, son of Lysimachus, an Athenian, of whom
I made mention a little before as a most upright man, in this




524                  HERODOTUS.                  [96-98.
confusion that took place about Salamis, did as follows: taking with him a considerable number of heavy-armed men, who'were stationed along the shore of the Salaminian territory, and
were Athenians by race, he landed them on the island of Psyttalea, and they put to the sword all the Persians who were on
that little island.
96. When the sea-fight was ended, the Greeks, having hauled
on shore at Salamis all the wrecks that still happenedto be.
there, held themselves ready for another battle, expecting the
king would still make use of the ships that survived. But a
west wind, carrying away many of the wrecks, drove them on
the shore of Attica, which is called Colias, so as to fulfill both
all the other oracles delivered by Bacis and Musemus concerning this sea-fight, and also that relating to the wrecks which
were drifted on this shore, which many years before had been
delivered by Lysistratus, an Athenian augur, but had not been
understood by any of the Greeks: " The Colian women shall
broil their meat with oars."9 This was to happen after the
departure of the king.
97. Xerxes, when he saw the defeat he had sustained, fearing lest some of the Ionians might suggest to the Greeks, or
lest they themselves might resolve to sail to the Hellespont
for the purpose of breaking up the bridges, and lest he, being
shut up in Europe, might be in danger of perishing, meditated
flight; but wishing that his intention should not be known
either to the Greeks or his own people, he attempted to throw
a mound across to Salamis; and he fastened together Phoenician merchantmen, that they might serve instead of a raft
and a wall; and he made preparation for war, as if about to
fight another battle at sea. All the others who saw him thus
occupied were firmly convinced that he had seriously determined to stay and continue the war; but none of these things
escaped the notice of Mardonius, who was well acquainted
with his design. At the same time that Xerxes was doing
this, he dispatched a messenger to the Persians to inform
them of the misfortune that had befallen him. 98. There is
nothing mortal that reaches its destination more rapidly than
these couriers: it has been thus planned by the Persians.
They say that as many days as are occupied in the whole
journey, so many horses and men are posted at regular inter* Or, "shall shudder at the oars."




99, 100.]           URANIA. VIII.                   525
vals, a horse and a man being stationed at each day's journey;
neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor night prevents them from
performing their appointed stage as quick as possible. The
first courier delivers his orders to the second, the second to the
third, and so it passes throughout, being delivered from one to
the other, just like the torch-bearing among the Greeks, which
they perform in honor of Vulcan. This mode of traveling by
horses the Persians call angareion. 99. The first message that
reached Susa, with the news that Xerxes was in possession of
Athens, caused so great joy among the Persians who had been
left behind, that they strewed all the roads with myrtle, burned perfumes, and gave themselves up to sacrifices and festivity.
But the second messenger arriving threw them into such con-,
sternation, that they all rent their garments, and uttered unbounded shouts and lamentations, laying the blame on Mardonlus. The Persians acted thus, not so much being grieved
for the ships, as fearing for Xerxes himself. And this continued with the Persians during all the time that elapsed until
Xerxes himself arrived and stopped them from doing so.
100. Mardonius, seeing Xerxes much afflicted on account
of the sea-fight, and suspecting he was meditating a retreat
from Athens, and having thought within himself that he should
suffer punishment for having persuaded the king to invade
Grece, and that it would be better for him to incur the
hazard either of subduing Greece, or ending his life gloriously
in attempting great achievements: however, the thought of
subduing Greece weighed more with him; having, therefore,
considered these things, he thus addressed the king: "Sire,
do not grieve, nor think you have suffered any great loss in
consequence of what has happened; for the contest with us
does not depend on wood alone, but on men and horses. None
of those who imagine they have already finished the whole
business, will quit their ships and attempt to oppose you, nor
will any one from this continent; and they who have opposed
us have suffered punishment. If, then, you think fit, let us
immediately make an attempt on Peloponnesus; or, if you
think right to delay, you may do so; but be not discouraged,
for the Greeks have no means of escape from rendering an
account of what they have done now and formerly, and from
becoming your slaves. By all means, therefore, do this. If,
however, you have determined yourself to retire and to with



526                   IIERODOTUS.                [101, 102.
draw the army, I have, then, other advice to offer. Do not
you, 0 king, suffer the Persians to be exposed to the derision
of the Greeks.; for where the Persians fought,l your affairs
received no damage, nor can you say that we have on any
occasion proved cowards; but if the Phoenicians, Egyptians,
Cyprians, and Cilicians have shown themselves cowards, this
disaster in no respect extends to the Persians.  Since, therefore, the Persians are not to blame, yield to my advice. If
you have resolved not to stay here, do you return to your own
home, and take with you the greatest part of the army; but
it is right that I should, deliver Greece to you reduced to
slavery, having selected three hundred thousand men from the
army."  101. Xerxes, having heard this, was rejoiced and delighted, as relieved from troubles, and said to Mardonius that,
after deliberation, he would give him an answer as to which
of these plans he would adopt. While he was deliberating
with his Persian counselors, he thought fit to send for Artemisia to the council, because she was evidently the only per,
son who before understood what ought to have been done.
When Artemisia arrived, Xerxes, having ordered his other
counselors of the Persians and his guards to withdraw, spoke
as follows: "Mardonius advises me to stay here, and make
an attempt on the Peloponnesus, saying that the Persians and
the land army are not at all to blame for the defeat I iave
sustained, and wish to give me proof of it. -He, therefore,
advises me-either to do this, or wishes himself, having selected
three hundred thousand men from the army, to deliver Greece
to me reduced to slavery, and advises me to return to my own
home with the rest of the army.  Do you, therefore, for you-.gave me good advice respecting the sea-fight that has taken
place, in dissuading me from engaging in it, advise me now,
by adopting which measure I shall consult best for my interest."  102. Thus he asked- her advice.  She answered as follows: "   king, it is difficult for me to say what is best for
you. who ask my advice.  However, in the present state of. affairs, it appears to me that you should return home, and
leave Mardonius here with the troops he requires, if he wishes it, and promises to effect what he says; for, on the one
hand, if he conquers what he says he will, and his plans should
succeed, the achievement, sire, will be yours, for your servants
1 Literally, " among the Persians."




103-106.]           URANIA. VIII.                    527
will have accomplished it; but, on the other hand, if things
fall out contrary to the expectation of Mardonius, it will be no
great misfortune, so long as you survive, and your own affairs
are safe at home; for while you survive, and your house, the
Greeks will have to hazard frequent struggles for themselves;
but of Mardonius, if he should suffer any reverse, no account
will be taken; nor, if the Greeks are victorious, will they gain
any great victory in destroying your slave; but you, having
burned Athens, for which you undertook this expedition, will
return home."  103. Xerxes was pleased with her advice, for
she happened to say the very things that he designed; for even
if all. the men and women of the world had advised him to
stay, in my opinion, he would not have stayed, so great was
his terror. - Having commended Artemisia, he sent her to conduct his sons to Ephesus, for some of his natural sons had accompanied him.
104. With the children he sent Hermotimus as guardian,
who was by birth a Pedasian, and among the eunuchs second
to none in the king's favor. The Pedasians dwell above Halicarnassus; and among these Pedasians the following o'ccurrence takes place: when within a certain time any calamity
is about to fall on the different neighbors who dwell round
their city, then the priestess of Minerva has a large beard.
This has already happened twice to them.  105. Hermotimus,
then, was sprung from these Pedasians; and, of all the men
we know, revenged himself in the severest manner for an injury he had received; for having been taken by an enemy and
sold, he was purchased by one Panionius, a Chian, who gained
a livelihood by most infamous practices; for whenever he purchased boys remarkable for beauty, having castrated them, he
used to take and sell them at Sardis and Ephesus for large
sums; for with the barbarians eunuchs are more valued than
others, on account of their perfect fidelity. Panionius, therefore, had castrated many others, as he made his livelihood by
this means, and among them this man. Hermotimus, however, was not unfortunate in every respect, for he went to Sardis with other presents to the king, and in process of time was
most esteemed by Xerxes of all his eunuchs.. 106. When the
king was preparing to march his Persian army against Athens,
and was at Sardis, at that time having gone down, on some
business or other, to the Mysian territory which the Chians




S28                 HIERODOTUS.                 [107, 108.
possess, and is called Atarneus, he there met with Panionius.
Having recognized him, he addressed many friendly words to
him, first recounting to him them any advantages he had acquired by his means, and, secondly, promising him how many
benefits he would confer on him in requital if he would bring
his family and settle there;2 so that Panionius, joyfully accepting the proposal, brought his children and wife. But when
Hermotimus got him with his whole family in his power, he
addressed him as follows: " O thou, who of all mankind hast
gained thy livelihood by the most infamous acts, what harm
had either I, or any of mine, done to thee, or any of thine, that
of a man thou hast made me nothing?  Thou didst imagine,
surely, that thy machinations would pass unnoticed by the
gods, who, following righteous laws, have enticed thee, who
hast committed unholy deeds, into my hands, so that thou
canst not complain of the punishment I shall inflict on thee."
When he had thus upbraided him, his sons being brought into
his presence, Panionius was compelled to castrate his own
sons, who were four in number; and being compelled, he did
it; and after h'e had finished it, his sons, being compelled,
castrated him. Thus the vengeance of Hermotimus3 overtook
Panionius.
107. Xerxes, when he had committed his sons to Artemisia
to convey to Ephesus, having sent to Mardonius, bade him
choose what forces he would out of the army, and endeavor
to make his actions correspond with his words. Thus much
was done that day; but in the night, the admirals, by the
king's order, took back the ships from Phalerus to the Hellespont as quickly as each was able, in order to guard the bridges
for the king to pass over. But when the barbarians were
sailing near Zoster, where some small promontories jut out
from the main land, they fancied that they were ships, and fled
for a considerable distance; but after a while, perceiving that
they were not ships, but promontories, they collected together
and pursued their voyage.  108. When day came, the Greeks,
seeing the land-forces remaining in the same place, supposed
that their ships also were at Phalerus; they expected, also,
that they would come to an engagement, and prepared to defend
themselves; but when they were informed that the ships had
departed, they immediately determined to pursue them. How2 At Sardis.       Literally, "vengeance and Hermotimus."




109.]               URANIA. VIII.                   529
ever, they did not get sight of Xerxes's naval force, although
they pursued them as far as Andros: on arriving at Andrbs,
therefore, they held a council. Themistocles accordingly gave
his opinion "that, shaping their course between the islands,
and pursuing the ships, they should sail directly to the Hellespont, and destroy the bridges;" but Eurybiades gave a contrary opinion, saying that " if they destroyed the bridges, they
would do the greatest possible harm  to Greece; for if the
Persian, being shut in, should be compelled to remain in
Europe, he would endeavor not to continue inactive; for if
he continued inactive, he could neither advance his affairs nor
find any means of returning home, but his army must perish
by famine; and if he should attack them and apply himself to
action, all Europe would probably go over to him, by cities and
nations, either through being taken by force or capitulating
beforehand; and they would derive sustenance from the annual produce of the Greeks. He thought, however, that the
Persian, having been conquered in the sea-fight, would not
remain in Europe, and therefore should be permitted to fly,
until in his flight he should reach his own country. After that
he advised that he should be compelled to fight for his own
territories."  This opinion the commanders of the other Peloponnesians adhered to.
109. When Themistocles perceived that he could not persuade the majority to sail for the Hellespont, changing his
plan, he thus addressed the Athenians (for they were exceedingly annoyed at the escape of the enemy, and were desirous,
having consulted among themselves, to sail to the Hellespont,
even if the others would not).  " I have myself, ere this, witnessed many such instances, and have heard of many more,
that men, when driven to necessity after being conquered,
1have renewed the fight, and repaired their former loss. Since,
then, we have met with unexpected success for ourselves and
Greece by having repelled such a cloud of men, let us no
longer pursue the fugitives; for we have not wrought this
deliverance, but the gods and the heroes, who were jealous
that one man should reign over both Asia and Europe, and he
unholy and wicked; who treated sacred and profane things
alike, burning and throwing down the images of the gods;
who even scourged the sea, and threw fetters into it-since,
then, our affairs are in a prosperous condition, let us remain in
Z




530                   HERODOTUS.                  [110, III.
Greece, and take care of ourselves and our families; let every
one repair his house, and apply attentively to sowing his
ground, after he has thoroughly expelled the barbarian; and
at the beginning of the spring let us sail to the Hellespont and
Ionia." This he said, wishing to secure favor with the Persian, that, if any misfortune should overtake him from the
Athenians, he might have a place qf refuge, which eventually
came to pass. 110. Themistocles, in saying" this, deceived
them; and the Athenians were persuaded; for as he had been
before considered a wise man, and had now shown himself to
be really wise and prudent in counsel, they were ready to yield
implicitly to what he said; but after they had been persuaded,
Themistocles presently sent off certain persons in a boat, who
he was confident would, though put to every torture, keep
secret what he had enjoined them to say to the king; and of
these his domestic Sicinnus4 was again one.  When they
reached the shore of Attica, the rest remained in the boat, and
Sicinnus, having gone up to the king, spoke as follows: " Themistocles, son of Neocles, general of the Athenians, the most
valiant and wisest of all the allies, has sent me to tell you that
Themistocles the Athenian, wishing to serve you, has withheld
the Greeks, who wished to pursue your ships,' and to destroy
the bridges on the Hellespont; now, therefore, retire at your
leisure." They, having made this communication, sailed back
again.
111. The Greeks, when they had determined neither to
pursue the ships of the barbarians any farther, nor to sail to
the Hellespont and destroy the passage, invested Andros with
intention to destroy it; for the' Andrians were the first of the
islanders who, when asked for money by Themistocles, refused to give it; but when Themistocles held this language
to them, that " the Athenians had come having with them two
powerful deities, Persuasion and Necessity, and that therefore
they must give money," they answered to this, saying that
" the Athenians were with good reason great and prosperous,
and were favored by propitious gods; since, however, the
Andrians were poor in territory, and had reached the lowest
pitch of penury, and two unprofitable goddesses, Poverty and
Impossibility, never forsook their island, but ever loved to
dwell there-therefore that the Andrians, being in possession
4 See chap. 75.




112, 113.]           URANIA   VIII.                   531
of these deities, would not give any money; for that the power of the Athenians would never prove superior to their inability."  They then, having made this answer, and refused
to give money, were besieged.  112. Themistocles, for he
never ceased coveting more wealth, sending threatening messages to the other islands, demanded money by the same persons, using the same language he had used with the Andrians;
saying, that unless they gave what was demanded, he would
lead the forces of the Greeks against them, and would besiege
and destroy them. By saying this he collected large sums
from  the Carystians and the Parians, who, being informed
respecting Andros, that it was besieged for siding with the
Mede, and with regard to Themistocles, that he was in the
greatest reputation of the generals, alarmed at these things,
sent money. Whether any other of the islanders gave it I
am unable to say; but I am of opinion that some others did,
and not these only.  However, the Carystians5 did not by
these means at all defer calamity; though the Parians, havy
ing conciliated Themistocles with money, escaped a visit from
the army. Themistocles, accordingly, setting out from Andros,
obtained money from the islanders unknown to the other genm
erals.
113. The army witl Xerxes having stayed a few days after
the sea-fight, marched back into Baeotia by the same way, for
it appeared to Mardonius both that he should escort the king,
and that the season of the year was unfit for military opera-'tions; and that it would be better to winter in Thessaly, and
to make an attempt on the Peloponnesus early in the spring.
When he arrived in Thessaly, Mardonius there selected, first,
all the Persians who are called Immortals, except Hydarnes,
their general, for he declared he would not leave the king;
after these, out of the rest of the Persians, the cuirassiers, and
the body of a thousand horse,6 and the Medes, Sacze, Bactrians,
and Indians, both infantry and cavalry; he chose these whole
nations; but from the rest of the allies he selected a few, choosing such as were of a good stature, or by whom he knew some
gallant action had been performed. Among them, he chose
the greatest part of the Persians who wore necklaces and
bracelets; next to them, the Medes; these were not less numerous than the Persians, but were inferior in strength. Thus
5 See ch. 121.     6 See B. VII. ch. 40, and IX. ch. 62.




532                  HERODOTUS.               [114-116.
the whole together, with the cavalry, made up the number of
three hundred thousand. 114. At this time, while Mardonius
was selecting his army, and Xerxes was in Thessaly, an oracle
came to.the Lacedaemonians from Delphi admonishing them to
demand satisfaction of Xerxes for the death of Leonidas, and
to accept whatever should be given by him. Accordingly, the
Spartans immediately dispatched a herald as quickly as possible, who, when he overtook the whole army still in Thessaly,
having come into the presence of Xerxes, spoke as follows:
"King of the Medes, the Lacedaemonians and Heraclidae of
Sparta demand of you satisfaction for blood, because you have
slain their king while protecting Greece." But he, laughing,
and having waited a considerable time, as Mardonius happened
to be standing near him, pointed to him, and said, " This Mardonius, then, shall give them such satisfaction as they deserve."
The herald, having accepted the omen, went away.
115. Xerxes, having left Mardonius in Thessaly, himself
marched in all haste to the Hellespont, and arrived at the
place of crossing in forty-five days, bringing back no part of
his army, so to speak. Wherever, and among whatever nation they happened to be marching, they seized and consumed
their corn; but if they found no fruit, overcome by hunger,
they ate up the herbage that sprung up from the ground, and
stripped off the bark of trees and gathered leaves, both from
the wild and cultivated, and left nothing; this they did from
hunger; but a pestilence and dysentery falling on the army,
destroyed them on their march. Such of them as were sick,
Xerxes left behind, ordering the cities through which he happened to be passing to take care of and feed them; some in
Thessaly, others at Siris of Paeonia, and in Macedonia. Here
having left the sacred chariot of Jupiter when he marched
against Greece, he did not receive it back as he returned;
for the Paeonians, having given it to the Thracians, when
Xerxes demanded it back, said that the mares had been. stolen,
as they were feeding, by the upper Thracians, who dwell
round the sources of the Strymon.- 116. There the king of
the Bisalte and of the Crestonian territory, a Thracian, perpetrated a most unnatural deed: he declared that he would
not willingly be a slave to Xerxes, but went up to the top of
Mount Rhodope, and enjoined his -sons not to join the expedition against Greece. They, however, disregarding his pro



117-119.]            URANIA. VIII.                    533
hibition, from a desire to see the war, served in the army with
the Persian; but when they all returned safe, being six in
number, their father had their eyes put out for this disobedience; and they met with this recompense.
117. The Persians, when in their march from Thrace they
arrived at the passage, in great haste crossed over the Hellespont to Abydos in their ships; for they found the rafts no
longer stretched across, but broken up by a storm.  While
detained there, they got more food than on their march, and
having filled themselves immoderately, and changed their
water, a great part of the army that survived, died; the rest,
with Xerxes, reached Sardis.  118. This different account is
also given, that when Xerxes, in his retreat from  Athens,
arrived at Eion on the Strymon, from thence he no longer
continued his journey by land, but committed the army to
Hydarnes to conduct to the Hellespont, and himself, going on
board a Phoenician ship, passed over to Asia; that during this
voyage a violent and tempestuous wind from  the Strymon
overtook him; and then, for the storm increased in violence,
the ship being overloaded, so that many of the Persians who
accompanied Xerxes were on the deck, thereupon the king
becoming alarmed, and calling aloud, asked the pilot if there
were any hope of safety for them; and he said, "There
is none, sire, unless we get rid of some of those many passengers." It is farther related that Xerxes, having heard this
answer, said, " O Persians, now let some among you show his
regard for the king, for on you my safety seems to depend."
That he spoke thus; and that they, having done homage, leaped
into the sea; and that the ship, being lightened, thus got safe
to Asia. It is added that Xerxes, immediately after he landed,
did as follows: he presented the pilot with a golden crown,
because he had saved the king's life; but ordered his head to
be struck off, because he had occasioned the loss of many
Persians.  119. This latter story is told of the return of
Xerxes, but appears to me not at all deserving of credit,
either in other respects, nor as to this loss of the Persians; for
if this speech had been made by the pilot to Xerxes, I should
not find one opinion in ten thousand to deny that the king
would have acted thus: that he would have sent down into
the hold of the ship those who were on deck, since they were
Persians, and Persians of high rank, and would have thrown




-534                  HERODOTUS.                 [120-123.
into the sea a number of rowers, who were Phonicians,
equal to that of the Persians. He, however, as I have before
related, proceeding on the march with the rest of the army,
returned to Asia.  120. This, also, is a strong proof: it is
known that Xerxes reached Abdera on his way back, and
made an alliance of friendship with the people, and presented
them  with a golden cimeter and a gold-embroidered tiara;
and as the Abderites themselves say, saying what is by no
means credible to me, he there for the first time loosened his
girdle in his flight from Athens, as being at length in a place
of safety. Abdera is situated nearer to the Hellespont than
the Strymon and Eion, whence they say he embarked on
board the ship.
121. Meanwhile the Greeks, finding they were not able to
reduce Andros, turned to Carystus, and having ravaged their
country, returned to Salamis. In the first place, then, they
set apart first-fruits for the gods, and, among other things,
three Phoenician triremes; one to be dedicated at the Isthmus,
which was there at my time; a second at Sunium, and the
third to Ajax, there at Salamis. After that, they divided the
booty, and sent the first-fruits to Delphi, from which a statue
was made, holding the beak of a ship in its hand, and twelve
cubits in height; it stands in the place where is the golden
statue of Alexander the Macedonian.  122. The Greeks, having sent first-fruits to Delphi, inquired of the god, in the name
of all, if he had received sufficient and acceptable first-fruits.
He answered that from the rest of the Greeks he had, but
not from the Eginetae; of them he demanded an offering on
account of their superior valor in the sea-fight at Salamis.
The  IEgineta, being informed of this, dedicated three golden
stars, which are placed on a brazen mast in the corner, very
near the bowl of Crcesus.7  123. After the division of the
booty, the Greeks sailed to the Isthmus for the purpose of
conferring the palm  of valor upon him  among the Greeks
who had proved himself most deserving throughout the war.
When the generals, having arrived, distributed the ballots at
the altar of Neptune, selecting the first and second out of all;
thereupon every one gave his vote for himself, each thinking
himself the most valiant; but with respect to the second place,
the majority concurred in selecting Themistocles. They, there7 See B. I. chap. 51.




124-126.]-          URANIA. VIII.                  535
fore, had but one vote, whereas Themistocles had a great
majority for the second honor.  124. Though the Greeks,
out of envy, would not determine this matter, but returned
to their several countries without coming to a decision, yet
Themistocles was applauded and extolled throughout all
Greece as being by far the wisest man of the Greeks; but
because, although victorious, he was not honored by those
who fought at Salamis, he immediately afterward went to
Lacedaemon, hoping to be honored there.  The Lacedmemonians received him nobly, and paid him the greatest honors.
They gave the prize of valor -to Eurybiades, a crown of
olive; and of wisdom and dexterity to Themistocles, to him
also a crown of olive  and they presented him with the most
magnificent chariot in Sparta; and having praised him highly,
on his departure, three hundred chosen Spartans, the same
that are called knights, escorted him as far as the Tegean
boundaries. He is the only man that.we know of whom the
Spartans escorted on his journey.  125. When he arrived at
Athens from Lacedaemon, thereupon Timodemus of Aphidnae,
who was one of Themistocles's enemies, though otherwise a
man of no distinction, became mad through envy, reproached
Themistocles, alleging against him his journey to Lacedaemon,
and that the honors he received from the Lacedaemonians
were conferred on account of Athens, and not for his own
sake; but he, as Timodemus did not cease to repeat the same
thing, said, "The truth is, neither should I, were I a Belbinite, have been thus honored by the Spartans, nor would
you, fellow, were you an Athenian."  So far, then, this occurred.
126. In the mean time, Artabazus, son of Pharnaces, a man
even before of high repute among the Persians, and much
more so after the battle of Platea, having with him sixty
thousand men of the army which Mardonius selected, escorted
the king as far as the passage; and when the king arrived
in Asia, he, marching back, came into the neighborhood of
Pallene; but as Mardonius was wintering in Thessaly and
Macedonia, as there was nothing as yet to urge him to join
the rest of the army, he did not think it right, since he happened to be in the way of the Potideans who had revolted,
to neglect the opportunity of reducing them to slavery; for
the Potidaeans, as soon as the king had passed by, and the




536                 IHERODQTUS.                [127-129.
Persian fleet had fled from Salamis, openly revolted from the
barbarians, as also did the other inhabitants of Pallene.  127.
Artabazus, therefore, besieged Potideaa; and as he suspected
that the Olnythians intended to revolt from the king, he also
besieged their city.  The Bottiaans then held it, who had
been driven from the bay of Therma by the Macedonians.
When he had besieged and taken them, having taken them
out to a marsh, he slaughtered them, and gave the city to
Critobolus of Torone to govern, and to the Chalcidian race:
thus the Chalcidians became possessed of Olynthus.  128.
Artabazus, having taken this city, applied himself vigorously
to the siege of Potidaea; and, as he was earnestly engaged
with it, Timoxenus, general of the Scioneans, treated with
him for the betrayal of the city; in what way at first I am
unable to say, for it is not reported; at last, however, the following plan was adopted. When either Timoxenus had written a letter and wished to send it to Artabazus, or Artabazus
to Timoxenus, having rolled it round the butt-end of an arrow, and put the feathers over the letter, they shot the arrow
to a spot agreed upon; but Timoxenus was detected in attempting to betray Potidea; for Artabazus, when endeavoring to shoot to the spot agreed upon, missed the right spot, and
wounded one of the Potideans on the shoulder: a crowd ran
round the wounded man, as in usual in time of war; they
having immediately drawn out the arrow, when they perceived the letter, carried it to the generals; and an allied
force of the other Pallenians was also present.  When the
generals had read the letter, and discovered the author of
the treachery, they determined not to impeach Timoxenus
of treason, for the sake of the city of the Scionaeans, lest
the Scionaeans should ever after be accounted traitors. In
this manner, then, he was detected. 129. After three months
had been spent by Artabazus in the siege, there happened a
great ebb of the sea, which lasted fora long time. The barbarians, seeing a passage that might be forded, marched across
toward Pallene; and when they had performed two parts of
their journey, and three still remained, which they must have
passed over to. be within Pallene, a strong flood-tide of the
sea came on them, such as was never seen before, as the inhabitants say, though floods are.frequent. Those, then, that
did not know how to swim, perished, and those that did know




130, 131.]           URANIA. VIII.                  537
how, the Potidaeansr sailing upon them in boats, put to death.
The Potidaeans say that the cause of this flux and inundation,
and of the Persian disaster, was this, that these very Persians
who were destroyed by the sea had committed impieties at the
temple of Neptune, and the statue which stands in the suburbs; and in saying this was the cause, they appear to me to
speak correctly. The survivors Artabazus led to Thessaly, to
join Mardonius.  Such, then, was the fate of those troops that
had escorted the king.
130. The naval force of Xerxes, that survived when it
reached Asia in its flight from Salamis, and had transported
the king and his army from the Chersonese to Abydos, wintered at Cyme; and at the first appearance of spring, it assembled early at Samos; and some'of the ships had wintered
there..,Most of the marines were Persians and Medes, and
their generals came on board, Mardontes, son of Bageus, and
Artayntes, son of Artachaeus; and Ithamitres, nephew of the
latter, shared the command with them, Artayntes himself having associated him  with them. As they had sustained a
severe blow, they did not advance farther to the westward,
nor did any one compel them; but remaining, they kept watch
over Ionia lest it should revolt, having three hundred ships,
including those of Ionia. Neither did they expect that the
Greeks would come to Ionia, but thought they would lie content to guard their own territory; inferring this, because they
had not pursued them in their flight from Salamis, but had
readily retired. By sea, therefore, they despaired of success,
but on land they imagined that Mardonius would be decidedly superior. While they were at Samos, they at the same
time consulted together whether they could do the enemy any
damage, and listened anxiously for news of how the affairs of
Mardonius would succeed.  131. The approach of spring,
and Mardonius being in Thessaly, aroused the Grecians.
Their land-forces were not yet assembled; but their fleet arrived at ]Egina, in number one hundred and ten ships. Their
leader and admiral was Leotychides, son of Menares, son of
Agesilaus, son of Hippocratides, son of Leotychides, son 6f
Anaxilaus, son of Archidamus, son of Anaxandrides, son of
Theopompus, son of Nicander, son of Charillus, son of EunomIus, son of Polydectes, son of Prytanis, son of Euryphon, son
of Procles, son of Aristodemus, son of Aristomachus, son of
Z2




538                  HERODOTUS.                [132-134.
Cleodoeus, son of Hyllus, son of Hercules: he was of the
second branch of the royal family. All these, except the two
mentioned first after Leotychides, were kings of Sparta.
Xanthippus, son of Ariphron, commanded the Athenians.
132. When all these ships were assembled at JEgina, embassadors from the Ionians arrived at the encampment of the
Greeks, who a short time before had gone to Sparta, and entreated the Lacedaemonians to liberate Ionia; and among them
was Herodotus, son of Basilides.  These, who were originally
seven in number, having conspired together, formed a plan of
putting Strattis, the tyrant of Chios, to death; but as they
were detected in their plot, one of the accomplices having
given information of the attempt, thereupon the rest, being six,
withdrew from Chios and went to Sparta, and at the present
time to iEgina, beseeching the Greeks to sail down to Ionia;
they with difficulty prevailed on them to advance as far as
Delos; for all beyond that was dreaded by the Greeks, who
were unacquainted with those countries, and thought all parts
were full of troops; Samos, they were convinced in their imaginations, was as far distant as the columns of Hercules. Thus
it fell out, that at the same time the barbarians dare not sail
farther westward than Samos, nor the Greeks, though the
Chians besought them, farther eastward than Delos. Thus fear
protected the midway between them.
133. The Greeks, then, sailed to Delos, and Mardonius was
in winter-quarters about Thessaly. When preparing to set out
from thence, he sent a man, a native of Europus, whose name
was Mys, to consult the oracles, with orders to go every where,
and consult all that it was possible for him to inquire of. What
he wished to learn from the oracles when he gave these orders,
I am unable to say, for it is not related; I am of opinion,
however, that he sent to inquire about the affairs then depending, and not about any others.  134. This Mys clearly appears
to have arrived at Lebadea, and having persuaded a native of
the place by a bribe, descended into the cave of Trophonius;
and arrived also at the oracle of Abae of the Phocians; moreover, as soon as he arrived at Thebes, he first of all consulted
the Ismenian Apollo, and it is there the custom, as in Olympia,
to consult the oracle by means of victims; and next, having
persuaded some stranger, not a Theban, by money, he caused
him to sleep in the temple of Amphiaraus; for none of the




135, 136.]          URANIA. VIII.                  539
Thebans are permitted to consult there, for the following
reason: Amphiaraus, communicating with them by means of
oracles, bade them choose whichever they would of these two
things, to have him either for their prophet or their ally, abstaining from the other: they chose to have.him for their ally:
for this reason, therefore, no Theban is allowed to sleep there.
135. The following, to me very strange circumstance, is related by the Theban to have happened: that this Mys, of
Europus, in going round to all the oracles, came also to the
precinct of the Ptoan Apollo: this temple is called Ptoan,
but belongs to the Thebans, and is situate above the lake Copais, at.the foot of a mountain, very near the city of Acrephia:
that when this man, called Mys, arrived at this temple, three
citizens chosen by-the public accompanied him, for the purpose of writing down what the oracle should pronounce; and
forthwith: the priestess gave an answer in a foreign tongue;
and that those Thebans who accompanied him stood amazed
at hearing a foreign language instead of Greek, and knew
not what to do on the present occasion; but that Mys, suddenly
snatching from them the tablet which they brought, wrote on
it the words spoken by the prophet, and said that he had
given an answer in the Carian tongue; and after he had
written it down, he departed for Thessaly.
136. Mardonius, having read the answers of the oracles, afterward sent Alexander, son of Amyntas, a Macedonian, as
an embassador to Athens, as well because the Persians were
related to him (for Bubares, a Persian, had married Alexander's sister Gygaea, daughter of Amyntas, by whom he had the
Amyntas in Asia, who took his name from his maternal grandfather; to him Alabanda, a large city of Phrygia, had been
given by the king to govern), as because he had been informed
that Alexander was a friend and benefactor of the Athenians;.
Mardonius therefore sent him, for in this way he thought
he should best be able to gain over the Athenians, having
heard that they were a numerous and valiant people; and,
besides, he knew that the Athenians had been the principal
cause of the late disaster of the Persians at sea. If these
were won over, he hoped that he should easily become master
at sea, which indeed would have been the case; and on land
he imagined that he was much superior: thus he calculated
that his power would get the upper hand of the Grecian. Per



540                  HIERODOTUS.                [137, 138.
haps, also, the oracles had given him this warning, advising
him to make Athens his ally; accordingly, relying on them,
he sent.
137. The seventh ancestor of this Alexander was Perdiccas, who obtained the sovereignty of the Macedonians in the
following manner.  Gauanes, Aeropus, and Perdiccas, three
brothers, of the descendants of Temenus, fled from Argos to the
Illyrians, and, crossing over from the Illyrians into the upper
Macedonia, they arrived at the city of Lebaea; there they
entered into the king's service for wages. One of them had
the care of his horses, another of his oxen, and the youngest
of them, Perdiccas, of the lesser cattle.  Formerly even
monarchs were poor in wealth, and not only the people, so
that the wife of the king used herself to cook their food.
Whenever the bread of the hireling lad Perdiccas was baked,
it became twice as large as at first; and when this always
happened, she told it to her own husband. It immediately
occurred to him, when he heard it, that it was a prodigy, and
boded something of importance. Having, therefore, summoned
the hirelings, he commanded them to depart out of his territories. They answered that tley were entitled to receive their
wages, and then they would go. Thereupon the king, hearing
about wages, as the rays of the sun reached into the house
down the chimney, said, being deprived of his senses by the
deity, " I give you this as your wages, equal to your services," pointing to the sun. Gauanes and Aeropus, the elder,
stood amazed when they heard this; but the lad, for he happened to have a knife, saying thus, "We accept thy offer, O
king," traced a circle on the floor of the house round the sun's
rays, and having so traced the circle, and having drawn the
sun's rays three times on his bosom, departed, and the others
with him.  138. They accordingly went away; but one of
those who were sitting by him informed the king what the
lad had done, and how the youngest of them accepted the offer
with some design. He, on hearing this, being in a rage, dispatched after them  some horsemen to kill them. In this
country is a river, to which the descendants of these men from
Argos sacrifice as their deliverer. It, when the Temenidae
had crossed over, swelled to such a height that the horsemen
were unable to cross it. They then, coming to another district of Macedonia, settled near the gardens that are said to




l39, 140.]           URANIA. VIII.                    541
have belonged to Midas, son of Gordias, in which wild roses
grow, each one having sixty leaves, and surpassing all others
in fragrance. In these gardens Silenus was taken, as is related by the Macedonians. Above the gardens is a mountain
called Bermion, inaccessible from  the cold.  Issuing from
thence, when they had possessed themselves of this tract, they
subdued the rest of Macedonia.  139. From  this Perdiccas
Alexander was thus descended. Alexander was the son of
Amyntas, Amyntas of Alcetes, the father of Alcetes was Aeropus, of him Philip, of Philip, Argaeus, and of him, Perdiccas, who acquired the sovereignty. Thus, then, was Alexandert son of Amyntas, descended.
140. When he arrived at Athens, being sent by Mardonius,
he spoke as follows: (1.) "Men of Athens, Mardonius says
thus: A message has come to me from the king, conceived in
these terms:'I forgive the Athenians all the injuries committed by them  against me; therefore, Mardonius, do thus.
First, restore to them their territory; and, next, let them
choose, in addition to it, another country, whatever they please,
and live under their own laws, and rebuild all their temples
which I have burned, if they are willing to come to terms with
me.' These orders having come to me, I must of necessity
execute them, unless you on your part oppose. And now I
say this to you. Why are you so mad as to levy war against
the king? for neither can you get the better of him, nor can
you resist him forever. You are acquainted with the multitude of Xerxes's army, and their achievements; you have heard
of the force that is even now with me; so that even if you
should get the better of us and conquer (of which, however,
you can have no hope, if you think soberly), another much
more numerous will come against you.  Suffer not yourselves,
then, to be deprived of your country, and to be continually
running a risk for your existence, by equaling yourselves with
the king, but be reconciled to him; and it is in your power
to be reconciled honorably, since the king is so disposed.
Be free, having contracted an alliance with us, without guile
or deceit. (2.) This, O Athenians, Mardonius charged me to
say to you; but I, for my own part, will say nothing of the
good-will I bear toward you, for you would not learn it for
the first time; but I entreat you, listen to Mardonius, for I
see that you will not always be able to carry on war against




~542                 HERODOTUS.                 [141, 142.
Xerxes; for if I had seen this power in you, I would never
have come to you bringing such a proposal; for the power
of the king is more than human, and his arm exceeding long.
If, then, you do not immediately come to terms, when they
offer such favorable conditions on which they are willing to
agree, I greatly fear for you, who of all the allies dwell in
the most beaten road, and who must be continually the only
people destroyed, since ye possess a territory exposed, as
being between both armies. Be persuaded, then, for this
is a high honor to you, that the great king, forgiving your
offenses alone among all the Greeks, is willing to become
your friend." Thus spoke Alexander. 141. But the Lacedaemonians, having been informed that Alexander had arrived
at Athens, in order to induce the Athenians to an agreement
with the barbarian, and remembering the oracles, how it was
fated that they, with the rest of the Dorians, should be driven
out of Peloponnesus by the Medes and Athenians, were very
much afraid lest the Athenians should make terms with the
Persian, and therefore resolved forthwith to send embassadors.  It so happened that the introduction of both took
place at the same time; for the Athenians had purposely delayed the time, well knowing that the Lacedaemonians would
hear that an embassador had come from the barbarian to negotiate a treaty, and that when they did hear of it, they would
send embassadors with all speed. They, therefore, designedly so contrived as to show their intentions to the Lacedaemonians.  142. When Alexander had ceased speaking, the embassadors from Sparta, speaking next, said, " The Lacedaemonians have sent us to entreat you not to adopt any new measures with respect to Greece, nor to listen to proposals from the
barbarian; for neither would it be by any means just nor honorable either in any others of the Greeks, and least of all in you,
for many reasons; for you raised this war against our wish,
and the contest arose about your sovereignty; but it now relates to the whole of Greece. Besides, that the Athenians, who
are the authors of all these things, should prove the occasion
of slavery to Greece, is on no account to be borne; you, who
always, and from of old, have been seen to assert the freedom
of many nations. We, however, sympathize with you in your
difficulties, and that you have already been deprived of two
harvests, and that your property has been so long involved in




143, 144.]          URANIA. VIII.                   543
ruin; but, in compensation for this, the Lacedaemonians and
the allies promise to support your wives, and all the rest of
your families which are useless in war, as long as the war
shall continue; therefore let not Alexander the Macedonian
persuade you, by glossing over the proposal of Mardonius,
for this is what he would naturally do; for, being himself a tyrant, he aids a tyrant's cause. But you should not so act, if
indeed you think rightly, because you know that with barbarians there is neither faith nor truth."  Thus spoke the embassadors. 143. The Athenians gave the following answer to
Alexander: "We ourselves are aware of this, that the power
of the Medes is far greater than ours, so there was no need
to insult us with that.; but, nevertheless, being ardent for liberty, we will defend ourselves in such manner as we are able;
but do not you attempt to persuade us to come to terms with
the barbarian, for we will not be persuaded. Go, then, and
tell Mardonius that the Athenians say, so long as the sun
shall continue in the same course as now, we will never make
terms with Xerxes;.but we will go out to oppose him, trusting in the gods, who fight for us, and in the heroes whose temples and images he, holding them in no reverence, has burned;
and do you appear no more in the presence of the Athenians,
bringing such proposals, nor, imagining that you do us good
service, urge us to do wicked deeds; for we are unwilling that
you, who are our guest and friend, should meet with any ungracious treatment at the hands of the Athenians." 144. To
Alexander they gave this answer, and to the embassadors
from Sparta the following: " That the Lacedaemonians should
fear lest we should make terms with the barbarian was very
natural; yet, knowing as you do the mind of the Athenians,
you appear to entertain an unworthy dread; for there is neither so much gold any where in the world, nor a country so
pre-eminent in beauty and fertility, by receiving which we
should be willing to side with the Mede and enslave Greece;
for there are many and powerful considerations that forbid
us to do so, even if we were inclined. First and chief, the images and dwellings of the gods burned and laid in ruins: this
we must needs avenge to the utmost of our power, rather than
make terms with the man who has perpetrated such deeds.
Secondly, the Grecian race being of the same blood and the
same language, and the temples of the gods and sacrifices in




544                   HERODOTUS.                     [1,2.
common, aild our similar customs; for the Athenians to become betrayers of these would not be well. Know, therefore,
if you did not know it before, that so long as one Athenian is
left alive, we will never make terms with Xerxes.  Your forethought, however, which you manifest toward us, we admire,
in that you provide for us whose property is thus ruined, so:
as to be willing to support our families; and you have fulfilled.
the duty of benevolence; we, however, will continue thus in
the state we are, without being burdensome to you. Now,
since matters stand as they do, send out an army with all possible expedition; for, as we conjecture, the barbarian will in
no long time be here to invade our territories, as soon as he
shall hear our message that we will do none of the things he
required of us; therefore, before he has reached Attica, it is
fitting that we go out to meet him in Boeotia."  When the
Athenians had given this answer, the embassadors returned to
Sparta.
BOOK IX.
CALLIOPE.
MAnDONIUS, when Alexander, having returned, had made
known the answer from the Athenians, set out from Thessaly,
and led his army in haste against Athens; and wherever he
arrived from time to time, he joined the people to his. own
forces. The leaders of Thessaly were so far from repenting of
what had been before done, that they urged on the Persian
much more; and Thorax of Larissa both assisted in escorting
Xerxes in his flight, and now openly gave Mardonius a passage
into Greece.  2. When the army on its march arrived among
the Boeotians, the Thebans endeavored to restrain Mardonius,
and advised him, saying that there was no country more convenient to encamp in than that, and dissuaded him from advancing farther, but urged him to take up his station there,
and contrive so as to subdue the whole of Greece without a
battle; "for that, if the Greeks remained firmly united, as
they had done before, it would be difficult even for all man



3-6.]              CALLIOPE. IX.                   545
kind to overcome them. But," they continued, "if you will
do what we advise, you will without difficulty frustrate all
their plans: send money to the most powerful men in the
cities, and by sending it you will split Greece into parties,
and then, with the assistance of those of your party, you may
easily subdue those who are not in your interest." 3. They
gave this advice; he, however, was not prevailed on, but a
vehement desire of taking Athens a second time was instilled
into him; partly by presumption, and partly, he hoped, by signal fires across the islands, to make known to the king while
he was at Sardis that he was in possession of Athens. When
he arrived in Attica he did not find the Athenians there, but
was informed that most of them were at Salamis and on board
their ships; he therefore took the deserted city. The capture
by the king was ten months before this second invasion by
Mardonius.
4. While Mardonius was at Athens, he sent Murychides,
a Hellespontine, to, Salamis, with the same proposals which
Alexander the Macedonian had already conveyed to the
Athenians. He sent this second time, although before aware
that the disposition of the Athenians was not friendly to him,
but expecting they would remit something of their haughtiness, since the whole Attic territory was taken and now in
his power. For these reasons he sent Muiychides to Salamis. 5. He, on coming before the council, delivered the message of Mardonius, and Lycidas, one of the councilors, gave
his opinion, that "it appeared to him to be best to entertain
the proposal which Murychides brought to them, and to report
it to the people." He delivered this opinion, either because
he had received money from Mardonius, or because such was
really his opinion; but the Athenians immediately being
very indignant, both those belonging to the council and those
without,'as soon as they were informed of it, surrounded
Lycidas, and stoned him to death, but they dismissed Murychides the Hellespontine unharmed. A tumult having taken
place at Salamis respecting Lycidas, the Athenian women obtained information of what had happened, whereupon one
woman encouraging another, and uniting together, they went
of their own accord to the house of Lycidas, and stoned his
wife and children. 6. The Athenians had crossed over to
Salamis under the following circumstances. As long as they




546                  HERODOTUS.-                     [7.
expected that an army would come from the Peloponnesus to
assist them, they remained in Attica; but when they had
recourse to delay and extreme tardiness, and Mardonius was
advancing and reported to be in Bceotia, then they removed
all their effects, and themselves crossed over to Salamis: they
also sent embassadors to Lacedaemon, partly to blame the
Lacedaemonians because they had allowed the barbarian to
invade Attica, and had not gone out with them to meet him
in Boeotia, and partly to remind them of what the Persian
had promised to give them if they would change sides, and
to forewarn them that, unless they assisted the Athenians,
they would themselves find some means of escape. 7. At that
time the Lacedaemonians were employed in celebrating a
festival, and it was the I-yacinthia with them, -and they
deemed it of the greatest importance to attend to the service
of the deity. At the same time they were busied in building
the wall at the Isthmus, and it had already received the breastworks.
When the embassadors from  the Athenians arrived at
Lacedaemon, bringing with them  embassadors from Megara
and Plataa, they went before the ephori, and spoke as follows: (1.) "The Athenians have sent us to tell you that the
king of the Medes, in the first place, offers to restore our country; and, secondly, is willing to make us his allies on fair and
equal terms, without fraud or deceit; he is also willing to give
us another territory, in addition to our own, whatever we ourselves may choose. We, however, reverencing the Grecian
Jupiter, and thinking it disgraceful to betray Greece, have not
acceded to, but rejected his offers; though we are unjustly
treated and betrayed by the Greeks, and know that it is more
for our own interest to come to terms with the Persian than
to continue the war, still we will never willingly come to
terms with him. (2.) Thus sincerely we have acted toward the
Greeks; but you, who were then in the utmost consternation
lest we should come to terms with the Persian, when you were
clearly assured of our resolution that we will never betray
Greece, and because your wall drawn across the Isthmus is
now nearly completed, no longer show any regard for the
Athenians; for, having agreed to advance with us to meet
the Persian in Boeotia, you have betrayed us, and have allowed the barbarian to invade Attica. Hitherto the Atheni



8-10.]              CALLIOPE. IX.                   547
ans are angry with you, for you have not acted in a becoming
manner; and now they exhort you to send out forces with us
with all expedition, that we may receive the barbarian in
Attica; for since we have missed Bceotia, the Thriasian plain
in our own territory is the most convenient place to give battle in."  8. When the ephori had heard this message, they
put off their answer to the next day, and on the next day to
the morrow. This they did for ten days, putting them off
from day to day. During this time they proceeded with the
wall at the Isthmus, all the Peloponnesians using the utmost
diligence; and it was nearly completed. I can give no reason
why, when Alexander the Macedonian went to Athens, they
took such pains to prevent the Athenians from siding with
the Mede, and then took no trouble about it, except that the
Isthmus was now fortified, and they thought they had no farther need of the Athenians; whereas, when Alexander arrived in Attica, the wall was not yet built, but they were
working at it, being in great dread of the Persians.
9. At length the answer and marph of the Spartans happened in the following manner.' On the day preceding that
on which the last audience was to take place, Chileus of Tegea,
who had the greatest influence in Lacedaemon of any stranger,
was informed by the ephori of all that the Athenians had said.
Chileus, having heard it, spoke to them as follows: "The case
is thus, 0 ephori; if the Athenians are not united with us, but
are allied to the barbarian, although a strong wall has been
carried across the Isthmus, wide doors leading into the Peloponnesus are open to the Persian; therefore give heed, before
the Athenians come to any other determination which may
bring ruin on Greece."  10. He, then, gave them this advice;
and they, taking his remark into consideration, forthwith,
without saying any thing to the embassadors who had come
from the cities, while it was still night, sent out five thousand
Spartans, appointing seven helots to attend each, and committing the conduct of them to Pausanias, son of Cleombrotus.
The command properly belonged to Pleistarchus, son of Leonidas; but he was still a boy, and the former his guardian and
cousin; for Cleombrotus, the father of Pausanias, and son to
Anaxandrides, was no longer living, but having led back the
1 Literally, "the following manner of the answer and march took
place."




548                  HERODOTUS.                  [11-13.
army that had built the wall from the Isthmus, he died shortly
afterward.  Cleombrotus led back the army from the Isthmus
for this reason: as he was sacrificing against the Persians, the
sun darkened in the heavens.  Pausanias chose as his colleage Euryanax, son of Dorieus, who was a man of the same
family. These forces, accordingly, marched from Sparta with
Pausanias.  11. The embassadors, when they came, knowing
nothing of the march of the troops, went to the ephori, being
resolved-themselves also to depart severally to their own cities;
and having come into their presence, they spoke as follows:
"You, 0 Lacedmemonians, remaining here, celebrate the Hyacinthia, and divert yourselves, while you are betraying the
allies, but the Athenians, being injured by you, and destitute of allies, will make peace with the Persians on such terms
as they can; and having made peace, it is evident that we
shall become the king's allies, and shall march with them
against whatever country they shall lead us, and then you
will learn what the consequence will be to yourselves." When
the embasadors had thus spoken, the ephori said with an oath,
"that those who had set out against the foreigners were already at Oresteum;" for they call the barbarians foreigners.
The embassadors asked what was meant; and on inquiry,
learned the whole truth, so that, being much surprised, they
followed after them with all possible expedition; and with
them, five thousand chosen heavy-armed troops of the neighboring Lacedemonians did the same. 12. They then hastened
toward the Isthmus. But the Argives, as soon as they heard
that the troops with Pausanias had left Sparta, sent a herald
to Attica, having looked out the best of their couriers, for they
had before promised Mardonius to prevent the Spartans from
going out. He, when he arrived at Athens, spoke as follows:
"Mardonius, the Argives have sent me to inform you that
the youth of Lacedaemon are marched out, and that the Argives were unable to prevent them from going out. Under
these circumstances, take the best advice you can." He, having spoken thus, went home again.
13. Mardonius, when he heard this, was by no means desirous
to stay longer in Attica. Before he heard this, he lingered
there, wishing to know from the Athenians what they would
do; but he neither ravaged nor injured the Attic territory, being in expectation all along that they would come to terms. But




14-16.]             CALLIOPE  IX.                   549
when he could not persuade them, being informed of the whole
truth, he withdrew, before those with Pausanias reached the
Isthmust having first set fire to Athens, and if any part of the
walls, or houses, or temples happened to be standing, having
thrown down and laid all in ruins. He marched out for the
following reasons, because the Attic country was not adapted
for cavalry; and, if he should be conquered in an engagement,
there was no way to escape except through a narrow pass, so
that even a small number of men could intercept them. He
determined, therefore, to retire to Thebes, and to fight near a
friendly, city, and in a country adapted for cavalry. 14. Mardonius accordingly retreated; and while he was yet on his
march, another message came in advance that another army
had reached Megara, consisting of a thousand Lacedamonians.
When he heard this, he deliberated, wishing, if by any means
he could, to take these first; therefore, wheeling round, he led
his army against Megara; and his cavalry going on before,
scoured the Megarian territory. This was the farthest part
of Europe, toward the sun-set, to which this Persian army
reached.  15. After this, news came to Mardonius that the
Greeks were assembled at the Isthmus; he therefore marched
back through Deeelea; for the Bceotian chiefs had sent for the
neighbors of the Asopians, and they conducted him along the
way to Sphendale, and from thence to Tanagra; and having
passed the night at Tanagra, and on the next day turned toward Scolus, he arrived in the territory of the Thebans. There
he cleared the lands of the Thebans, though they sided with
the Mede, not out of enmity toward them, but constrained by
urgent necessity, wishing to make a fortification for his army,
and in case, when he engaged, the result should not be such
as he wished, he might have this as a place of refuge. His
camp, beginning at Erythrae, passed by Hysiam and extended to
the Plataean territory, stretching to the river Asopus. The
wall, however, was not built of this extent, but each front was
about ten stades in length.
While the barbarians were employed in this task, Attaginus, son of Phyrnon, a Theban, having made great preparations, invited Mardonius himself and fifty of the most eminent
Persians to an entertainment, and they, being invited, came.
The feast was held at Thebes.  16. The rest I heard from
Thersander, an Orchomenian, a man of high repute at Orcho



550                   HEIDI)OTUS.                     l17.
menus. Thersander said that he also was invited by Attaginus to this feast, and that fifty Thebans were also invited;
and that he did not place each person on a separate couch,
but a Persian and a Theban on each couch.  When supper
was over, and they were drinking freely, the Persian who was
on the same couch, using the Grecian tongue, asked him  of
what country he was; he answered that he was an Orchomenian; whereupon the other said, "Since you are a partaker
of the same table and of the same cups with me, I wish to
leave with you a memorial of my opinion, in order that, being
forewarned, you may be able to consider what is best for your
own interest. Do you see these Persians feasting here, and the
army that we left encamped near the river?  Of all these you
will see, after the lapse of a short time, only some few surviving." As the Persian said this, he shed abundance of tears;
and he.himself, being astonished at his words, said to him,
" Would it not be right to tell this to Mardonius, and to those
Persians who are next to him in authority?"  To this he answered, " My friend, that which is fated by the deity to happen, it is impossible for man to avert; for no one will listen
to those who say what is worthy of credit; and though many
of the Persians are convinced of this, we follow, being bound
by necessity. The bitterest grief to which men are liable is
this, when one knows much, to have no power to act."  This
I heard from Thersander the Orchomenian; and this besides,
that he immediately told this to several persons before the battle was fought at Platasa.
17. While Mardonius encamped in Boeotia, all the rest furnished troops, and joined in the attack upon Athens, such
however of the Greeks who, dwelling in these parts, sided
with the Mede; but the Phocians only did not join in the attack, for they took part with the Mede very unwillingly and
by necessity.  But not many days after his arrival at Thebes,
a thousand of his heavy-armed troops arrived; Harmocydes,
a man of high repute among the citizens, commanded them.
When they also arrived at Thebes, Mardonius, having sent
some horsemen, ordered them to encamp by themselves in the
plain, and when they had done this the whole cavalry came
up.  Upon this a rumor spread through the Grecian forces,
who. were with the Medes, that they were going to dispatch
them with their javelins; this same rumor also spread among




18, 19.]            CALLIOPE. IX.                   551
the Phocians themselves; werereupon their general, Harmocydes, encouraged them, addressing them as follows: "0 Phocians, it is plain that these men are about to deliver us up to
certain death, we having been calumniated by the Thessalians,
as I conjecture. Now, therefore, it is fitting that every one
of you should prove yourselves valiant, for it is better to die
doing something, and defending ourselves, than expose ourselves to be destroyed by a most disgraceful death. Let some
of these. men learn, then, that, being barbarians, they have
plotted death against men who are Greeks."  18. Thus he
encouraged them; but the cavalry, when they had surrounded
them on all sides, rode up as if to destroy them, and brandished
their javellns as;f about to hurl them; and one here and
there did hurl his javelin. They, however, faced them, forming themselves into a circle, and closing their ranks as much
as possible, whereupon the cavah'y wheeled round and rode
away. I am.unable to say with certainty whether they came
to.destroy the Phocians at the request of the Thessalians, and
when they saw them  prepared to defend themselves, were
afraid lest they might receive some wounds, and therefore
rode off (because Mardonius had so ordered them), or whether
he wished to try whether they had any courage; but when
the cavalry had ridden back, Mardonius sent a herald and
spoke as follows: "Be of good. heart, O Phocians, for you
have proved yourselves to be brave men, contrary to what I
heard; therefore, sustain this war with resolution, and you
shall not surpass me or the king'in generosity." Such were the
events in regard to the Phocians.
19. The Lacedmmonians, when they arrived at the Isthmus, there encamped; and the rest of the Peloponnesians,
who favored the better cause, when they heard of this, and
others also who saw the Spartans marching out, thought it
would be'a disgrace to absent themselves from the expedition
of the Lacedmmonians; accordingly, the victims having
proved favorable, they all marched out from  the Isthmus,
and advanced to Eleusis, and, having consulted the victims
there also, when they were again favorable, they continued
their march, and the Athenians with them, they having
crossed over from Salamis, and joined them at Eleusis. When
they reached Erythrae in Bceotia, they learned that the barbarians were encamped on the Asopus, and having there



552                  HERODOTUS.                  [20-22.
upon consulted together, they formed themselves opposite, at
the foot of Mount Cithaeron. 20. Mardonius, when the Greeks
did not come down to the plain, sent against them all his cavalry, which Masistius commanded, a man highly esteemed
among the Persians (and whom the Greeks call Macistius):
he was mounted on a Nisean horse, that had a golden bit,
and was otherwise gorgeously caparisoned.  Thereupon, when
the cavalry rode up to the Greeks, they charged them  in
squadrons, and, charging them, did them much mischief, and
called them women.  21. By chan`ce the Megarians happened
to be stationed in that part which was most exposed, and there
the cavalry chiefly made their attack. When, therefore, the
cavalry charged, the Megarians, being hard pressed, sent a
herald to the Grecian generals; and the herald, when he came
into their presence, addressed them as follows: "The Megarians say, We, 0 confederates, are not able alone to sustain the
Persian cavalry, retaining the post in which we were originally
stationed: hitherto we have held out against them by our constancy and courage, though hard pressed; but now, unless you
will send some others to relieve us, know we must abandon our
post." He accordingly delivered this message. Pausanias therefore made a trial of the Greeks, to see if any others would volunteer to go to that position, and to relieve the Megarians. When
all the others refused, the Athenians undertook to do it, and
of the Athenians three hundred chosen men, whom Olympiodorus, son of Lampon, commanded.  22. These were they
who undertook that service, and who were stationed in front
of all the Greeks at Erythroe, having taken with them some
archers. After they had fought for some time, the result of
the battle was as follows. As the cavalry charged in squadrons, the horse of Masistius, being in advance of the others,
was wounded in the flank by an arrow; and, being in pain, he
reared and threw Masistius. As he fell, the Athenians immediately attacked him: accordingly, they seized his horse, and
killed Masistius as he endeavored to defend himself, though
at first they were unable to do so; for he was thus armed:
underneath he had a golden cuirass covered with scales, and
over the cuirass he wore a purple cloak. By striking against
the cuirass they did nothing; until one of them, perceiving
what was the matter, pierced him in the eye, so he fell and
died. By some means this, while it was going on, escaped the




23-25.]             CALLIOPE. IX.                   53
notice of the other horsemen, for they neither saw him when
he fell from his horse nor when he was killed; for while a
retreat and wheeling round was taking place, they did not
notice what had happened; but when they halted, they immediately missed him, as there was no one to marshal them;
and as soon as they learned what had happened, all, cheering
one another on, pushed their horses to the charge, in order to
recover the body. 23. The Athenians, seeing the cavalry no
longer advancing in squadrons, but all together, called out for
assistance to the rest of the army; and while the whole infantry was coming up to their aid, a sharp struggle took place
for the body. Now as long as the three hundred were alone,
they were much inferior, and abandoned the body; but when
the multitude came: up to their assistance, the cavalry no longer
maintained their ground, nor did they succeed in recovering
the body, but lost many others of their number, besides him.
Having, therefore, retired about two stades, they consulted
about what ought to be done, and determined, as they.were
without a commander, to retreat to Mardonius..24. When
the cavalry arrived at the camp, the whole army, and Mardonius most of all, mourned the loss of Masistius, cutting off
their own hair, and that of their horses and beasts of burden,
and giving themselves up to unbounded lamentations; for the
sound reached over all Boeotia, as for the loss of a man who,
next to Mardonius, was most esteemed by the Persians and the
king. Thus the barbarians, according to their custom, honored Masistius when dead.
25. The Greeks, when they had withstood the attack of the
cavalry, and having withstood had repulsed it, were much
more encouraged, and first of all, having placed the body on
a carriage, they carried it along the line; but the body was
worthy of admiration, on account of his stature and beauty;
for that reason they did this, and the men, leaving their ranks,
came out to view Masistius. After this, they determined to
go dbwn toward Plata3a, for the Plataean territory appeared
to be much more convenient for them to encamp in than the
Erythraean, both in other respects, and as it was better supplied with water. To this country, therefore, and to the fountain Gargaphia, which is in this country, they decided that it
would be best to remove, and having drawn up their line, there
to encamp. Accordingly. having taken up their arms, they
A A




554                  HEROIDOTUS.                   [26.
marched by the foot of Mount Citharon, near Hysia, into the
Platman territory; and on arriving there, they formed in line,
nation by nation, near the fountain of Gargaphia, and the precinct of the hero Androcrates, on slight elevations and the level
plain. 26. There in the distribution of the stations a vehement
dispute arose between the Tegeans and the Athenians, for
each claimed a right to occupy the other wing,2 alleging both
their recent and former exploits.  On the other hand, the
Tegeans spoke thus: " We have ever been thought entitled to
this station by all the allies, in whatever common expeditions
have been undertaken by the Peloponnesians, both anciently
and recently, from the time when the Heraclidae, after the
death of Eurystheus, attempted to return to Peloponnesus.
We then obtained this honor on the following occasion.
When we, in conjunction with the Acheans and lonians,
who were then in Peloponnesus, having marched out to tho
Isthmus, were posted opposite the invaders, then it is related
that Hyllus made proclamation that it would be better not to
run the hazard of engaging army with army, but that from
the Peloponnesian camp, the man among them whom they
judge to be the best, should fight singly with him on certain
conditions. The Peloponnesians determined that this should
be done; and they took oaths on the following terms: that if
Hyllus should conquer the Peloponnesian leader, the Heraclidae
should return to their paternal possessions; but if he should
be conquered, the Heraclidas should depart and lead off their
army, and not seek to return into Peloponnesus during the
space of a hundred years; and Echemus, son of Aeropus,
son of Phegeus, who was our king and general, having volunteered, was chosen out of all the allies, and fought singly and
slew Hyllus. From this exploit we obtained among the Peloponnesians of that day both other great privileges, which
we continue to enjoy, and that we should always command one
wing whenever a common expedition is undertaken. With
you, then, 0 Lacedemonians, we do not contend, but giving
you the choice of whichever wing you wish to command, we
concede it to you; but we say that it belongs to us to lead the
other, as in former times; and besides this exploit that has
been mentioned, we are more entitled to have that station than
the Athenians, for many and well-contested battles have been
2 The Lacedwmionians chose which wing they pleased.




27.]                CALLIOPE. IX.                   555
fought by us with you, O men of Sparta, and many with others.
It is right, therefore, that we should have one wing rather
than the Athenians, for such exploits have not been achieved
by them as by us, either in modern or ancient times.' Thlus
they spoke. 27. To this the Athenians answered as follows:
"We are aware that this assemblage was made for the purpose of fighting with the barbarian, and not for disputes; but
since the Tegean has proposed to mention the former and recent actions that have been achieved by each nation in all
times, it is necessary for us to make known to you whence
it is our hereditary right, having ever proved ourselves valiant,
to hold the first rank rather than the Arcadians. As to the
Heraclidas, whose leader they affirm they slew at the Isthmus;
in the first place, these men formerly, when rejected by all the
Greeks to whom they came, when flying from slavery at the
hands of the Mycenaeans, we alone received, and put an end to
the insolence of Eurystheus by conquering in battle, in conjunction with them, the people who then possessed Peloponnesus. In the next place, when the Argives who marched
with Polynices against Thebes were killed, and lay unburied,
we having led an army against the Cadmaans, affirm that we
recovered the bodies and buried them in our own territory at
Eleusis. We also performed a valiant exploit against the
Amazons, who once made an irruption into Attica from the
river Thermodon; and in the Trojan war we were inferior
to none. But it is of no avail to call these things to mind,
for those who were then valiant, the same may now be cowards; and those who were then cowards, may now be brave.
Enough, then, of ancient exploits. But if no other achievement had been performed by us, though there were many and
gallant ones, if by any others of the Greeks, yet from our
exploit at Marathon we are worthy of this honor, and more
than this; we, who alone of the Greeks, having fought singlehanded with the Persian, and having attempted such a feat,
survived, and conquered six-and-forty nations.  Do we not,
then, from this single action, deserve to hold this post? tBut as
it is not becoming on such an occasion as this to be contending
about position, we are ready to submit to you, O Lacedaemonians, wherever it seems most convenient to place us, and
against whatsoever nation; for, wheresoever we are stationed,
we shall endeavor to prove ourselves brave. Command us,




556                  HERODOTUS.                  [28, 29.
then, as ready to obey."  28. Thus they answered; and the
whole army of the Lacedaemonians shouted out that the Athenians were more worthy to occupy the wing than the Arcadians. Accordingly, the Athenians had it, and got the better
of the Tegeans.
After this, those of the Greeks who came up later, and those
who arrived at first, were drawn up in the following manner.
Ten thousand of the Lacedaemonians occupied the right wing;
five thousand of these, being Spartans, were attended by thirtyfive thousand lightly-armed Helots, seven being assigned to
each man. The Spartans chose the Tegeans to stand next
themselves, both for honor and valor; of these there were
fifteen hundred heavy-armed men; next to them stood five
thousand of the Corinthians; and with them they got permission from Pausanias for three hundred Potidaeans, who came
from Pallene, to stand; next these stood six hundred Arcadians of Orchomenus; next them three thousand Sicyonians;
next them were eight hundred Epidaurians; and by the side
of these were stationed three thousand of the Troezenians;
and next the Trcezenians two hundred Lepreatse; next these
four hundred of the Mycenseans and Tirynthians; next them
one thousand Phliasians; and by the side of them stood three
hundred Hermionians; next the Hermionians were stationed
six hundred of the Eretrians and Styrians; and next them
four hundred Chalcidians; next them five hundred Ambraciots; after them stood eight hundred of the Leucadians and
Anactorians; next them two hundred Paleans from Cephallenia; and after them five hundred of the XEginetao were stationed; and by the side of them were posted three thousand
of the Megarians; and next them six hundred Plataeans; and
last of all, and at the same time first, eight thousand Athenians
took their station, occupying the left wing, Aristides, son of
Lysimachus, commanding them.  29. These, except the seven
assigned to each of the Spartans, were heavy-armed, their
total number amounting to thirty-eight thousand seven hundred. All the heavy-armed men assembled to oppose the
barbarian were so many.  Of the light-armed, the number
was as follows: in the Spartans' line thirty-five thousand
men, there being seven to each man; every one of these was
equipped as for war; and the light-armed of the rest of the
Lacedamonians and other Greeks, about one to each man,




30-32.]             CALLIOPE;. IX.                  557
amounted to thirty-four thousand five hundred, so that the
number of the light-armed fighting men was sixty-nine thousand five hundred. 30. Thus, then, the whole of the Grecian
army assembled at Plataea, reckoning heavy-armed and lightarmed fighting men, amounted to one hundred and ten thousand, wanting one thousand eight hundred men; and with the
Thespians who came up, the full number of one hundred and
ten thousand was completed; for the survivors of the Thespians joined the army, to the number of one thousand eight
hundred, but they had not heavy armor. These, then, being
drawn up in line, encamped on the Asopus.
31. The barbarians, with Mardonius, when they had ceased
to mourn for Masistius, having heard that the Greeks were at
Platea, themselves also marched to the Asopus, which flows
there; and on their arrival, they were thus drawn up by Mardonius.  Opposite the Lacedcemonians he stationed the Persians; and as the Persians far exceeded them in number, they
were both drawn up several ranks deep, and extended opposite
the Tegeans; and he arrayed them thus: having selected all
the most powerful of his forces, he stationed them opposite
the Lacedaemonians, and the weaker he arrayed by their side
against the Tegeans: this he did by the advice and direction
of the Thebans. Next the Persians he ranged the Medes;
these fronted the Corinthians, Potidmans, Orchomenians, and
Sicyonians. Next the Medes he ranged the Bactrians; these
fronted, the Epidaurians, Trcezenians, Lepreatae, Tirynthians,
Myceneans, and Phliasians. Next the Bactrians he stationed
the Indians; these fronted the Hermionians, Eretrians, Styrians, and Chalcidians.  Next the Indians he ranged the
Sacm; these fronted the Ampraciots, Anactorians, Leucadians,
Paleans, and Eginetae. And next the Sacae, and opposite to
the Athenians, Plataans, and Megarians, he ranged the Bceotians, Locrians, Alelians, Thessalians, and the thousand Phocians; for all the Phocians did not side with the Mede, but some
of them assisted the cause of the Greeks, being shut up about
Parnassus; and sallying from thence, they harassed the army
of Mardonius, and the Greeks who were with him. He also
ranged the Macedonians, and those that dwelt about Thessaly,
against the Athenians. 32. These, the most considerable of
the nations that were ranged under Mardonius, have been
named, and which were the most distinguished and of most ac



558                 IHERODOTUS.                     [33.
count; yet there were also mixed with them men of other nations, Phrygians, Thracians, Mysians, Peonians, iEthiopians,
and others; and among them those of the lEthiopians and
Egyptians who are called Hermotybians and Calasirians, armed with swords, who are the only Egyptians that are warriors.3
These, while he was still at Phalerus, he took from on board
the ships, they being marines; for the Egyptians were not arrayed with the land-forces that came with Xerxes to Athens.
Of barbarians there were three hundred thousand, as has been
already shown;4 but of Greeks who were allies of Mardonius
no one knows the number, for they were not reckoned up;
but, to make a guess, I conjecture that they were assembled to
the number of fifty thousand. These who were thus arrayed
were infantry; the cavalry were marshaled apart.
33. When they were all ranged by nations and battalions,
thereupon, on the second day, both sides offered sacrifices.
For the Greeks, Tisamenus, son of Antiochus, was the person
who sacrificed, for he accompanied this army as diviner; him,
though an Elean, and by extraction a Clytiad of the Iamidae,
the Lacedaemonians had admitted into the number of their
citizens; for when Tisamenus was consulting the oracle at
Delphi about offspring, the Pythian answered that he should
be victorious in five very great contests.  I-e accordingly,
mistaking the answer, applied himself to gymnastic exercises,
as if he were to be victorious in gymnastic contests; and
having practiced the Pentathlon, he missed winning the Olympic prize by one wrestling match, having contended with Hieronymus of Andros. The Lacedemonians, having learned that
the oracle delivered to Tisamenus referred not to gymnastic
but to martial contests, endeavored by offeis of money to
persuade Tisamenus to become the leader of their wars, in
conjunction with their kings of the IHeraclidue; but he, seeing
the Spartans very anxious to make him their friend, having
discovered this, enhanced his price, acquainting them " that,
if they would make him their own citizen, granting him a full
participation of all privileges, he would comply, but not on
any other terms."  The Spartans, when they first heard this,
were very indignant, and altogether slighted his prophetic
skill; but at last, when great terror of this Persian army was
hanging over them, they sent for him and assented; but he,
See B. II. chap. 164.         4 See B. VIII. chap. 113.




34-37.]             CALLIOPE. IX.                   559
perceiving they had changed their minds, said he would no
longer be contented with these things only, but that his brother Hegias must also be made a Spartan on the same terms as
himself. 34. In saying this he imitated Melampus, to compare a kingdom with citizenship in his demands; for Melampus also, the women at Argos being smitten with madness,
when the Argives would have hired him from Pylus to cure
their women of the disease, demanded one half of the' kingdom for his recompense; but the Argives not yielding to his
terms, but going away, when many more of their women became mad, they at length submitted to what Melampus demanded, and went to present it to him; but he thereupon,
seeing them changed, coveted still more, saying that "unless
they would give a third part of the kingdom to his brother
Bias, he would not do what they wished."  The Argives,
therefore, being driven to a strait, granted that also. 35. In
like manner the Spartans-for they wanted Tisamenus exceedingly-yielded to him entirely, and when the Spartans
had thus yielded to him, Tisamenus the Elean, having become
a Spartan, accordingly assisted them by his art of divination
in gaining five most important battles. These, then, were the
only persons of all mankind who were made Spartan citizens.
The five battles were as follows: one Ind the first, this at
Platiaa; next, that which took place at Tegea, against the Tegeans and Argives; afterward, that at Dipama, against all the
Arcadians except the Mantineans; next, that of the Messenians, near Ithomae; and the last, that which took place at Tanagra, against the Athenians and Argives: this was the last
achieved of the five victories. 36. This Tisamenus, then, the
Spartans bringing him, officiated as diviner to the Greeks at
Platoea: now the sacrifices were favorable to'the Greeks, if
they stood on the defensive, but if they crossed the Asopus and
began the battle, not so.
37. To Mardonius, who was very desirous to begin the
battle, the sacrifices were not propitious; but to him also, if
he stood on the defensive, they were favorable; for he too
adopted the Grecian sacrifices, having for his diviner Hegesistratus, an Elean, and the most renowned of the Telliade.-  This
man, before these events, the Spartans had taken and bound
for death, because they had suffered many and atrocious things
from him. He being in this sad condition, as being in peril




560                  HERODOTUS.                   [38, 39.
for his life, and having to suffer many tortures before death,
performed a deed beyond belief; for, as he was confined in
stocks bound with iron, he got possession of a knife, which
had been by some means carried in, and immediately contrived
the most resolute deed of all men we know of; for, having
considered in what way the rest of his foot would get out, he
cut off the broad part of his foot, and having done this, as
he was guarded by sentinels, he dug a hole through the wall
and escaped to Tegea, traveling by night, and by day hiding
himself in the woods and tarrying there. Thus, though the
Lacedaemonians searched for him with their whole population,
on the third night he arrived at Tegea; but they were struck
with great amazement at his daring when they saw half his
foot lying on the ground, and were not able to find him. Thus
IHegesistratus, having escaped from the Lacedamonians, fled to
Tegea, which was at that time not on friendly terms with the
Lacedaemonians, and having been cured of his wounds, and
procured a wooden foot, he became an avowed enemy to the
Lacedaemonians. However, at last his hatred conceived against
the Lacedaemonians did not benefit him, for he was taken by
them when acting as diviner at Zacynthus, and put to death.
Now the death of Hegesistratus took place after the battle of
Platea; but at that.time, on the Asopus, being hired by Mardonius for no small sum, he sacrificed and was very zealous,
both from hatred to the Lacedaemonians and from a love of
gain.
38. As the victims were not favorable for fighting, either
to the Persians themselves, or the Greeks who were with
them (for they also had a diviner for themselves, Hippomachus, a Leucadian), and as Greeks were flowing in, and their
numbers increasing, Timagenides, son of Herpys, a Theban,
advised Mardonius to guard the passes of Mount Cithseron,
saying that the Greeks were continually pouring in every
day, and that he would intercept great numbers. 39. Eight
days had already elapsed since they had been posted opposite
each other, when he gave this advice to Mardonius. But he,
perceiving that the suggestion was good, as soon as it was
night,,sent some cavalry to the passes of Cithaeron, that lead
to Platea, which the Boeotians call The Three Heads, but the
Athenians The Heads of Oak. The horsemen that were sent did
not arrive in vain; for, issuing on the plain, they took five hund



40, 41.]            CALLIOPE. IX.                    561
red beasts carrying provisions from  Peloponnesus to the
army, with the men who attended the beasts of burden. The
Persians, having taken this booty, killed them without mercy,
sparing neither beast nor man; and when they had had
enough of slaughter, they surrounded the rest of them, and
drove them off to Mardonius and to the camp. 40. After
this action they passed two more days, neither being willing to begin the battle; for the barbarians advanced as far as
the Asopus to tempt the Greeks, but neither crossed over.
However, the cavalry of Mardonius continually passed on
and harassed the Greeks; for the Thebans, being entirely in
the interest of the Medes, carried on the war with vigor,
and constantly led.on even to actual fighting; but after that
the Persians and Medes, coming up, gave signal proofs of
valor.
41. Accordingly, during the ten days, nothing more than
this took place; but when the eleventh day came after the
two armies had been encamped opposite each other in Platiea,
and the Greeks had become much more numerous, and Mardonius was exceeding vexed at the delay, thereupon Mardonius, son of Gobryas, and Artabazus, son of Pharnaces, who
was one of the Persians esteemed by Xerxes, came to a conference; and, on consulting, the following were their opinions:
that of Artabazus, "that it was expedient to remove their
whole army away as quickly as possible, and march to the
walls of Thebes, where a large store of provisions had been
laid up for themselves, and forage for their horses; and that,
sitting down quietly, they might accomplish their enterprise by
doing as follows; for, as they had much coined gold and much
uncoined, and much silver and many goblets, they should spare
none of these, but distribute them among the Greeks, espe.
cially among the principal men of the Greeks in the cities,
and they would quickly surrender their liberty, nor run the
hazard of an engagement."  Thus his opinion was the same
as that of the Thebans,5 since he had more foresight than the
other.6.But the opinion of Mardonius was more violent, pertinacious, and by no means inclined to yielding; "for he
thought that their army was far superior to the Grecian, and
that they should engage as quickly as possible, and not suffer
more to be assembled than were already assembled; and that
5 See chap. 2.                6 Mardonius
AA2




562                  HERODOTUS.                  [42-44.
they should dismiss the victims of Hegesistratus, and not do
violence to.them, but, following the usages of the Persians, to
engage."  42. When he thus decided, no one contradicted
him, so that his opinion prevailed, for he held the command
of the army from the king, and not from Artabazus.  Having,.
therefore, summoned the commanders of battalions, and the
generals of the Greeks who were in his service, he asked if
they knew any oracle respecting the Persians which predicted
that they should be destroyed. But when those who were
convoked remained silent, some not knowing the oracles, and
others knowing indeed, but not deeming it safe to mention
them, Mardonius himself said, " Since you either know nothing or dare not speak, I will tell you, as I know perfectly well.
There is an oracle importing that the Persians arriving in
Greece should sack the temple at Delphi, and, after the sacking, all perish. We, therefore, being apprised of this, neither
march against that temple, nor intend to sack it, and thus we
shall not perish on that account. Let such of you, then, as
are well affected to the Persians rejoice on this account, that
we shall vanquish the Greeks."  Having said this to them, he
next gave orders to get all things in readiness, and put them
in good order, for that a battle would take place early the next
morning. 43. This oracle, which Mardonius said related to
the Persians, I know'was delivered in reference to the Illyrians,
and the army of the Enchelians, and not to the Persians; but
the following had been delivered by Bacis in reference to this
battle: " The meeting of the Greek and the barbarian-voiced
shout on Thermodon and grassy-banked Asopus, in which
many of the bow-bearing Medes shall fall, despite of Lachesis
and fate, when the destined day shall come." These, and others like these, I know were pronounced by Musoeus in reference
to the Persians; but the river Thermodon flows between Tanagra and Glisas.
44. After the inquiry respecting the oracles, and the exhortation given by Mardonius, night came on, and they set the
watch; but when the night was far advanced, and silence appeared to prevail throughout the camp, and the men were in
the most profound sleep, at that time Alexander, son of Amyntas, who was general and king of the Macedonians, having
ridden up on horseback to the sentries of the Athenians, desired to confer with their generals. Most of the sentries re



45, 46:]            CALLIOPE.: IX.                  563
mained at their post, while some ran to the generals, and, having arrived, told them n   that a man had come on horseback
from the camp of the Medes, who uttered not a word more,
but, naming the generals, said he wished to confer with them."
45. When they heard this, they immediately followed to the
outposts, and, on their arrival, Alexander addressed them as
follows: "0 Athenians, I leave these words with you as a
deposit, entreating you to keep them secret, and not tell them
to any other than Pausanius, lest you should even ruin me;
for I should not utter them were I not extremely concerned
for the safety of all Greece; for I am both myself a Grecian
originally, and would by no means wish to see Greece enslaved
instead of free. I tell you, then, that the victims have not
been favorable to Mardonius.pd his army, or else you would
have fought long ago; but now he has determined to dismiss
the victims, and to come to an engagement at dawn of day,
fearing, as I conjecture, lest you should assemble in greater
numbers; therefore be ready; but if Mardonius should
defer the engagement, and not undertake it, do you persevere
remaining where you are, for in a few days provisions will
fail him; and if this war should terminate according to your
wishes, it is right that you should bear in'mind to effect
my freedom, who on behalf of the Greeks have undertaken so
hazardous a task, out of zeal for them, wishing to acquaint you
with the intention of Mardonius, in order that the barbarians
may not fall upon you unexpectedly. I am Alexander the
Macedonian."  He, having spoken thus, rode back to the
camp and his own station.
46. The generals of the Athenians, having gone to the right
wing, told Pausanias what they had heard from Alexander;
but he, on receiving this intelligence, being in dread of the
Persian, spoke thus: " Seeing an engagement will take place
in the morning, it is proper that you Athenians should be
placed opposite to the Persians, and we opposite to the Boeotians and those Grecians who are now drawn up opposite to
you, for this reason; you are acquainted with the Medes, and
their manner of fighting, having fought with them at Marathon, whereas we are inexperienced in and unacquainted
with those men, for no Spartan has ever made trial of the
Mledes, but we have made trial of the Bceotians and Thessalians. It is therefore right that you should take up your




564                  HERODOTUS.                  [47-49.
arms and come to this wing, and we go to the left."  To this
the Athenians answered as follows: " To us also from the very
first, when we saw the Persians drawn opposite to you, it occurred to mention the very thing which you have now been
the first to propose, but we feared that the proposal might
not be agreeable to you; since, however, you yourselves have
mentioned it, the proposal is both agreeable to us, and we are
ready to act accordingly." 47. As this pleased both parties,
as soon as morning dawned they changed their stations: the
Baeotians having perceived what was done, gave notice to
Mlardonius; and he, when he heard it, immediately Legan
to alter his order of battle, leading the Persians opposite to the
Lacedaemonians; but when Pausanius observed that this was
being done, perceiving that he was discovered, he led the Spartans back to the right wing, and Mardonius in like manner
toward the left.
48. When they were stationed in their original positions,
Mardonius, having sent a herald to the Spartans, spoke as
follows: "0 Lacedamonians, you are said to be the bravest
by the people in these parts, who admire you exceedingly, because you neither fly from the field of battle nor quit your
ranks, but, continuing firm, either kill your adversaries or are
killed yourselves. Of all this, however, nothing is true; for
even before we engaged, aid came to the decision of blows,
we have seen you flying and quitting your ranks, leaving the
first risk to the Athenians, and ranging yourselves against our
slaves; this is byno means the conduct of brave men: we,
then, have been very much deceived in you; for whereas we
expected, on account of your renown, that you would have
sent a herald to challenge us, and that you would be desirous
of fighting with the Persians alone, though we were ready to
accept these terms, we have found you proposing nothing of
the kind, but rather shrinking from us: now, therefore, since
you have not begun this proposal, we will begin it; why, then,
should not you, on the part of the Greeks, since you are deemed
to be the bravest, and we on the part of the barbarians, engage with equal numbers on both sides?  If you think the
rest ought also to fight, let them fight afterward; but if you
do not think so, and that we only are sufficient, we will fight it
out; and whichever of us shall obtain the victory, let them be
victorious for the whole army."  49. He having spoken thus,




50, 51.]            CALLIOPE. IX.                   565
and waited some time, when no one gave him any answer, returned back again, and on his arrival gave Mardonius an account of what had happened; but he, being above measure rejoiced and elated by a cold victory, sent his cavalry to charge
the Greeks.  When the horsemen rode up they harassed the
whole Grecian army, hurling javelins and shooting arrows,
since they were mounted archers, and very difficult to be
brought to a close engagement; and they disturbed and choked
up the fountain of Gargaphia, frori which the whole Grecian
army obtained water. Near this fountain the Lacedsemonians
only were posted, but the fountain was farther off from the rest
of the Greeks, according as they severally happened to be stationed; but the Asopus was near. However, being repulsed
from the Asopus, they then had recourse to the fountain; for
it was impossible for them to get water from the river, by
reason of the cavalry and the arrows.
50. When this happened, the generals of the Greeks, as the
army was deprived of water and harassed by the cavalry, assembled together to deliberate on these and other matters,
going to Pausanias on the right wing; for when these things
were so, other circumstances troubled them still more; for
they had no longer any provisions, and their attendants, who
had been dispatched to the Peloponnesus to get provisions,
were shut out by the cavalry, and unable to reach the camp.
51. On consultation, the generals resolved, if the Persians
should defer making the attack on that day, to remove to the
island. The island is ten stades distant from the Asopus and
the fountain of Gargaphia, on which they were then encamped, before the city of the Plataeans. Thus it is an island in
the midst of the continent; for the river, dividing itself higher up, flows down to the plain from MIount Cithaeron, having
its streams about three stades separate from each other; and
then they unito together, and the name of it is Oeroe; the inhabitants say that she is the daughter of Asopus. To this
place they determined to remove, that they might have an
abundant supply of water, and the cavalry might not harass
them, as when they were directly opposite. They determined
to remove when it should be the second watch of the night, in
order that the Persians might not see them setting out, and the
cavalry might not follow and annoy them.  They also resolved, that when they should arrive at this spot which the




566                 IHIERODOTUS.                 [52-54,
Asopian Oeroe encompasses flowing from Citharon, they woula
on the same night send away one half of their forces to Cithveron, in order to bring in the attendants who had gone for
provisions; for they were shut up in Cithaeron. 52. Having
taken these resolutions, during the whole of that day they suffered incessant labor by the cavalry pressing on them; but
when the day ended, and the cavalry had ceased to attack
them, night having come, and it being the hour at which they
had agreed to decamp, thereupon the greater part, taking up
their arms, marched away, without any intention of going to
the place agreed upon; while others, as soon as they were put
in motion, gladly fled from the cavalry toward the city of the
Plateans; and in their flight they arrived at the temrple of
Juno; it stands before the city of the Flateans, twenty stades
distant from the fountain of Gargaphia; and having arrived
there, they stood to their arms before the sacred precinct.
53. They then encamped round the Heraeum; and Pausanias,
seeing them departing from the camp, ordered the Lacedae
monians also to take up their arms and go in the same direction as the others, supposing they were going to the place
which they had agreed to go to; whereupon all the other
commanders-of troops were ready to obey Pausanias; but
Amompharetus, son of Poliades, captain of the band of Pitanetae, said "he would not fly from the foreigners, nor willingly bring disgrace on Sparta;" and he was astonished at
seeing what was being done, because he had not been present
at the preceding conference. Pausanias and Euryanax considered it a disgrace that he should not obey them, but still
more disgraceful, when he7 had so resolved, to forsake the
band of Pitanetae, lest, if they should forsake him in order to
do what they had agreed on with the rest of the Grecians,
A.iompharetus himself, being left behind, and those with him,
should perish.  Considering these things, they kept the Laconian forces unmoved, and endeavored to persuade him that
it was not right for him to do as he did.
54. They, then, were expostulating with Amompharetus,
who alone of the Lacedaemonians and Tegeans was left behind. But the Athenians did as follows: they kept themselves
unmoved where they had been stationed, knowing the dispositions of the Lacedaemonians, who purpose one thing and say
Amompharetus.




55-57.]             CALLIOPE. IX.                 567
another. When, therefore, the army was in motion, they sent
one of their horsemen to see whether the Spartans were beginning to depart, or whether they did not intend to depart
at all, and to inquire of Pausanias what it was right to do.
55. When the herald came up to the Lacedaemonians, he saw
them drawn up in the same spot, and their chiefs engaged in
disputes; for when Euryanax and Pausanias urged Amompharetus not to incur danger by remaining with his men alone
of all the Lacedaemonians, they were by no means able to prevail with him, until they fell into an open quarrel; and the
herald of the Athenians having come up, stood by them; and
Amompharetus quarreling, took up a stone with both his
hands, and laying it down at the feet of Pausanias, said,
" With this pebble I give my vote, not to fly from the foreigners;" by foreigners meaning the barbarians. But Pausanias,
calling him a madman and out of his senses, then turned to
the herald of the Athenians, who was making the inquiry he.
had been ordered to make, and bade him inform them of the
present posture of affairs, and entreated the Athenians to come
over to them and act, in relation to the departure, just as they
should.  56. He accordingly went back to the Athenians.
But when morning found them still disputing with one another, Pausanias, having stayed during all that time, and supposing (as indeed happened) that Amompharetus would not
stay behind when the rest of the Lacedsemonians were gone,
having given the signal, led all the rest away along the hills;
and the Tegeans followed; but the Athenians, drawn up in
order of battle, marched by a different way from the Lacedaemonians; for they kept to the rising ground and the base of
Cithaeron, through fear of the cavalry, but the Athenians
took their route toward the plain. 57. But Amompharetus,
thinking that Pausanias would on no account dare to forsake
them, was very earnest that they should remain there and not
abandon their post; but when those with Pausanias had advanced some distance, supposing that they were in real earnest
deserting him, he ordered his band to take up their arms,
and led them slowly toward the main body; which, having
marched about ten stades, waited for the band of Amompharetus, halting at the river Moloeis, at a place called Argiopius,
where stands a temple of Eleusinian Ceres; and they waited
there for this reason, that if Amompharetus and his band




668                  HERODOTUS.                   [58, 59.
should not leave the post in which they had been stationed,
but should remain there, they might go back to their assistance. However, those with Amompharetus came up, and
the whole of the barbarian's cavalry pressed upon them; for
the horsemen did as they were always accustomed to do; but
seeing the place empty in which the Greeks had been drawn
up on the preceding days, they pushed on continually in advance, and as soon as they overtook them, they pressed them
closely.
58. Mardonius, when he was informed that the Grecians
had withdrawn under cover of night, and saw the place deserted, having summoned, Thorax of Larissa, and his brothers
Eurypilus and Thrasydeius, said, " O sons of Aleuas, what
will you say now, when you see this ground deserted?  For
you, their neighbors, said that the Lacedaemonians never
fled from battle, but were the first of men in matters of war;
these, whom you before saw changing their station, and who
now we all see have fled away during the past night. They
have clearly shown, when they had to come to the issue of
battle with those who are truly the most valiant in the world,
that being themselves good for nothing, they have gained
distinction among worthless Greeks. And I readily forgave
you, who are. unacquainted with the Persians, when you extolled them by whom you knew something had been done;
but I wondered more at Artabazus, that he should dread the
Lacedemonians, and dreading them, should have advanced a
most cowardly opinion, that it was expedient to remove our
camp, and retire to the city of the Thebans to be besieged;
of this the king shall hereafter hear from me.  But these
matters will be discussed elsewhere; for the present, we must
not suffer them to do what they intended, but they must be
pursued until they shall be overtaken, and have given us
satisfaction for all the mischief they have done to the Persians." 59. Having spoken thus, he led the Persians at full
speed, crossing the Asopus in the track of the Greeks, as if
they had betaken themselves to flight; he directed his course
only against the Lacedsemonians and Tegeans; for, on account
of the hills, he did not discern the Athenians, who had turned
into the plain. The rest of the commanders of the barbarian's
brigades, seeing the Persians advancing to pursue the Greeks,
all immediately took up their standards, and pursued, each am




60-62.]             CALLIOPE. IX.                   569
quick as he could, without observing either rank or order: thus
they advanced with a shout and in a throng, as if they were
about to overwhelm the Greeks.
60. Pausanias, when the cavalry pressed on him, having
dispatched a horseman to the Athenians with this message,
spoke as follows: " Men of Athens, when the mighty contest
lies before us, whether Greece shall be free or enslaved, we
are betrayed by the allies (both we Lacedaemonians and you
Athenians), who have fled away during the past night. It is
now, therefore, determined what we must henceforth do; for,
defending ourselves in the best manner we can,'we must support each other. Now, if the cavalry had attacked you first,
it would have behooved us and the Tegeans, who with us have
not betrayed Greece, to assist you; but now, since the whole
body has advanced against us, you ought in justice to come
to the succor of that division which is most hardly pressed.
If, however, any inability to assist has befallen you, you will
confer a favor on us by sending your archers to us. We are
aware of your being by far the most zealous in this present
war, so as in this instance to listen to our request."  61. When
the Athenians heard this, they prepared to assist, and to defend them to the utmost of their power; but as they were
already on their way, those of the Greeks who sided with the
king, that were arrayed against them, attacked them, so that
they were no longer able to render assistance; for the division
that pressed upon them harassed them. Thus the Lacedaemonians and Tegeans being left alone, the former with the
light-armed men, amounting in number to fifty thousand, and
the Tegeans to three thousand (for these last had never separated from the Lacedamronians), performed sacrifices, purposing to engage with Mardonius and the forces with him. But
as the victims were not favorable to them, many of them fell
during this interval, and many more were wounded; for the
Persians, having made a fence with their osier shields, let fly
a number of arrows so incessantly, that the Spartans being
hard pressed, and the victims continuing unfavorable, Pausanias, looking toward the temple of Juno of the Plataeans, invoked the goddess, praying that they might not be disappointed of their hopes.
62. While he was yet maling this invocation, the Tegeans,
starting first, advanced against the barbarians; and immedi



570                   HERODOTUS.                  [63-65.
ately after the prayer of Pausanias, the victims became favorable to the Lacedaemonians when they sacrificed.  When some
time had elapsed, they also advanced against the Persians, and
the Persians withstood them, laying aside their bows. First
of all a battle took place about the fence of bucklers; and
when that was thrown down, an obstinate fight ensued near
the temple of Ceres, and for a long time, till at last they came
to a close conflict; for the barbarians laying hold of the enemy's
spears, broke them. And, indeed, in courage and strength,
the Persians were not inferior; but, being lightly armed, they
were moreover ignorant of military discipline, and not equal
to their adversaries in skill; but rushing forward singly, or in
tens, or more or fewer in a body, they fell upon the Spartans
and perished.  63. In that part where Mardonius happened
to be, fighting from a white horse, at the head of a thousand
chosen men, the best of the Persians, there they pressed their
adversaries most vigorously; for as long as Mardonius survived they held out, and, defending themselves, overthrew many
of the Lacedaemonians; but when Mardonius had died, and
the troops stationed round him, which were the strongest, had
fallen, then the rest turned to flight, and gave way to the
Lacedaemonians.  Their dress, too, was particularly disadvantageous to them, being destitute of defensive armor; for being
light-armed, they had to contend with heavy-armed men. 64.
Here satisfaction for the death of Leonidas, according to the
oracle, was paid to the Spartans by Mardonius; and Pausanias, son of Cleombrotus, son to Anaxandrides, obtained the
most signal victory of all that we know of. (The names of
his earlier ancestors have been mentioned in the genealogy of
Leonidas; for they were the same.)  Mardonius died by the
hand of Aimnestus, a man of distinction at Sparta, who, some
time after the Medic affairs, at the head of three hundred men,
engaged at Stenyclerus with all the Messenians, there being
war; and he himself perished and his three hundred.  65. The
Persians at Platsea, when they were put to flight by the Lacedaemonians, fled in disorder to their own camp, and to the
wooden fortification which they had made in the Theban territory. It is a wonder to me that, when they fought near
the grove of Ceres, not one of the barbarians was seen to
enter into the sacred inclosure, or to die in it, but most fell
8 See B. VII. chap. 204.




C6c —9.]             CALLIOPE. IX.                  571
round the precinct in unconsecrated ground. I am of opinion,
ifit is allowable to form an opinion concerning divine things,
that the goddess would not receive them, because they had
burned her royal temple at Eleusis. Such was the issue of this
battle.
66. Artabazus, son of Pharnaces, from the very first had
disapproved of Mardonius being left by the king, and at that
time, though he strongly dissuaded him, he could not prevail,
urging him-not to engage. He therefore acted as follows, being displeased with the conduct of Mardonius. Those whom
Artabazus commanded (and he had no small force, but to the
number of forty thousand men with him), these, as soon as the
action commenced, well knowing what the result of the battle
would be, he drew up in order and advanced, having ordered
them to go where he should lead, whenever they should see
him advancing at a quick pace; having given this order, he
led his forces as if to join in the engagement; but being in ad,
vance of his troops, he discovered the Persians flying; whereupon he no longer led his forces in the same order, but fled
with all possible speed; neither toward the wooden fortification nor the walls of Thebes, but to the Phocians, wishing to
reach the Hellespont as soon as he could. These, then, took
that direction.  67. Although the rest of the Greeks in the
king's army behaved themselves ill on purpose, the Boeotians
fought with the Athenians for a considerable time; for those
Thebans who sided with the Mede displayed no little zeal,
fighting and not willingly behaving ill, so that three hundred
of them, the first and most valiant, fell there by the hands of
the Athenians; but when they also were put to flight, they
fled to Thebes, not as the Persians fled, and the whole throng
of the other allies, without having fought at all, or performed
any thing considerable.  68. And it is manifest to me that on
the side of the barbarians all depended on the Persians, since
the others, before they engaged with the enemy, fled at once,
because they saw the Persians flying. Accordingly, all fled
except the rest of the cavalry, and especially the Boeotian:
they so far assisted the fugitives, keeping constantly close to
them against the enemy, and separating their friends who were
flying from the Greeks.  69. The victors, however, followed,
pursuing and slaying the soldiers of Xerxes. In the midst of
this rout, news came to the rest of the Greeks, who were drawn




072                  HERODOTUS.                      [70.
up about the Heroeum, and were, absent from the battle, that
a battle had been fought, and Pausanias's party were victorious.  When they heard this, without observing any kind
of order, the Corinthians took the road that leads by the base
of the mountain and the hills direct to the temple of Ceres,
and the Megarians and the Phliasians the most level of the
roads across the plain. But when the Megarians and Phliasians were near the enemy, the Theban cavalry, seeing them
hurrying on without any order, charged them with the horse,
which Asopodorus, son of Timander, commanded; and having
fallen on them, they threw down and killed six hundred of
them, and pursuing the rest, drove them headlong to Mount
Cithaeron. Thus they perished Ingloriously.
70. The Persians and the rest of the throng, when they arrived in their flight at the wooden wall, mounted the towers
before the Lacedemonians came up, and having mounted it,
defended the wall in the best way they could; so that when
the Lacedsemonians arrived, a vigorous battle took place before the walls; for, so long as the Athenians were absent,
the barbarians defended themselves, and had much the advantage over the Lacedaemonians, as they were not skilled in
attacking fortifications; but when the Athenians came up,
then a vehement fight at the walls took place, and continued
for a long time. But at length the Athenians, by their valor
and constancy, surmounted the wall, and made a breach;
there, at length, the Greeks poured in. The Tegeans entered
first within the wall; and these were they who plundered the
tent of Mardonius, and among other things took away the
manger for the horses, all of brass, and well worth seeing:
this manger of Mardonius the Tegeans placed in the temple of
the Alean Minerva; but all the other things they took, they
carried to the same place as the rest of the Greeks.  The barbarians, when the wall had fallen, no longer kept in close
order, nor did any one think of valor; but they were in a
state of consternation, as so many myriads of men were inclosed within a small space; and the Greeks had such an easy
opportunity of slaughtering them, that of an army of three
hundred thousand men, except the forty thousand with which
Artabazus fled, not three thousand survived.  Of LacedaemonianA from Sparta, all that died in the engagement were
ninety-one; of Tegeans, sixteen; and of Athenians, fifty-two.




71-73.]             CALLIOPE. IX.                   573
71. Of the barbarians, the infantry of the Persians and the
cavalry of the Sacm most distinguished themselves, and Mardonius is said to have shown himself the bravest man.  Of the
Greeks, though the Tegeans and Athenians showed great
bravery, the Lacedamonians exceeded in valor. I can prove
this in no other way (for all these conquered those opposed to
them) except that they were engaged with the strongest part
of the enemy's army, and conquered them; and, in my opinion, Aristodemus proved himself by far the bravest; he, being
the only one of the three hundred saved from Thermopyle,
was held in disgrace and dishonor. After him, Posidonius,
Philocyon, and Amompharetus the Spartan, most distinguished
themselves. However, when it was debated which of them
had been the bravest, the Spartans who were present decided
that Aristodemus, evidently wishing to die on account of the
disgrace attached to him, and acting like a madman, and
leaving the ranks, had performed great deeds; but that Posidonius, not wishing to die, had shown himself a brave man,
and, therefore, that he was the better. Perhaps, however, they
may have said this through envy. All these that I have mentioned, except Aristodemus, of those that died in this battle,
were honored; but Aristodemus, wishing to die on account of
the before-mentioned guilt, was not honored. 72. These, then,
were they who acquired the greatest renown at Plataea; for
Callicratides died out of the battle, who came to the army the
handsomest man of the Greeks of that day, not only of the
Lacedaemonians themselves, but also of the other Greeks; he,
when Pausanias was sacrificing, was wounded in the side by
an arrow; and then they fought, but he being carried off, regretted his death, and said to Arimnestus, a Plataean, that he
did not grieve at dying for Greece, but at not having used his
arm, and at not having performed any deed worthy of himself, though he desired to perform it. 73. Of the Athenians,
Sophanes, son of Eutychides, of the borough of Decelea, is said
to have acquired great renown; of the Deceleans, who had
once performed an action that was beneficial for all future
time, as the Athenians themselves say; for in ancient time,
when the Tyndaridae entered the Attic territory with a numerous army in search of Helen, and drove out the people, not
knowing where Helen had been carried to, then they say that
the Deceleans, but some say that Decelus himself, being indig



574                  HERODOTUS.                  [74-76.
nant at the insolence of Theseus, and alarmed for the whole
country of the Athenians, discovered the whole matter to
them, and conducted them to Aphidnae, which Titucus, a native of the place, delivered up to the Tyndarida. In consequence of that action, the Deceleans in Sparta continue to enjoy immunity from tribute and precedence up to the present
time, so that in the war that occurred many years after these
events between the, Athenians and Peloponnesians, when the
Lacedaemonians ravaged the rest of Attica, they abstained from
Decelea.  74. Of this borough was Sophanes, and having at
that time distinguished himself above all the Athenians, he has
two different accounts given of him: one, that he carried an
iron anchor fastened by a brass chain from the girdle of his
cuirass, which, when he approached the enemy, he used to
throw out, in order that the enemy, rushing from their.ranks,
might not be able to move him from his position; and when
the flight of his adversaries took place, he determined to take
up the anchor and so pursue. Thus this account is given. But
the other account, varying from that before given, relates, that
on his shield, which constantly turned round and was never at
rest, he wore an anchor as a device, and not one of iron fastened from his cuirass.  75. There is also another splendid feat
done by Sophanes, for that when the Athenians invested JEgina, he challenged and slew Eurybates of Argos, who had been
victor in the pentathlum.  But some time after these events it
befell this Sophanes, who proved himself a brave man, as he
was commanding the Athenians jointly with Leagrus, son of
Glaucon, to die at the hands of the Edoni at Datus, as he was
fighting for the gold mines.
76. When the barbarians were overthrown by the Greeks
at Plataea, thereupon a woman came voluntarily over to them,
who, when she learned that the Persians had perished, and
that the Greeks were victorious, being a concubine of Pharandates, son of Theaspes, a Persian, having decked herself and
her attendants in much gold, and in the richest attire she had,
alighted from her carriage, and advanced toward the Lacedamonians, who were still employed in slaughter, and when
she observed that Pausanias directed every thing, having before become acquainted with his name and country, since she
had often heard of them, she knew it must be Pausanias, and
embracing his knees, spoke as follows: "King of Sparta, de



77, 78.]            CALLIOPE. IX.                   575
liver me, your suppliant, from  captive servitude; for you
have thus far benefited me by destroying these men, who
pay no regard either to gods or heroes. I am by birth a
Coan, daughter to Hegetorides, son of Antagoras.  The Persians, having taken me away by force at Cos, kept me."  He
answered as follows:' Lady, be'of good heart, both as a suppliant, and, moreover, if you have spoken the truth, and are
indeed the daughter of Hegetorides the Coan, who is the best
friend I have of all who dwell in those parts." Having thus
spoken, he committed her to the care of the ephori, who were
present, and afterward sent her to }Egina, where she herself wished to go. 77. Presently after the arrival of the lady,
the Mantineans came up when all was over, and, finding they
were come too late for the engagement, they considered it a
great calamity, and confessed that they deserved to be punished; but being informed that the Aledes with Artabazus
had fled, they wished to pursue them as far as Thessaly, but
the Lacedaemonians dissuaded them from pursuing the fugitives.
They, therefore, having returned to their own country, banished the generals of their army from the land. After the Mantineans came the Eleans; and the Eleans, in the same manner
as the Mantineans, considering it a calamity, marched away;
and they also, on their return home, banished their generals.
Such were the events relating to the Mantineans and Eleans.
78. In the camp of the JEginetae at Platsea was Lampon,
son of Pytheas, one of the most eminent of the 2Eginetse:
he, having a most iniquitous proposal to make, went to Pausanias, and, having come into his presence, spoke with earnestness as follows: "Son of Cleombrotus, a superhuman feat
has been achieved by you, both on account of its greatness
and splendor; and God has granted to you, by delivering
Greece, to acquire the greatest renown of all the Greoks
whom we know of; but do you complete what remains to be
done after this, in order that still greater fame may attend
you, and henceforth every barbarian may beware of attempting
to do wicked deeds against the Greeks; for when Leonidas
died at Thermopylae, Mardonius and Xerxes, having cut off
his head, fixed it on a pole. By requiting him in the same
manner, you will have praise first from all the Spartans, and
then from the rest of the Greeks; for by impaling Mardonius, you will avenge your uncle Leonidas.'.  He spoke thus,




576                  HERODOTUS.                  [79-81.
thinking to gratify Pausanias. 79. But he answered as fol.
lows: "}Eginetan friend, I admire your good intentions and
your foresight, but you have failed to form a right judgment;
for, having highly extolled me, my country, and my achievement, you have thrown all down again to nothing by advising
me to insult a dead body, ahd saying that if I do so I shall
increase my fame, which is more fit for barbarians to do than
Greeks, and which we abhor even in them; I can not, therefore, in this matter please the.Eginetae, nor those to whom
such things would be pleasing; it is sufficient for me to please
the Spartans, by doing'and speaking what is right. As for
Leonidas, whose death you exhort me to avenge, I affirm
that he has been amply avenged; both he and all the others
who fell at Thermopyla have been avenged by the countless
deaths of these men. However, do not you hereafter come
to me with such a proposal, nor give such advice; and be
thankful that you escape unpunished."  He, having received
this answer, went away.
80. Pausanias, having made proclamation that no one
should touch the body, commanded the helots to bring together all the treasures. They, accordingly, dispersing themselves through the camp, found tents decked with gold and
silver, and couches gilt, and plated and golden bowls, and cups
and other drinking vessels; they also found sacks on the wagons in which were discovered gold and silver caldrons; and
from the bodies that lay dead they stripped- bracelets, necklaces, and cimeters of gold; but no account at all was taken
of the variegated apparel.  Here the helots stole a great deal
and sold it to the JEginete, and they also produced a great
deal, such of it as they could not conceal; so that the great
wealth of the JEginetm hence had its beginning, for that they
purchased gold from the helots as if it had been brass. 81.
Having collected the treasures together, and taken from them a
tithe for the god at Delphi, from which the golden tripod was
dedicated which stands on the three-headed brazen serpent,
close to the altar, and having taken out a tithe for the god at
Olympia, from which they dedicated the brazen Jupiter, ten
cubits high, and a tithe to the god at the Isthmus, from which
was made the brazen. Neptune, seven cubits high; having
taken out these, they divided the rest, and each took the share
they were entitled to, as well the concubines of the Persians




82s-84.]             CALLIOPE. IX.                    577
as the gold, silver, and other treasures, and beasts of burden.
Now what choice presents were given to those who most distinguished themselves at Plataea is mentioned by no one, yet
I am of opinion that such presents were given to them; but
for Pausanias ten of every thing was selected and given himwomen, horses, talents, camels, and all other treasures in like
manner.  82. It is said also that the following occurred: that
Xerxes, flying from Greece, left all his own equipage to Mardonius; Pausanias, therefore, seeing Mardonius's equipage furnished with gold, silver, and various-colored hangings, ordered
the bakers and cooks to prepare a supper in the same manner
as for Mardonius; and when they being ordered had so done,
that Pausanias thereupon, seeing gold and silver couches handsoniely carved, and gold and silver tables, and magnificent preparations for the supper, being astonished at the profusion set
before him, in derision ordered his own attendants to prepare
a Laconian supper, and that when the repast was spread the
difference was great, and Pausanias, laughing, sent for the generals of the Greeks, and when they had assembled, Pausanias,,
pointing to each preparation for supper, said, "Men of Greece,
I have called you together for this reason, to show you the
folly of the leader of the Medes, who, having such fare as
this, has come to us, who have such poor fare, to take it from
us."  It is related that Pausanias said this to the generals of
the Greeks. 83. A considerable time after these events, many
of the Plateans found chests of gold and silver, and other precious things; and still later than this, the following also was
discovered, when the bodies were bared of flesh-for the Plataeans brought together the bones to one place-there was
found a skull without any seam, consisting of one bone; there
was also discovered a jaw, and the upper jaw had teeth growing in a piece, all in one bone, both the front teetk and the
grinders; there was likewise discovered the skeleton of a man
five cubits high.
84. The next day after, the body of Mardonius had disappeared; by whom removed I am unable to say for certain.  I
have indeed heard of many men and of various nations who
are said to have buried Mardonius, and I know that several
have received large presents from Artontes, son of Mardonius, for so doing; yet who of them it was that carried off
and buried the body of Mlardonius I am unable to ascertain
BB 




78                     I-HERIODOTUS.                [85-87
with certainty; however, Dionysiophanes, an Ephesian, is
commonly reported to have buried Mardonius.  Thus, then,
he was buried.  85. But the Greeks, when they had divided
the booty at Plataea, buried their own dead, each nation separately.  The Lacedamonians made three graves; there, then,
they buried the young officers,9 among whom were Posidonius, Amompharetus, Phylocion,, and Callicrates; accordingly, in one of the graves the young officers were laid; in another, the rest of the Spartans; and in the third, the helots:
thus they buried their dead.  The Tegeans buried all theirs together iq a separate spot, and the Athenians theirs in one
place, as also did the Megareans and Phliasians those that had
been destroyed by the cavalry.  Of all these, therefore, the
sepulchres were full, but of all the others whose sepulchres are
seen in Plattea, they, as I am informed, being ashamed of
their absence from  the battle, severally threw  up empty
mounds, for the sake of future generations.  For instance,
there is a sepulchre there called that of the  Eginetans, which,
I hear, Cleades, son of Autodicus, a Platoean, who was their
friend, threw up ten years after these events, at the request of
the AEginetans.
86. When the Greeks had buried their dead in Platsea, they
immediately determined, on consultation, to march against
Thebes, and to demand the surrender of those who had sided
with the Medes, and among the first of them  Timegenides
and Attaginus, who were the chief leaders, and if they should
not give them  up, they resolved -not to depart from the city
before they had taken it.  When they had determined on this,
they thereupon, in the eleventh day after the engagement, arrived and besieged the Thebans, requiring them  to give up
the men, and when the Thebans refused to give them  up,
they both ravaged the country and attacked the walls. 87.
As they did not cease damaging them, on the twentieth day
Timegenides spoke thus to the Thebans: " Men of Thebes,
since the Greeks have so resolved that they will not give over
besieging us until either they have taken Thebes or you have
delivered us up to them, let not the Boeotian territory suffer
any more on our account.  But if, being desirous of money,
9'Ilpvec were those wsho 1had attained their second year from boyhood, and now held a commanld. The MSS. read ipeac, "those who
held sacred offices."




88, 89.]             CALLIOPE. IX.                    579
they demand us as a pretense, let us give them  money from
the public treasury; for we sided with the Mede by general
consent, and not of ourselves alone. If, however, they carry'on the siege really because they want us, we will present ourselves before them to plead our cause."  He appeared to speak
well and to the purpose; and the Thebans immediately sent a
herald to Pausanias, expressing their willingness to surrender
the men.  88. When they had agreed on these terms, Attaginus escaped from the city, and his sons, who were brought
before him, Pausanias acquitted from the charge, saying that
boys could have no part in the guilt of siding with the Mede.
As to the others whom the Thebans delivered up, they thought
that they should be admitted to plead their cause, and, moreover, trusted to repel the charge by bribery; but he, as soon
as he had them in his power, suspecting this very thing, dismissed the whole army of the allies, and conducting the men
to Corinth, put them to death.  Such were the events at Plataea and Thebes.
89. In the mean time, Artabazus, son of Pharnaces, flying
from Plataa, was already at a considerable distance, and on
his arrival,among them, the Thessalians invited him to an
entertainment, and asked him news of the rest of the army,
knowing nothing of what had happened in Platexa.  But Artabazus, being aware that if he should tell the whole truth respecting the conflicts, both he and his army would be in danger of destruction, for he thought that every one would attack
him when informed of what had happened; considering this,
he told nothing to the Phocians, and to the Thessalians he
spoke as follows: " I, 0 men of Thessaly, as you see, am hastening my march to Thrace with the utmost expedition, and
am using all possible diligence, having been sent on certain
business with these forces from the army.   lardonius himself
and his army may be expected following close on my heels.
Entertain him also, and do him all the good offices you can;
for you will never have cause to repent of doing so."  Having said this, he marched his army with all speed through
Thessaly and Macedonia direct toward Thrace, making all the
haste he' could, and cutting across by the inland road.  At
last he reached Byzantium, having left many of his men behind, partly cut off by the Thracians on the march, and partly having to contend with hunger and fatigue.  From Byzan



580                   HERODOTUS.                  [90-9)2.
tium he crossed over in boats. Thus, then, he returned to
Asia.
90. On the same day on which the defeat at Platea occurred, another happened to take place in Mycale inIonia; for
while the Greeksl were.stationed at Delos, those. who had
gone there on shipboard with Leotychides the Lacedaemonian,
there came to them as embassadors from Samos, Lampon, son
of Thrasycleus, Athenagoras, son of Archestratides, and Hegesistratus, son of Aristagoras, being sent by the Samians, un-'known to the Persians and the tyrant Theomestor, son of Androdamas, whom  the Persians had made tyrant of Samos.
When they came to the generals, H-egesistratus used many and
various arguments, and that, " if only the Ionians should see
them, they would revolt from the Persians, and that the barbarians would not withstand them; or if they should withstand
them, the Greeks would not find any other such booty."  Invoking, too, their common gods, he besought them to deliver
Grecian men from servitude, and to repel the barbarian; and
he said "that this would be easy for them to do, for that their
ships sailed badly, and were not fit to fight with them; and,
if they suspected at all that they were leading them on deceitfully, they were themselves ready to go on board their ships as
hostages."  91. As the Samian stranger was earnest in his entreaties, Leotychides, either wishing to hear for the sake of the
presage, or by chance, the deity so directing it, asked, "O
Samian friend, what is your name?"  He answered, " Hegesistratus;" upon which he, interrupting the rest of his discourse, if Hegesistratus intended to add more, said, "I accept2
the Hegesistratus, my Samian friend; only do you take care
that before you sail away, both you yourself and those who
are with you pledge your faith that the Samians will be zealous allies to us."  92. He at the same time said this, and added the deed; for the Samians immediately pledged their faith
and made oath of confederacy with the Greeks; and having
done this, the others sailed home, but he ordered Hegesistratus to sail with the fleet, regarding his name as an omen. The
Greeks, therefore, having tarried that day, on the next sacrificed auspiciously, Deiphonus, son of Evenius, of Apollonia in
the Ionian gulf, acting as diviner.
1 See B. VIII. chap. 131, 132.
2 Iegesistratus means "leader of an army."




9S, 94.]            CALLIOPE. IX.                    581
93. The following incident befell his father, Evenius. There
are in this Apollonia sheep sacred to the sun, which by day
feed near the river that flows from Mount Lacmon through
the Apollonian territory into the sea, near the port of Oricus;
but by night, chosen men, the most eminent of the citizens for
wealth and birth, keep watch over them, each for a year; for
the Apollonians set a high value upon these sheep, in consequence of some oracle. They are folded in a cavern at a distance from the city. There, then, on a time, Evenius, being
chosen, kept Wratch, and one night, when he had fallen asleep
during his watch, wolves entered the cave and destroyed about
sixty of the sheep.  He, when he discovered what had happened, kept silence, and mentioned it to no one, purposing to
buy others, and put them in their place. This occurrence,
however, did not escape the notice of the Apollonians; but as
soon as they discovered it, having brought him to trial, they
gave sentence that, for having fallen asleep during his watch,
he should be deprived of sight. When they had blinded Evenius, from that time forward neither did their sheep bring forth,
nor did the land yield its usual fruit. An admonition was given them at Dodona and Delphi, when they inquired of the
prophets the cause of the present calamities: they told them
"that they had unjustly deprived Evenius, the keeper of the
sacred sheep, of his sight; for that they themselves had sent
the wolves, and. would not cease avenging him  until they
should give such satisfaction for what they had done as he
himself should choose, and think sufficient; and when they
had done this, the gods themselves would give such a present
*to Evenius, that most men would pronounce him happy from
possessing it."  94. This answer was delivered to them; and
the Apollonians, having kept it secret, deputed some of their
citizens to negotiate the matter; and they negotiated it for
them in the following manner. When Evenius was seated on
a bench, they went and sat down by him, and conversed on
different subjects, till at length they began to commiserate his
misfortune; and having in this way artfully led him on, they
asked "what reparation he would choose, if the Apollonians
were willing to give him satisfaction for what they had done."
HIe, not having heard of the oracle, made his choice, saying,
"If any one would give him the lands of certain citizens,"
naming those who he knew had the two best estates in Apol



582                  HERODOTUS.                  [95-97.
lonia; "and besides these a house," which he knew was the
handsomest in the city; "if put in possession of these," he
said, "he would thenceforth forego his anger, and this reparation would content him."  He accordingly spoke thus; and
those who sat by him, immediately taking hold of his answer,
said, " The Apollonians make you this reparation for the loss
of your eyes, in obedience to an oracle they have received."
He thereupon was very indignant, on hearing the whole
truth, as having been deceived; but the Apollonians; having
bought them from the owners, gave him what lhe chose; and
immediately after this, he had the gift of divination implanted
in him, so that he became celebrated.
95. Deiphonus, who was the son of this Evenius, the Corinthians having brought him, officiated as diviner to the army.
Yet I have heard this also, that Deiphonus, having assumed
the name of Evenius's son, let out his services for hire throughout Greece, though he was not really the son of Evenius. 96.
When, therefore, the sacrifices were favorable to the Greeks,
they got their ships under weigh from Delos for Samos; and
when they were off Calami of the Ionian territory, having
taken up their station there near the temple of Juno on that
coast, they made ready for an engagement. But the Persians,
being informed that they were sailing toward them, on their
part also got the other ships under weigh for the continent,
and permitted those of the Phoenicians to sail home; for,
on consultation, they determined not to come to an engagement by sea, because they thought they were not equal.
They therefore sailed away to the continent, that they might
be under the protection of their land-forces that were at Mycale, which, by the order of Xerxes, had been left behind by
the rest of the army, and guarded Ionia; their number was
sixty thousand; Tigranes commanded them, who surpassed
the Persians in beauty and stature. Under the protection of
this army the commanders of the navy resolved, having fled,
to draw their ships on shore, and to throw up a rampart, as
a defense for the ships, and a place of refuge for themselves.
97. Having taken this resolution, they got under weigh; and
having passed by the temple of the Eumenides in Mycale,
they came to the Gieson and Scolopois, where is a temple of
Eleusinian Ceres, which Philistus, son of Pasicles, built, who
accompanied Neleus, son of Codrus, for the purpose of found



98, 99.]             CALLIOPE. IX.                    583
ing Miletus: there they drew their ships on shore, and threw
up a rampart of stone and wood, having cut down the fruittrees, and around the rampart they drove in sharp stakes.
They made preparations to sustain a siege and to gain a victory, both one and the other, for they made their preparations
deliberately.
98.. The Greeks, when they learned that the barbarians had
gone to the continent, were vexed that they had escaped, and
were in doubt what to do, whether they should return home,
or sail to the Hellespont; at length they determined to do
neither of these, but to sail to the continent; having, therefore,
prepared for a sea-fight both boarding-ladders, and all other
things that were necessary, they sailed to Mycale. When
they were near the camp, and no one was seen ready to meet
them, but they beheld the ships drawn up within the fortification, and a numerous land-force disposed along the beach,
thereupon Leotychides, advancing first in a ship, and nearing
the beach as much as possible, made proclamation by a herald
to the Ionians, saying "Men ofIonia, as many of you as hear
me, attend to what I say, for the Persians will understand
nothing of the advice I give you. When we engage, it behooves every one first of all to remember Liberty; and next
the watch-word, Hebe; and let him who does not hear this,
learn it from those who do hear."  The meaning of this proceeding was the same as that of Themistocles at Artemisium;
for either these words, being concealed from the barbarians,
would induce the Ionians to revolt, or if they should be reported to the barbarians, would make them distrustful of the
Greeks.  99. Leotychides, having made this suggestion, the
Grecians in- the next place did as follows: putting their ships
to shore, they landed on the beach, and drew up in order of
battle. But the Persians, when they saw the Greeks preparing themselves for action, and  tewo that they had admonished
the Ionians, in the first place suspecting that the Samians
favored the Greeks, took away their arms; for wlen the
Athenian captives, whom, being left in Attica, the forces of
Xerxes had taken, arrived in the ships of the barbarians, having ransomed them  all, they sent them  back to Athens,
furnishing them with provisions for the voyage: on this account they were under no slight suspicion, having redeened
five hundred of the enemies of Xerxes.  In the next place,




584                  HERODOTUS.                [100-102.
the passes that lead to the heights of lycale they appointed
the Milesians to guard, because forsooth they were best acquainted with the country, but they did it for this purpose,
that they might be at a distance from the army. Those of the
Ionians, then, who they suspected might attempt something
new if they had the power, the Persians took such precautions
against; and they themselves brought their bucklers together,
to serve as a rampart.
100. When, therefore, the Greeks were prepared, they advanced toward the barbarians; and as they were marching, a
rumor flew through the whole army, and a herald's staff was
seen lying on the beach: the rumor that spread among them
was thi, that the Greeks had fought and conquered the army
of Mardonius in Bceotia. Thus the interposition of heaven is
manifest by many plain signs; since on this same day on
which the defeat at Platsea took place, and when that at Mycale was just about to happen, a rumor reached the Greeks in
this latter place, so that the army was inspired with much
greater courage, and was more eager to meet danger.  101.
There was also this other coincidence, namely, that there was
a temple of Eleusinian Ceres near both the engagements; for
at Platsea, as I have already said, the battle took place near
the temple of Ceres; and at Mycale it was about to happen
in like manner. The rumor that a victory had been 6btained
by the Greeks under Pausanias turned out to be correct; for
the battle of Plataea was fought while it was yet early in the
day, and that of Mycale toward evening; and that both happened on the same day of the same month, not long afterward
became manifest on inquiry. Before. the rumor reached them,
great alarm prevailed among them, not so much for themselves
as for the Greeks, lest Greece should stumble in the contest
with Mardonius. When, however, this report flew among
them, they advanced with greater readiness and alacrity. Accordingly, the Greeks and the barbarians hastened to the battle, as both the islands and the Hellespont were held out as the,
reward of victory.
102. The Athenians, and those who were drawn up next
them, forming about half the army, had to advance along the
shore over level ground; but the Lacedsemonians, and those
drawn up near them, along a ravine and some bills.so that
while the Lacedaemonians were making a circuit, those in the




103, 104.]           CALLIOPE. IX.                    585
other-wing were already engaged.. Now, so long as the bucklers of the Persians remained standing, they defended themselves strenuously, and had not the worst of the battle; but
when the Athenians and those next them, having mutually
encouraged one another, in order that the victory might belong to them, and not the Lacedaemonians, applied with more
vigor to the battle, then the face of affairs immediately
changed; for, having broke through the bucklers, they fell in
a body on the Persians; and they having sustained their attack and defended themselves for a considerable time, at last
fled to the fortification. The Athenians, Corinthians, Sicyonians, and Troezenians, for thus they were. drawn up in order,
following close upon them, rushed into the fortification at the
same time.  When, therefore, the fortification was taken, the
barbarians no longer thought of resisting, but all except the
Persians betook themselves to flight; they, in small detach,
ments, fought with the Greeks who were continually rushing
within the fortification; and of the Persian generals, two made
their escape, and two died. Artayntes and Ithramitres, commanders of the naval forces, escaped; but Mardontes and Tigranes, general of the land army, died fighting.  103. While
the Persians were still fighting, the Lacedaemonians and those
with them  came up and assisted in accomplishing the rest.
Of the Greeks themselves many fell on this occasion, both others, and especially the Sicyonians, and their general Perilaus.
The Samians, who were in the camp of the Medes, and had
been deprived of their arms, as soon as they saw the battle
turning, did all they could, wishing to help the Greeks; and
the rest of the Ionians, seeing the Samians lead the way, thereupon revolted from the Persians and attacked the barbarians.
104. The Milesians had been appointed to guard the passes
for the Persians, in order for their safety, to the end that, if
that should befall them which did befall them, they might,
having guides, get safe to the heights of Mycale. The Milesians accordingly had been appointed to this service for this
reason, and in order that, by being present in the army, they
might not form any new design.  They, however, did every
thing contrary to what was ordered, both guiding them  in
their flight by other ways which led to the enemy, and at last
themselves became most hostile in slaying them. Thus Ionia
B 2




586                   HERODOTUS.                 [105 —107.
revolted a second time3 from the Persians.  105. In this battle, of the Greeks the Athenians most distinguished themselves; and of the Athenians, Hermolycus, son of Euthynus,
who had practiced in the pancratium.  It befell this Hermolycus after these events, when there was war between the Athenians and the Carystians, to die fighting at Cyrnus of the Carystian territory, and to be buried at Geraestus.  After the
Athenians, the Corinthians, Troezenians, and Sicyonians distinguished themselves.  106. When the Grecians had killed
most of the barbarians, some fighting and others flying, they
burned the ships and the whole fortification, having first brought
out all the booty on the beach; and they found several chests
of money; and having burned the fortification and the ships,
they sailed away. The Greeks, having arrived at Samos, consulted about transplanting the Ionians, and in what part of
Greece, of which they themselves were masters, it would be
best to settle them, intending to leave Ionia to the barbarians;
for it was clearly impossible for them to protect and guard the
Ionians forever, and if they did not protect them, they had no
hope that the Ionians would escape unpunished by the Persians. Upon this it seemed expedient to the men of rank
among the Peloponnesians to remove the marts of the Grecian
nations that had sided with the Medes, and give their territory to the lonians to inhabit; but it did not appear at all expedient to the Athenians that the Ionians should be removed, or
that the Peloponnesians should give advice respecting their colonies.  However, as they opposed, the Peloponnesians readily
gave way; and accordingly they took into the alliance the Samians, Chians, Lesbians, and other islanders, who were then
serving with the Greeks, binding them by pledges and oaths
that they would remain firm and not revolt.  When they had
bound them by oaths, they set sail to destroy the bridges, for
they expected to find them still stretched across; accordingly,
they sailed to the Hellespont.
107. The barbarians who fled, and were shut up in the
heights of Mycale, not many in number, got. safe to Sardis.
But as they were marching, on their way, Masistes, son of
Darius, having been present at the defeat, uttered many hard
words to the general Artayntes; saying, among other things,
3 The Ionians were first subjugated by Harpagus (i. 164, &c.), afterward revolted (v. 28), and were again reduced (vi. 32).




108, 109.]          CALLIOPE. IX.                     587
that he was more cowardly than a woman for having commanded the army in such a manner, and that he deserved the
most extreme punishment for having brought mischief on the
king's house.  Now, among the Persians, to be called more
cowardly than a woman is the greatest affront; he, therefore,
when he heard a good deal, being exceedingly indignant,
drew his cimeter upon Masistes; but Xenagoras, son of Praxilaus, a Halicarnassian, who stood behind Artayntes, perceiving him rushing forward, seized him  round the middle,
and having lifted him up, threw him on the ground; and in
the mean while the guards of Masistes came to his assistance.
Xenagoras did this, thereby laying an obligation both' on Masistes himself and on Xerxes, by saving his brother, and for
this action Xenagoras received the government of all Cilicia
as the gift of the king. While they were marching on the
road, nothing more than this occurred, but they arrived at
Sardis.  At Sardis the king happened to be from the time
when he fled thither from Athens, after his failure in the seafight.
108. While he was at Sardis he fell in love with the wife of
Masiktes, who was also there; but when she could not be moved
by sending to solicit her, and he did not offer violence, out of
regard for his brother Masistes (and this same circumstance
restrained the woman, for she well knew that she would not
meet with violence); thereupon Xerxes, being shut out from
any other resource, brought about the marriage of his son
Darius with the daughter of this woman and Masistes; thinking that he should get possession of her if he did thus.  Having, therefore, concluded the marriage and performed the usual
ceremonies, he departed for Susa.  When he arrived there,
he introduced the wife of Darius into his own house; and
then his passion for the wife of Masistes ceased; and having
changed his inclinations, he fell in love, and succeeded, with
the wife of Darius, the daughter of Masistes: the name of this
woman was Artaynte. 109. In course of time the matter was
discovered in the following manner. Amestris, the wife of
Xerxes, having woven a large, various-colored, and beautiful
mantle, presented it to Xerxes, and he, being delighted, put
it on, and went to Artaynte. Being pleased also with her, he
bid her ask whatever she pleased as a reward for the favors
she had granted him, for that she should have whatever she




588              - HERODOTUS.                   [110, 111.
asked. Thereupon, for it was fated that misfortune should
befall the whole family by her means, she said to Xerxes,
"W ill you give me whatever I shall ask of you?"  He, imagining she would ask for any thing rather than what she did,
promised and swore; and she, when he had sworn, boldly
asked for the mantle. Xerxes used every expedient, not.
wishing to give it; for no other reason than that he was afraid
of Amestris, lest, having before suspected what was going on,
he should thus be detected; he therefore offered her cities,
and a vast quantity of gold, and an army, which no one but
herself should command; but an army is a common Persian
gift. However, as he could not persuade her, he gave her the
mantle; and she; being overjoyed with the present, wore it,
and prided herself in it; and Amestris was informed that she
had it. 110. Having learned what had been done, she was not
angry with the woman herself; but believing that her mother
was the cause, and that she had done this, she planned the
destruction of the wife of Masistes. Having, therefore, watched
the time when her husband Xerxes should give the royal
feast (this feast is prepared once a year, on the day on which
the king was born; and the name of this feast is, in the Persian language, "tycta," and in the Grecian language, "perfect;" and then only the king washes his head with soap,
and makes presents to the Persians), Amestris then, having
watched that day, asked Xerxes to give her the wife of Masistes. He considered it a dreadful and cruel thing first of
all to give up the wife of his brother, and next, one who was
innocent of what had taken place; for he understood why
she made this request.  111. At last, however, as she persisted, and being constrained by custom, for it is not allowed
for any petitioner to be denied when the royal feast is spread,
he therefore very reluctantly granted her request; and having
delivered the woman to her, he did as follows. He bade her
do what she pleased, and then, having sent for his brother,
spoke thus: "Masistes, you are the son of Darius, and my
brother, and, moreover, you are also a brave man. Cohabit,
then, no longer with the wife you now have; and instead of
her I will give you my own daughter. Cohabit with her; but
the wife whom you now have, as it does not seem well to me,
no longer retain."  Masistes, astonished at what was said,
answered, "Sire, what mischievous language do you hold to




1 i2-114.]           CALLIOPE. IX.                  589
me, bidding me put away a wife, by whom I have three young
sons, and daughters, of whom you have married one to your
own son, and this wife too is very much to my mind; you
bid me put away her and marry your own daughter?  I, however, O king, though I deem it a great honor to be thought
worthy of-your daughter, will do neither of these things,
and do not you use force in your desire to accomplish this
end. Some other man, not inferior to me, will be found for
your daughter, but let me cohabit with my own wife."  Such
was the answer he gave; but Xerxes in a rage replied, " Masistes, you have thus done for yourself; for neither will I
give you my daughter in marriage, nor shall you any longer
cohabit with your present one, that so you may learn to accept what is offered."  He, when he heard this, withdrew,
having said this much: " Sire, you have not yet taken away
my life."  112. In the intermediate time, while Xerxes was
in conference with his brother, Amestris, having sent for the
body-guards of Xerxes, mutilated the wife of Masistes: having cut off her breasts, she threw them to the dogs, and also
her nose, ears, and lips, and then, having cut out her tongue,
she sent her. home thus mutilated. 113. Masistes, who had
not yet heard any thing of this, but suspecting some evil had
befallen him, rushed home in great haste, and seeing his wife
utterly destroyed, he thereupon consulted with his sons, and
set out with them and some others for Bactria, designing to
induce the Bactrian district to revolt, and to do the king all
the mischief he could, which, in my opinion, would have
happened, if he had been beforehand in going up to the Bactrians and Sacae, for they were attached to him, and he was
governor of the Bactrians; but Xerxes, being informed of
his intentions, sent an army after him, and slew him and his
sons and his forces upon the way.  Such were the circumstances respecting the amour of Xerxes and the death of Masistes.
114. The Greeks having set out from Mycale toward the
Hellespont, being overtaken by a storm, anchored near Lectis, and from  thence they went to Abydos, and found the
bridges broken in pieces, which they expected to find stretched across, and'for this reason chiefly they came to the Hellespont. Upon this the Peloponnesians with Leotychides determined to sail back to Greece, but the Athenians and their




590                  IIERODOTUS.                 [115-117.
commander Xanthippus resolved to stay there and make an
attempt on the Chersonesus.  The former, therefore, sailed
away, but the Athenians, having crossed over from Abydos
to Chersonesus, besieged Sestos.  115. To this Sestos, as being the strongest fortress in these parts, when they heard that
the Greeks were arrived in the Hellespont, there came together men from other neighboring places, and among others
CEobazus, a Persian from Cardia, who had had all the materials of the bridges conveyed thither.  Native JEolians occupied it, and there were with them Persians, and a great body
of other allies. 116. Xerxes's viceroy Artayctes ruled over
this district, a Persian wicked and impious, who had even
deceived the king on his march to Athens by secretly taking
away from Elseus the treasures of Protesilaus, son of Iphiclus;
for in Elaus of the Chersonesus is a sepulchre of Protesilaus
and a.precinct around it, where were great treasures, both
gold and silver vessels, and brass, and robes, and other offerings, which Artayctes plundered by permission of the king.
By speaking as follows he deceived Xerxes: "Sire, there is
here the habitation of a certain Grecian, who, having carried
arms in your territories, met with a just punishment and perished.  Give me this man's house, that every one may learn
not to carry arms against your territory." By saying this he
would easily persuade Xerxes to give him the man's house, as
he had no suspicion of his intentions.  He said that Protesilaus
had carried arms against the king's territory, thinking thus:
the Persians consider that all Asia belongs to them and the
reigning monarch.  When, however, the treasures were granted, he carried them away from Eloaus to Sestos, and sowed part
of the precinct and pastured it, and whenever he went to
Elseus, he used to lie with women in the sanctuary.  At this
time he was besieged by the Athenians, neither being prepared for a siege nor expecting the Greeks, so that they fell
upon him somewhat unawares.  117. But when autumn came
on, as they were engaged in the siege, and the Athenians were
impatient at being absent from their own country, and not
able to take the fortification, they besought their leaders to
take them back; they, however, refused, until either they
should take the place, or the people of Athens should recall
them; accordingly, they acquiesced in the present state of
things.




118-121.]            CALLIOPE. IX.                    591
118.'In the mean while, those who were within the fortification were reduced to the last extremity, so that they boiled
and ate the cords'of their beds; and when they had these no
longer, then.the Persians, and Artayctes, and CEobazus made
their escape by night, descending by the back of the fortification, where it was most deserted by the enemy. When it was
day, the Chersonesians from the towers made known to the
Athenians what had happened, and opened the gates; and
the greater part of them went in pursuit, but some took possession of the city. 119. As CEobazus was fleeing into Thrace,
the Aspinthian Thracians seized him, and sacrificed him to
llistorus, a god of the country, according to their custom;
but those who were with him they slaughtered in another
manner.  Those with Artayctes, who had taken to flight the
last, when they were overtaken a little above zEgos-Potami,
having defended themselves for a considerable time, some were
killed, and others taken alive, and the Greeks, having put them
in bonds, conveyed them to Sestos; and with them they took
Artayctes bound, himself and his son.  120. It is related by
the Chersonitse that the following prodigy occurred to one of
the guards as he was broiling salt fish; the salt fish lying on
the fire leaped and quivered like fish just caught; and the persons who stood around were amazed; but Artayctes, when he
saw the prodigy, having called the man who was broiling the
salt fish, said, " Athenian friend, be not afraid of this prodigy,
for it has not appeared to you; but Protesilaus, who is in
Elseus, intimates to me, that, though dead and salted, he has
power from the gods to avenge himself on the person that has
injured him. Now, therefore, I wish to make him reparation,
and instead of the riches which I took out of his temple, to
repay one hundred talents to the god; and for myself and my
children, I will pay one hundred talents to the Athenians if
I survive."  By offering this, he did not persuade the general,
Xanthippus; for the Elaeans, wishing to avenge Protesilaus,
begged that he might be put to death, and the mind of the
general himself inclined that way.  Having, therefore, conducted him to that part of the shore where Xerxes bridged
over the pass, or, as others say, to a hill above the city of
Madytus, they nailed him to a plank and hoisted him aloft,
and his son they stoned before the eyes of Artayctes. 121.
Having done these things, they sailed back to Greece, taking




592                  HERODOTUS.                     [122.
with them other treasures and the materials of the'bridges, in
order to dedicate them in the temples; and during this year
nothing more was done.
122. Artembares, the grandfather of this Artayctes who
was hoisted aloft, was the person who originated a remark
which the Persians adopted and conveyed to Cyrus, in these
terms: " Since Jupiter has given the sovereign power to the
Persians, and among men to you, O Cyrus, by overthrowing
Astyages; as we possess a small territory, and that rugged,
come, let us remove from this, and take possession of another,
better. There are many near our confines, and many at a
distance. By possessing one of these, we shall be more
admired by most men; and it is right that those who bear
rule should do so; and when shall we have a better opportunity than when we have the command of many nations, and
of all Asia?" Cyrus having heard these words, and not admiring the proposal, bade them do so; but when he bade them,
he warned them to prepare henceforward not to rule, but to be
ruled over; for that delicate men spring from delicate countries,
for that it is not given to the same land to produce excellent
fruits and men valiant in war. So that the Persians, perceiving their error, withdrew and yielded to the opinion of Cyrus;
and they chose rather to live in a barren country and to
command, than to cultivate fertile plains and be the slaves
of others.




INDEX.
An&, a city of Phocis, with a temple of  AEa, a city of Colchis, i. 2; vii. 198, 197.
Apollo, i. 46; viii. 27, 83, 134.   ~      Eaces, s6n of Syloson, and father of PolyAbantes, a people who migrated from  I u-    crates, iii. 39;' vi. 13.
bcea to lonia, i. 146.                   ZLEaces, son of Syloson, and tyrant of. SaAbaris, a Hyperborean, iv. 36.                 mos, iv. 188; vi. 13, 25.
Abdera, a town in Thrace, i. 168; vi. 46; _Eacidse, viii. 64.
vii. 109, 126; viii. 120.                  Etacus of JEgina, vi. 35.
Abrocomes, son of Darius, vii. 224.          ffEga, a city of Pallene, vii. 123.
Abronychus, an Athenian, son of Lysicles,  -Ege, in Achaia, i. 145.
viii. 21.                                  Egese, a city of Eolis, i. 149.
Abydoni, the, vii. 44.                       l[Egean sea, iv. 85.
Abydos, a city on the Asiatic side of the  e.galeos, a mountain in Attica, viii. 90.
Hellespont, where Xerxes threw over./Egeus, son of0iolycus, iv. 149.
the bridge of boats, v. 117; vii. 32, 33,  _Egeus, son of Pandion, i. 173.
34, 43, 174.                              _Egialees, Pelasgians, vii. 94.
Acanthians, the, vii. 22, 117.             Itgialeus, son ofAdrastus, v. 68.
Acanthus, a city of Macedonia, vi. 44; vii.  JEgicores, son of Ion, v. 66.
116.                                       AEgidee, a tribe in Sparta, iv. 149.
Acarnania, in Epirus, ii. 10.               Eigila, or Augila, in Libya, iv. 172.
Aceratus, a prophet at Delphi, viii. OT.    iEgileans, v. 68.
Aces- a river in Asia, iii. 117.             JEgilia, an island of the Styreans in EuAchseans, twelve states of, i. 145; viii. 73.    boea, vi. 107-in Eretria, vi. 101.
AchEeans, of Phthiotis, vii. 132, 197.       _gina, daughter of Asopus, v. 80.
Achaemenes, son of Darius, iii. 12; vii. 7, JEgina, the island of, viii. 41, 46.
97, 236.                                  /Eginete, iii. 59; iv. 152; v. 80-89; vi.
Achaemenes, father of Teispes, and ances-    49, 50, 73, 85, 92; vii. 145; viii. 46, 74,
tor of Darius, vii. 11.                     93, 122; ix. 28, 79, 85.
Achemnenidae, the royal family of the Per- _Egira, a city of Achaia, i. 145.
sians, i. 125; iii. 65.                   YEgiroessa, a city of JEolia, i. 149.
Achaia, of the Peloponnesus, i. 145; of  tEgis of Minerva, iv. 180, 189.
T'hessaly, vii. 173; viii. 36.            iEgium, a city of Achaia, i. 145.
Achelous., a river of _tolia, ii. 10; vii.  JEgli, a people of Asia, iii. 92.
126.                                       _ESgos Potami, ix. 119.
Acheron, a river of Thesprotia in Epirus,' -Agyra, a city of Achaia, i. 145.
v. 92, (T.); viii. 47..    Aeinnestus, a Spartan, ix. 68.
Achilleian  Course, a district near the  /Enea, a town in Macedonia, vii. 123.
Borysthenes in Scythia, iv. 55, 76.       AEnesidemus, son of Patacus and father of
Achilleium, a town near Sigeum  in the    Theron, vii. 154,165.
Troad, v. 94.                             AEnus, a city of Thrace, iv. 90; vii. 58.
Acrsephia, a city in Bceotia, viii. 135.      Enyra, a district of Thrace, vi. 47.
Acrisius, father of Danae, vi. 53.            Eoolia, a region of Asia Minor, v. 128.
Acrothoon, a town on Mount Athos, vii. 22. JEolian cities, i. 149, 151; viii. 35.
Adicran, an African king, iv. 159.           XEolians, i. 6, 26, 28, 141; ii. 1, 90; v. 94,
Adimantus, father of Aristeas of Corinth,    122; vii. 95; ix. 115.
vii. 137.                                  A olis, vii. 176.
Adimantus, son of Ocytus of Corinth, viii. JEolus, father of Athamas, vii. 197.
5, 59, 61, 94.                     ~       Eorpata, or Oiorpata, Scythian name of
Adrastus, son of Gordius, and grandson of    the Amazons, iv. 110.
Midas, i. 35, 41, 43, 45.                  Aeropus, father of Echemus, ix. 26.
Adrastus, king of Sicyon, v. 67, 68.         Aeropus, fither of Alcetas and son of
Adria, in Italy, i. 163; v. 9.                 Philip, viii. 139.
Adrimachidse, a people of Libya, iv. 168. Aeropus, descendant of Temenus, viii. 187.




594.                                  INDEX..Esanius, father of Grinus, iv. 150.        Aleium, a plain of Cilicia. vi. 95.
yEschines, son of Nothon, vi, 100.          Aletes, v. 92, (2.).
AEschreas, father of Lycomedes, viii. 11.    Aleaclde, Thessalian chiefs, vii. 6, 130,
/Eschrionians, a tribe in Samos, iii. 26.     172; ix. 58.,Eschylus, the poet, ii. 156.               Alexander, king of Macedonia, v. 19, 20,
AEsop, the fabulist, ii. 134.                 22; vii. 137, 173; viii. 121, 136, 139, 140;
AEthiopia, ii. 22, 29, 100, 110; iii. 114.    ix. 44, 45.
Ethiopians, ii. 29, 30, 32,104; iii. 17-25,  Alexander, son of Priam, i. 3; ii. 11 —117.
94, 97; iv, 183, 197; vii: 69, 70, 79.    Alilat, Arabian Urania, iii. 8.
Action, son of Echecrates, v. 92, (2.).     Alitta, the Venus of the Arabians, ii. 131.
XEtolia, vi. 127.                           Alopecse, a village in Attica, v. 63.
Africa, ii. 26, 32; iv. 17, 41, 42. 44. See  Alpeni, a town near Thermopylae, vii. 176,
Libya.                                      229.
Ageus, an Elian, father of Onomastus, vi. Alpheus, and Maron, vii. 227.
127.                                      Alpis, a liver falling into the Ister, iv. 49.
Agamemnon, i, 67; vii. 159.                 Alus, a city of Thessaly, vii. 173, 197.
Ag'arista, daughter of Clisthenes, vi. 126, Alyattes, king of Sardis, i. 16-22, 25, 73,
127, 130, 131.                              74, 91, 92.
Agarista, mother of Pericles, vi. 131.      Amasis, king of Egypt, i. 30, 77, 181; ii.
Agasicles, of Halicarnassus, i. 144.          154, 161-163, 169, 172~-176, 178, 181,
Agathyrsi, a Scythian people, iv. 49, 100,    182: iii. 1, 10, 16, 389-43, 47.
102,103, 125.                             Amasis, a Persian general, iv. 167, 201,
Agathyrsus, son of Hercules, iv. 10.          203.
Agbalus, father of Merbalus, vii. 98.       Amathus, a city of Cyprus, v. 104-108.
Agbatana, see Ecbatana.                     Amathusians, v. 104, 114.
Agenor, father of Cilix, a Pheenician, vii. Amazons, in Scythia, iv. 110-117, 193;
91.                                         ix. 27.
Agesilaus, son of Doryssus, vii. 204.       Amestlis, wife of Xerxes, vii. 61, 114; ix.
Agesilaus, son of Hippocratides, viii. 131.    108, 111.
Agetus, son of Alcides, vi. 61, 62.         Amiantus, vi. 127.
Agis, father of Menares, vi. 65.            Amilcar, king of Carthage, vii. 165-167.
Agis, king of Sparta, vii. 204.             Aminias, an Athenian captain, viii. 84, 87,
Aglauros, daughter of Cecrops, viii. 53.      93.
Aglomachus, of Cyrene, iv. 164.             Aminocles of Sepias, vii. 190.
Agora, a town of Thrace, vii. 58.           Amitres, or Ithamitres, a Persian general,
Agrianes, v. 16.                              viii. 130.
Agrianis, a river of Thrace, iv. 90.        Ammon, a Libyan oracle, i. 46; ii. 32, 55.
Agrigentines, a people of Italy, vii. 170.    Ammonians, a Libyan people, ii. 32, 42;
Agron, king of Sardis, i. 7.                  iii. 25, 26; iv. 181, 185.
Agyllseans, i. 167.                         Amompharetus, a Spartan, ix. 53-57, 71,
Ajax, father of Philheus, vi. 35.             85.
Ajax, son of Telapon, v. 66; viii. 64, 121. Amorges a Persian general, i. 121.
Alabanda, a city of Plrygia, viii. 136.     Ampe, a city on the Red Sea, vi. 20.
Alabandians, a people of Caria, vii. 195.    Ampelus, a promontory of Torone, vii. 122.
Alalia, a city of Corsica, i. 165.          Amphiaraus, father of Amphilochus, iii.
Alarodians, a people of Pontus, iii. 94;   91.
vii. 79.                                  Amphiaraus, his oracular temple at Thebes,
Alazir, king of Barca, iv. 164.               i. 46, 49, 52; viii. 134.
Alazones, a Scythian nation, iv. 17, 52.    Amphicke, a city of Phocis, viii. 33.
Alcseus, the poet, v. 95.                   Amphicrates, king of Samos, iii. 59.
Alcseus, son of Hercules, i. 7.             Amphictyons, seat and council of, ii. 180;
Alcamenes, son of Telecles, vii. 204.         v. 62; vii. 208, 21^, 228.
Alcetes, father of Amyntas, viii. 39.       Amphilochus, son of Amphiaraus, iii. 91;
Alcibiades, father of Clinias, viii. 17.      vii. 91.
Alcides, father of Agetus, vi. 61.          Amphilytus, a seer, i. 62.
Alcimachus, father of Euphorbus, vi. 101.  Amphimnestus, of Epidamnus, vi. 127.
Alcinor and Chromius, Argives, i. 82.       Amphion, of Corinth, v. 92.
Alcmaeon, father of Megacles, i. 59.        Amphipolis, v. 126; vii. 114.
Alcmaeon, son of Megacles; vi. 125, 127.   Amphissa, a city of the Locrians, viii. 82.
Alcmseonidse, the, i. 61, 64; v. 63, 66, 69-  Amphitryon, father of Hercules, ii. 40; v.
73; vi. 121-181.                            59; vi. 53.
Alcmena, mother of Hercules, ii. 43, 145.   Ampracia, a city of Epirus, viii. 47; ix.
Alcon, a Molossian, vi. 127.                  28, 31.
Aleades, v. Cleades.                        Amyntas, son of Alcetas, v. 17-21, 94; vii.
Alea Minerva, a temple of Tegea, i. 66;   173; viii. 136, 139.
ix. 70.                                   Amyntas, son of Bubares, viii. 136.




INDEX.                                     595
Amyrgian Scythians, vii. 64.                Apidanns, a river of Thessaly, vii. 129, 196.
Amyris, called the sage, vi. 127.            Apis, an Egyptian god, ii. 153; iii. 27.
Amyrtieus, king of Egypt, ii. 140; iii. 15, Apollo, the Egyptian Orus, ii. 83, 144,155,
16.                                          156; iv. 15, 158; vii. 26. Ismenian, i.
Amytheon, father of Melamphus, ii. 49.         52,92; v. 59. Ptoan, viii. lo5. Scythian,
Anacharsis, a Scythian sage, iv. 46, 76, 77.   iv. 59; Triopian, i. 144.
Anacreon, the poet, iii. 121.                Apollonia on the Euxine, iv. 90.
Anactorians, of Epirus, ix. 28, 65.          Apollonia on the Ionian gulf, ix. 92, 93.
Anaphes, leader of the Cissians, vii. 62.    Apollophanes, father of Bisaltes, vi. 26.
Anaphlystus, a village of Attica, iv. 99.    Apries, king of Egypt, ii. 161, 169; iv. 159.
Anama, a city of Phrygia, vii. 30.           Apsinthians, or Absinthians, a people of
Anaxagoras, i. 103; ii. 21; iii. 108.          Thrace, vi. 84; ix. 119.
Anaxander, son of Eurycrates, vii. 204.    Apulia, iii. 138; iv. 99.
Anaxandrides, king of Sparta, i. 67; v.  Arabia, ii. 8,12; iii. 107,112; iv. 39; vii. 69.
89-41; vii. 204, 205.                     Arabians, i. 198; iii. 8, 9, 86, 88, 97; vii.
Anaxandrides, son of Theopompus,viii. 131.    69, S6.
Anaxilaus, son of Archidamus, viii. 131.    Arabian gulf, i. 11; iv. 39.
Anaxilaus, tyrant of Rhegium, vi. 23; vii.  Aratus, a river of Scythia, iv. 48.
165.                                      Araxes, a river of Scythia, i. 126, 202, 205;
Anchimolius, a Spartan, v. 63.                 iii. 86; iv. 11, 40.
Andreas, ancester of Clisthenes, vii. 126.   Arcadians, i. 66, 146; ii. 171; v. 49; vi.
Andrians, viii. 66, 111.                       74; vii. 202; viii. 26, 73.
Androbulus, father of Timon, vii. 161.      Arcesilaus, son of Battus, iv. 159.
Androcrates, a hero, ix. 25.                 Arcesilaus, son of Battus the lame, iv. 162.
Androdamas, father of Theomestor, viii.  Archander, son of Acheus, ii. 98.
85; iX. 90.                               Archander, a city in Egypt, ii. 97.
Andromeda, wife of Perseus, vii. 61, 150.   Archelseans, a tribe of Sicyon, v. 68.
Androphagi, iv. 18, 102, 106, 119, 125.      Archelaus, of Sparta, vii. 204.
Androsphinxes, ii. 175.                      Archestratidas, a Samian, ix. 90.
Andros, one of the Cyclades, iv. 33; v. 31,  Archias, a Spartan, iii. 55.
33; viii. 111.                            Archias, a Samian, iii. 55.
Aneristus, father of Sperthias, vii. 134.   Archidamus, of Sparta, viii. 131.
Aneristus, son of Sperthias, vii. 137.       Archidice, a courtesan, ii. 135.
Angites, a river flowing into the Strymon,  Archilochus, a Parian poet, i. 12.
vii. 113.                                 Ardelicca, a town of Assyria, i. 185.
Angrus, a river of Illyria, iv. 49.         Ardericca, a town in Cissia, vi. 114.
Anopsea, a mountain path at Thermopylse,  Ardys, king of Sardis, i. 15.
vii. 216.                                 Areopagus, viii. 52.
Antacseus, a fish, iv. 53.                  Argadas, son of Ion, v. 66.
Antagoras, of Coos, father of HIegetorides,  Argseus, king of Macedonia, viii. 139.
ix. 76.                                   Arganthonius, king of Tartessus, i. 163.
Antandrus, a city of Troas, v. 26; vii. 42.   Arge and Opis,IIyperborean virgins, iv. 38,
Anthela, a city near Thermopylae, vii. 176,  Argia, wife of Aristodemus, vi. 52.
200.                                      Argilus, a city of Bisaltia, vii. 115.
Anthemus, a city of Macedonia, v. 94.       Argiopius, near the Asopus, ix. 57.
Anthylla, a city of Egypt, ii. 98.          Argippsei, a people bordering on Scythia,
Antichares, an Elian, v. 43.                  iv. 2o.
Anticyra, a city ofThessaly, vii. 198.      Argives, people of Peloponnesus, i. 61, 82;
Antidorus, a Lemnian, viii. 11.               iii. 131; v. 86; vi. 78, 83, 92, 93; vii.
Antiochus, father of Tisamenes, ix. 33.       148-152; ix. 27, 35.
Antipater, a Thasian, vii. 118.             Argo, the ship of Jason, iv. 179; vii. 193.
Antiphemus, general of the Lindians, vii.  Argolis, in Peloponnesus, i. 82.
153.                                      Argonauts, companions of Jason, i. o; iv.
Anysis, king of Egypt, ii. 137, 140.          145, 179.
Anysis, a city of Egypt, ii. 137, 166.      Argos, city of Peloponnesus, i. 1; v. 67;
Anysus, father of Tetramnestus, vii. 98.      vi. 83; vii. 150.
Aparytes, a people of Asia, iii. 91.        Argus, a hero, vi. 80.
Apaturian festival, i. 147.                 Ariabignes, son of Darius, vii. 97; viii. 89.
Aphetse, a port of Magnesia, vii. 193; viii.  Ariantas, a Scythian king, iv. 81.
4, 6.                                     Ariapithes, a Scythian king, iv. 76, 78.
Aphidnse, a town of Attica, viii. 125; ix. 73.  Ariaramnes, a Persian, viii. 90.
Aphrodisias, an island on the coast of  Aridolis, tyrant of Alabanda, vii. IS'.
Libya, iv. 169.                           Arians, a people of Asia, iii. 93.  Ancient
Aphthis, a district in Egypt. ii. 166.        name of the Medes, vii. 62, 66.
Aphytis, a city of Pallene, vii. 123.       Arimaspians, a people of northern Europe,
Apia, a Scythian divinity, iv. 59.            iii. 116; iv. 13.




596                                   INDEX.
Arimnestus, a Platsean, ix. 72.             Artayctes, a Persian general, vii. 88, 78;
Ariomardus, general of the Caspians,vii.6T.   ix. 116, 118-120.
Ariomardus, son of Darius, vii. 78.         Artaynta, niece of Xerxes, ix. 108.
Arion, a poet, i. 23, 24.                   Artayntes, a Persian admiral, viii. 130; ix.
Ariplhron, father of Xantippus, vi. 131,    102,107.
134; vii. 83; viii. 131.                  Artazostra, daughter of Darius, vi. 43.
Arisba, a city of Lesbos, i 151.            Artembares, a Mede, i. 114-116.
Aristagoras,.tyrant of Cyme, iv. 138; v. Artembares, a Persian, ix. 122.
87, 38.                                   Artemisia, queen of Halicarnassus, vii.
Aristagoras, of Cyzicus, iv. 183.              99; viii. 68, 87, 88, 98. 101-108.
Aristagoras, tyrant of Miletus, v.  0 —51, Artemisium, a port of Eubcea, iv. 35, vii.
94, 98, 100, 124, 126; vii. 8.              175, 176, 195; viii. 9-11, 14-17.
Aristagoras, father of Hegesistratus, ix. 90. Artimpasa, Scythian Venus, iv. 59.
Aristeas, apoet of Proconnesus, iv. 13-15.  Artiscus, a Scythian river, iv. 92.
Aristeas, a Cprinthian, vii. 137.          Artochmes, son-in-law of Darius, vii. 73.
Aristides, the' Just, an Athenian, vii. 79, Artontes, father of Bagseus, iii. 128.
82; viii. 79, 81, 95; ix. 28.             Artontes, son of Mardonius, ix. 84.
Aristocrates, father of Casambus, vi. 73.    Artybius, a Persian commander, v. 108,
Aristocyprus, king of Solias, v. 113.         110.
Aristodemus, king of Sparta, iv. 147; vi. Artyntes, a Persian general, vii. 67; viii.
25; vii. 04; viii. 121.                     180.
Aristodemus, a Spartan,vii. 229, 231; ix. 71.  Artyphius, brother of Ariomardus, vii. 66,
Aristodicus, of Cyme, i. 158, 159.            67.'Aristogiton and Harmnodius, v. 55; vii. Artystone, daughter of Cyrus, iii. 88; vii
109, 120.                                   69.
Aristolaides, an Athenian, i. 59.           Aryandes, prefect of Egypt, iv. 166, 167,
Aristomachus, father of Aristodemus, vi.   200.
52; vii. 204; viii. 131.                  Aryenis, daughter of Alyattes, i. 74.
Ariston of Byzantium, iv. 138.              Asbystse, a Libyan people, iv. 170.
Ariston, king of Sparta, i. 67; vi. 61-63, 69.  Ascalon, a city of Palestine, i. 105.
Aristonice, the Pythian, vii. 140.          Asia, -wife of Prometheus, iv. 45.
Aristonymus of Sicyon, vii. 126.            Asia, geography of, iv. 87-40.
Aristophantus, father of Cobon, vi. 66.     Asian tribe at Sardis, iv. 45.
Aristophilides, king of Tarentum, iii. 136. Asias, son of Cotys, iv. 45.
Arizanti, a Median tribe, i. 101.           Asinarius, vi. 68.
Arizus, a Persian prince, vii. 82.          Asine, a city of Peloponnesus, viii. 73.
Armenians, i. 194; iii. 98; v. 49; vii. 78. Asonides, a captain of Egina, vii. 181.
Armenius, Mount, i. 72.                     Asopians, a people of Boeotia, ix. 15.
Arpoxais, ancestor of the Scythians, iv. 5, 6. Asopodorus, a Theban commander, ix. 69.
Arsamenes, son of Darius, vii. 68.          Asopus, a river of Boeotia, vi. 108; vii.
Arsames, grandfather 6f Darius, i. 209;    199, 200, 216; ix. 15, 29, 43, 51.
vii. 11, 224.                             Aspathines, a Persian prince, iii. 70, 78;
Arsanes, son of Darius, vii. 68.              vii. 97.
Artabanus, uncle of Xerxes, iv. 83; vii. 10, Assa, a city of Mount Athos, vii. 122.
11, 17, 46 —5, 66, 67, 75.                Assesus, atown of the Milesians, i. 19.
Artabates, a Persian, vii. 65.              Assyria, i. 102, 106, 177; ii. 17; iv. 89.
Artabazanes, eldest son of Darius, vii. 2.   Assyrians, i. 95, 102, 103, 106, 177; ii. 141;
Artabazus, a Persian general, vii. 66; viii.    vii. 62, 63.
126-129; ix. 41, 66, 89.                  Astacus, father of Melanippus, v. 67.
Artace, a city oflthe Propontis, iv.14; vi. 33. Aster, father ofAnchimolius, v. 63.
Artachsees, a Persian general, vii. 117, 122. Astrabacus, a hero of Sparta, vi. 69.
Artachreus, father of Artayntes, viii. 180.   Astyages, king of the Medes, i. 46, 78-75,
Artachmeus, father of Otaspis, vii. 63.       107, 108, 123, 127-130, 139.
Artaeans, ancient name of the Persians, vi.  Asychis, king of Egypt, ii. 136.
98; vii. 61.                              Atarantes, a Libyan people, iv. 184.
Artseus, father of Artachseus, vi. 22.      Atarbechis, a city of Egypt, ii. 141.
Artceus, father of Azanes, vii. 66.         Atarneus, or Atarnea, a city and territory
Artanes, brother of Darius, vii. 224.         of Mysia, i. 160; vi. 28, 29; vii. 42; viii.
Artanes, a river of Thrace, iv. 49.           106.
Artaphernes, brother of Darius, v. 23, 25, Atarnes, a river of Thrace, iv. 49.
80 —2, 73, 100, 123; vi. 1, 4.            Athamas, son of Eols, vii. 197.
Artaphernes, son of Artaphernes, Persian  Athenades, a Trachinian, vii. 213.
general at Marathon, vi. 94, 116; vii. 10, Athenagoras, a Samian, ix. 90.
74.                                       Athens and Athenians, passim.
Artaxerxes, son of Xerxes, vi. 98; vii. 106,  Athos, Mount, vi. 44, 95; vii. 21, 22.
151.                                      Athribis, a district in Egypt, ii. 166.




INDEX.                                   597
Athrys, a liver of Thrace, iv. 49.        Belus, father of Ninus, i. 7.
Atlantes, or Atarantes, a people of Libya, Belus, father of Cepheus, vii. 61.
iv. 184.                                Bermion, a mountain of Macedonia, viii.
Atlantic Sea, i. 102.                        138.
Atlas, a liver of Mount H1emus, iv. 49.    Bessians, interpreters of Bacchus, vii. 211.
Atlas, Mount, iv. 184.                     Bias of Priene, i. 27, 170.
Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, iii. 68, 88, 183, Bias, brother of Melampus, ix. 84.
134; vii. 2, 3.                         Bisaltes, son of Apollophanes, vi. 26.
Atramytteum, or Adramyttium, a town of  Bisaltia, a region of Macedonia, vii. 115;
Troas, vii. 42.                           viii. 116.
Atridse, the sons of Atreus, vii. 20.     Bisanthe, a city of the Hellespont, vii.
Attaginus, a Theban, ix. 15, 86, 88.'       17.
Attica, i..59; v. 76; ix. 13.             Bistones, a people of Thrace, vii. 110.
Attic people, i. 56; v. 87; vi. 138.       Bistonis, a lake, vii. 109.
Atys, king of Sardis, i. 7, 94; vii. 27, 74.   Bithynia, a province of Asia Minor, i. 28.
Atys, son of Crcesus, i. 34-43.           Bithynians, vii. 75.
Auchatse, a family of Scythians, iv. 6.   Biton, and Cleobis, Argives, i. 31.
Augila, a country of Libya, iv. 172, 182.   Bcebeis, a lake of Thessaly, vii. 129.
Auras, a liver of Mount Hasmus, iv. 49.    Bceotia, ii. 49; v. 57.
Auschisae, a people of Libya, iv. 171.    Bceotians, v. 74, 77, 79; vi. 108; vii. 202;
Auses, a people of Libya, iv. 180, 191.     viii. 4; ix. 68.
Autesion, father of Theras, iv. 147; vi. 52. Boges, governor of Eion, vii. 107, 113.
Autodicus, a Platean, ix. 85.             Bolbitic mouth of the Nile, ii. 17.
Automoli, a colony of Egyptians, ii. 30.    Boreas, son-in-law of the Athenians, vii.
Autonons, and Phylacus, viii. 39.            189.
Auxesia and Damia, v. 82, 83.              Borysthenes, a river of Scythia, iv. 18, 45,
Axius, a river of Macedonia, vii. 128.       47, 58-and city, iv. 78.
Axus, a city of Crete, iv. 154.            Borysthenians, iv. 17, 18, 58, 78.
Azanes, a Persian general, vii. 66.        Bosphorus, the Cimmerian, iv. 12, 28, 100.
Azen, in Arcadia, vi. 127.                 Bosphorus, the Thracian, iv. 83, 85, 86, 88.
Aziris, a district in Libya, iv. 157, 169.  Bottisea, a region of Macedonia, vii. 128,
Azotus, a city of Syria, ii. 157.            127, 185; viii. 127.
Branchide, i. 46, 92; ii. 159; v. 36.
Babylon, i. 178-185, 192; iii. 158, 159.    Brauron, a town of Attica, iv. 145; vi. 138.
Babylonia, i. 193.                         Briantica, a region of Thrace, vii. 108.
Babylonians, i. 77, 190-200; ii. 109; iii. Briges, Phrygians, viii. 73.
150-159.                                Brongus, a river flowing into the Ister, iv.
Bacchus, Egyptian Osiris, ii. 42, 48, 123,   49. 
144,146; iii. 97; iv. 79. The Arabian,  Brundusium, a city of Italy, iv. 99.
iii. 8, 10. The Ethiopian, ii. 29. The  Bryges, a people of Thrace, vi. 45; vii.
Grecian, ii. 49, 145, 146; iii. 97; v. 67;    185.
vi. 79, 108; vii. 111.                  Bubares, a Persian, iv. 167; v. 21; vii. 22.
Bacchus, temple of, at Byzantium, iv. 87.    viii. 136.
Bacchanalia, iv. 79.                      Bubastis, a city of Egypt, ii. 59, 67, 156,
Bacchiads, of Corinth, v. 92.               166.
Bacis, predictions of, viii. 20, 77, 96; ix. Bubastis, the Egyptian Diana, ii. 187, 156.
43.                                     Bucolic mouth of the Nile, ii. 17.
Bactra, a city of Assyria, vi. 9; ix. 113.    Budians, a people of Media, i. 101.
Bactria, a country of Asia, iv. 204.       Budians, of Scythia, iv. 21, 108, 109.
Bactrians, vii. 68, 86.                    Bulis, a Spartan, vii. 134-187.
Badres, or Bares, a Persian admiral, iv.  Bura, a city of Achaia, ii. 145.
167, 203.                               Buseans, a people of Media, i. 101.
Bagaeus, a Persian, son of Artontes, iii.  Busiris, a city and district of Egypt, ii. 59,
128.                                      61, 165.
Bagseusafather of Mardontes, vii. 80.     Butacides, father of Philip of Crotona, v.
Bagasaces, son of Artabanns, vii. 76.        47.
Barca, a city of Libya, iii. 91; iv. 160, 200, Buto, a city of Egypt, ii. 59, 63, 75, 155.
et seq                                  Bybassia, a peninsula of Caria, i. 174.
Barca, a village of Bactria, iv. 204.      Byzantium, iv. 144; v. 26, 103.
Barceans, iii. 13, 91; iv. 164,167, 201-204.
Bares, see Badres.                         Cabales, a people of Libya, iv. 171.
Basilides, an Ionian, viii. 132.           Cabalian Meonians, vii. 77.
Battus, king of Cyrene, iv. 150, 155, 159.   Cabalians, a people of Asia Minor, iii. 90.
Battus, son of Arcesilaus, ii. 181; iv. 159. Cabiri, ii. 51; iii. 37.
Battiade, iv. 202.                         Cadmeans of Peloponnesus, i. 56, 146; v.
Belides, gates of Babylon, iii. 15, 158.    57, 61; ix. 27.




598                                  INDEX.
Cadmus, son of Agenor, ii. 45, 49; iv. 147; Casambus of iEgina, vi. 75.
v. 51-59.                                Casius, Mount, in Arabia, ii. 6,158; iii. 5.
Cadmus, of Coos, viii. 163, 164.           Casmena, a city of Sicily, vii. 155.
Cadytis, a city of Palestine, ii. 159; iii. 5. Caspatyrus, a city of Pactyica, iii. 102; iv.
Canis, ancestor of Eetion, v. 92, (2.).       44.
Caicus, a plain of Mysia, vi. 28.          Caspian Sea, i. 202, 203; iv. 40.
Caicus, a river of Mysia, vii. 42.         Caspians, iii. 92; vii. G6, 84.
Calacte, on the coast of Sicily, vi. 22.   Cassandane, wife of Cyrus, ii. 1; iii. 2.
Calantian Indians, iii. 97.                Cassiterides, western islands, iii. 115.
Calasiries, Egyptian warriors, ii. 164-168; Castalian spring on Parnassus, viii. 39.
vii. 89; ix. 32.                         Casthanaea, a city of Magnesia, vii. 183,188.
Calchas, vii. 91.                          Castor and Pollux, ii. 43; vi. 12T.
Calchedon, or Chalcedon, iv. 85,144; v. 26.  Catarractes, a liver tributary to the MieanCallatebus, a city of Lydia, vii. 31.        der, vii. 26.
Calliades, an Athenian archon, viii. 51.    Catiarians, a Scythian tribe, iv. 6.
Callias, an Elian diviner, v. 44, 45.      Caucasus, Mount, i. 104, 203, 204; iii. 97;
Callias, father of Hipponicus, vi. 121, 122.   iv. 12.
Callias, son of Hipponicus, vii. 151.      Cauconian Pylians, i. 147; iv. 148.
Callicrates, a Spartan, ix. 72, 85.        Cauinus, a city of Caria, i. 172,176; v. 103.
Callimachus of Aphidna, vi. 109, 114.      Caustrobius, father of Aisteas, iv. 18.
Callipides, a Scythian people, iv. 1T.     Cayster, a river of Lydia, v. 100.
Callipolis, a city of Sicily, vii. 154.    Cecrops, a king of Athens, viii. 44.
Callista, afterward Thera, iv. 147.        Celense, a city of Phrygia, vii. 26.
Calydne, a city of Asia Minor, viii. S7.   Celeas, an associate of Doriens, v. 46.
Calyndian mountains, i. 112..            Celts, a people of Europe, ii. 33; iv. 49.
Calyndians, viii, 87.                      Ceos, an island of the iEgeean sea, iv. 35;
Camarina, a city of Sicily, vii. 154, 156.   v. 102; viii. 1, 46, 76.
Cambyses, father of Cyrus, i. 46, 107, 112, Cephallenia, an island of the Ionian sea,
207; vii. 11.                              ix. 28.
Cambyses, son of Cyrus, ii. 1, 208; iii. 1, Cephenes, Persians, vii. 61.
4, 1 —8, 44, 61-66, 89, 19, 181; iv. 165. Cepheus, father of Andromeda, vii. 61.
Camicus, a city of Sicily, vii. 169, 170.  Cephissus, father of Thyia, vii. 178.
Camirus, a Dorian city, i. 144.            Cephissus, a river of Phocis, viii. 33.
Campsa, a city of Crosssea, vii. 123.      Ceramic gulf, i. 174.
Cana, Mount, in Mysia, vii. 42.            Cercasora, a city of Egyptii. 15, 17, 97.
Canastrueum, promontory of Pallene, vii.  Ceres, the Egyptian Isis, ii. 59, 156. Eleu123.                                        sinian, ix. 62, 65, 97.
Candaules, king of Sardis, i. 7-12.        Chalcedonians, or Calchedonians, iv. 144;
Candaules, father of Damasithymus,vii. 98.    v. 26; vi. 33.
Canobic mouth of the Nile, ii. 15, 17, 113,  Chalcidians, of Euboea, v. 74, 77, 99; viii.
179.                                       127; ix. 28.
Canobus, a city of Egypt, ii. 97.          Chaldseans, a people of Assyria, vii. 63.
Caphareum, a promontory  of Eubcea,  Chaldaeans, of Babylon, i. 181, 183.
viii. 7.                                 Chalestra, a city Macedonia, vii. 123.
Cappadocia, i. 73.                         Chalybians, of Asia Minor, i. 28; vii, 76.
Cappadocians, i. 71 —73; v. 49; vii. 72.    Charadra, a city of Phocis, viii. 33.
Car, brother of Lydus, and Mysus, i. 171.  Charaxus, brother of Sappho, ii. 135; iv.
Carcinitis, a city of Scythia, iv. 59, 99..
Cardamyle, a town of Laconia, viii. 73.    Charilaus, of Samos, iii. 145.
Cardia, a city of the Chersonese, vi. 33;  Charillus, son of Eunomus, viii. 131.
vii. 58; ix. 115.                        Charopinus, brother of Aristagoras, v. 99.
Carenus, father of Evaenetus, vii. 173.    Chemmis, a floating island in Egypt, ii. 156.
Caria, i. 142; vi. 25.                     Chemmis, a city of Egypt, ii. 91, 165.
Carians, i. 28, 146, 171, 174; ii. 61, 152;  Cheops, an Egyptian king, ii. 124.
iii. 4, 11; v. 117-120; vii. 93; viii. 133,  Chephren, an Egyptian king, ii. 127, 128.
135.'                     Cherasrnes, a Persian, vii. 78.
Carina, a city of Mysia, vii. 42.          Chersis, father of Gorgus and Onesilus, v.
Carpathus, an island near Rhodes, iii. 45.    104; vii. 98; viii. 11.
Carpis, ariver flowing into the Ister, iv. 49.  Chersonese of Thrace, vi. 83, 34, 39, 140;
Carthage;, iii. 119.                         ix. 118.
Carthaginians, i. 166; ii. 32; iii. 17, 19;  Chersonesus Trachea, iv. 99.
iv. 43, "197; vii. 165, 167.             Chilaus, a Tegean, ix. 9.
Caryanda, iv. 44.                          Chilon, a Lacedsemonian, i. 59; vi. C(5;
Carystus, a city of Eubcea, iv. 33; vi. 99;   vii. 235.
viii. 112.                               Chios, a city of lonia, i. 18, 142, 160; ii.
Carystians, viii. 112, 121; ix. 101.         178; vi. 15, 16, 26, 31; viii. 132.




INDEX.                                     599
Choaspes, arivernear Susa, i. 188; v.49,52. Colosse, a city of Phrygia, vii. 30.
Choereates, a tribe at Sicyon, v. 68.       Combrea a city of Crossaea, vii. 123.
Choeree, a city of Eubcea, vi, 101.         Compsatus, a river of Thrace, vii. 109.
Choerus, father of Micythus, vii. 170.      Conians, a Thracian race, v. 63.
Chorasmians, a people of Asia, iii. 93, 111; Contadesdus, a river of Thrace, iv. 89.
vii. 66.                                   Copais, a lake of Boeotia, viii. 185.
Chromius, an Argive, i. 82.                 CorcyrT, colonized from Corinth, iii. 42,49.
Ciconians, a people of Thrace, vii. 59, 108, Corcyreans, iii. 48, 53; vii. 168.
110.                                      Coressus, a port near Ephesus, v. 100.
Cilicia, a country of Asia, ii. IT, 34; iii. 90; Corinth, and Corinthians, i. 14, 50, 51; ii.
v. 52; ix. 107.                             16T; iii. 48, 49, 52; iv. 162; v. 75, 87,
Cilicians, i. 28, 72; -iii. 90; v. 49, 52; vii.    92; vi. 89; vii. 202; viii. 1, 94; ix. 102.
91; viii. 14.                             Corobius, a Cretan, iv. 151.
Cilix, son ofAgenor, a Pheenician, vii. 91.  Coronmeans, neighbors of the Thebans, v.
Cilia, an'Eolian city, i. 149.                79.
Cimmeria, a region of Scythia, iv. 12.       Corycium, a cavern of Parnassus, viii. 36.
Cimmerian Bosphorus, iv. 12, 28, 100.       Corydallus, of Anticyra, vii. 214.
Cimmerians, i. 6,15,16; iv. 1,11, 12; vii. 20.  Corys, a river of Arabia, iii. 9.
Cimon, father of Miltiades, vi. 34, 88, 09,  Cos, a Doric island, i. 144; vii. 164.
103.'                       Cotys, father of Asias, iv. 45.
Cimon, son of Miltiades, vi. 136; vii. 107. Cranaspes, a Persian, iii. 126.
Cineas, king of Thessaly, v. 60.             Cranai, ancient name of the Athenians,
Cinyps, a river of Libya, iv. 175; v. 42.'     viii. 44.
Cinyps, a region of Libya, iv. 198.         Crastis, a river near Sybaris, v. 45.
Cion, a city of Mysia, v. 122.               Crathis, a river of Achaia, i. 145.
Cissia, a country of Asia, iii. 91; v. 49, 52;  Cratines, father of Anaxilaus, vii. 165.
vi. 116.                                   Cratinus, father of Aminocles, vii. 190.
Cissian gate of Babylon, iii. 155, 158.      Cremni, a port in the Mweotic gulf, iv. 20,
Cissians, iii. 91; vii. 62, 86, 210.           110.
Cithaeron, Mount, v. 74; vii. 141; ix. 19,  Creston, Crestona, a city of Thrace, i. 57;
25, 39.                                "    v. 3; vii. 124, 127; viii. 116.
Cius, or Scius, a river tributary to the Ister,  Crete, Cretans, i. 2, 65, 173; iv. 151; vii.
ii. 49.                                      169-171.
Clazomenme, an Ionian city, i. 16, 51, 142;  Crinippus, father of Terillus, vii. 165.
ii. 178; v. 120.                           Criseean plain, of Locris, viii. 32.
Cleades, a Platmean, ix. 85.                 Critalla, a city of Cappadocia, vii. 26.
Cleander, a seer, vi. 80.                   Critobulus, of Torona, viii. 127.
Cleander, son of Hippocrates, vii. 155.     Crius, father of Polycritus, viii. 92.
Cleander, son of Pantares, vii. 154.        Crius, son of Polycritus, vi. 50, 73.
Cleobis and Biton, i. 31.                   Crobyzian Thracians, iv. 49.
Cleodaeus, son of Hyllus, vi. 52; vii. 204; Crocodiles, city of, in Egypt, ii. 148.
viii. 131.                                Crcesus, king of Lydia, i. 7, 26-30, 34Cleombrotus, son of Anaxandrides, iv. 81      45, 50, 73-S7, 92, 155, 207, 208; iii. 14,
v. 41; viii. 71; ix. 10.                    34; vi. 125; viii. 35.
Cleomenes, king of Sparta, ii. 148; v. 41 -   Crophi, a mountain in Upper Egypt, ii. 28.
51, 64, 70, 76; vi. 49-51, 65, 70 —80, 84.  Crossaea, a district of Macedonia, vii. 123.
Cleonie, a city of Mount Athos, vii. 22.     Croton, a town in the gulf of Tarentum,
Clineas, son of Alcibiades, viii. 17.          iii. 136, 137.
Clisthenes, tyrant of Sicyon, v. 67; vi. 126. Crotonians, iii. 131; v. 44; viii. 47.
Clisthenes, an Athenian, v. 66-70; vi. 131.  Cuphagoras, an Athenian, vi, 117.
Clytiade, an Elian family, ix. 33.           Curium, a city of Cyprus, v. 113.
Cnidus, a town of Caria, i. 144; ii. 178.    Cyanean islands in the Euxine, iv. 85.
Cnidians, i. 174; iii. 138; iv. 164.         Cyaxares, king of Media, i. 16, 73, 74, 100,
Cncethus, father of Nicodromus, vi. 88.        106.
Cobon, son ofAristophantus, vi. 66.          Cybebe, a temple at Sardis, v. 102.
Codrus, king of Athens, v. 65, 76.           Cyberniscus, a Lycian, vii. 98.
Codrus, son of Melanthus, i. 147.            Cyclades, islands of the JEgean sea, v. 30,
Codrus, father of Neleus, ix. 97.              31; vii. 95.
Ccenyra, a town in Thasos, vi. 47.           Cydippa, daughter of Terillus, vii. 165.
Coes, tyrant of Mitylene, iv. 9; v. 11, o7. Cydonia, a city of Crete, iii. 44, 59.
Colaeus, a Samian captain, iv. 152.          Cydrara, a city on the borders of Phrygia,
Colaxais, ancestor of the Scythians, iv.'5,.    vii. 30.
Colchians, iii. 97; iv. 37, 40; vii. 79.     Cyllyrians, slaves of Sicily, vii. 155.
Colchis, a country on the Euxine sea, i. 2. Cylon, an Athenian, v. 71.
Colias, on the coast of Attica, viii. 96.    Cyme, an Aolian city, i. 149, 157, v. 120.
Colophon, an Ionian city, i. 14,142,147,150.   vii. 194; viii. 130.




600                                   INDEX.
Cymaeans, i. 157, 165; v. S3.               Dascylus, father of Gyges, i. 8.
Cynmegirus, a valiant Athenian, vi. 114.    Datis, a Mede, general of the Persians at
Cyneas, father of Philager, vi. 101.          Marathon, yi. 94, 97, 118; vii. 88.
Cynetes, Cynesians, farthest people of  Datus, a city of the Edonians, ix.75.
Europe toward the west, ii. 33; iv. 49.   Daulians, a people of Phocis, viii. 35.
Cyniscus, son of Leotychides, vi. 71.       Daurises, son-in-law of Darius, v. 116, 121.
Cyno, or Spaco, nurse of Cyrusj, L 110,  Decelea, a district of Attica, ix. 15, 73.
112-122.                                  Decelus, ix. 73.
Cynosarges in Attica, v. 63; vi. 116.       Deioces, king of the Medes, i. 16, 73, 96Cynosura, an island near Salamis, viii. 76.    102.
Cynurians, people of Peloponnesus, viii. 73. Deiphonus, son of Evenius, ix. 92.
Cyprus, Cyprians, i. 199; ii. 182; iii. 19, Delians, iv. 33; vi. 97.
91; iv. 162; v. 104, 116; vii. 90.        Delium, a Theban city, vi. 118; ix. 15.
Cypselus, tyrant of Corinth, i. 20; v. 92; Delphi and Delphians, i. 14, 46, 48, 50-52,
vi. 128.                                    92; ii. 180; v. 42, 62; vii. 178; viii. 36,
Cypselus, father of Miltiades, vi. 35.        37.
Cyraunis, an island near Libya, iv. 195.   Delta, of the Nile, ii. 13 —16.
Cyrene, a city of Libya, iv. 150^-170, 199, Delos, an island of the ZEgean sea, i. 64;
20. iv. 3 —35; vi. 97; viii. 132, 133; ix. 90.
Cyrensans, ii. 32; iii. 131; iv. 152-162, Demaratus, king of Sparta, vi. 50, 61-70;
186.                                        vii. 8, 101-104, 209, 234-239.
Cyrnus, an island in the Tyrrhenian sea, Demarmenus, father of Prinetades and
vii. 165.                                   Chilon, v. 41; vi. 65.
Cyrnus, a city of Carystia, ix. 105.        Democedes, a physician of Crotona, iii.
Cyrnus, a hero, i. 167.                       129-137.
Cyrus, father of Cambyses, i. 111.          Democritus, of Naxos, viii. 46.
Cyrus, king of Persia, i. 46, 73-75, 79-  Demonax, a Mantinean, iv. 161.
88, 91, 95, 108, 111, 113 —116, 122, 130,  Demonous, father of Penthylus, vii. 195.
141, 15 —155, 188-191, 201-205, 207, Demophilus, a Thespian general, vii. 22.
244; iii. 69, 89; vii. 11; ix. 122.       Dersaei, a Thracian tribe, vii. 110.
Cythera, an island off Peloponnesus, i. 82, Derusimeans, a Persian tribe, i. 125.
105; vii. 235.                            Deucalion, king of Thessaly, i. 56.
Cythnus, an island near Attica, vii. 90; Diactorides, father of Eurydame, vi. 71,
viii. 67.                                 Diactorides, a Cranonian, vi. 127.
Cythnians, viii. 46.                        Diadromus, father of Demophilus, vii. 222.
Cytissorus, son of Phixus, vii. 197.        Diana, i. 26. 59,156; iii. 48; iv. 33, 87,
Cyzicus, a city of Propontis, iv. 14, 76;    105; v. 7; vi. 138; vii. 176; viii. 77.
vL o3.                                    Diccfa, a city of Thrace, vii. 109.
Dicarus, an Athenian exile, viii. 65.
Dadicoe, apeople of Asia, iii. 91; vii. 66.   Dictynna, her fane, iii. 59.
Dsedalus, vii. 170.                         Didymus, oracle of, vi. 19.
Daians, a Persian tribe, i. 125.            Dienecis, a Spartan, vii. 226.
Damasithymus, king of the Calyndians,  Dindymene, i. 80.
vii. 98; viii. 87.                        Dinomencs, father of Gelon, vii. 145.
Damasus, son of Amyris, vi. 127.            Diomede, ii. 116.
Damia and Auxesia, v. 82.                   Dionysius, a Phocaean, vi. 11, 17.
Danae, mother of Perseus, i. 91; vi. 53;  Dionysophanes, an Ephesian, ix. 84.
vii. 60, 150.                             Dionysus, iv. 79.
Danaus and Lynceus, ii. 91.                 Dioscuri, ii. 43, 50; vi. 127.
Danaus, son-in-law of Archander, ii. 98.   Diprea, a place in Peloponnesus, ix. 35.
Danaus and Xuthus, vii. 94.                 Dithyrambus, son of Hermatidas, vii. 227.
Daphnse, Pelusian, of Egypt, ii. 30, 107.    Diunm, a city of Mount Athos, vii. 22.
Daphnis, tyrant of Abydos, iv. 138.         Doberes, a people of Paeonia, v. 16; vii.
Dardanus, a city near Abydos, v. 117; vii.    113.
43.                                       Dodona, oracle of, i. 46; ii. 52, 55, 57; ix.
Dardanians, a people of Asia, i. 189.         93.
Daritse, a people of Asia, iii. 92.         Dolonci, a people of Thrace, vi. 34, 35.
Darius, king of Persia, i. 18, 18187, 209; ii. Dolopes, a people of Thessaly, vii. 132, 185.
110; iii. 39, 70, 82-96, 101, 126-129,  Dorians, i. 6, 28, 56, 141, 144, 171; iii. 56;
135 —144, 150-160; iv. 39, 44, 85-87,    v. 68, 76, 86; vi. 53; vii. 93, 99, 102;
97, 118, 120, 124, 127, 140-144; v. 12,    viii. 31, 73.
17, 97, 101, 105; vi. 43, 48, 94, 98, 111, Dorieus, son of Anaxandrides, v. 41, 42,
118; vii. 1-4, 10, 11, 69, 72, 82, 133,    43, 45, 46; vii. 158, 205; ix. 10.
224; viii. 89.                            Doris, formerly Dryopis, viii. 31.
Dascyleum, a city of Bithynia, iii. 120, Doriscus, a shore of Thrace, v. 98; vii. 25
126; vi. 33.                                59, 105.




INDEX.                                    601
Doru, king of the Dorians, i. 56.          Eridanus, a river of Europe, iii. 115.
Doryssus, son of Leobotes, vii. 204.       Erineum, a mountain, viii. 48.
Dotus, a Persian general, vii. 72.         Erochus, a city of Phocis, viii. 58.
Dropici, a Persian race, i. 125.           Erxander, father of Coes, iv. 97; v. OT.
)rymus, a city of Phocis, viii. 88.        Erythea, an island near Gades, iv. 8.
Dryopis, aregion of Thessaly, i. 56; viii. 81. Erythree, a city of Ionia, i. 18, 142;. vi. 8.
Dryopians in Asia, i. 146.                 Erythrse, a town of Bceotia, ix. 15, 19.
Dryopians of Peloponnesus, viii. 73.       Erythrebolus, a city of Egypt, ii. 111.
Dyma, a town of Achaia, i. 145.            Eryx, a region of Sicily, v. 43, 45.
Dymanates, a tribe at Sicyon, v. 68.       Eryxo, wife of Arcesilaus, iv. 160.
Dyras, a river of Trachinia, vii. 198.     Etearchus, king of Axus, iv. 154.
Dysorum, Mount, v. 1T.                     Etearchus, king of the Ammonians, ii. 52.
Eteocles, father of Laodamas, v. 61.
Ecbatana, a city of Media, i. 110,153; iii. Eusenetus, son of Carenus, vii. 173.
64, 92.                                  Euagoras, a Lacedaemonian, vi. 103.
Ecbatana, of Syria, iii. 62.               Eualcides, general of the Eretrians, v. 102.
Echecrates, father of Eetion, v. 92.       Euboea, iv. 83; v. 81; vi. 100; vii. 156;
Echemus, son of Aeropus, ix. 26.             viii. 4, 13, 20.
Echestratus, son of Agis, vii. 204.        Euclides and Cleander, vii. 155.
Echidorus, a river of Thrace, vii. 124.    Euelthon, king of Salamis, in Cyprus, iv.
Echinades, islands at the mouth of the    162; v. 104.
Achelous, ii. 10.                        Evenus, father of Deiphonus, ix. 92-94.
Edonians, a people of Thrace, v. 11, 23, Euesperides, islands on the coast of Libya,
i 124; vii. 110, 114; ix. 75.                iv. 171.
EWtion, father of Cypselus, v. 92, (5.).   Euesperides, people of Libya, iv. 198.
Egestseans, a people of Sicily, v. 46.     Eumenes, an Athenian captain, viii. 90.
Eion, a city on the Strymon, vii. 25, 113, Eumenides, temple of the, iv. 149; ix. 97.
viii. 118.                               Eunomus, son of Polydectes, viii. 131.
Elreus, a city of the Thracian Chersonese,  Eupalinus, son of Naustrophus, iii. 60.
vi. 140; vii. 22, 33; ix. 116, 120.      Euphorbus, son of Alcimachus, vi. 101.
Elatea, a city of Phocis, viii. 33.        Euphorion, father of Eschylus, ii. 156; vi.
Elbo, an island of the Nile, ii. 140.         114.
Eleans, ii. 160; iv. 30, 148; vi 127; viii.  Euphorion, father of Laphanes, vi. 127.
2T; ix. 77.                              Euphrates, i. 180, 184, 185, 191; v. 52.
Elephantine, a city of Upper Egypt, ii. 9,  Euripus, the strait of Eubcea, v. 77; vii.
17, 28, 69; iii. 19, 20.                   173, 182; viii. 15.
Eleusis, a town of Attica, i. 130; v. 74-  Europa of Tyre, i. 2, 173; iv. 45.
76; vi. 75; viii. 65; ix. 27.            Europe, iii. 115; iv. 42, 45; vii. 5.
Eleusinian Ceres, viii. 65; ix. 5T, 101.   Euryanax, son of Dorieus, ix. 10, 53, 55.
Elis, a country of Peloponnesus, viii. 73.   Eurybates of Argos, vi. 92; ix. 75.
Ellopia, a district of Eubcea, viii. 23.   Eurybiades, commander of the Grecian
Elorus, a river of Sicily, vii. 154.         fleet, viii. 2, 42, 74, 124.
Enchelese, a people of Illyria, v. 61; ix. 43.  Euryclides, father of Eurybiades, viii. 2.
Enians of Thrace, vii. 132, 185, 198.      Eurycrates, son of Polydorus, vii. 204.
Enipeus, a river of Thessaly, vii. 129.    Eurycratides, son of Anaxander, vii. 204.
FBordians of Macedonia, vii. 185.          Eurydame, wife of Leotychides, vi. 71.
Fpaphus, god of the Memphians, ii. 153; Eurydemus, father of Ephialtes, vii. 213.
iii. 27, 28.                             Euryleon, a companion of Dorieus, v. 46.
Ephesians, i. 26, 147.                     Eurymachus, father of Leontiades, vii. 205.
Ephesus, i. 142; ii. 10, 148,158; v. 54.   Eurymaches, son of Leontiades, vii. 233.
Ephialtes, the traitor vii 218.            Euryphon, son of Procles, viii. 131.
Epicydes, father of Gdaucus, vi. 86.       Eurypylus, son of Aleuas, ix. 58.
Epidamnus, ariverofThessaly,vii. 129,196. Eurysthenes, son of Aristodemus, iv. 147;.pidaurus, a town of Peloponnesus, iii.    v. 40; vi. 51, 52; vii. 204; viii. 131.
52; v. 82, 83; viii. 43, 46; ix. 28.   *   Eurystheus, king of Argos, ix. 26, 27.
Epistrophus, father of Amphimnestris, vi. Eurytus, a Spartan, vii. 229.
127.                                     Euthynus, father of Hermolycus, ix. 105.
Epium, a city of the.Minyans, iv. 148.     Eutychides, father of Sophanes, ix. 73.
Epizelus, son of Cyphagoras, vi. 117.      Euxine sea, i. 6, 72; iv. 87, 46.
Epizephyrian Locrians, vi. 23.             Exampaus, a Scythian region, iv. 52, 81.
Erasinus, a river of the Stymphalian lake,
vi. 76.                                  Gades, beyond the Pillars of Hercules,
Erechtheus, king of Athens, v. 82; vii.   iv. 8.
189; viii. 44, 55.                       Gaeson, a river near Mycale, ix. 97.
Eretria, a city of Euboea, i. 61; vi. 43, 94, Galepsus, a city of Macedonia, vii. 122.
101, 119; viii. 46; E ix. 28.           Gallaica, a region of Macedonia, vii. 108.
Cc




602                                  INDEX.
Gandarians, a people of Asia, iii. 90; vii. Harmocydes, general of the Phocians, ix.
66.                                        17.
Garamantes, a people of Libya, iv. 174,183. Harmodius and Aristogiton, v. 55; vi. 109,
Gargaphian fountain, near Plateea, ix. 25,    123.
49, 50.                                  Harpagus, a Median prince, i. 80, 108Gauanes, brother of Perdiccas, viii. 137.    116, 118, 119, 12, 162 —176.
Gebeleizis, god of the Getre, iv. 94.      Harpagus, a Persian general, vi. 28, 30.
Gela, a city of Sicily, vi. 23; vii. 153, 154, Hebe, ix. 98.
156..                                    Hebrus, a river of Thrace, iv. 90; vii. 59.
Geleon, son of Ion, v. 66.                  Hecatmeus, a Greek historian, ii. 143; v.
Gelon, tyrant df Syracuse, vii. 145-162.      36, 125; vi. 137.
Gelonus, son of Hercules, iv. 10.          Hector, son of Priam, iii. 120..Gelonus, a wooden city in Scythia, iv. 108, Hegesander, father of Hecatseus, v. 125;
123.                                       vi. 137.
Gephyraeans, a family at Athens, v. 57, 62. Hegesicles, king of Sparta, i. 65.
Geraestus, a town of Eubcea, viii. 7; ix.  Hegesipyla, daughter of Olorus, vi. 39.
105.                                     Hegesistratus, tyrant of Sigeum, v. 94.
Gergis, a Persian general, vii. 82.        Hegesistratus, an Elian diviner, iv. 37.
Gergithae, Teucrians, v. 122; vii. 40.     Hegesistratus, a Samian, ix. 90.
Germanians, a Persian tribe, i. 125.       Hegetorides of Coos, ix. 76.
Gerrhus, a region and river of Scythia, iv.  Hegias, brother of Tisamenus, ix. 83.
19, 47, 53, 71.                          Helen, wife of Menelaus, ii. 112, 113; v.
Geryon, a monster, iv. 8.                     94; vi. 61;-ix. 73.
Getra, a people of Thrace, iv. 93-96.      Helice, a city of Achaia, i. 145.
Gigonus, a town of Crossmea, vii. 123.     Heliconian Neptune, i. 148.
Giligamme, a people of Libya, iv. 169.     Heliopolis, a city of Egypt, ii. 8, 1-9, 59,
Gillus, an exile of Tarentum, iii. 18.        63.
Gindanes, a people of Libya, iv. 176.      Helisycians, a people of Gaul, vii. 165.
Glaucon, father of Leager, ix. 75.         Helle, daughter of Athamas, vii. 58.
Glaucus, a Chian artist, i. 25.            Hellen, father of Dorus, i. 56.
Glaucus, a Spartan, vi. 86.                Hellespont, iv. 38, 85, 95; v. 11; vi. 33;
Glaucus, son of Hippolochus, i. 147.         vii. 3 —36, 54, 187.
Glisas, a town near the Thermodon, ix.  Hellopian district in Euboea, viii. 23.
43.                                      Helots of Sparta, vi. 58, 75, 80, 81; ix. 10,
Gnurus, a Scythian, iv. 76.                   11, 28, 80.
Gobryas, father of Mardonius, iii. 70, 73;  Hephaestia, a town of Lemnos, vi. 140.
iv. 132, 134; vi. 43; vii. 5, 82.        Heraclea, a city of Sicily, iv. 93.
Gonnus, a city of Thessaly, vii. 128, 173.  HIeraclidoe, kings of Sardis, i. 7, 13, 91.
Gordius, father of Midas, i. 14; viii. 138.   Heraclidse, of Sicily, v. 43.
Gordius, son of Midas, i. 35.              Heraclidee, return to Peloponnesus, ix. 26
Gorgo, daughter of Cleomenes, v. 48, 51;  Heraclides, son of Ibanolis, v. 121.
vii. 239.                                 Ieraclides, father of Aristodicus, i. 158.
Gorgus, king of Salamis, in Cyprus, v.  Heraclides, father of Aristagoras, v. 37.
104, 115.                                Herneum, a city of Thrace, iv. 90.
Gorgus, a Persian General, vii. 98.        Hercules, ii. 42-45, 83, 113, 145; iv. 8Greeks, passim.                              10, 59, 82; vi. 108, 116; vii. 179, 193,
Grinus, king of Thera, iv. 150.              198, 204; viii. 131.
Grynea, an 2Eolian city, i. 149.           Hercules, Pillars of, ii. 33; iv. 8, 42, 43,
Gygaea, daughter of Amyntas, v. 21; viii.   181, 185.
136.                                     Hermione, a town of Peloponnesus, iii. 59;
Gyges, king of Sardis, i. 8-14, 91.          viii. 43, 73; ix. 28.
Gyges, father ofMyrsus, iii. 122; v. 121.   Hermippus, ofAtarnea, vi. 4.
Gyndes, a river of Armenia, i. 189, 202;  Hermolycus, a valiant Athenian, ix. 105.
v. 52.                                   Hermophantes, an Asian Greek, v. 99.
Gyzantes, a people of Libya, iv. 194.     IHermotimus of Pedasus, viii. 104-106.
Hermotybies, Egyptian warriors, ii. 164- 
Hsemus, Mount, iv. 49.                       168; vii. 89; ix. 42.
Haliacmon, a river of Macedonia, vii. 127. Hermus, a river of Asia Minor, i. 55, 80;
Halicarnassus, a city of Asia Minor, i. 144;   v. 101.
ii. 178; viii. 104.                      Herodotus, i. 1..
Halys, a river oPAsia Minor, i. 6, 72, 75; Herodotus, an Ionian, viii. 132.
v. 52; vii. 26.                          Herophantus of Parium, iv. 188.
Hanno, father of Amilcar, vii. 165.       HIerpys, a Theban, ix. 88.
Harmamithres, a Persian general, vii. 88. Hesiod, the poet, ii. 53; iv. 32.
Harmatides, father of Dithyrambus, viii.  Hiero, brother of Gelon, vii. 156.
227.                                     Hieronymus, an Andrian, ix. 33.




INDEX.                                     603
Himera, a city of Sicily, vi. 24: vii. 165.   IIysie, a town of Bcootia, v. 74; vi. 108;
Hipparchus, son of Pisistratus, v. 55, 56;   ix. 25, 5S.
vi. 123; vii. 6.                          Hystanes, father of Badres, vii. 77.
Hippias, son of Pisistratus, i. 61; v. 55, Iystaspes, father of Darius, i. 209; iii.
91, 93, 96; vi. 107.                        70; v. 83; vii. 224.
Hippoclides, an Athenian, vi. 127,128, 130.  Iystaspes, son of Darius, vii. 64.
I-Hippoclus of Lampsacus, iv. 138.
Hippocoon, father of Scseus, v. 60.         Iacchus the mystic, viii. 65.
Hippocrates, father of Pisistratus, i. 59; v. Iadmon, master of JEsop, ii. 134.
65.                                       Ialyssus, a Doric city, i. 144.
Hippocrates, tyrant of Gela, vi. 23; vii. Iamidie, diviners of Elis, v. 44; viii. 134;
154, 155.'                               ix. 33.
Hippocrates, son of Megacles, vi. 181.      lapygia, or Apulia, iii. 138; iv. 99.
Hippocrates, father of Smyndyrides, vi. lapyges, Messapian, vii. 170.
127.                                     lardanus, i. 7.
Hippocratides, son ofLeotychides, viii. 131. Iatragoras, an Ionian, v. 37.
Hippolaus, promontory in the Euxine, iv. Ibanoles, father of Oliatus, v. 37, 122.
53.                                       Iberia, i. 163; vii. 165.
Hlippolochus, father of Glaucus, i. 14T.    Icarian sea, v. 95.
Hippomachus, a diviner, ix. 88.             Iclhne, a city of Bottieeis, vii. 128.
Hipponicus, father of Callias, vii. 151.    Ichthyophagi, iii. 19, 20, 23.
Hipponicus, son of Callias, vi. 121.        Ida, Mount, i. 151; vii. 42.
Histiseotis, a region of Euboea, vii. 175; Idanthyrsus, king of Scythia, iv. 76, 120,
viii. 28.                                   127.
Histiheotis, a region of Thessaly, i. 56.   Idrias, a region of Caria, v. 118.
HiIstimus, tyrant of Miletus, iv. 137, 138, Ienysus, a town of Arabia, iii. 5.
141; v. 11, 23, 24, 80, 35, 105-107; vi. Ilias, Troas, v. 122.
1-5, 26 —0.                               Ilissus, a river of Attica, vii. 189.
Histiseus, father of Phylacus, viii. 85.    Ilium, a city of Troas, i. 5; ii. 10, 118; v.
Histigeus, tyrant ofTermera, v. 37; vii. 98.    94; vii. 41.
Homer, ii. 23, 53, 116, 117; iv. 29, 32; v. Illyrians, i. 196; iv. 49; Lx. 43.
67; vii. 161.                             Imbros, an island of the.Egsean sea, v.
Hoples, son of Ion, v. 66.                    26; vi. 41.
Hyampeus, summit of Parnassus, viii. 39. Inarus, a Libyan king, iii. 12, 15; vii. 7.
Hyampolis, a city of Thessaly, viii. 28, 33. India, its rare productions, iii. 98, 106; iv.
Hyatae, a tribe at Sicyon, v. 68.             40.
RIybla, a city of Sicily, vii. 155.         Indians, iii. 94, 97, 98, 100-106; iv. 44;
Hydarnes, a Persian, iii. 70; vi. 133; vii.   v. 3; vii. 187.
185.                                      Indus, the river, iii. 98; iv. 44.
Hydarnes, son of Hydarnes, leader of the  Ino, wifi of Athamas, vii. 197.
Immortals, vii. 83, 211.                  Intaphernes, a Persian prince, iii. 70, 78,
Hydarnes, father of Sisamnes, vii. 65.        118, 119.
Hydrea, an island off Peloponnesus, iii. 59. Inycus, a city of Sicily, vi. 23.
Hyela, a city of (Enotria, i. 167.          Io, daughter of Inachus, i. 1. 5; ii. 41.
Hygennians, a people of Asia, iii. 90.      Iolcus, a town of Magnesia, v. 94.
HylEea, a region of Scythia, iv. 9, 18, 54, Ion, ancestor of the Ionians, v. 106; vii.
55, 76.                                     94; viii. 44.
Hylleans, a tribe at Sicyon, v. 68.         Ionia, Ionians, i. 6, 27, 28, 56, 76, 141HIyllus, son of Hercules, vi. 52; vii. 204;   148, 169, 170; ii. 4, 16,153, 154, 163, 178;
viii. 131; ix. 26.                          iii. 90; iv. 95, 98, 133, 136; v. 28, 35Iyllus, a river of Lydia, i. 80.              38, 59, 66, 69, 100-102, 108, 117; vi. 7,
Hymeas, son-in-law of Darius, v. 116, 122.   8, 11, 14, 81, 82, 42, 48; vii. 51, 94, 95;
Hymettus, Mount, vi. 137.                     viii. 22, 44, 90, 132; ix. 90-92, 98, 104,
Iypachseans, Cilicians, vii. 91.              106.
Hypacyris, a river of Scythia, iv. 47, 55.   Ionian gulf, vi. 127.
Hypanis, a river of Scythia, iv. 17, 18, 47, Iphiclus, father of Protesilaus, ix. 116.
52.'      lphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon, iv.
RIyperanthes, son of Darius, vii. 224.        108.
Hyperboreans, iv. 18, 83, 85.               Irasa, a region of Libya, iv. 158.
Hyperoch6 and  Laodice, Hyperborean  Is, a city and river of Babylonia, i. 179.
damsels, iv. 833-5.                       Isagoras, son of Tisander, v. 66, 69-78.
Hyrcanians, iii. 117; vii. 62.              Ischenous, father of Pytheas, vii. 181; viii.
Hyrgis, a river of Scythia, iv. 57.           92.
Iyria, a city of Italy, vii. 170.           Isis of the Egyptians, ii. 40, 41, 59, 61,
Hyrceades, a Mardian, i. 84.                  156; iv. 186.
HIysia, a town of Attica, v. 74.            Ismaris, a lake of Thrace, vii. 109.




604                                INDEX.
Ismenian Apollo, i. 52, 92; v. 59; viii. 134. Lebaa, a city of Macedonia, viii. 137.
Issedonians, a people of Northern Asia, i. Lebedus, a city of Lydia, i. 142.
201; iv. 13,15, 25 —2.                 Lectus, promontory, ix. 114.
Ister a river of Scythia, ii. 33; iv. 47-50. Leipsydrium, a city above Peeonia, v. 62.
Isthmus of Corinth, viii. 40; ix. 7, 10.  Lemnos, an island of the XAgsean sea, iv.
Isthmus, Cnidian, i. 1T4.                  145; v. 26; vi. 138, 140; viii. 78.
Isthmus of the Chersonese, vi. 86.       Leo, a Trcezanian, vii. 180.
Istria, country at the mouth of the Ister, Leobotes, king of Sparta, i. 65; vii. 204.
ii. 33; iv. T8.                        Leocedes, sonof Phidon, vi. 127.
Italy, i. 167; iii. 136; iv. 15; v. 43; vi. 127. Leon, king of Sparta, i. 65; vii. 205.
Itanus, a city of Crete, iv. 151.        Leonidas, king of Sparta, v. 41; vii. 204Ithamatres, a Persian general, vii. 67.     206, 219-228, 288; viii. 114.
Ithamitres, a Persian admiral, viii. 130; Leontiades, a Theban general, vii. 205, 23.
ix. 102.                               Leontinians, a people of Sicily, vii. 154.
Jason, the Argonaut, iv. 179; vii. 193.   Leoprepes, father of Theasides, vi. 85.
Juno, i. 31; ii. 50; vi. 81, 82,182; ix. 52, 61. Leoprepes, father of Simonides, vii. 228.
Jupiter, Belus, i. 181, 183; iii. 158.    Leotychides, king of Sparta, vi. 65-67,
Jupiter, Dodonsean, ii. 54, 55.            71-73, 85; vii. 86; viii. 131; ix. 90Jupiter, Egyptian, i. 182; ii. 32, 42, 4, 56,     9, 98.
82  iv. 181.                           Leotyehides, son of Anaxilaus, viii. 1S1.
Jupiter, Ethiopian, ii. 29; iii. 25; iv. 5.   Lepreum, a city of the Minyans, iv. 148;
Jupiter, Grecian, i. 11T; ii. 7; iii. 142; v.   ix. 28.
66, 119; vi. 56, 58; ix. 7, 81.        Leros, an island near Miletus, v. 125.
Jupiter, Persian, i. 131; vii. 40; viii. 115. Lesbos, an island of the Jgsean sea, i.
Jupiter, Scythian, iv. 59.                 151, 160; iii. 89; iv. 61; vi. 81.
lyrces, a Scythian people, 1e. 22.        Leucadians, islanders of the Ionian sea,
viii. 45, 47; ix. 28.
Labda, daughter of Amphion, v. 92.       Leuce-acte, a coast of Thrace, vii. 25.
Labdacus, father of Laius, v. 59.        Leucon, a city of Libya, iv. 160.
Labranda, a city of Caria, v. 119.       Libya, Libyans, ii. 15-17, 32, 33, 50, 158;
Labynetus, king of Babylon, f. 74, 77.     iii. 13, 91, 96; iv.,42, 45, 150, 155, 159,
Labynetus, king of Assyria, 1 188.         168, 172, 180, 181, 186-191, 196-198;
lacedsemon, Lacedaemonians, i. 56, 65, 70,   vii. 71, 86, 165, 184.
82, 83, 141, 152; iii. 89, 46, 47, 54-56; Liches, a Spartan, i. 67.
iv. 145, 149, 161; v. 15, 29, 39, 42, 62, Lida, Mount, i. 174.
63, 68, 91,92; vi. 48, 52, 56-65, 84, 85, Ligures, a people of Gaul, v. 9; vii. 165.
105,106,108, 120,129; vii. 133, 137, 138, Ligyes, a people of Asia, vii. 72.
149, 153-156, 202-212, 223-226, 231, Limeneum, a place in the Milesian terri234, 239; viii. 1-8, 114, 124, 142; ix.   tory, i. 118.
6-11, 19, 28, 83, 85, 54, 62, 64, 70, 71, Lindus, a Doric city, i. 144; ii. 182; iii
78, 81, 85, 102, 106, 124.               47; vii. 153.
Lacmon, Mount, ix. 92.                   Lipaxus, a city of Crosssea, vii. 123.
Lacrines, a Spartan, i. 152.             Lipoxais, son of Targitaus, iv. 5, 6.
Lada, an island near Miletus, vi. 7.     Lipsydrium, see Leipsydrium.
Ladice, wife of Amasis, ii. 181.         Lisse, a city of Crosssea, vii. 123.
Laius, iv. 149; v. 43, 59.                Lissus, a river of Thrace, vii. 108.
Lampito, daughter of Leotychides, vi. 71.  Locrians, vii. 132.
Lampon, an Eiginetan, ix. 78.            Locrians, Epizephyrian, vi. 23.
Lampon, son of Thrasycles, ix. 90.       Locrians, Opuntian, vii. 132, 203; viii. 1.
Lampon, father of Olympiodorus, ix. 21.   Locrians, Ozolse, viii. 82.
Lamponium, a city of Troas, v. 26.       Lotophagi, iv. 177.
Lampsacus, a city of the Hellespont, v. 17; Lucina, iv. 35.
vi. 37, 38.                            Lycsean Jupiter, iv. 203.
Laodamas, son of Eteocles, v. 61.        Lycaretus, brother of Mseandrius, iii. 143;
Laodamas, a Phocaean, iv. 138.             v. 27.
Laodice and Hyperoche, iv. 33.           Lycia, Lycians, i. 28,173, 176; iii. 90; vii.
Laphanes, son of Euphorion, vi. 127.       77, 92.
Laphystian Jupiter, vii. 197.            Lycidas, an Athenian senator, ix. 5.
Lasonians, a people of Asia, iii.'90; vii. 77. Lycomedes, a valiant Athenian, viii. 11.
Lasus of Hermione, vii. 6.              Lycopas, a valiant Spartan, iii. 55.
Latona, oracle of, ii. 155, 156.         Lycophron, son of Leriander, iii. 50-53.
Laurian mines, vii. 144.                 Lycurgus, the Spartan legislator, i. 56, 66.
Laus, a city of the Sybarites, vi. 21.   Lycurgus, an Athenian, i. 59.
Leager, son of Glaucon, ix. 75.          Lycurgus, an Arcadian, vi. 127.
Learchus, brother of Arcesilaus, iv. 160.   Lycus, a river of Phrygia, vii. 30.
Lebadia, a town of Boeotia, viii. 134.   Lycus, a river of Scythia, iv. 123.




INDEX.                                  605
Lyous, a Scythian, iv. 76.               Marea, a city of Egypt, ii. 18, 80.
Lycus, son of Pandion, i. 173; vii. 92.    Mares, or Marsians, iii. 94; vii. 79.
Lydia, Lydians, i. 7, 85, 54, 74, 76, 79, 80, Mariandynians, a people of Asia Minor, i.
98,94, 108, 154-15T, 171; iii. 90; v. 49,   28; iii. 90; vii. 72.
101; vii. 74.                          Maris, a river of Scythia, iv. 49.
Lydias, a river of Macedonia, vii. 127.  Maron and Alpheus, vii. 227.
Lydus, son of Atys, i. 7, 171; vii. 74.  Maronea, a city of Thrace, vii. 109.
Lygdamis, father of Artemisia, vii. 99.  Mars, the Egyptian, ii. 68, 88.
Lygdamis, a Naxian, i. 61, 64.           Mars, the Scythian, iv. 59, 62.
Lynceus and Danaus, ii. 91.              Marsyas, a river of Phrygia, v. 119.
Lysagoras, a Parian, vi. 188.            Marsyas, Silenus, vii. 26.
Lysagoras, father of Histiseus, v. 80.   Mascames, a Persian governor, vii. 105,
Lysanias, an Eretrian, vi. 127.            106.
Lysimachus, father ofAristides, viii. 75, 95. Masistes, son of Darius, vii. 82; ix. 107,
Lysistratus, an Athenian diviner, viii. 96.    118.
Masistius, see Macistius.
Maces, a people of Libya, iv. 172, 175; v. Masistius, son of Siromitres, vii. 79.
42.                                    Maspians, a Persian tribe, i. 125.
Macednic race, i..56; viii. 43.          Massages, a Persian general, vii. 71.
Macedonia, Macedonians, v. 22; vi. 44; Massagetse, a people of Northern Asia, i.
vii. 126, 127: viii. 187; ix. o0,        201, 205, 212, 214-216; iv. 11, 172.
Machlyes, a people of Libya, iv. 17T.    Matianian mountains, i. 189, 202.
Macistius, or Masistius, a Persian general, Matienians, i. 72; iii. 94; v. 49,52; vii. 72.
ix. 20-24.                              Mausolus, v. 118.
Macistus, a city of the Minyans, iv. 148.   Maxyes of Libya, iv. 191.
Macrobian Ethiopians, see AEthiopians.   Mazares, a Mede, i. 156, 161.
Macrones, a people beyond the Thermo- Mecistes, brother of Adrastus, v. 67.
don, ii. 104; iii. 94; vii. 78.        Mecyberna, a city of Thrace, vii. 122.
Mactorium, a town of Sicily, vii. 153.    Medea, daughter of the king of Colchis, i.
Madyes, a Scythian, i. 103.                 2; vii. 62.
Madytus, a city of the Chersonese, vii. 83; Medes, i. 95-101; iv. 87, 40; vii. 62, 67,
ix. 120.                                  86, 210; ix. 70, 74, 77, 102-104, 106,
Maeander, a river of Caria, i. 18; ii. 29;   180.
iii. 122; -. 118; vii. 26.              Media, i. 72, 110, 182, 185; iii. 82, 92; vi.
Moeandrius, a Samian, iii. 123, 142-148;   112; vii. 116.
v. 27.                                 Magabates, a Persian general, v. 32; vii. 97.
Mseonians, Lydian, i. 7; vii. 74.        Megabazus, son of Megabates, vii. 97.
Meonians, Cabalian, vii. 77.             Megabyzus (also  called Megabazus), a
Maeotis, Palus, i. 104; iv. 3, 5, 57, 86, 99,   Persian general, iii. 70, 81; iv. 140, 144,
101.               *                     v. 1, 14, 23.
Magdolus, a city of Syria, ii. 159.      Magabyzus, son of Zopyrus, iii. 160; vii. 82.
Magi, a Median tribe, i. 101.            Magacles, an Athenian, i. 59, 61-64; vi.
Magnesia of Asia Minor, i. 161; iii. 122.  125.
Magnesia of Macedonia, vii. 176, 183, 190. Megacles, son of Alcmeeon, vi. 127-130.
Magnetes of Europe, vii. 182.            Megacles, son of Hippocrates, vi. 101.
Magnetes of Asia, iii. 90.               Megacreon of Abdera, vii. 120.
Malean promontory, i. 82; iv. 179; vii. 168. Megadostes, father of Mascames, vii. 105.
Malena, a city of Atarnea, vi. 29.       Magapanus, governor of Babylon, vii. 62.
Males, brother of Titormus, vi. 127.     Megara, Megarians, i. 59; ix. 14, 21.
Maliac territory and gulf, iv. 80; vii. 182, Megara, Megarians of Sicily, vii. 156.
196, 198; viii. 01.    -               Megasidras, father of Dotus, vii. 72.
Mandane, daughter of Astyages, i. 107.    Megistias, diviner to the Spartans at Ther.
MandrocleS, a Samian architect, iv. 87, 88.   mopyle, vii. 219, 221, 228.
Manes, king of Lydia, i. 94; iv. 45.     Melampus, a seer, ii. 49; vii. 221; ix. 34.
Mantineans, iv. 161; vii. 202; ix. 77.   Melampygus, a rock near the Asopus, vii.
Mantyas and Pigres, v. 12.                 216.
Mapen, son of Siromus, vii. 98.          Melanchlsenians, a people of Northern
Maraphians, a tribe of Persians, i. 125;   Asia, iv. 20, 100, 102, 107.
iv. 167.                               Melanippus, a hero, v. 67.
Marathon, i. 62; vi. 106, 107.           Melanippus of Mitylene, v. 95.
Mardians, a Persian tribe, i. 84, 125.   Melanthius, an Athenian commander, v.
Mardonius, vi. 4 —45, 94; vii. 5-9, 82;   97.
viii. 100-113, 133-106; ix. 1-4, 12-  Melanthus, father of Codrus, i. 147; v. 65.
15, 08, 49, 59, 63, 84.          -     Melas, a river of Thessaly, vii. 198.
Mardontes, a Persian general, vii. 80; viii. Melanic gulf and liver, vi. 41; vii. 58.
180; ix. 102.              -           Meles, king of Sardis, i. 84.




606                                   INDEX.
Meliboea, a city of Magnesia, vii. 188.     Molossians, a people of Epiras, i. 146; vi.
Melians, or Malians, vii. 132.                127.
Melissa, wife of Periander, iii. 50; v. 92.   Molpagoras, father of Aristogoras, v. 30.
Membliarus, son of Peciles, iv. 147.        Momemphis, a city of Egypt, ii. 163.
Memnon, city of, vii. 151.                  Mophi, a mountain of Upper Egypt, ii. 28.
Memphis, a city of Egypt, ii. 3, 10, 99.    Moschians, a people of Asia, iii. 94; vii.
Menares, father of Leotychides, vi. 65, 71;    18.
viii. 181.                                Mosynoeci, a people of Asia, iii. 94; vii.
Menda, a city of Pallene, vii. 120.           78.
Mendes, Egyptian Pan, ii. 42, 46.           Munychia, a port of Attica, viii. 16.
Mendesian plain, ii. 42, 46, 166.           Murichides, a IHellespontine, ix. 4.
Mendesian mouth of the Nile, ii. IT.        Musseus, a seer, vii. 6; viii. 96; ix. 4.
Menelaus, husband of Helen, ii. 119.        Mycale, a promontory opposite Samos, i.
Menes, first king of Egypt, ii. 4, 99.. 148; vi. 16; vii. 80; ix. 90; 96, 98,104,
Menius, brother of Eurydam6, vi. 11.          107.
Merbal, son of Agbal, vii. 98.              Mycenseans, a people of Argolis, vii. 202;
Mercury, ii. 51, 138.                         ix. 27, 28.
Mercury, Thracian, v. 7.                    Mycerinus, king of Egypt, ii. 129, 132, 134.
Mermnades, kings of Sdrdis, i. 7, 14.       Mycians, a people of Asia, iii. 93; vii. 68.
Meroe, a city of Ethiopia, ii. 29.          Myconos, an island near Delos, Yi. 118.
Mesambria, a city of Thrace, iv. 98; vi. Myecphoris, a district in Egypt, ii. 166.
88; vii. 108.                             Mygdonia, a district of Macedonia, vii. 128,
Messana, a city of Sicily, vii. 164.          124, 127.
Messapian Japyges, vii. 170.                Mylasa, a Carian town, i. 171; v. 37, 121.
Messenians of Peloponnesus, ix. 85, 64.     Mylitta, Assyrian Venus, i. 131, 199.
Metapontines of Italy, iv. 15.              Myndian ship, v. 88.
Methymnse, a city of Lesbos, i. 151.        Myrcinus, a town of Edonia, v. 11, 23, 124.
Metiochus, son ofMiltiades, vi. 41..Myriandrian gulf, iv. 38.
Metrodorus, tyrant of Proconnesus, iv.  Myrina, a AEolian city, i. 149.
188.                                      Myrinseans, a people in Lemnos, vi. 140.
Micythus, servant of Anaxilaus, vii. 170.   Myrmex, a rock near Sciathus, vii. 183.
Midas, king of Phrygia, i. 14, 85;'viii. 138.  Myron, father of Aristonymus, vi. 126.
Miletus and Milesians, of Ionia, i. 14, 15,  Myrsilus-Candaules, i. 7.
17-22, 142, 148; ii. 88; v. 28-30, 86, Myrsus, father of Candaules, i. 7.
120; vi. 5, 18, 20, 21; ix. 97.           Myrsus, son of Gyges, iii. 122; v. 121.
Milo, a wrestler, iii. 187.                 Mys, of Europus, viii. 1883-185.
Miltiades, son of Cypselus, vi. 34-388.     Mysians, a people of Asia Minor, i. 28, 160,
Ililtiades, son of Cimon,'tyrant of the    171; iii. 90; v. 122; vii. 20, 42, 74.
Chersonese, iv. 137; vi. 33 —41, 104, Mytilene, see Mitylene.
109, 182-137, 140.                        Myns, a town of Ionia, i. 142; v. 36; vi. 8.
Milyas, a province of Asia, i. 175; iii. 90;
vii. 77.                                  Naparis, a river of Scythia, iv. 48.
Minerva, Egyptian, ii. 62, 83, 175, 182.    Nasamones, a people of Libya, ii. 32; iv.
Minerva, Grecian, i. 19, 22, 62, 92, 160,    172, 182, 190.
175; iii. 59; iv. 180, 188, 189; v., 45, 59, Natho, an island of the Nile, ii. 165.
72, 82, 83, 95; vii. 43, 72; viii. 87, 39, Naucratis, a port of the Delta, ii. 97, 185,
55, 94, 104; ix. 70.                        178, 179.
Minerva, Libyan, iv. 189.                   Nauplia, a port of Argolis, vi. 76.
Minoa, a colony from Selinus, v. 46.        Naustrophus, father of Eupalinus, iii. 6b.
Minos, of Cnossus, iii. 122.                Naxos, one of the Cyclades, i. 64; v. 28,
Minos, son of Europa, i. 173; vii. 169-    80; vi. 96; vii. 154;. viii. 46.
171.                                      Neapolis, a town of Pallene, vii. 123.
Minyans, descendants of the Argonauts, i. Neapolis, a city of Egypt, ii. 91.
146; iv. 145-148.                         Neco, father of Psammitichus, ii. 152.
Mitra, the Persian Venus, i. 131.           Neco, king of Egypt, ii. 158, 159; iv. 42.
Mitradates, foster father of Cyrus, i. 110, Neleus, son of Codrus, v. 65; ix. 97.
111.   Neocles, father of Themistocles, vii. 173.
Mitrobates, a Persian prince, iii. 120-127.  Neon, a town of Phocis, viii. 82, 83.
Mitylene, capital of Lesbos, i. 27, 160; ii.  Neon-Teichos, an ZEolian town, i. 149.
78; v. 94.                               Neptune, i. 148; ii. 50; iv. 59, 180, 188;
Mnesarchus, father of Pythagoras, iv. 95.    vii. 129, 192; viii. 55, 123, 129; ix. 81.
Mnesiphilus, friend of Themistocles, viii.  Nereids, vii. 191.
57.                                       Nestor, father of Pisistratus, v. 65.
Moeris, king of Egypt. ii. 13, 101.         Nestus, a river near Abdera, vii. 109, 126.
Mceris, lake of, ii. 4, 69, 148, 149; iii. 91.   Neurians, a Scythian people, iv. 17, 51,
Molceis, a stream of Bceotia, ix. 5.          100, 105.




INDEX.                                     607
Nicanider, king of Sparta, viii. 181.       Onesilus, brother of Gorgus, v. 104-115.
Nicandra, priestess at Dodona, ii. 55.      Onetes, son of Phanagoras, vii. 214.
Nicodromus, of Egina, vi. 88.               Onochonus, a river of Thessaly, vii. 129,
Nicolaus, son of Bulis, vii. 1T3.             196.
Nile, a river of Egypt, ii. 10-34, 61, 99;  Onomacritus, a diviner, vii. 6.
iv. 45, 53; vi. 50.                       Onomastus, son of Ag.eus, vi; 12T.
Nineveh, ii. 102, 103, 106, 150, 185, 193;  Onuphis, a district of Egypt, ii, 166.
iii. 155.                                 Ophrynium, a town of Troas, vii. 43.
Ninus, son of Belus, i. 7.                  Opis and Arg6, iv. 35.
Nipsaean Thracians, i. 59.                  Opis, a town at the mouth of the Tigris, i.
Nissea, a'town of Megara, iii. 106; vii. 40.    189.
Nissean plain, vii. 40.                     Opcea, wife of Scylas, iv. 78.
Nisyros, an island near Rhodes, vii. 99.    Opuntian Locrians, vii. 203.
Nitetis, daughter of Apries, iii. i.        Orbelus, Mount, of Pseonia, v. 16.
Nitocris, queen of Babylon, i. 185, 18T.    Orchomenians, of Bceotia, viii. 34.
Nitocris, queen of Egypt, ii. 100.          Orcliomenians, of Arcadia, vii. 202; ix. 28.
NoSs, a river of Thrace, iv. 49.            Orchomenians, Minyan, i. 146.
Nonacris, a town of Arcadia, vi. 74.        Ordessus, a river of Scythia, iv. 48.
Nothon, father of JEschines, vi. 100.       Orestes, son of Agamemnon, i. 68, 69; ix.
Notium, an AEolian town, i. 149.              11.
Nudium, a town of the Minyans, ii. 149.    Olrga, father of Antipater, vii. 118.
Nymphodorus, son of Pythias, vii. 13T.      Oricus, a port of Apollonia, ix. 93.
Nysa, a town of Ethiopia, ii. 146; iii. 111.  Oricus, son of Ariapithes, iv. 78.
Orithyia, wife of Boreas, vii. 189.
Oarizus, father of Massages, vii. 11.       Orneates, a people of Peloponnesus, v. 68;
Oarus, a river of Scythia, iv. 128.           viii. 73.
Oasis, a city of Libya, iii. 26.            Oroetes, governor of Sardis, iii. 120-12T.
Ocean, a supposed river, encompassing the  Oromedon, father of Syennesis, vii. 98.
earth, ii. 20; iv. 8, 86.                 Oropus, a port of Beotia, yi. 100.
Octamasades, brother of Scylas, iv. 80.      Orsiphantus, a Spartan, vii. 227.
Ocytus, father of Adimantus, viii. 5, 59.    Orthocorybantians, a people of Media, iii.
Odomantians, a people of Thrace, v. 16;    92.
vii. 112.                                 Orus, son of Osiris, ii. 144.
Odrysaeans, a people of Thrace, iv. 92;      Osiris, Egyptian Bacchus, see Bacchus.
(Ea, a place in JEgina, v. 80, 83.          Ossa, Mount, of Thessaly, i. 56; vii. 128,
(Ebares, groom of Darius, iii. 85.            129.
(Ebares, son of Megabazus, vi. 33.          Otanes, a Persian prince, iii. 67-72, 76,
(Edipus, son of Laius, iv. 149; v. 60.        83, 141, 144, 147, 149.
(Enoe, a town of Attica, v. 74.             Otanes, son of Sisamnes, v. 25, 26, 116, 123.
(Enone, ancient name of AEgina, viii. 46.   Otanes, father of Amestris, vii. 61.
(Enotria, a district of Italy, i. 16T.      Otanes, father of Pitaramphes, vii. 40.
(Enyssae, islands off Messenia, i. 165.     Otaspes, son of Artachaus, vii. 68.
(Eobazus, a Persian, iv. 84.                Othryades, a Spartan, i. 82.
(Eobazus, a Persian slain by the Thra-  Othrys, Mount, of Thessaly, vii. 129.
cians, ix. 115, 119.                      Ozolse, Locrians, viii. 32.
(Eobazus, father of Siromitres, vii. 68.
Oeroe, daughter of Asopus, ix. 51.          Pactolus, a river of Lydia, v. 101.
(Eta, Mount, vii. 176, 217.                 Pactya, a town of the Chersonese, vi. 86.
(Etosyrus, Scythian Apollo, iv. 59.         Pactyas, a Lydian, ii. 153-160.
(Eolycus, i. 149.                           Pactyica, a country of Asia, iii. 98, 102;
Olen, a poet, iv. 85.                         iv. 44; vii. 67, 85.
Olenus, a town of Achaia, i. 145.           Padlean Indians, iii. 99.
Oliatus, tyrant of Mylasa, v. 37.           Pseanians, a tribe at Athens, i. 60.
Olophyxus, a town of Mount Athos, vii. 22. Peonia, Pseonians, iv. 83, 49; v. 1, 12Olorus, king of Thrace, vi. 89, 41.           15, 98; vii. 124, 185.
Olympia, Olympic games, ii. 7, 160; v. 22, Pseoples, a people of Thrace, v. 15; vii.
47, 71; vi. 70, 108, 125; vii. 206; viii.   113.
26, 184; ix. 34, 81.                      Psesus, a town of the Hellespont, v. 117.
Olympiodorus, son of Lampon, ix. 21.        Pretians, a people of Thrace, vii. 110.
Olympus, Mount, of Mysia, i. 36, 43; vii. Pmum, a town of Arcadia, vi. 127.
74.                                       Pagasa, a town of Magnesia, vii. 198, 198.
Olympus, Mount, of Thessaly, i. 56; vii. Paleans of Cephallenia, ix. 28.
128, 129, 172.                            Palestine, i. 104, 105; ii. 106; iii. 5; vii.
Olynthus, a town of Sithonia, vii. 122;   69, 89.
viii. 127.                                Pallene, a peninsula of Macedonia, vii,
Oneate, a tribe at Sicyon, v. 68.             128; viii. 126.




608                                   INDEX.
Pamisus, a river of Thessaly, vii. 129.     Pedasus, a town of Caria, i. T15; v. 121;
Pammon, a Scyrian, vii. 183.                  vi. 20; viii. 104.
Pamphylians, a people of Asia Minor, i. Pediese, a town of Phocis, viii. 33.
28; iii. 90; vii. 91.                     Pelasgians, i. 56, 57, 146; ii. 51; iv. 145;
Pamphylians of Sicyon, v. 68.                 v. 26; vi. 13; vii. 94; viii. 44.
Pan, ii. 46, 145, 146; vi. 105, 106.        Peleus, king of Thessaly, vii. 191.
Panuetius, son of Sosimenes, viii. 82.      Pelion, Mount, of Thessaly, iv. 179;'vii.
Panatheneea (festival), v. 56.                129.
Pandion, father of Lycus, i. 173; vii. 92.   Pella, a town of Bottiea, vii. 123.
Pangaeus, Mount, of Pseonia, v. 16; vii.  Pellena, a district of Peloponnesus, i. 145.
112.                                      Peloponnesus, i. 56,68; vii. 137, 233; viii.
Panionia (festival), i. 148.                   81, 73; ix. 73.
Panionium, place of meeting of the states  Pelops, a Phrygian, vii. 8, 11.
general of Ionia, i. 143, 147, 148; vi. 7.  Pelusian mouth of the Nile, ii. 17, 154;
Panionius, a Chian, viii. 103-106.             iii. 10.
Panites, a Messenian, vi. 52.                Penelope, mother of Pan, ii. 145.
Panopians of Phocis, viii. 34, 85.           Peneus, a river of Thessaly, vii. 20, 128,
Panormus, a Milesian port, i. 157.             129, 173, 182.
Pantagnotus, brother of Polycrates, iii. 39. Pentapolis, a Dorian district, i. 144.
Pantaleon, broth.er of Croesus, i. 92,      Penthylus, general of the Paphians, vii.
Pantareus, father of Cleander, vii. 154.       195.
Panthialoeans, a tribe of Persians, i. 125.   Percalos, wife of Demaratus, vi. 65.
Panticapes, a river of Scythia, iv. 18, 47, Percote, a town of the Hellespont, v. 117.
54.'   Perdiccas, ancestor of Amyntas, v. 22;
Pantimathians, a people of Asia, iii. 92.      viii. 137-139.
Pantites, a Spartan, vii. 232.               Pergamus, citadel of Troy, vii. 43.
Papaeus, Scythian Jupiter, iv. 59.           Pergamus, a fort in Thrace, vii. 112.
Paphlagonians, a people of Asia Minor, i.  Perialla, Pythoness, vi. 66.
6, 28, T2; iii. 90; vii. 72.              Periander, tyrant of Corinth, i. 20, 23;
Papremis, a city of Egypt, ii. 59, 63, 71,   iii. 48, 50, 53; v. 92, (6.).
165; iii. 12.                             Pericles, his parentage, vi. 131.
Parsebates, a Spartan, v. 46.               Perilaus, general of the Sicyonians, ix.
Paralates, Scythians, iv. 6.                   103.
Parapotamii, a town of Phocis, viii. 33.    Perinthus, a town of the Chersonese, iv.
Paretacenians, Medes, i. 101.                  90; v. 1, 2; vi. 33; vii. 25.
Paricanians, a people of Asia, iii. 94; vii.  Perpherees, iv. 03.
68, 86.                                   Perrhsebians, a people of Thessaly, vii.
Parium, a town of the Hellespont, v. 117.      128, 132, 173.
Paris, see Alexander.                       Perses, son of Perses, vii. 61,150.
Parmys, daughter of Smerdis, iii. 88; vii.  Perseus, son of Danae, ii. 91; iv. 82; vi
78.                                         53, 54; vii. 61, 150.
Parnassus, Mount, of Thessaly, viii. 27, 32.  Persians, passim.
Paroreatae, a people of Peloponnesus, iv.  Petra, a town of the Corinthians, v. 92,
148; viii 73.                                (2.).
Paros, one of the Cyclades, v. 28, 31; vi. Phoedyma, daughter of Otanes, iii. 68, 69,
133, 135; viii. 67, 112.                    88.
Parthenius, a river of Thrace, ii. 104.     Phaenippus, father of Callias, vi. 121.
Parthenius, Mount, in Peloponnesus, vi.  Phagres, a fort of Pieria, vii. 112.
105.                                      Phalerus, the port of Athens, v. 63, 85; vi,
Parthians, a people of Asia, iii. 93, 117;    116; viii. 66, 91; ix. 32.
vii. 66.                                  Phanagoras, father of Onetes, vii. 214.
Pasargadae, a tribe of Persians, i. 125.    Phanes, a Halicarnassian, iii. 4, 11.
Pasargades, a Persian commander, iv. 167.  Pharandates, son of Theaspes, vii. 79; ix,
Pasicles, father of Philistus, ix. 97.        76.
Pataicus, father of AEnesidemus, vii. 154.  Pharbaethis, a district of Egypt, ii. 166.
Patara, a town of Lycia, i. 182.            Pharees, a town of Achaia, i. 145.
Patarbemis, an Egyptian prince, ii. 162.   Pharnaces, father of Artabazus, vii. 66; ix,
Patiramphes, charioteer to Xerxes, vii. 40.    41.
Patizithes, a magus, iii. 61-78.            Pharnaspes, father of Cassandane, ii. 1I
Patrae, a town of Achaia, i. 145.             iii. 2.
Patumos, a town of Arabia, ii. 158.         Pharnazathres, a Persian general, vii. 65.
Pausanias, son of Cleombrotus, iv. 81; v.  Pharnuches, general of cavalry, vii. 88.
32; vii. 204; viii. 3; ix. 10, 21, 46, 50, Phaselis, a Doric town, ii. 178.
53-57, 60-64, 78-82, 88.                  Phasis, a river of Colchis, i. 2, 104; ii. 103;
Pausicse, a people of Asia, iii. 92.          iv. 37, 38, 45, 86; vi. 84.
Pausiris, son of Amyrteus, iii. 15.         Phaylus of Crotona, viii. 47.




INDEX.                                    609
Phegeus, father of ASropus, ix. 26.        Pisistratus, son of Nestor, v. 65.
Pheneus, a town of Arcadia, vi. 74.        Pisistratus, son of Iippocrates, i. 59-64;
Pherendates, son of Megabazus, vii. 67.      v. 65; vi. 35, 103.
Pheretima, wife of Arcesilaus, iv. 162, 202, Pistyrus, a town of Thrace, vii. 109.
205.                                     Pitana, an JEolian town, i. 149.
Pheron, king of Egypt, ii. 11.             Pitane, a town of Laconia, iii. 55;-ix. 53.
Phidippides, a courier, vi. 105.           Pittacus of Mitylene, i. 27.
Phidon, tyrant of Argos, vi. 127.          Pixodarus, son of Mausolus, v. 128.
Phigalia, a district of Arcadia, vi. 83.   Placia, a Pelasgian town of the -Iellespont,
Philseus, son of Ajax, vi. 85.               i. 5T.
Philager, son of Cyneas; vi. 101.          Platsea, Plateans, vi. 108; viii. 1, 44, 50;
Philaon, son of Chersis, viii. 11.           ix. 25, 28, 29, 51, 53 —5.
Philes, father of Rhcecus, iii. 60.        Platea, an island off the coast of Libya,
Philip of Crotona, v. 47..                  iv. 151, 153, 156, 169.
Philip, king of Macedonia, viii. 139.      Pleistarchus, son of Leonidas, ix. 10.
Philistus, son of Pasicles, ix. 97.        Pleistorus, divinity of the Absinthians, ix.
Philition, an Egyptian shepherd, ii. 128.    119.
Philocyon, a Spartan, ix. 72, 85.          Plinthine, gulf of, ii. 6.
Philocyprus, tyrant of Soli, v. 113.       Plynus, a lake of Libya, iv. 16S.
Phla, an island of the lake Tritonis, iv. Pceciles, father of Membliares, iv. 14T.
178..Pogon, a port of the Trezenians, vil. 42.
Phlegra, ancient name of Pallene, vii. 123. Poliades, father of Amompharetus, ix. 53.
Phlius, a town of Peloponnesus, ix. 28.      Polichnitse, Cretans, vii. 170.
Phocsea, an Ionian city of Lydia, i. 80, Pollux, see Tyndarides.
142, 152, 163 —167; ii. 106, 177, 178; vi. Polyas of Anticyra, viii. 21.
8, 11-17.                                Polybus, ancestor of Adrastus, v. 67.
Phocis, Phocians, i. 146; vii. 176,212, 215,  Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, iii. 9 —44,
217; viii. 27,.80, 32; ix. 17, 31.         54-56, 121, 122,125.
Phoebeum, temple of, vi. 61.               Polycritus of JEgina, viii. 92, 93.
Phoenicia, ii. 44, 116; iii. 136; iv. 39.  Polydectes, king of Sparta, viii. 131.
Phoenicians, i. 1,105; ii. 44, 104, 112; iii. Polydorus, son of Alcamenes, vii. 204.
6, 19, 107, 110, 113, 115; iv. 42; v. 58, Polydorus, grandfather of Latus, v. 59.
89; vi. 47; vii. 28, 84, 44, 89; viii. 90.  Polymnestus, father of Battus, iv. 150,
Phoenix, a river near Anthela, vii. 176,   155.
200.                                     Polynices, father of Thersander, vi. 52,
Phormus, an Athenian, vii. 182.              147; ix. 27.
Phraortes, king of the Medes, i. 73, 102.    Pontus, see Euxine.
Phrataguna, wife of Darius, vii. 224.      Porata, a river of Scythia, iv. 12, 48.
Phriconis, Cyma, i. 149.                   Porthmea, Cimmerian, iv. 12, 45.
Phrixse, a town of the Minyans, iv. 148.    Posideum, a town of Cilicia, iii. 91; vii.
Phrixus, father of Cytissorus, vii. 197.     115.
Phronima, daughter of Etearchus, iv. 154. Posidonians, i. 167.
Phrygia, Phrygians, i. 27, 28, 72; ii. 2; Posidonius, a Spartan, ix. 71, 85.
iii. 90; vii. 73.                        Potidsea, a city of Pallene, vii. 128; viii.
Phrynichus, an Athenian poet, vi. 21.        126, 129.
Phrynon, father of Attaginus, ix. 15.      Prnesian Cretans, vii. 170, 171.
Phthiotis, a region of Thessaly, i. 56; vii.  Prasias, a lake of Thrace, v. 16.
182.                                     Praxilaus, father of Xenagoras, ix. 107.
Phya, a woman of Attica, i. 60.            Praxinus, a Trcezenian captain, vii. 180.
Phylacus and Autonous, viii. 89.           Prexaspes, a Persian prince, iii. 80, 3, 34,
Phylacus, son of Histiseus, viii. 85.        62, 66, 74.
Phyllis, a region near Mount Pangseus, Prexaspes, son ofAspathines, vii. 97.
vii. 113.                                Priam, king of Troy, i. 4; ii. 120; vii. 48.
Pieria, a region of Macedonia, vii. 112, Priene, a town of Caria, i. 15, 142, 161;
131, 185.                                  vi. 8.
Pigres, son of Seldomus, vii. 98.          Prinetades, son of Demarmenus, v. 41.
Pigres and Mantyes, brothers, v. 12.       Procles, son of Aristodemus, vi. 51, 52;
Pilorus, a town of Mount Athos, vii. 122.    viii. 181, 147.
Pindar, the poet, iii. 88.                 Procles, tyrant of Epidaurus, iii. 50, 52.
Pindus, Mount, of Thessaly, i. 56; vii.  Proconnesus, an island of the Propontis,
129.                                       iv. 13, 14; vi. 83.
Pirene, fountain, near Corinth, v. 92.     Prometheus, iv. 45.
Piromis, ii. 143.                          Pronsean Minerva, i. 92; iii. 108; viii.'7,
Pirus, a river of Achaia, i. 145.            39.
Pisa, a town of Elis, ii. 7.               Propontis, iv. 85.
Pisistratidae, v. 68, 65, 90; viii. 52.    Proserpine, feast of, vii. 65.  See Ceres.
Cc 2




610                                 INDEX.
Prosopitis, an islafid of the Nile, ii. 41, 165. Sandoces, a Persian judge, vii. 194.
Protesilaus, a hero, vii. 33; ix. 116.    Sappho, the poetess, ii. 135.
Proteus, king of Egypt, ii. 112, 116.     Sarangeans, a people of Asia, iii. 93; vii.
Protothyes, a Scythian, i. 103.             6r.
Prltanis, king of Sparta, viii. 131.      Sardanapalus, king of Nineveh, ii. 150.
Prytaneum, at Athens, i. 146; vii. 139.    Sardinia, i. 170; v. 106, 124; vii. 165.
Prytaneum, of the Achaeans, vii. 191.     Sardis, i. 7, 15, 84, 86; v. 100, 101, 105.
Psammenitus, king of Egypt, iii. 10-15.   Sardonian sea, 1. 166.
Psammis, king of Egypt, ii. 160.          Sarpedon and Minos, i. 173.
Psammitichus, king of Egypt, i. 105; ii. 2, Sarpedon, promontory, vii. 58.
152-157.                                Sarta, a town of.Mount Athos, vii. 122.
Psammitichus, father of Inarus, vii. 7.   Saspires, a people of Asia, i. 104; iii. 94;
Psyllians, a Libyan people, iv. 173.        iv. 37; vii. 79.
Psyttalea, an island near Salamis, viii. 76,  Sataspes, a Persian, iv. 43.
95.                                     Satrse, a people of Thrace, vii. 110, 111.
Pteria, a town of Cappadocia, i. 76.      Sattagydae, a people of Asia, iii. 91.
Ptous, Apollo, viii. 135.                 Saulius, king of Scythia, iv. 76.
PylEe, see Thermopylae.                   Sauromatae, a Scythian people, iv. 21, 43,
Pylagori, vii. 213.                         110-117.
Pylians, Cauconian, i. 147; v. 65.        Scewus, a pugilist, v. 60.
Pylus, a town of Laconia, vii. 168.       Scamander, a river of Troas, v. 65'  vii. 42.
Pylus, a town of Elis, ix. 84.            Scamandronymus, father of Charaxus, ii.
Pyrene, a town near the Ister, ii. 3S.      185.
Pyretos, a river of Scythia, iv. 48.      Scapte-Hyle, a place in Thrace, vi. 46.
Pyrgus, a town of the Minyans, iv. 148.    Sciathos, an island near Artemisium, vii.
Pythagoras, ii. 81; iv. 94, 95..176, 179, 182, 180; viii. 7.
Pythagoras, a Milesian, v. 126.           Scidrus, a town of tho Sybarites, vi. 21.
Pythagoras, tyrant of Selinus, v. 46.     Sciona, a town of Pallene, vii. 123.
Pytheas, an dEginetan, vii. 181; viii. 92; Sciras, Minerva, viii. 94.
ix.. 78.                                Scironian road at the Isthmus, viii. 71.
Pythermus, a Phocaean, i. 152.            Sciton, servant of Democedes, iii. 130.
Pythius, a Lydian, vii. 27-29, 38, 39.    Scius, a river of Scythia, iv. 49.
Pythogenes, a Scythian, vi. 23.           Scolos, a town of Bceotia, ix. 15.
Scolopceis, a river near Mycale, ix. 97.
Rhampsinitus, king of Egypt, ii. 121, 122.  Scoloti, Scythians, iv. 6.
Rhegium, a town of Italy, vii. 170.       Scopades, Thessalians, vi. 127.
Rlhensea, an island near Delos, vi. 97.   Scopasis, king of the Scythians, iv. 120,
Rhodes, i. 114; ii. 178; vii. 153.          128.
Rhodope, Mount, of Thrace, iv. 49; viii. Scylace, a Pelasgian town, i. 57.
416.                                    Scylas, king of the Scythians, iv. 78, 80.
lRhodopis, a courtesan, ii. 134, 135.     Scylax, a voyager, iv. 44.
Rhoecus, an architect, iii. 60.           Scylax, a Mindian captain, v. 83.
iRhcetium, a town of Troas, vii. 43.      Scyllias, a diver, viii. 8.
Rhypes, a town of Achaia, i. 145.         Scyrmiadse, Thraciaris, iv. 93.
Scythes, son of Hercules, iv. 10.
Sabacon, king of the 2Ethiopians, ii. 137-  Scythes, of Zancla, vi. 23, 24.
139, 152.                               Scythes, of Coos, vii. 163.
Sabyllus, of Gela, vii. 154.              Scythia, Scythians, i. 15, 37, 13, 103, 105,
Sacre, a people of Asia, i. 153; iii. 98; vii.   106; iv. 1-12, 17-20, 40, 46-81, 109,
64.                                       114, 120, 121, 127, 131, 186; vi. 84; vii.
Sadyattes, king of Lydia, i. 16, 18.        10, (1.), 20, 64.
Sagartian Persians, i. 125; iii. 93; vii. 8. Sebennys, a district of Egypt, ii. 166.
Sais, a city of Egypt, ii. 28, 29, 62, 163, 165, Sebennytic mouth of the Nile, ii. 17.
169, 170.                               Seldomus, father of Pigres, vii. 98.
Saitic mouth of the Nile, ii. 17.         Selinus, a town of Sicily, v. 66.
Sala, a town of Samothracia, vii. 59.     Selybria, a town of the Chersonese, vi. 33.
Salamis, vii. 166; viii. 40, 56, 83-96.   Semiramis, queen of Babylon, i. 184.
Salamis, a city of Cyprus, iv. 162; v. 104. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, ii. 141.
Salmydessus, a town of Thrace, iv. 93.    Sepia, a town of Argolis, vi. 77.
Samos, Samians, i. 70, 142; ii. 148; iii. 26, Sepias, a shore of Magnesia, vii. 183, 186,
o9, 46, 47, 54, 60, 139-149; iv. 152, 162;   188, 191, 195.
vi. 14, 22; ix. 90, 99.                 Serbonis, a lake of Egypt, ii. 6; iii. 5.
Samothracians, ii. 51; vi. 41; vii. 108; Seriphos, an island of the Egean sea, viii.
viii. 90.                                 44, 48.
Sana, a town of Mount Athos, vii. 22, 123. Sermyla, a Greek town of Sithonia, vii.
Sandanis, a Lydian, i. 71.                  122.




INDEX.                                      611
Serrheum, promontory of Thrace, vii. 58, Stenyclerus, a town of Messenia, ix. 64,
59.                                       Stesagoras, father of Cimon, vi. 34, 38,
Sesostris, king of Egypt, ii. 102, 103, 106-  103.
110.                                      Stesenor, tyrant of Curium, v. 113.
Sestus, a city of the Chersonese, iv. 14T; Stesilaus, son of Thrasylaus, vi. 114.
vii. 32, 833; ix. 114, 115.               Strattis, tyrant of the Chians, iv. 188; viii.
Sethon, king of Egypt, ii. 141.               182.
Sicania, Sicily, vii. 170.                  Struchates, a people of Media, i. 101.
Sicas, father of Cyberniscus, vii. 98.      Stryme, a town of Briantica, vii. 108, 109.
Sicinnus, bondman of Themistocles, viii. Strymon, a river of Macedonia, i. 13, 23,
75, 110.                                    64; vii. 24, 113; viii. 115.
Sicyon, a state of Peloponnesus, v. 61, 68; Strymonians, vii. 75.
vi. 92; viii. 43; ix. 28.                 Stymphalis, lake, vi. 96.
Sidon, Sidonians, ii. 116; iii. 136; vii. 99, Styreans of Dryopea, vi. 101; viii. 1, 48;
100.                                        ix. 28.
Sigseum, promontory, iv. 88.                Styx, a river of Arcadia, vi. 74.
Sigeum, a town on the Scamander, v. 65, Sunium, southern promontory of Attica,
94.                                         iv. 99; vi. 87, 115.
Sigynnse, a people beyond the Ister, v. 9.   Susa, residence of the Persian kings, i.
Silenus, Marsyas, vii. 26; viii. 138.         188; iii. 68, 70, 91; iv. 83, 91; v. 49,
Simonides, the poet, v. 102  vii.. 228.       52-54: vii. 151, 239.
Sindians, a people of the Cimmerian Bos-  Syagrus,  S Spartan, vii. 158-159.
phorus, iv. 3, 28, 86.                    Sybaris, a city of Italy, v. 44; vi. 21, 121.
Sindus, a town of Mygdonia, vii. 123.       Syene, a city in Upper Egypt, ii. 28.
Singus, a town of Sithonia, vii. 122.       Syennesis, king of the Cilicians, i. 74; v,
Sinope, a town of the Euxine, i. 76; ii. 34;    118; vii. 98.
iv. 12.                                   Sylo, plain in Thrace, vii. 115.
Siphnos, one of the Cyclades, iii. 57, 58;  Syloson, brother ofPolycrates, iii. 39,139 —.
viii. 46, 48.                               149.
Siris, a town of Italy, viii. 62.           Syme, sea of, i. 174.
Siris, a town of Paeonia, v. 15; viii. 115.   Syracuse, vii. 155-162.
Siromitres, a Persian general, vii. 68, 79.  Syrgis, a river of Scythia, iv. 128.
Siromus, a Tyrian, vii. 98.                 Syria, Syrians, i. 6, 72, 76, 105; ii. 12, 90,
Siromus, a Gyprian, v. 104.                   104, 116, 158, 159; iii. 5, 90, 91; iv. 39,
Sisamnes, a Persian general, vii. 65.         49; vii. 72, 89, 140.
Sisamnes, father of Otanes, v. 25.          Syria, Syrians, also calledAssyrians,vii. 63.
Sisimaces, a Persian general, v. 121.       Syrtis, region and gulf of, ii. 82, 150; iv.
Sitalces, king of Thrace, iv. 80; vii. 137.   169.
Sithonia, a region of Thrace, vii. 122.
Siuph, a city of Egypt, ii. 172.            Tabalus, governor of Sardis, i. 154.
Smerdis, son of Cyrus, iii. 80, 65.         Tabiti, Scythian Vesta, iv. 59.
Smerdis, the magus, iii. 61-79.             Tachompso, an island of the Nile, ii. 29.
Smerdomenes, son of Otanes, vii. 82, 121. Tsenarus, a place in Laconia, i. 23, 24; vii.
Smila, a town of Pallene, vii. 123.           168.
Smindyrides, a Sybarite, vi. 127.           Talaus, father of Adrastus, v. 67.
Smyrna, i. 14, 16, 149.                     Talthybius, a hero honored at Sparta, vii.
Sogdians, a people of Asia, iii. 98; vii. 66.    184, 137.
Soli, a town of Cyprus, v. 115.             Tamynse, a town of Euboea, vi. 101.
Soloeis, western promontory of Libya, ii.  Tanagra, a town of Boeotia, v. 57, 79; ix.
82; iv. 48.                                 15, 43.
Solon, the Athenian legislator, i. 29-38;  Tanais, a river of Scythia, iv. 20, 21, 45,
ii. 177; v. 113.                            57, 100, 123.
Solymi, Milyans, i. 178.                    Tanis, a district in Egypt, ii. 166.
Sophanes, of Decelea, vi. 92; ix. 73-75.   Tarentum, a city of Italy, i 24; iii. 186,
Sosicles, a Corinthian, v. 92.                138; iv. 99; vii. 170.
Sosimenes, father of Panetius., viii. 82.   Targitaus, ancestor of the Scythians, iv. 5.
Sostratus of AEgina, iv. 152.               Tarichea, a city of Egypt, ii 15, 113.
Spargapises, son of Tomyris, i. 211.        Tartessus, a city of Iberia, i. 168; iv. 152,
Spargapithes, king of the Agathyrsi, iv. 78.    192.
Sparta; see Lacedsemon.                     Tauchira, a town of the Barcseans, iv. 171.
Sperchius, a river of Thessaly, vii. 198,  Taurica, Taurians, iv. 3, 20, 99, 108.
228.                                      Taxacis, king of Scythia, iv. 120.
Sperthies and Bulis, vii. 134, 183.         Taygetus, Mount of Laconia, iv. 145.
Sphendale, a town of Attica, ix. 15.        Tearus, a river of Thrace, iv. 90, 91.
Stagirus, a town of Macedonia, vii. 115.    Teaspes, father of Sataspes, iv. 43; vii
Stentoris, a lake of Thrace, vii. 58.         79; ix. 76.




612                                INDEX.
Tegea, Tegeans, of Arcadia, i. 65; vi. 72, Therma, a town of Mygdonia, vii. 121,
105; vii. 170, 202; ix. 25, 26, 28, S5, 37,   127, 119, 183; viii. 127.
70.                                    Thermodon, a river of Cappadocia, ii. 104;
Teios, a town of Ionia, i. 168; vi..    iv. 86; ix. 27.
Telamon, a hero, viii. 64.               Thermodon, a liver of Bceotia, iv. 110; ix.
Teleboans a people of JEtolia, v. 59.      43.
Telecles, a Samian, iii. 41.             Thermopylse, or Pyle, vii. 175, 176, 184,
Teleclus, son of Archelaus, vii. 204.      186, 201-234.
Telesarchus, a Samian, iii. 143.         Theron, king of Agrigentum, vii. 165.
Telines, ancestor of Gelon, vii. 153.    Thersander, son of Polynices, iv. 147; vi.
Telliads, diviners, ix. 83, 37.            52.
Tellias, a diviner, viii. 27.            Thersander, of Orchomenus, ix. 16.
Tellus, an Athenian, i. 80.              Theseus, ix. 72.
Tellus, a Scythian goddess, iv. 59.      Thespia, Thespians, of Bceotia, v. 79; vii.
Telmessus, atown of Caria, i. 78.          202, 222, 226; viii. 50, 75; ix. 80.
Telos, an island off Triopium, vii. 153.  Thesprotia, a country of Epirus, ii. 56; v.
Telys, tyrant of Sybaris, v. 44.           92, (7.); vii. 176; viii. 47.
Temenus, ancestor of the Macedonian  Thessaly, Thessalians, i. 57; v. 60, 64;
kings, viii. 131.                        vii. 6, 80, 128-130, 172-174, 176, 196;
Temnos, an Aiolian island, i. 149.         viii. 27, 29, 80; ix. 31. 89.
Temp6, vale of Thessaly, vii. 128, 17T,  Thessalus, companion of Dorioeu, v. 46.
Tenedos, an JEolian island, i. 151; vi. S1. Thestse, a fountain in Libya, iv. 158, 159.
Tenos, an island near Delos, iv. 3; Lvi. Thetis, vii. 191.
9T; viii. 82.                          Thmuitis, a district of Egypt, ii. 166.
Teos, a town of.Lydia, i. 142, 168; ii. 178. Thoas, king of Lemnos, vi. 188.
Teras, a Thracian, iv. 80; vii. 18T.     Thonis, an Egyptian governor, ii. 114.
Terillus, tyrant of Himera, vii. 165.    Thorax, of Larissa, ix. 1, 58.
Termera, a town of Caria, v. 87.         Thoricus, a place in Attica, iv. 99.
Termilae, Cretans, i. 173; vii. 92.      Thornax, Mount, of Laconia, i. 69.
Tethronium, a town of Phocis, viii. 33,    Thrace, Thracians, i. 168; ii. 108; iv. 74,
Tetramnestus, a Sidonian, vii. 98.         93, 99; v. 2, 3, 6-9; vi. 83, 176; vii.
Teucrians, iv. 191; v. 18, 122; vii. 20, 43,   75, 110, 185; viii. 115, 116; ix. 89.
75.                                    Thracians of Asia, i. 28; iii. 90; vii. 75.
Teuthrania, a part of Mysia, ii. 10.     Thrasybulus, tyrant of Miletus, i. 20-22;
Thales, of Miletus, i. 74, 75, 170; ii. 20.  v. 92, (6.).
Thamanieans, a people of Asia, iii. 98, 117. Thrasycles, father of Lampon, ix. 90.
Thamasius, father of Sandoces, vii. 194.   Thrasydeius, son of Aleuas, ix. 58.
Thamimasidas, Scythian Neptune, iv. 59.  Thrasylaus, father of Stesilaus, vi. 114.
Thannyras, a Libyan, iii. 15.            Thriasian plain, in Attica, viii.'65; ix. 7.
Thasos, an island of the AEgean sea, ii. 44; Thyia, daughter of Cephissus, vii. 178.
vi. 28, 46, 47; vii. 108, 118.         Thynians, a people of Asia, i. 28.
Theasides, a Spartan, vi. 85.            Thyrea, a town of Argolis, i. 82; vi. 76.
Theban plain, in Asia, vii. 42.          Thyssagetse, a people of Europe, iv, 22,
Thebe, daughter of Asopus, v. 80.          123.
Thebes, of Egypt, i. 182; ii. 3, 4, 9, 15, 42, Thyssus, a town of Mount Athos, vii. 22.
54-56, 83, 166; iii. 10; iv. 181.      Tiarantus, a river of Scythia, iv. 48.
Thebes, Thebans, of Bceotia, i. 46, 49, 52; Tibarenians, a people of Asia, iii. 94; vii.
v. 74,77, 79; vi. 108; vii. 202, 205, 233;   78.
viii. 134; ix. 31, 41, 67, 86-88.      Tibisis, a river of Scythia, iv. 49.
Themiscyra, a town on the Thermodon, iv. Tigranes, general of the Medes, vi. 62 
86.                                      ix. 96, 102.
Themison, of Thera, iv. 154.             Tigris, river, i. 189; v. 52; vi. 20.
Themistocles, son of Neocles, vii. 14, 144, Timagenides, a Theban, ix.538, 86.
173; viii. 4, 19, 22, 56, 59, 74-83, 108-  Timagoras, father of Timonax, vii. 98.
112, 123, 124.                         Timander, father of Asopidorus, ix. 69.
Theocydes, father of Dicseus, viii. 65.  Timareta, priestess at Dodona, ii. 55. 
Theodorus, a Samian engineer, i. 51; iii. Timesitheus of Delphi, v. 72.
41.                                    Timesius of Clazomense, i. 168.
Theomestor, son of Androdamas, viii. 85; Timnas, a Scythian, iv. 76.
ix. 90.                                Timo, priestess at Paros, vi. 134, 15.
Theopompus, king of Sparta, viii. 181.   Timon of Delphi, vii. 141.
Thera, an island of the AEgean sea, iv. Timonax, son of Timagoras, vii. 98.
147-156..       Timoxenus, general of the Scionians, -ii,
Therambus, a town of Pallene, vii. 128.    128.
Therapne, a town of Laconia, vi. 61.     Tiryns, Tirynthia, in Argolis, vi. 76, 77,
Theras, a Cadmnean, iv. 147, 148.          80; vii. 187; ix. 28.




INDEX.                                    618
Tisamenus, a diviner, ix. 3 —85.          Tyndarus, ii. 112.
Tisamenus, a Spartan, iv. 147; vi. 52.    Typhon, ii. 144, 156; iii. 5.
Tisander, father of Isagoras, v. 66.      Tyras, a river of Scythia, iv. 11, 47, 51,
Tisander, father of Hippoclides, vi. 127,   82.
129.                                    Tyre, Tyrians, ii. 44, 112, 116; iii. 19.
Tisias, father of Lysagoras, vi. 133.     Tyrodiza, a town of Thrace, vii. 25.
Titacus of Aphidna, ix. 73.               Tyrrhenia, Etruria, i. 94, 163, 166; vi. 22.
Titheeus, son of Datis, vii. 88.          Tyrrhenian Thracians, i. 57, 163, 166.
Tithorea, summit of Parnassus, viii. 32.
Titormus of AEtolia, vi. 127.             Venetians, see Enetians.
Tmolus, Mount, near Sardis, i. 84, 93;  Vesta, Tabiti of the Scythians, iv. 59, 68,
v. 101.                                   127.
Tomyris, queen of the Massagetes, i. 205,  Umbrians of Italy, i. 94; iv. 49.
212, 214.                               Urania, Venus, i. 105; iii. 8.
Torone, a town of Sithonia, vii. 22, 122.   Utians, a people of Asia, iii. 98; vii. 68.
Trachea of the Scythian Chersonese, iv. 99. Vulcan, ii. 8, 99-101, 121, 136, 147, 176;
Trachis, Trachinians, vii. 175, 176, 198,   iii. 37; viii. 98.
199, 201, 203; viii. 31.
Trapezus, a town ofArcadia, vi. 127.      Xanthippus, father of Pericles, vi. 131,
Traspian Scythians, iv. 6.                  186: vii. 38; viii, 151; ix. 114, 120.
Trausians of Thrace, v. 4.                Xanthus, a town of Lycia, i. 176.
Trauus, a river of Thrace, vii. 109.      Xenagoras, of Ilalicarnassus, ix. 107.
Triballian plain, iv. 49.                 Xerxes, son of Darius, vi. 98; vii. 1-20,
Triopium, promontory, i. 144, 174; iv. 88.   26, 82, 44, 56, 60, 89, 104, 130, 136, 147,
Tritcea, a town of Achaia, i. 145.          184-187; viii. 24-54, 59, 67, 8, 88, 90,
Tritantsechmes, a Persian general, vii. 82,    100-121, 128, 146, 147, 198-201, 210121; viii. 26.                            213, 223-225, 228.
Tritantsechmes, governor of Babylonia, i. Xuthus, father of Ion, vii. 94.
192.
Tritewe, a town of Phocis, viii. 83.      Zacynthus, an island of the Ionian sea,
Triton, a river of Libya, iv. 178, 180, 191.    iii. 59; iv. 195; vi. 70; ix. 37.
Triton, a divinity, iv. 179.              Zalmoxis,'divinity of the Getme, iv. 94, 95.
Trcezen, a town of Argolis, vii. 99; viii. Zancla, a town of Sicily, vi. 22, 23; vii.
41, 43; ix. 28.                           154, 164.
Troglodyte AEthiopians, iv. 183.          Zaueces, a Libyan people, iv. 193.
Troy, Trojans, ii. 10, 118, 120; iii. 90; iv. Zeuxidamus, son of Leotychides, vi. 71.
191; v. 13, 122; vii. 171.              Zona, a town of Samothracia, vii. 59.
Trophonius, oracle of, i. 46; viii. 184.  Zopyrus, a Persian prince, iii. 153 —160;
Tydeus, son-in-law of Adrasuts, v. 67.      iv. 48.
Tymnes, father of Histieeus, v. 37; vii. 98. Zopyrus, grandson of Zopyrus, iii. 160.
Tyndarides, Argonauts, iv. 145; v. 75; ix. Zoster, promontory of Attica;, iii. 107.
~~78. ~TIIE  ND.
THE END.