■I I

i*-**^

jr

zjRln

' w

?&tor

. j

u

f /

4

The

Histories of Herodotus

Translated by-
Henry Cary

With a Critical and Biographical Introduction
by Basil L. Gildersleeve

Illustrated

New York

D. Appleton and Company

1899

NEHrtY MORSE STEPHEH*

Copyright, 1899,
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.

HERODOTUS

75* \ **■

OF the life of Herodotus, the Father of History, little
is known. The date commonly accepted for his birth
is 484 b. c, and he is supposed not to have survived
the year 424. Both dates rest on combinations. He was a
native of Halicarnassus, a Dorian city of Caria, and was proud
of his Doric blood. But the Doric speech of Halicarnassus
was in time supplanted by the Ionic, which was the prevalent
Asiatic type of Greek, and in a Halicarnassian inscription of
455 b. c. only the opening formula is Doric. Halicarnassus
was thrust out of the Dorian league because of a sin which
one of the citizens had committed against the majesty of
Apollo, and fell first under Lydian and then under Persian
sway. At the time of Herodotus's birth it was held as a fief
of the Persian Empire by Artemisia, the high-hearted heroine
of Salamis.

Herodotus was of a noble family, the son of Lyxes and
Dryo, or Rhoio, and a kinsman of Panyassis, the diviner, the
poet, the reviver of the epic. What the relation was is not
clear. Intermarriage among the Greeks was often complex,
and Panyassis, his mother's brother, may readily have been
his father's nephew. At all events, the connection with Pany-
assis lends especial significance to the Herodotean weakness
for dreams and omens, signs and wonders, and makes still
more intelligible the historian's familiarity with epic poetry,
and the epic cast and colouring of his narrative ; and when
we read that Herodotus undertook a long voyage in order
to investigate the origin of the worship of Tyrian Heracles,
we recollect that Panyassis composed a Heracleis. More im-

I^JPZW

57905

iv HERODOTUS

portant still was the political work of Panyassis, who perished
in an unsuccessful revolt against Lygdamis, grandson or
haply younger son of Artemisia. After the death of Panyassis,
Herodotus, who may have been implicated in the affair, is sup-
posed to have withdrawn to Samos, and it is recorded that
he bore a conspicuous part in the revolution that unseated
Lygdamis in 455. In 454 the name of Halicarnassus appears
on the roll of the Athenian allies who paid their quota to the
fund levied for resistance to Persia. But faction begets faction,
and Herodotus, who had ousted Lygdamis, was himself forced
to withdraw, and we find him registered among those who
joined the Athenian colony of Thurii, in Lower Italy, founded
in 444. Hence he is sometimes called a Thurian. His tomb
was there, but another tomb was shown in Athens, the city
he loved so well. Shortly before going to Thurii he is said
to have read a portion of his histories at Athens — which por-
tion is much disputed — and to have received a public reward
of ten talents for his praise of the violet-wreathed city. The
amount is extravagant ; the story reminds one of the old tale
about Pindar, but a public recitation is not at all improb-
able, nor a public recognition of some kind.

Much of his time was spent in travel. What the modern
historian finds useful for giving vividness and exactness to
his narrative the ancient historian found indispensable for
the collection of material. The day of the bookworm his-
torians, whose journeys were limited to papyrus and to parch-
ment, had not yet come. In point of fact, the geographer
and the historian were one in the early time, and the differ-
entiation did not take place until a comparatively late period.
History (l<rropia) means investigation, and the information
sought had often to be gathered on the spot.

Attempts have been made to trace the travels of Herodo-
tus in his work, not always with signal success. Continental
Greece he knew, Athens beyond a doubt, and the traveller
of to-day who stands in Sparta and looks out toward Therapne
feels that he is on Herodotean ground. Some of the Cyclades
he must have visited, but how many is open to question. His

HERODOTUS V

birthplace was on the coast of Asia Minor, and the coast of
Asia Minor he must have known, and the greater islands in
those waters, notably Samos, where he is said to have re-
sided. Sardis he discusses as one who had seen the capital
of Lydia. His voyage along the northern coast of Asia Minor
seems to have extended to the mouth of the Phasis, but there
is no cogent evidence of his personal knowledge of Scythia,
and it has been suggested that he went no farther than
Byzantium and gathered his material there for the regions
beyond. But if he is as honest as we take him to be, his de-
scription of Exampaeus (iv, 81) is based on actual vision, and
it is desirable that he should have visited Olbia, a famous
outpost of Greekdom, which he calls Borysthenes. Tyre he
sought, as he tells us expressly. Of Babylon he writes as one
that had seen with his own eyes. In Palestine he beheld the
monuments of the triumphal march of Sesostris. Perhaps he
saw them on his way to Egypt, where he must have sojourned
for some time. But the extent of his actual vision of Egypt
is much mooted. Of Upper Egypt he makes scant mention,
but then he makes scant mention of Phoenicia. That he never
reached Elephantine is supposed to be proved by his calling
Elephantine a city and not an island; but it was both then,
as Rhodes became both afterward. Cyrene he most probably
visited, and Lower Italy he knew — Thurii, at least, which he
helped to colonize, and Metapontum. Sicily was near, and
it seems likely that he knew Sicily. Likelihood and probabil-
ity can not be excluded, but we may boldly say that Herodotus
was qualified for membership even in an exigent Travellers'
Club.

On these travels, on these researches, rests the great work
which heads the long line of Greek prose classics, and a brief
summary of the contents of the nine books that compose the
" Setting Forth of Investigation " may fitly precede the char-
acteristic of this great achievement.

An Alexandrian scholar of some note denied that Herodo-
tus wrote the preface of his work, but every word in it is sig-
nificant, and, if properly studied, the preface gives the key

V

vi HERODOTUS

to the whole. It gives the authorship. It tells us that it is
a setting forth of investigation, that its object is to prevent
the history of the world from being effaced by the lapse of
time. The great and marvellous deeds wrought by Greeks
and non-Greeks are not to be left unfamoused, and the cause
of the war between them is to be set down. Thucydides is
satisfied with how? Herodotus demands why? Thucydides
looks to history as a lesson for future generations drawn from
experience. Herodotus looks to history as a record of the
dealings of a higher power. For the wrath of Achilles sub-
stitute the envy of the gods, and we have a movement like
that of the " Iliad."

The history opens on mythical ground, but it is note-
worthy that Herodotus singles out the Phoenicians as the first
Orientals who came into contact with the Greeks, and it is sig-
nificant that Crete plays the part of a breedbate, as she has
always done from that day to this. The Eternal Feminine is
at the bottom of the trouble between East and West, Io and
Medea and Helen. But these old, unhappy, far-off things are
soon dismissed, and we come in an early chapter to Croesus the
Lydian, the first to make the Greek feel the power of the East.
The history of the dynasty of Croesus and his overthrow by
Cyrus, with the necessary account of the Medes and Per-
sians, takes up about two thirds of the first book. Upon the
subjection of the Lydian monarchy follows the subjugation
of the Ionians and other peoples of Asia Minor — a task which
was intrusted by Cyrus to his lieutenant Harpagus, while
Cyrus himself undertook to reduce Babylon. After Babylon
the Great comes the expedition of Cyrus against the Massa-
getae, and his death in battle with Tomyris. It is a dramatic
ending, a notable illustration of the envy of the gods, of the
law of compensation. (The second book, after briefly record-
ing the accession of Cambyses and his designs on Egypt,
takes Egypt itself for its theme, and so wholly is Egypt the
theme that the book has been lifted out of the complex and
treated as an independent work. But we must remember that
biologists have succeeded in isolating the heart itself, and he

HERODOTUS yii

who studies the second book aright can trace the fibres that
unite it to the rest of the structure. It has not been simply
let in. The third book tells of Cambyses's conquest of Egypt,
his plans to subjugate other peoples of Africa, and various
performances of that eccentric monarch. But Greece is not
forgotten. Greeks formed part of the army of Cambyses,
and Polycrates of Samos was an ally of Cambyses, as he had
been an ally of Amasis under the former Egyptian dynasty.
Corinth made common cause with the Lacedaemonians against
Polycrates, and this leads to the story of Periander of Corinth.
Cambyses, Polycrates, and Periander are three shining ex-
amples of the unhappiness of supreme power, of the envy of
the gods. But Samos was a digression, and Herodotus apolo-
gizes for it as he resumes the thread of his narrative of Per-
sian history, and recounts the uprising of the false Smerdis,
the death of Cambyses, and the reign of Smerdis, his over-
throw, and the enthronement of his successor Darius, the
great organizer of the Persian Empire. Indians and Arabians
now come into the cycle. Samos is subjugated, and, as a
preface to the subjugation, we learn the fate of Polycrates,
and the book closes with an account of the revolt of Babylon
and the quelling of the same. The Persian Empire is firmly
rooted, and begins again to send forth its runners northward
and westward. In the fourth book we follow Darius into the
land of the Scythians, and many chapters are given up to
Scythian history and geography. The Scythian expedition
was a failure, and this failure encouraged the Ionians to plan
a revolt. Nor was the attempt to extend the Persian rule
over Libya an unqualified success. Most of the Libyans cared
naught for the Great King, but the tale of the famous colony
of Cyrene is told, and an account of the Libyans is given.
Largely ethnographical and geographical as the fourth book
is, it does not detach itself so much as does the second, and
prepares us for the closer complication of Greece and Persia
in the fifth. Thrace and Macedon furnish the introductory
chapters to the Ionian revolt, which is the main theme of the
remainder of the fifth book and the opening of the sixth.

Viii HERODOTUS

Upon the suppression of the Ionian revolt follows the first
invasion of Greece by the Persians. In both books Athens
comes to the front, and much interest is shown in the details
of Athenian history. Books VII to IX give a consecutive
history of the invasion of Greece by Xerxes, and the failure
of the expedition. The digressions are few. The narrative
moves on, unhasting and unresting, to the last chapter.

Such is a rapid outline of the nine books of Herodotus —
the nine Muses, as they were fancifully named in Alexandrian
times. The division, also due doubtless to Alexandrian schol-
ars, is not original, and has been hotly assailed. But as the
three original Muses became nine, so the three parts or vol-
umes into which the work naturally falls may have been split
along the lines of the several books as we have them. The last
triad forms, as we have seen, a close unity, and there is a
seductive theory that this last part in the order of time was
the first part in the order of composition, and that the history
of the second Persian war was a monograph, to which the
other parts were afterward added. But there is a thread of
narrative that holds the triple triad together, and there is
no lack of art in the leisurely introduction, the side-light di-
gressions, and the accelerated close. The art is the art of
the " Iliad " and the " Odyssey."

But the unity of Herodotus, so much admired in antiquity,
has been rudely attacked in modern times. Ancient critics
laud the skill with which the vast material is disposed so as
to preserve unity in variety, the skill with which the historian
has made one body out of the most heterogeneous subjects,
so that a oneness of life permeates the whole structure. Mod-
ern critics, on the other hand — or at least the most domineer-
ing school of modern critics — have pointed out the various
layers in the composition, and have maintained that the his-
tory is not a unit, but a congeries of monographs. Herodo-
tus, it seems, did not differ essentially from his predecessors,
at least to begin with. He prepared accounts of his travels,
and supplemented his own researches by compilations from
various sources. There was no great conception in his mind

HERODOTUS ix

when he began his story-book. The thought that seems to
dominate the whole was at best an after-thought, and what
we have is an attempt to bring a mass of heterogeneous mate-
rial into some kind of connection with the history of the sec-
ond Persian war, the only part of the work that has any true
coherence. By processes familiar to the student of Homeric
criticism, evidence is adduced to show the imperfect welding
of the mass and the incompleteness of the work. References
are made to stories that are never told, to persons that never
recur, and not only so, but, according to these critics, the
narrative fails of a proper close. It should have ended earlier
or later. Even the marvellous style has not escaped criticism,
and attempts have been made to prove that the histories lack
the supreme touch of the master's hand.

But we must beware of over-analysis. If Herodotus did
not set out with a fixed purpose and a definite plan, if he
began as a curious traveller, and not as a systematic investi-
gator, still there must have been in his mind a general con-
ception of the universe, which grew clearer and sharper as
he matured, so that long before he came to write his preface
the work of his life was revealed to himself. Revision, elabora-
tion, there must have been, but the unity of the work lies in
its moral purport.

At all events it is this unity, this grasp of a vast and varied
material, that is one of the special claims set up for Herodotus
as the originator of a new department of literature, and before
proceeding to consider the other points in which the historian
differentiates himself from his predecessors it is necessary to
give some brief account of the earlier writers of Greek prose.

The extent of Herodotus's obligations to his predecessors
is variously estimated, and there are those who have made
Herodotus out to be an unscrupulous conveyer of other men's
labours. But the charge of plagiarism, to which modern writ-
ers are extremely sensitive, glanced harmless from the armour
of the Greek of the best period. Later Greeklings have much
to say about stealing one from another. The true masters
helped themselves to what they needed. A good thing was

X HERODOTUS

common property. Was Sophocles in debt to Herodotus, or
Herodotus to Sophocles, or both to a third? To whom did
Herodotus and Euripides owe the common estimate of life
as an accident? Yes, Herodotus had predecessors. He may
have learned something of Miletus from an obscure writer,
Cadmus of Miletus, of Lydia from Xanthus, called the Lydian,
and there are those who think that he owes much to Hecataeus
of Miletus, an earlier and haply not so far inferior Herodotus.
True, he cites Hecataeus but four times — once to magnify the
importance of the historian's calling, once to approve his judg-
ment, once to criticise, and once to show that his authority
is not overwhelming. But German professors are always
ready to attribute to others the processes of their own craft,
and there is scant evidence that the work of Herodotus is in
any sense a compilation. From whatever sources he drew his
material, he was the originator of a new line of literary work.
Before him the epopee had served as history, and the eldest
Muse of the nine was commissioned to tell of the glories of
the past. But poetry is not history, for history means investi-
gation ; and poetry is inspiration, not investigation, and the
beginnings of prose presaged the death of the epos. The
earliest writers of prose* were called logographers ( Xoyoypdfoi
or XoyoiroLoC), "writers of accounts." When Logos comes in,
Mythos retreats. There is no X0709 in Homer, and the first
prose writers were the first critics. The logographer was
something else than the translator of poetry into the language
of every-day life. In the early period the poetical form is
imperative, and the art of verse is earlier and easier than the
art of prose. For mere narrative the epos would have suf-
ficed. Chronicles and genealogies — and, for that matter,
travels — might have been composed in hexameters to the end
of time. But the Logos is that which reckons, that which cal-
culates, that which takes stock, and this must be borne in
mind when we consider the predecessors of Herodotus. The
opening words of the Genealogies of Hecataeus show that he
approached tradition in no reverent spirit, and that he scouted
the false and foolish stories which he found current. Herodo-

HERODOTUS xiii

calendar. He is a critic of far greater acumen than was once
supposed, and the assaults on his honesty have not demolished
the importance of his evidence. Of course, we must care-
fully distinguish between the facts for which he vouches and
the reports that he simply repeats, but in the vast number of
details it is not always clear when he is speaking of his own
knowledge and when he is giving mere hearsay. The trouble!
we have found in establishing his itinerary recurs when we
follow the historian along the track of events. Those who
study Herodotus critically must be content to put every nar-
rative to the test, to tap every wheel on which the train runs
so smoothly. But no historian can escape this scrutiny, and
the good faith of Thucydides himself, who claims so much
greater accuracy than does Herodotus, has been mercilessly
impugned. Even in antiquity the untrustworthiness of He-
rodotus was a jest, and the frivolous scepticism of a later age
selected for ridicule the very points on which the testimony
of Herodotus has been sustained by recent exploration. Trav-
ellers' tales are proverbial, and Herodotus may have con-
tributed to the currency of the proverb. Indeed, it must be
confessed that, being no linguist, he was at the mercy of
guides and interpreters, and yet he has not seldom fared
better at the hands of modern critics than those who had
access to native documents. The native documents require as
much interpretation as do the stories of the native dragoman,
and he who takes a romantic epic for a sober chronicle is no
better off than a man who had no command of Persian. And
then much, very much, depends on the tradition of the text,
and in all matters involving numbers we must be careful to
suspend our judgment. The account of a flood in northern
China, which took place in October, 1887, showed a vast dif-
ference in the estimates of the loss of life, which ranged from
one million to seven millions ; and to the intrinsic difficulty of
exactness in figures we must add the trouble of the Greek
double notation, which lent itself readily to all manner of
errors.

But an introduction like this can not go into the various

fs

xiv HERODOTUS

points which have been raised and met in regard to the trust-
worthiness of Herodotus, and some space must be given to
the author's conception of the world, for, after all, every his-
tory reflects the historian more or less.

In order to do justice to Herodotus's conception of his task
we must remember that he belonged to a sceptical genera-
tion. The Persian war had brought about what might be
called a revival of religion, but the old leaven was working}*
The protest that Xenophanes had made early in the century
against the anthropomorphism of Greek religion had not lost
its effect. Pindar is orthodox, but refuses to believe the myths
that he deems dishonouring to the gods. iEschylus shows
by his attempts to justify the ways of God to men that there
is a profound dissidence to be bridged. Sophocles wears his
faith with a difference. Euripides is counted by some an out-
and-out rationalist. ( The leading agnostics were close con-
temporaries of Herodotus. Sophistic influences are traceable
in his style. The famous debate of the third book reminds
one of Protagoras, and the jingles that bear the name of Gor-
gias are heard now and then. Under these conditions Herodo-
tus is best understood as a conservative, not to say reactionist.
He holds fast to the old doctrine. He does not deny the exist-
ence of the gods outright. He goes so far as to point out
the influence of poetic fancy on the Hellenic notion of the
several gods, and extols the purer ideas of the Persians ; but
he reveres tradition, he is a Church of Greece man, and he has
a strong faith in the divine power that regulates the universe.
To him, as to Anaxagoras, another friend of Pericles, there
is a wise Providence that keeps everything in balance. This
balance is now called Nemesis, now vengeance, now envy of
the gods. " Mind not high things," for high things are
brought low. The dread genealogy of Surfeit (K0/J09), Out-
rage ("T/S/tM?), Disaster ('Arrj), of which the poets tell, is true
of nations as of individuals. The innocent suffer with the
guilty. Nor do the instruments of divine vengeance escape if
not modest in their office. There must be no excess, no over-
stepping the bounds. The Divine gives satisfaction to the

HERODOTUS XV

injured, champions the weaker, and restores the balance. All
this is ingrained in the Greek temper. All this is Hellenic,
as it is Herodotean. ") The historian keeps strictly to the sphere
of national thought, and proof texts might be drawn from
Solon and Theognis and Pindar, as well as from Herodotus. ■
We must go farther down before we come to the " Chance
central of circumstance," to Fortune, such as Thucydides con-
ceives her and as Polybius conceives her. This poetical jus-
tice simplifies the scheme of the universe — makes it perhaps
suspiciously simple. God in history becomes too much a deus
ex machina, a too convenient untier of knots; but even our
century demands an increasing purpose that runs through
the ages, and even those who have rid themselves of religious
formulae are not always superior to spiritual manifestations,
to the study of psychical research. There are those who have
gone so far as to call Herodotus a sceptic lined with a spir-
itualist.

Superior to his predecessors in his conception of his task,
superior, after all, in his critical method, Herodotus's greatest,
it is fair to say his unapproachable excellence lies in his style.
True, the style of Herodotus loses much of its charm — the
Greek scholar is tempted to say all its charm — in the transfer
to another idiom. Not the least of its attractiveness lies in the
dialect, the leisurely Ionic, with its soft vowels, its deliberate
utterance, its quavering rhythm, its old-fashioned vocabulary.
Biblical English, biblical German, which has been tried, does
not reproduce the tone of Herodotus. The employment of
consecrated phrases in a secular narrative grates. We have a
jargon, not a dialect. The chief thing gained is the simple
structure of the sentence, which is common to the Hebrew
original of the Old Testament and to the Greek of Herodotus.
But the dialect is not everything, and as a famous Greek critic
has undertaken to prove by actual experiment that the spell
of Herodotus is not broken by the translation from Ionic into
Attic, so a transfer from Greek into English does not efface
all the Herodotean charm. The dialect is gone, it is true, a
cunningly wrought robe with gleams of epic gold. The varied

XVI HERODOTUS

i

tone is gone, the manifold stops of the organ voice, but the
English Herodotus retains the picturesqueness of the narra-
tive, the flow of the stream, the play of the eddy ; and some-
thing of the dramatic impersonation is kept alive. The women
of Herodotus are true womanly in English as in Greek. The
tears of mortal things drip on our hearts in English as in
Greek. The princes and the sages of Herodotean history hold
language fitting their high estate, their far-reaching wisdom.
Those who emphasize the simplicity of Herodotus are prone
to forget that antiquity recognised in him magnificence as
well.

But no matter how much or how little of the original charm
hangs about the translation of Herodotus, for the apprecia-
tion of the genius of the author, for the correct estimate of
vj^ his position among the great writers of the world, something
must be said of the artistic character of his language. Herodo-
tus was a conscious artist. No happy knack of fluent, grace-
ful writing was his. The easy style was the result of con-
scientious toil. Genius there was, or else we should have
had no such result, but the closer study of Herodotus shows
what a close student he himself was. The very dialect in
which he wrote was a work of art, as unreal, as ideal, if you
choose, as modern literary Provencal, and the old-fashioned
style, as it is called by the Greek critics, was deliberately
adopted or deliberately retained. The Ionic dialect was the
first dialect used for artistic prose, and its charm was felt long
after the common speech of Greece had swept away all lit-
erary rivals, so that in the time of the Greek Renascence
scholars composed in Ionic and tried to reproduce the easy
pace of the dialect, with its wealth of vowels and its drawling
utterance. A great mass of medical literature bearing the
name of Hippocrates was written in Ionic ; the dark and
deep sayings of Heraclitus were couched in Ionic; the great
thinker Democritus was a master of Ionic style ; but Herodo-
tus evolved an Ionic of his own, and his Ionic became the
type, though his imitators did not appreciate either his depth
or his grandeur, did not feel the bowstring of tragedy in the

HERODOTUS xvii

silken cord of his narrative. The naivete of Herodotus, so
much emphasized by those who have not penetrated into his
real character, does not show itself in his language, which
was not learned in the streets of Halicarnassus or picked up
on the island of Samos. It is a composite diction of his own,
and one of the hardest tasks of modern Hellenists has been
set by the historian's dialect. The personal equation disar-
ranges the most elaborate schemes of the uniformitarian. Now
the breath of Attic blows on the vowels, now there is a remi-
niscence of Homer and Panyassis. To the vocal charm of the
dialect is added the delight of the transparent style, the sim-
ple structure of the sentence, and its pellucid flow. Rhetoric
had made considerable advance in the time of Herodotus,
and he was no stranger to the periodic style, with its elaborate
framework, with its protasis and apodosis, its problem and its
answer, and the gathered power of its circuit. But he delib-
erately preferred the older type, the so-called strung-on style
(\e|-45 eipofiev7)\ or rosary style, in which a simple and, a sim-
ple but, serves as a special bead to co-ordinate the groups of
words. The freedom with which the Greek can handle his
participles enables him to give colour and shade to the sen-
tence without the use of analytic conjunctions. The reader,
or, better, the listener, is left to draw his own inferences, to
make his own perspective, and the tide of the narrative moves
on full and yet free. This artistic use of the " strung-on "
style in narrative has been misunderstood, as so much has
been misunderstood in Herodotus, whose art only too effect-
ually conceals his art.

Whether we attach much importance or not to the story
of Herodotus's recitation at Athens, and if we put aside, as
we must put aside, the fable of his reading at Olympia and
elsewhere, unquestioned is the fact that his work became im-
mediately famous. Thucydides, who is but little younger,
treats him as a celebrity of the old school, and girds at him
covertly with a sense of superiority. Ctesias's " History of
Persia" was a formal assault on Herodotus, with the result
that in the age of facile sneer the world seemed richer by an-

xviii HERODOTUS

other liar, Ctesias and Herodotus falling into the same con-
demnation. In his recently recovered " Commonwealth of
Athens " Aristotle uses Herodotus freely, and the rapid de-
cline in his reputation, which some assume, is nothing but the
inevitable process of absorption. Historian swallowed up
historian ; Herodotus became a source, and his limpid current
was a feeder to a mill-race. It was not until the time of the
Roman Empire that Herodotus found readers who appreciated
him from the stylistic point of view. How much he was
studied then, how much imitated, how strenuously the secrets
of his art were sought and practised, how many allusions to
his history stud the pages of the later sophists, who saw in
him the model of narrative, none but those can rightly meas-
ure who are familiar with the curious chapter of parasitic
literary life, called the Greek Renascence.

Viewed as a history, viewed as a moral story-book, viewed
as a contribution to ethnology and anthropology, viewed as
a work of art, the " Setting Forth of Investigation " is one
of the greatest literary achievements of all time, and well
deserves a place in a library like this. It is not a simple regis-
try of facts, but the legends and the fictions are often as illu-
minative as the facts, and for wide vision, for manifold sug-
gestiveness, for noble and yet liberal spirit, for serene wisdom,
for sunshiny humour, for fascinating style, the Father of His-
tory may challenge all those who have come after him.

Basil L. Gildersleeve.

FAMOUS AND UNIQUE MANUSCRIPT AND
BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS.

A series of fac-similes, showing the development of manuscript and
book illustrating during four thousand years.

THE FORIRFss OF THE FAITH.

Miniature from a fifteenth century manuscript in the National Library

at Pari.-.

same con-
n wealth of

m

regis-

CONTENTS

BOOK I

PAGE

Clio i

BOOK II
Euterpe 85

BOOK III
Thalia 153

BOOK IV
Melpomene 213

BOOK V
Terpsichore * . . 275

BOOK VI
Erato 319

BOOK VII

POLYMNIA 366

BOOK VIII
Urania 444

BOOK IX
Calliope 491

xix

ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGE

HERODOTUS Frontispiece

Photogravure from a "bust

The Fortress of the Faith xviii

Coloured miniature from a manuscript of the fifteenth century

Babylonian Marriage Market 76

Photogravure from an engraving after a painting by Edwin Long

Building the Pyramids 130

Photogravure from a painting by Gustave Richter

Procession of the Bull Apis-Osiris ..... 164
Photogravure from a painting by Frederick Arthur Bridgman

The World as Known to the Ancients .... 290
Coloured map

Ancient Greece, including Epirus and Thessalia . . 388
Coloured map

The Parthenon 458

Steel engraving by William G. Jackman

xxi

HERODOTUS

BOOK I

CLIO

THIS is a publication of the researches of Herodotus of
Halicarnassus, in order that the actions of men may
not be effaced by time, nor the great and wondrous
deeds displayed by both Greeks and barbarians 1 de-
prived of renown — and among the rest, for what cause they
waged war upon each other.

The learned among the Persians assert that the Phoenicians
were the original authors of the quarrel ; for that they having
migrated from that which is called the Red Sea to the Medi-
terranean,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 Phoe-
nicians exposed their merchandise to sale, and that on the
fifth or sixth day after their arrival, and when 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.

1 By barbarians the Greeks meant all who were not sprung from them-
selves — all foreigners.

4 The Phoenicians passed over-land from the Red Sea to the Mediterra-
nean, which in the text and in other Grecian writers is called " this sea."

8 The region known 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, etc., but never gives these
people the general name of Greeks. — Larcher.

HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [1-4

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. Thus
the Persians say that Io 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 teH their name), having touched at Tyre in Phoenicia, car-
ried off the king's daughter Europa. These must have been
Cretans. Thus far they say that they had only retaliated ; but
that after this the Greeks were guilty of the second provoca-
tion ; for that having sailed down in a vessel of war 1 to 2E&,
a city of Colchis on the river Phasis, when they had accom-
plished the more immediate object of their expedition, they
carried off the king's daughter Medea; and that the King of
Colchis, having despatched 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 Io, neither would they give
any to them. 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 satis-
faction, nor made it when demanded, now wished others to
give it to themselves. Thus far then they say that there had
only been rapes from each other ; but that after this the
Greeks were greatly 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

1 " In a long vessel." The long vessels were vessels of war ; the
round vessels, merchantmen and transports.

Note. — The small figures in the headlines refer to the paragraphing
of Baehr.

4-71 CRCESUS 3.

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 con-
sidered 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 dis-
tinct.

Such is the Persian account; and to the capture of Troy
they ascribe the beginning 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 preg-
nant, she, through dread of her parents, voluntarily sailed
away with the Phoenicians to avoid detection. Such, then, are
the accounts of the Persians and Phoenicians. 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 pow-
erful many have become weak, and some that were powerful
in my time were formerly weak. Knowing therefore the pre-
carious nature of human prosperity, I shall commemorate both
alike.

Croesus was a Lydian by birth, son of Alyattes, and sov-
ereign of the nations on this side the river Halys. This river,
flowing from the south ' between the Syrians 2 and Paphla-
gonians, empties itself northward into the Euxine Sea. This
Croesus was the first of the barbarians whom we know of that
subjected some of the Greeks to the payment of tribute, and
formed alliances with others. He subdued the Ionians and
^Eolians, 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
Cimmerians 3 into Ionia, which was before the time of Croesus,
was not for the purpose of subjecting states, but an invasion
for plunder. The government, which formerly belonged to
the Heraclidae, passed in the following manner to the family

1 The Halys had two branches, one flowing from the east, the other
from the south : Herodotus speaks only of the southern one.

* Syria was at that time the name of Cappadocia.

a The incursion here spoken of occurred in the reign of the Lydian
Ardys.

4 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [7-9

of Croesus, who were called Mermnadae. Candaules, whom
the Greeks call Myrsilus, was tyrant of Sardis, and a descend-
ant of Alcaeus, son of Hercules. For Agron, son of Ninus,
grandson of Belus, great-grandson of Alcseus, was the first of
the Heraclidae who became King of Sardis ; and Candaules,
son of Myrsus, was the last. They who ruled over this coun-
try before Agron were descendants of Lydus, son of Atys,
from whom this whole people, anciently called Maeonians, de-
rived the name of Lydians. The Heraclidae, descended from
a female slave of Jardanus and Hercules, having been in-
trusted 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 hun-
dred and five years, the son succeeding to the father to the
time of Candaules, son of Myrsus. This Candaules 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, hap-
pened to be his especial favourite, and to him Candaules con-
fided 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 : " 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 follow-
ing, ' 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." Saying thus,
Gyges fought off the proposal, dreading lest some harm should
befall himself : but the king answered : " Gyges, take cour-
age, 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 ; by
the entrance stands 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

9-i2j GYGES AND CANDAULES 5

careful that she does not see you as you are going out by
the door." Gyges therefore, finding he could not escape, pre-
pared to obey. And Candaules, when it seemed to be time to
go to bed, led him to the chamber, and the lady soon after-
ward appeared, and Gyges saw her enter and lay her clothes
on the chair : when he was at her back, as the lady was going
to 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, pur-
posing to take vengeance on Candaules ; for among the Lydi-
ans and almost all the barbarians it is deemed a great disgrace
even for a man to be seen naked.

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 ad-
dressed 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 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 time was amazed at
what he heard ; but afterward he implored her not to com-
pel him to make such a choice. He, however, could not per-
suade, 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."
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 of the kingdom. Of this event, also, Archilochus *

1 Archilochus was one of the earliest writers of iambics. All that re-
mains of his writing is to be met with in Brunck's "Analecta."

6 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [12-16

the Parian, who lived about the same time, has made mention
in a trimeter iambic poem. Thus Gyges obtained the king-
dom, 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
answered accordingly, and so Gyges became king. But the
Pythian added this, " that the Heraclidae should be avenged
on the fifth descendant of Gyges." Of this prediction neither
the Lydians nor their kings took any notice until it was ac-
tually accomplished.

Thus the Mermnadae, having deprived the Heraclidse, pos-
sessed themselves of the supreme power. Gyges having ob-
tained the kingdom, sent many offerings to Delphi ; for most
of the silver offerings at Delphi are his : and besides the sil-
ver, 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
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. 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 nomads, passed into Asia, and possessed
themselves of all Sardis except the citadel.

When Ardys had reigned forty-nine years, his son Sady-
attes succeeded him, and reigned twelve years ; and Alyattes
succeeded Sadyattes. He made war upon Cyaxares, a de-
scendant of Deioces, and upon the Medes. He drove the
Cimmerians out of Asia; took Smyrna, which was founded

16-19] CONQUESTS OF THE LYDIANS 7

from Colophon, and invaded Clazomenae. 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 : 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 nei-
ther 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 re-
turned 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, might come out
to sow and cultivate the ground, and when they had culti-
vated it, he might have something to ravage, when he should
invade them with his army. 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 Maeander. 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 him-
self to it. None of the Ionians, except the Chians, assisted
the Milesians in bearing the burden of this war: they did it
in requital for succour they had received; for formerly the
Milesians had assisted the Chians in prosecuting the war
against the Erythraeans.

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 ; x 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 of some
friend or because it appeared right to himself to send and

1 Assesus was a small town dependent on Miletus. Minerva had a
temple there, and hence took the name of the Assesian Minerva.— Larcher.

8 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [19-23

make inquiries of the god concerning his disorder. The Pyth-
ian refused to give any answer to the messengers when they
arrived at Delphi until they had rebuilt the Temple of
Minerva which they had burned at Assesus in the territory
of Milesia. This relation I had from the Delphians: but the
Milesians add that Periander, the son of Cypselus, who was
a very intimate friend of Thrasybulus, at that time King of
Miletus, having heard of the answer given to Alyattes, de-
spatched a messenger to inform him of it, in order that, being
aware of it beforehand, he might form his plans according
to present circumstances. This is the Milesian account. Aly-
attes, when the above answer was brought to him, immedi-
ately sent a herald to Miletus, desiring to make a truce with
Thrasybulus and the Milesians till such time as he should
h:.ve rebuilt the temple. The herald accordingly went on this
mission to Miletus. But Thrasybulus being accurately in-
formed of the whole matter, and knowing the design of Aly-
attes, 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 proc-
lamation, that when he gave the signal all the inhabitants
should feast together. Thrasybulus contrived and ordered
this, to the end that the Sardian herald, seeing so great a pro-
fusion 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 be-
tween 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 Thrasy-
bulus and the Milesians.

Periander was the son of Cypselus — he it was who ac-
quainted Thrasybulus with the answer of the oracle. Now,
Periander was King of Corinth, and the Corinthians say (and
the Lesbians confirm their account) that a wonderful prodigy
occurred in his lifetime. They say that Arion of Methymna,
who was second to none of his time in accompanying the harp,
and who was the first that we are acquainted with who com-

23-25] THE STORY OF ARION 9

posed, named, and represented the dithyrambus at Corinth,
was carried to Tsenarus on the back of a dolphin. 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 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 or-
dered 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, pro-
ceeded 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 confinement,
and watched anxiously for the seamen : that when they ap-
peared, 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 Taenarus, representing a man sitting on
a dolphin.

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 of
his family that dedicated at Delphi a large silver bowl, with
a saucer of iron inlaid ; an object that deserves attention above

IO HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [25-29

all the offerings at Delphi. It was made by Glaucus the Chian,
who first invented the art of inlaying iron.

After the death of Alyattes, his son Croesus, who was then
thirty-five years of age, succeeded to the kingdom. He at-
tacked the Ephesians before any other Grecian people. The
Ephesians, 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. Croesus then attacked these
the first, and afterward the several cities of the Ionians and
^Eolians one after another, alleging different pretences 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 pretences. 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 of Mitylene), arriving
at Sardis, put a stop to his ship-building, 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, think-
ing he had spoken the truth, said, " May the gods put such
a thought into the Islanders as to attack the sons of the Lydi-
ans with horse." The other answering said : " Sire, you ap-
pear to wish above all things to see the Islanders on horse-
back 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 put a stop to the ship-building, and made an alliance with
the Ionians that inhabit the islands. i

In course of time nearly all the nation^ that dwelt with-
in 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, yEoli-
ans, and Pamphylians. When these nations were subdued,
and Croesus had added them to the Lydians, all the other wise
men of that time, as each had opportunity, came from Greece

29-31] CROESUS QUESTIONS SOLON ||

to Sardis, which had then attained to the highest degree of
prosperity; and among them Solon, an Athenian, who, hav-
ing made laws for the Athenians at their request, absented
himself for ten years, having sailed away under pretence of
seeing the world, that he might not be compelled to abro-
gate 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. Solon, therefore, having gone abroad for
these reasons, and for the purpose of observation, arrived in
Egypt at the court of Amasis, and afterward at that of Crcesus
at Sardis. On his arrival he was hospitably entertained by
Crcesus, and on the third or fourth day, by order of the king,
the attendants conducted him round the treasury, and showed
him all their grand and costly contents; and when he had
seen and examined everything sufficiently, Crcesus 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 travelled through various
countries for the purpose of observation ; I am therefore de-
sirous 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." Crce-
sus, 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 common-
wealth ; 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 neighbours 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 honoured him greatly."

When Solon had aroused the attention of Crcesus by relat-
ing many and happy circumstances concerning Tellus, Crce-
sus, expecting at least to obtain the second place, asked whom
he had seen next to him. " Cleobis," said he, " and Biton,
for they, being natives of Argos, possessed a sufficient for-
tune, 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 ; the oxen

12 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [31-32

did not come from the field in time, and the young men
therefore, being pressed for time, put themselves beneath the
yoke, and drew the car in which their mother sat ; and hav-
ing conveyed it forty-five stadia, 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 be-
fore the image and prayed that the goddess would grant to
Cleobis and Biton, her own sons, who had so highly honoured
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." 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 : " Croesus,
do you inquire of me concerning human affairs — of me, who
know that the divinity is always jealous, and delights in con-
fusion ? 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 suffer. 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 inter-
calary month ; and if we add that month ' to every other year,
in 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 thou-
sand and fifty. Yet in all this number of twenty-six thousand
two hundred and fifty days, that compose these seventy years,
one day produces nothing exactly the same as another. Thus,
then, O 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

1 If the first number 25,200 is correct, it follows that the year was 360
days; if the number of intercalary days was 1,050 in 70 years, there will
be altogether 26,259, which will give 375 days to the year ; so that in spite
of the precaution the seasons will be confused. — Larcher.

32-34] THE WISDOM OF SOLON 1 3

the richest of men is not more happy than he that has a suf-
ficiency 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 ad-
vantages: as no one country suffices to produce everything
for itself, but affords some and wants others, and that which
affords the most is the best; so no human being is in all re-
spects 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, O king, deserves the name of happy. We
ought therefore to consider the end of everything, in what
way it will terminate ; for the Deity having shown a glimpse
of happiness to many, has afterward utterly overthrown them."
When he spoke thus to Crcesus, Crcesus did not confer any
favour on him, and holding him in no account, dismissed him ;
for he considered him a very ignorant man, because he over-
looked present prosperity, and bade men look to the end of
everything.

After the departure of Solon, the indignation of the gods
fell heavily upon Crcesus, 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 mis-
fortunes 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 Crcesus 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 him-
self, dreading the dream, provided a wife for his son; and

14 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [34-37

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 sus-
pended might fall upon his son. 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 Croesus, 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, Croesus 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 de-
prived of everything, I am come hither." Croesus answered
as follows : " You are born of parents who are our friends,
and you are come to friends, among whom, if you will stay,
you shall want nothing; and by bearing your misfortune as
lightly as possible, you will be the greatest gainer." So Adras-
tus took up his abode in the palace of Croesus.

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 enor-
mous size has appeared in our country, and ravages our fields :
though we have often endeavoured 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 endeavours in driving the monster from your coun-
try." Such was his answer ; and when the Mysians were con-
tent with this, the son of Croesus, who had heard of their

37-40 ATYS AND ADRASTUS 1 5

request, came in ; and when Crcesus 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 fellow-citizens ? What to my newly mar-
ried wife? What kind of man will she think she has for a
partner? Either suffer me then to go to this hunt, or con-
vince me that it is better for me to do as you would have me."
" My son," answered Crcesus, " I act thus, not because I have
seen any cowardice, or anything 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." The youth
answered : " You 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 signi-
fied that I should die by the point of an iron weapon. But
what hand, or what pointed iron weapon has a boar, to occa-
sion such fears in you? 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."
" You have surpassed me," replied Crcesus, " in explaining
the import of the dream ; therefore, being overcome by you,
I change my resolution, and permit you to go to the chase."

Crcesus, having thus spoken, sent for the Phrygian Adras-
tus, and, when he came, addressed him as follows : " Adras-
tus, 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 everything necessary. 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

l6 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [41-45

full vigour." 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, 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 rest assured that your son, whom you bid
me take care of, shall, as far as his guardian is concerned,
return to you uninjured."

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, throwing
his javelin at the boar, missed him and struck the son of Croe-
sus : 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. Croe-
sus, 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 deplor-
ing 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 unawares fostered the mur-
derer of his son ; as the god of private friendship, because,
having sent him as a guardian, he found him his greatest
enemy. 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, stretch-
ing forth his hands and begging of him to kill him upon
it, 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 afflic-
tion 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 foreshadowed what was about to hap-
pen." Croesus therefore buried his son as the dignity of his
birth required; and Adrastus, son of Gorgius, son of Midas,

45-48] CRCESUS TESTS THE ORACLES 17

who had been the murderer of his own brother, and the mur-
derer of his purifier, when all was silent round the tomb, judg-
ing himself the most heavily afflicted of all men, killed him-
self on the tomb. Croesus, bereaved of his son, continued dis-
consolate for two years.

Some time afterward, 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 he began to consider 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 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 Branchidae of Milesia : these were the Grecian
oracles to which Croesus sent to consult. He sent others also
to consult that of Ammon in Libya. And he sent them differ-
ent 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 ven-
ture to make war on the Persians. He despatched them to
make trial of the oracles with the following orders : that com-
puting the days from the time of their departure from Sardis,
they should consult the oracles on the hundredth day, by ask-
ing what Croesus, 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 ask the question enjoined them, than the Pythian
answered 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 savour of the hard-
shelled tortoise boiled in brass with the flesh of lamb strikes
on my senses ; brass is laid beneath it, and brass is put over
it." 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 con-
tents; but none of them pleased him. When, however, he
heard .that from Delphi, he immediately adored it, and ap-
proved 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,

1 8 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [48-51

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. 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 temple ; for noth-
ing else is related than that he considered this also to be a
true oracle.

After this he endeavoured 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. Crcesus, 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 right 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 Clazo-
menae; 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 LACEDAEMONIANS," who say that it was their offer-
ing, but wrongfully, for this also was given by Crcesus : a cer-

5i-55] RICH GIFTS OF CRCESUS 19

tain 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
gift ; but neither of the lustral vases. At the same time Croe-
sus 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 Croesus's baking woman ; and to all these things
he added the necklaces and girdles of his wife.

These were the offerings he sent to Delphi; and to Am-
phiaraus, 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 Ismenian Apollo.

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, say-
ing : " Croesus, King of the Lydians and of other nations, es-
teeming these to be the only oracles among men, sends these
presents in acknowledgment of your discoveries ; and now
asks, 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. 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 Del-
phians 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. Croesus having made these presents to the Delphians,
sent a third time to consult the oracle. For after he had ascer-
tained the veracity of the oracle, he had frequent recourse to
it. His demand now was, whether he should long enjoy the
kingdom, to which the Pythian gave this answer : " When
a mule shall become King of the Medes, then, tender-footed

20 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [55-58

Lydian, flee over pebbly Hermus, nor tarry, nor blush to be
a coward." With this answer, when reported to him, Croesus
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 Lacedae-
monians and the Athenians excelled the rest, the former being
of Dorian, the latter of Ionic descent : for these were in ancient
times 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 Phthi-
otis ; and in the time of Dorus, the son of Hellen, the coun-
try at the foot of Ossa and Olympus, called Histiaeotis : when
they were driven out of Histiaeotis by the Cadmaeans, they set-
tled on Mount Pidnus, at a place called Macednum ; thence
they again removed to Dryopis ; and at length coming into
Peloponnesus, were called Dorians.

What language the Pelasgians used I can not with cer-
tainty affirm ; but if I may form a conjecture from those Pelas-
gians who now exist, and who now inhabit the town of Cres-
tona above the Tyrrhenians, and who were formerly neigh-
bours to those now called Dorians, and at that time occupied
the country at present called Thessaliotis : and if I may con-
jecture from those Pelasgians settled at Placia and Scylace
on the Hellespont, and who once dwelt with the Athenians,
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 lan-
guage. And if the whole Pelasgian body did so, the Attic
race, being Pelasgic, must at the time they changed into Hel-
lenes have altered their language. For neither do the Cres-
tonions use the same language with any of their neighbours,
nor do the people of Placia, but both use the same language ;
by which it appears they have taken care to preserve the char-
acter of the language they brought with them into those
places. 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 Pelas-
gic race, being barbarous, never increased to any great extent.

59-60] PISISTRATUS 21

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 Olympian games,
a great prodigy occurred. For having killed a victim, the
caldrons, which were full of flesh and water, bubbled up with-
out any fire and boiled over. Chilon, the Lacedaemonian, who
was accidentally there, and saw the prodigy, advised Hippoc-
rates, 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 Mega-
cles, son of Alcmaeon, the latter by Lycurgus, son of Aristo-
laides, aiming at the sovereign power, formed a third party.
And having assembled his partisans under colour 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 de-
signed to murder him on his way to the country; and be-
sought the people to grant him a guard, having before
acquired renown in the expedition against Megara, by taking
Nissea,1 and displaying other illustrious deeds. The people
of Athens, being deceived by this, gave him such of the citi-
zens 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 Athenians, neither disturbing the existing magistracies
nor altering the laws ; but he administered the government
according to the established institutions, ordering it liberally
and well. 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 quarrelled anew with one another ; and 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 contrived
the most ridiculous project that, I think, was ever imagined;
especially if we consider that the Greeks have from old been
1 Nisaea was the port of the Megarians, about two miles from the city.

22 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [60-62

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 Paeanean 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 armour, and placed her on a chariot, and hav-
ing shown her beforehand how to assume the most becoming
demeanour, they drove her to the city, having sent heralds
before, who, on their arrival in the city, proclaimed what was
ordered in these terms : " O Athenians, receive with kind
wishes Pisistratus, whom Minerva herself, honouring above
all men, now conducts back to her own citadel." They then
went about proclaiming this ; and a report was presently
spread among the people that Minerva 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.

Pisistratus having recovered the sovereignty in the man-
ner above described, married the daughter of Megacles in
accordance with his agreement. But as he already had grown-
up sons, and as the Alcmaeonidae were said to be under a
curse, he, wishing not to have any children by his newly mar-
ried wife, had intercourse with her unnaturally. The woman
at first kept the thing a secret, but afterward, whether ques-
tioned by her mother or not, she discovered it to her, and she
to her husband. He felt highly indignant at being dishon-
oured by Pisistratus, and in his rage instantly reconciled him-
self 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,1 consulted
with his sons. The opinion of Hippias prevailed, and, to re-
cover the kingdom, they immediately began to collect con-
tributions 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 everything 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. Having set out from Eretria,
they came back in the eleventh year of their exile, and first
of all possessed themselves of Marathon. While they lay en-

1 There were two places of this name, one in Thessaly and another in
Eubcea. Pisistratus retired to this last. — Larcher.

62-64] PISISTRATUS, TYRANT AT ATHENS 23

camped in this place, both their partisans from the city joined
them, and others from the various districts, to whom a tyranny
was more welcome than liberty, crowded to them ; thus they
were collected together. The Athenians of the city, on the
other hand, had shown very little concern all the. time Pisis-
tratus was collecting money, or even when he took possession
of Marathon. But when they heard 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 meantime 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 pro-
nounced this oracle in hexameter verse : " The cast is thrown,
and the net is spread ; by the moonlight the tunnies will rush
in." He, inspired by the god, uttered this prophecy, and Pi-
sistratus, 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.
The army of Pisistratus, falling upon them by surprise, soon
put them to flight, and as they were flying, Pisistratus con-
trived a clever stratagem to prevent their rallying again,
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 Pisis-
tratus, bidding them be of good cheer, and to depart every
man to his own home. The Athenians yielded a ready obedi-
ence, and thus Pisistratus, having a third time possessed him-
self 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, and 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

1 Pallene was the name of one of the boroughs of Attica, belonging to
the tribe Antiochides, on the road from Marathon to Athens.

' The country between the Strymon and the Nessus was celebrated for
its mines. — Larcher.

24 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [64-66

over the Athenians, but of them, some had fallen in the bat-
tle, and others fled from their homes with the son of Alcmseon.1
Croesus was informed at that time that such was 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 before their
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.
But they changed to a good government in the following man-
ner: Lycurgus, a man much esteemed by the Spartans, hav-
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, Lycur-
gus." Some men say that, besides this, the Pythian also com-
municated 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,2 King of Sparta, brought those institutions from
Crete. For as soon as he had taken the guardianship, he
altered all their customs, and took care that no one should
transgress them. Afterward he established military regula-
tions, the enomotiae, the triecades, and the syssitia, and besides
these he instituted the ephori and senators. 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
a good 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 Arca-
dia ? 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

1 Megacles.

* It is generally agreed that the name of Lycurgus's nephew was not
Leobotas, but Charilaus.

66-68] LICHAS AND THE BODY OF ORESTES 25

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, 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.

In the first war they had constantly fought against the
Tegeans with ill success; but in the time of Crcesus, and
during the reign of Anaxandrides and Ariston at Lacedae-
mon, 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 propi-
tiate, 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 in-
terred, 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
Lacedaemonians heard this, they were as far from the discovery
as ever, though they searched everywhere : till Lichas, one
of the Spartans who are called Agathoergi, found it. These
Agathoergi consist of citizens who are discharged from serv-
ing 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.
Lichas, who was one of these persons, discovered it in Tegea,
both meeting with good fortune and employing sagacity. For
as the Lacedaemonians 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, de-
sisted 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

26 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [68-70

as I was endeavouring to sink a well in this inclosure, in dig-
ging I came to a coffin seven cubits long; and 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 dis-
cerned 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
Lacedaemonians an account of the whole matter ; they brought
a feigned charge against him, and sent him into banish-
ment. He then, going back to Tegea, related his misfor-
tune 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 sepul-
chre 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.

Crcesus being informed of all these things, sent ambassa-
dors to Sparta with presents, and to request their alliance, hav-
ing given them orders what to say; and when they were ar-
rived they spoke as follows : " Crcesus, King of the Lydians
and of other nations, has sent us with this message : ' O Lace-
daemonians, 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.' " Crcesus made this pro-
posal through his ambassadors. And the Lacedaemonians,
who had before heard of the answer given by the oracle to
Crcesus, were gratified at the coming of the Lydians, and ex-
changed pledges of friendship and alliance: and indeed cer-
tains favours had been formerly conferred on them by Crcesus,
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, Crcesus gave it as a present to
them when they were desirous of purchasing it. For this rea-
son then, and because he had selected them from all the

70-72] CHARACTER OF THE PERSIANS 27

Greeks, and desired their friendship, the Lacedaemonians ac-
cepted his offer of alliance ; and in the first place they prom-
ised to be ready at his summons ; and in the next, having
made a brazen bowl, capable of containing three hundred
amphorae, and covered it outside to the rim with various fig-
ures, 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 Lacedaemonians 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 Lacedaemonians who were conveying the bowl found
they were too late, and heard that Sardis was taken, and Croe-
sus 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.

Croesus, misinterpreting 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) : " O king, you are
preparing to make war against a people who wear leather
trousers, and the rest of their garments of leather; who in-
habit a barren country, and feed not on such things as they
choose, but such as they can get. Besides, they do not habit-
ually use wine, but drink water ; nor have they figs to eat, nor
anything that is good. In the first place, then, if you should
conquer, what will you take from them, since they have noth-
ing? 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 persuade
Croesus. Now before they subdued the Lydians, the Persians
possessed nothing either luxurious or good. The Cappado-
cians 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

28 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [72-74

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 Paphla-
gonians 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.1

Croesus invaded Cappadocia for the following reasons, as
well from a desire of adding it to his own dominions, as, espe-
cially, 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 Crcesus, and King of the Medes. He had become
brother-in-law to Crcesus in the following manner: a band
of Scythian nomads 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 Scyth-
ians kindly, as being suppliants, so much so that, esteem-
ing 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 tem-
per) 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 immediately to Alyattes, son
of Sadyattes, at Sardis. This accordingly was done: Cyax-
ares and his guests feasted on this flesh, and the Scythians
having done this, became suppliants to Alyattes. 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 engage-
ment. 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 day Thales the Milesian

1 The long flowing dresses of the ancients made it necessary to gird
them up when they wished to move expeditiously.

74-76] CRCESUS INVADES CAPPADOCIA 29

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. Syennesis x the Cilician, and Labynetus 2 the
Babylonian, were the mediators of their reconciliation ; these
were they who hastened the treaty between them, and made
a matrimonial connection ; for they persuaded Alyattes to give
his daughter Aryenis in marriage to Astyages, son of Cyax-
ares. For, without strong necessity, agreements are not wont
to remain firm. These nations in their federal contracts ob-
serve the same ceremonies as the Greeks, and# in addition,
when they have cut their arms to the outer skin, they lick up
one another's blood.

Cyrus had subdued this same Astyages, his grandfather by
the mother's side, for reasons which I shall hereafter relate.
Croesus, alleging this against him, sent to consult the oracle,
if he should make war on the Persians ; and when an ambigu-
ous answer came back, he, interpreting it to his own advan-
tage, led his army against the territory of the Persians. When
he arrived at the river Halys, Croesus transported his forces,
as I believe by the bridges which are now there. But the
common opinion of the Grecians is that Thales the Milesian
procured him a passage. For, while Croesus was in 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 ; 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, hav-
ing passed by the camp, might fall into its former course ; so
that as soon as the river was divided into two streams it be-
came 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?
Croesus, after passing the river with his army, came to a
place called Pteria, in Cappadocia. (Now Pteria is the strong-
est position of the whole of this country, and is situated
over against Sinope, a city on the Euxine Sea.) Here he

1 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, and a third in the time of Xerxes.

* The same, says Prideaux, with the Nebuchadnezzar of Scripture.

\

30 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [76-78

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. Then Cyrus, having assem-
bled his own army, and having taken with him all who in-
habited the intermediate country, went to meet Crcesus. But
before he began to advance he sent heralds to the Ionians,
to persuade them to revolt from Crcesus ; the Ionians, how-
ever, refused. When Cyrus had come up and encamped oppo-
site Crcesus, 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.

But Crcesus 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 Lace-
daemonians ; 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 the
Lacedaemonians at a fixed time : having collected these to-
gether, and assembled his own army, he purposed, when win-
ter was over, to attack the Persians in the beginning of the
spring. With this design when he reached Sardis, he de-
spatched ambassadors 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 dis-
banded, not imagining that Cyrus, who had come off on such
equal terms, would venture to advance upon Sardis. While
Crcesus was forming these plans, the whole suburbs were
filled with serpents, and when they appeared, the horses, for-
saking their pastures, came and devoured them. When Crce-
sus 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 Crcesus, for before they sailed back
to Sardis Crcesus had been taken prisoner. The Telmessians
had pronounced as follows : that Crcesus must expect a for-
eign army to invade his country which, on its arrival, would

78-8o] RETREAT OF CRCESUS 3 1

subdue the natives, because, they said, the serpent is the 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 Croesus himself.

But Cyrus, as soon as Croesus had retreated after the bat-
tle 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 ex-
pedition 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 Lydia, he brought this news
of his own enterprise to Croesus. Thereupon Croesus, 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 fight-
ing was from horseback ; they were armed with long lances,
and managed their horses with admirable address. 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 : collect-
ing together all the camels that followed his army with pro-
visions 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 Croesus, 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. Accord-
ingly, when they joined battle, the horses no sooner smelt

32 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [8(^82

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.

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 whom he had sent before requested them
to assemble at Sardis on the fifth month, but he sent out these
last to request them to succour him with all speed, as he was
already besieged. 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 quarrel with the Ar-
gians 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 defence 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 terri-
tory: 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
to their assistance. Having agreed to these terms, the armies
withdrew, and the picked men on each side remaining be-
hind engaged : they fought with such equal success that of
the six hundred, only three men were left alive; of the Ar-
gians, Alcenor and Chromius, and of the Lacedaemonians,
Othryades ; these survived when night came on. The two
Argians, thinking themselves victorious, ran to Argus with
the news ; but Othryades, the Lacedaemonian, 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 coun-
tryman 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 vie-

82-85] SARDIS IS TAKEN 33

tory. 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 suf-
fer his hair to grow, nor any woman wear ornaments of gold,
till they should recover Thyrea. On the other hand, the Lace-
daemonians 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. When the affairs of the Spartans were
in this condition, the Sardian ambassador arrived, and re-
quested them to assist Croesus, who was besieged in Sardis ;
they no sooner heard the ambassador's report than they made
preparations to succour him. But when they were 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 misfor-
tune, desisted from their enterprise.

Sardis was taken in the following manner: on the four-
teenth day after Croesus had been besieged, Cyrus sent horse-
men throughout his army, and proclaimed that he would lib-
erally reward the man who should first mount the wall ; upon
this several attempts were made, and as often failed, until
after the rest had desisted, a Mardian, whose name was Hyrce-
ades, endeavoured to climb that part of the citadel where
no guard was stationed, because there did not appear to be
any danger that it would be taken at 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 Tel-
messians 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 be-
fore, for a helmet that had rolled down, and carry it up again,
noticed it carefully, and reflected on it in his mind ; he there-
upon ascended the same way, followed by divers Persians,
and when great numbers had gone up, Sardis was thus taken,
and the whole town plundered.

The following incidents befell Croesus himself: he had a
son of whom I have before made mention, who was in other
3

34 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [85-86

respects proper enough, but dumb. Now, in the time of his
former prosperity, Croesus had done everything 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 : " O 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
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 : Croesus, 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. So the Persians got possession of Sardis, and
made Croesus prisoner, after he had reigned fourteen years,
being 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 sacri-
fice to some god, as the first fruits of his victory, or wishing
to perform a vow ; or perhaps, having heard that Croesus
was a religious person, he placed him on the pile for the pur-
pose of discovering whether any deity would save him from
being burned alive. He accordingly did what has been re-
lated : it is added that when Croesus stood upon the pile, not-
withstanding 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 re-
covered himself, and uttering a groan, thrice pronounced the
name of Solon : that when Cyrus heard him, he commanded
his interpreters to ask Croesus 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

86-88] CRCESUS PARDONED BY CYRUS 35

everything 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 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 Croesus had said, re-
lented, and' considering that being but a man, he was yet
going to burn another man alive, who had been no way in-
ferior to himself in prosperity, and moreover, fearing retri-
bution, and reflecting that nothing human is constant, com-
manded the fire to be instantly extinguished, and Croesus,
with those who were about him, to be taken down ; and that
they with all their endeavours were unable to master the fire.
It is related by the Lydians that Croesus, perceiving that
Cyrus had altered his resolution, when he saw every man en-
deavouring 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 ex-
tinguished the flames ; by which Cyrus, perceiving that Croe-
sus 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 ter-
ritories, and to become my enemy instead of my friend ? "
He answered : " O king, I have done this for your good, but
my own evil fortune, and the god of the Greeks who encour-
aged 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."

He thus spoke, and Cyrus, having set him at liberty,
placed him by his own side, and showed him great respect;
and both he and all those that were with him were astonished
at what they saw. But Croesus, absorbed in thought, re-
mained 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 silence on the present occasion? " Cyrus
bade him say with confidence whatever he wished ; upon which
Croesus asked him, saying, " What is this vast crowd so ear-
nestly employed about?" He answered, "They are sacking

36 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [88-90

your city, and plundering your riches." M Not so," Croesus
replied ; " they are neither sacking my city nor plundering
my riches, for they no longer belong to me, but they are rav-
aging what belongs to you." 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 anything deserving of remark. The Per-
sians, who are by nature overbearing, are poor. If, there-
fore, 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. There-
fore, if you approve what I say, 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." 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 : " Croesus, since you are resolved to dis-
play the deeds and words of a true king, ask whatever boon
you desire on the instant." " Sir," he answered, " the most
acceptable favour you can bestow upon me is to let me send
my fetters to the god of the Grecians, whom I have honoured
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 Croesus heard this, he sent cer-
tain Lydians to Delphi with orders to lay 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

90-92] THE ORACLE INTERPRETED 37

at the same time to ask if it were the custom of the Grecian
gods to be ungrateful. 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 Crcesus has atoned the crime of his
ancestor in the fifth generation,1 who, being one of the body-
guard of the Heraclidae, 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 Crcesus, and not during his reign, yet it was not in his
power to avert the fates ; but so far as they allowed he ac-
complished, and conferred the boon on him; for he delayed
the capture of Sardis for the space of three years. Let Crce-
sus 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, Crcesus had
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 Asty-
ages, King of Media; but he was a Persian, subject to the
Medes, and though in every respect inferior, married his
own mistress." The Pythian gave this answer to the Lydians,
and they carried it back to Sardis, and reported it to Crcesus,
and he, when he heard it, acknowledged the fault to be his,
and not the god's. Such is the account of the kingdom of
Crcesus, and the first subjection of Ionia.

Many other offerings were also consecrated by Crcesus in
Greece, besides those already mentioned. For at Thebes of
Bceotia there is a golden tripod, which he dedicated to Isme-
nian 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

1 Croesus was the fifth descendant of Gyges, if we inciude the two
extremes ; for the house of the Mermnadae was as follows : Gyges, Ardys,
Sadyattes, Alyattes, Croesus.

38 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [92-94

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, endeavouring to
raise Pantaleon to the throne : now Pantaleon was the son of
Alyattes, but not of the same mother as Croesus, for Aly-
attes had Crcesus 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 tear-
ing 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.

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 Crcesus, 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 sum-
mit of this monument 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
women proved to be the greatest. For the daughters of the
Lydian common people all prostitute themselves, for the pur-
pose of providing themselves with dowries ; and they con-
tinue to do so until they marry; and they dispose of them-
selves in marriage. This monument is six stades and two
plethra in circumference, and in breadth thirteen plethra;
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.

The customs of the Lydians differ little from those of the
Grecians, except that they prostitute their women. 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 com-
mon 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 Lydi-

94-96] CUSTOMS OF THE LYDIANS 39

ans 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 in-
vention 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, until 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 Tyr-
rhenians. The Lydians then were reduced under the power
of the Persians.

My history hence proceeds to inquire who Cyrus was that
overthrew the power of Croesus, and how the Persians be-
came masters of Asia. In which narration I shall follow 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, be-
came free ; afterward the other nations also did the same as
the Medes. When all throughout the continent were independ-
ent, they were again reduced under a despotic government in
the following manner: 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 fol-
lowing plan : the Medes were at that time distributed in
villages, and Deioces, who was already highly esteemed in
his own district, applied himself with great zeal to the exercise
of justice; and this he did, since great lawlessness prevailed

40 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [96-98

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 un-
just sentences, when they heard of him, gladly came from all
parts to Deioces, in order to submit their quarrels to his de-
cision ; and at last they would commit the decision to no one
else. In the end, when the number of those who had re-
course to him continually increased as men heard of the jus-
tice 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 of 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 us 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. Upon their imme-
diately 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 re-
quired 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 pal-
ace 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,1 one placed in a circle within
the other; and this fortification is so contrived that each cir-
cle was raised above the other by the height of the battlements
1 For the Scripture account of Ecbatana, see Judith, i : 1-4.

98-102] DEIOCES RULES THE MEDES 41

only. The situation of the ground, rising by an easy ascent,
was very favourable to the design. But that which was par-
ticularly attended to is, that there being seven circles alto-
gether, 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 colours ;
but the last two have their battlements plated, the one with
silver, the other with gold.

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 con-
sult him by means of messengers, and that none should be
permitted to see him; and, moreover, that it should be ac-
counted 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. When he had
established these regulations, and settled himself in the tyran-
ny, he was very severe in the distribution of justice. And the
parties contending were obliged to send him their cases 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 offence; and for
this purpose he had spies and eavesdroppers in every part of
his dominions.

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. 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 and

42 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [102-105

reduced them under the dominion of the Medes. And after-
ward being master of these two nations, both of them power-
ful, he subdued Asia, attacking one nation after another,
until 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.

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, arch-
ers, and cavalry ; whereas before they had been confusedly
mixed together. It was he that fought with the Lydians, when
the day was turned into night 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. How-
ever, when he had obtained a victory over the Assyrians,
and while he was besieging Nineveh, a great army of Scythi-
ans came upon him, under the conduct of their king Madyes,
son of Protothyas. These Scythians had driven the Cim-
merians out of Europe, and pursuing them into Asia, by that
means entered the territories of the Medes. The distance
from the lake Maeotis to the river Phasis and to Colchis is a
journey of thirty days to a well-girt man, but the route from
Colchis to Media is not long, for only one nation, the Sas-
pires, lies 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, and there
the Medes coming to an engagement with the Scythians, and
being worsted in the battle, lost their dominion, and the
Scythians became masters of all Asia. Thence they pro-
ceeded to Egypt, and when they reached Palestine in Syria,
Psammitichus, King of Egypt, having met them with pres-
ents 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 Tem-
ple 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 Cyprians them-

105-108] THE SCYTHIANS IN ASIA 43

selves confess ; and that in Cythera was erected by Phoenicians
who came from the same part of Syria. However, the god-
dess 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. For twenty-eight
years, then, the Scythians governed Asia, and everything was
overthrown by their licentiousness and neglect ; for besides
the usual tribute, they exacted from 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 1), 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.

Astyages, the son of Cyaxares, succeeded him in the king-
dom. 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 in-
formed by them of every particular; and he afterward gave
this Mandane, when she had 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 disposi-
tion, deeming him far inferior to a Mede of moderate rank.
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 inter-
preters 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

1 Several passages of our author seem to prove that Herodotus wrote
other histories than those which have come down to us. In this book he
speaks of his Assyrian history ; in the second of the Libyan.

44 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [108-110

in his stead. Astyages therefore, guarding against this, as
soon as Cyrus was born, sent for Harpagus, a kinsman of his,
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 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." Har-
pagus answered : " O king, you have never yet observed any
ingratitude in me, and I shall take care never to offend you
in the future. If therefore it is your pleasure that this thing
should be done, it is fitting that I readily obey you." Har-
pagus, 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 Asty-
ages had said. She asked him, " What then do you propose
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 rela-
tion, 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 neces-
sary, however, for my safety that the child should die, but as
necessary that one of Astyages's people should be the execu-
tioner, and not one of mine." Thus he spoke, and immedi-
ately sent a messenger for one of Astyages's herdsmen, whom
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 the Euxine Sea. For the
Medic territory on this side toward the Saspires is very moun-
tainous, lofty, and covered with forests ; whereas all the rest
of Media is level. When therefore the herdsman, being sum-
moned 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 to add that if thou by any means

no-112] THE BIRTH OF CYRUS 45

shouldst save the child, thou shalt die by the most cruel death ;
and I am appointed to see the child exposed." The herds-
man, having heard these words, took the infant, returned back
by the same way, and reached his cottage. It so happened
that his 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
colours. When Harpagus saw me, he ordered me to take
up the child directty, 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 aston-
ished 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."

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 hus-
band, again addressed him as follows : " Since, 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 still-born child,

46 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [112-114

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." The herdsman thought his wife spoke very
much to the purpose under existing circumstances, and im-
mediately 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 deso-
late part of the mountains. On the third day after the infant
had been exposed, the herdsman, having left one of his as-
sistants 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 herdsman's wife, who gave him some other name,
and not that of Cyrus.

When the child attained the age of ten years, a circum-
stance of the following nature discovered him : he was play-
ing in the village in which the ox-stalls were, with boys of
his own age, in the road. The boys who were playing chose
this reputed son of the herdsman for their king. But he ap-
pointed some of them to build houses, and others to be his
body-guards, one of them to be the king's eye, and to an-
other he gave the office of bringing messages to him, assign-
ing 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
treatment 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 trans-
port 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
slave, the son of a herdsman," showing the boy's shoulders.

1 1 5-1 17] CYRUS IS DISCOVERED 47

Astyages having heard and seen what was done, resolving,
on account of the rank of Artembares, to avenge the indig-
nity 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 of-
fice. Now, all the other boys performed what they were or-
dered, but he alone refused to obey, and paid no attention to
my commands, wherefore he was punished; if then on this
account I am deserving of punishment, here I am ready to
submit to it." As the boy was speaking thus, Astyages recog-
nised 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 herds-
man remained alone, he asked him in the absence of wit-
nesses, whence he had the boy, and from whose hands he re-
ceived him? He affirmed that the boy was his own son, and
that the mother who bore him was still living with him. Asty-
ages told him that he did not consult his own safety in wish-
ing 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 beginning
from the outset he went through it, speaking the truth
throughout; and concluded with prayers and entreaties for
pardon. 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 a death did you dispose of the child which I de-
livered 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 : " O king, when
I had received the infant, I carefully considered how I could

48 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [117-119

act according to your wish and command, and, without of-
fending 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 saying 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 king, and such was the fate of the child."

Thus Harpagus told the real truth ; but Astyages, dis-
sembling 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 child, and
could not easily bear the reproaches of my daughter; there-
fore since fortune has taken a more favourable 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 honour is due), do you be with me at supper."
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 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 Asty-
ages, 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 and cut him into
joints, Astyages roasted some parts of his flesh and boiled
others, and having had them well dressed, kept them in readi-
ness. At the appointed hour, when the other guests and Har-
pagus 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 Har-
pagus seemed to have eaten enough, Astyages asked him if
he was pleased with the entertainment; and when Harpagus

U9-I20] ASTYAGES PUNISHES HARPAGUS 49

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. Har-
pagus 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 Asty-
ages asked him if he knew of what animal he had been eat-
ing. 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, pur-
posing, as I conjecture, to collect all he could and bury it.

Astyages thus punished Harpagus; and then considering
what he should do with Cyrus, summoned the Magi, who had
formerly interpreted his dream. When they were come, Asty-
ages asked them in what way they had interpreted his vision.
They gave the same answer as before ; and said, that if the
boy was still alive, and had not already died, he must of neces-
sity 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 man-
ner ; and now I desire to know to what do these things appear
to you to tend." The Magi answered : " If the boy be liv-
ing, and has already been a king by no settled plan, you may
take 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 re-
plied, " I too, O Magi, am very much of the same opinion,
that since the child has been named king, the dream is ac-
complished, and that the bo)r 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 alien-
ated, passing over to this boy, who is a Persian, 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 honours at your hands. Thus, then, we must
on every account provide for your safety and that of your gov-
ernment; and now, if we saw anything to occasion alarm we
should tell you of it beforehand ; but now, since the dream has
4

50 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [120-123

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." When, therefore, Astyages heard this he
was 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."

Astyages, having spoken thus, sent Cyrus away, and,
upon his arrival at the house of Cambyses, his parents wel-
comed him ; and having received him, when they heard
who he was they embraced him with the greatest tender-
ness, 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 be-
fore he knew not, but that on the 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 con-
stantly praising her; and Cyno was the 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. When Cyrus had reached man's estate, and
proved the most manly and beloved of his equals in age, Har-
pagus 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 : see-
ing 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, wish-
ing 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
contrived a hare, by opening its belly, and tearing off none
of the hair, he put a letter, containing what he thought neces-
sary to write, into the body; and having sewed up the belly

123-126] HARPAGUS PLOTS WITH CYRUS 5 1

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. 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 pur-
pose 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 as to 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 herdsman. If, then, you
will follow my counsel, you shall rule over the whole terri-
tory that Astyages now governs. Persuade the Persians to
revolt, and invade Media; and whether I or any other illus-
trious Mede be appointed to command the army opposed to
you, everything will turn out as you wish; for they, on the
first onset, having revolted from him, and siding with you,
will endeavour to depose him. Since, then, everything is
ready here, do as I advise, and do it quickly."

Cyrus, having received this intelligence, began to consider
by what measures he could best persuade the Persians to re-
volt ; and, after mature consideration, he fixed upon the follow-
ing 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 Pasargadae, the Maraphi-
ans, and the Maspians : of these the Pasargadae 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 Panthialaeans, the Derusiaeans, and the Ger-
manians ; these are all husbandmen : the rest are pastoral ;
Daians, Mardians, Dropicians, and Sagartians. When all were
come with their sickles, as had been ordered, Cyrus selected
a tract of land in Persia, which was overgrown with briers,

52 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [126-128

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 meantime 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 received the day before, or the present, were prefer-
able. They answered that the difference was great; for on
the preceding day they had every hardship, but on the pres-
ent everything that was good. Cyrus therefore, having re-
ceived 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 labour; 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 per-
suaded I am born of 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 Astyages."

The Persians 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 be-
haved as cowards and fled. 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 old and young; and leading
them out, he engaged the Persians, and was defeated. Asty-
ages himself was made prisoner, and he lost all the Medes

128-131] REVOLT OF THE PERSIANS 53

whom he had led out. 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. Asty-
ages, looking steadfastly on Harpagus, asked in return
whether he thought himself the author of Cyrus's success.
Harpagus said he did, for, as he had written, the achieve-
ment was justly due to himself. Astyages thereupon proved
him to be the weakest and most unjust of all men : the weak-
est, 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 Medes on ac-
count of the supper. For if it were absolutely necessary to
transfer the kingdom to some one else, and not to take it him-
self, he might with more justice have conferred this benefit
on some one of the Medes than on a Persian ; whereas now the
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.

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,1 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 Asty-
ages, 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, with-
out doing him any further injury. Cyrus therefore, having
been thus born and educated, came to the throne ; and after
these events he conquered Crcesus, who gave the first provo-
cation, as I have already related, and having subdued him,
he became master of all Asia.

The Persians, according to my own knowledge, observe

the following customs : it is not their practice to erect statues,

1 According to Herodotus, Deioces reigned 53 years

Phraortes . . 22

Cyaxares . . 40

Astyages . . 35

150
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. — Larcher.

54 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [131-133

or temples, or altars, but they charge those with folly 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 sacri-
fice 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, Mitra. The following is the estab-
lished mode of sacrifice to the above-mentioned 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 wishes 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 everything 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. It is their custom to honour 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 cus-
toms are observed to this day. They are accustomed to de-
bate 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 their master
of the house where they have met to consult; and if they

133-137] CUSTOMS OF THE PERSIANS 55

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. When they meet one
another in the streets, one may discover by the following cus-
tom whether those who meet are equals : for instead of ac-
costing 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 lower rank, he prostrates himself before the other. They
honour, above all, those who live nearest to themselves; in
the second degree, those that are second in nearness ; and
after that, as they go further off, they honour in proportion ;
and least of all they honour those who live at the greatest
distance; esteeming themselves to be by far the most excel-
lent 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 neigh-
bour, the Medes over all, and especially over those that were
nearest to them ; these again, over the bordering people, and
the last in like manner over their next neighbours ; and in the
same gradations the Persians honour; for that nation went
on extending its government and guardianship. The Persians
are of all nations most ready to adopt foreign customs ; for
they wear the Medic costume, thinking it handsomer than
their own ; and in war they use the Egyptian cuirass. And
they practise all kinds of indulgences with which they become
acquainted ; among others, they have learned from the Greeks
a passion for boys ; they marry, each of them, many wives,
and keep a still greater number of concubines. Next to
bravery in battle, this is considered the greatest proof of man-
liness, 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. Between the
ages of five years and twenty, they instruct their sons in three
things only — to ride, to use the bow, and to speak the truth.
Before he is five years of age, a son is not admitted to the pres-
ence 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.

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

56 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [137-141

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 improbable that a true father should be mur-
dered by his own son. 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 communi-
cation with other Persians; and they say that from having
committed some offence 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. Another circumstance is also pecul-
iar 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. 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; namely, that the dead
body of a Persian is 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 cov-
ered 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 anything that has life, except such things as they offer
in sacrifice ; whereas the Magi kill everything with their own
hands, except a dog or a man ; and they think they do a meri-
torious 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 sub-
ject.

The Ionians and ^Eolians, as soon as the Lydians were

141-143] THE IONIAN CITIES 57

subdued by the Persians, sent ambassadors to Cyrus at Sardis,
wishing to become subject to him, on the same terms as they
had been to Croesus. 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 casting-net, and in-
closed 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 ^olians,
because the Ionians, when Cyrus pressed them by his ambas-
sador to revolt from Crcesus, 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
Milesians ; for Cyrus made an alliance with them only, on the
same terms as the Lydians had done. The rest of the Ionians
resolved unanimously to send ambassadors to Sparta to im-
plore them to succour the Ionians. These 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 them,
lies toward the south ; next are Myus and Priene ; these are
situate in Caria, and use the same dialect. The following are
in Lydia : Ephesus, Colophon, Lebedus, Teos, Clazomenae,
Phocsea : 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.

Of these Ionians, the Milesians were sheltered from dan-
ger, 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 the Ionians only for this reason, that weak as the

58 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [143-146

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 Ionians, 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. But
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 Ionians ; nor indeed have any others, except the Smyr-
naeans, desired to participate in them. In the same manner
the Dorians of the present Pentapolis, which was before called
Hexapolis, take care not to admit any of the neighbouring
Dorians into the temple at Triopium, but excluded from par-
ticipation such of their own community as have violated the
sacred laws. For in the games in honour of Triopian 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 offence the
five cities, Lindus, Ialyssus, Cameirus, Cos, and Cnidus, ex-
cluded the sixth city, Halicarnassus, from participation ; on
them, therefore, they imposed this punishment. The Ionians
appear to me to have formed themselves 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 the
Achaeans, who drove out the Ionians. Pellene is the first to-
ward Sicyon; next Mgyra. and Mge, in which is the ever-
flowing river Crathis, from which the river in Italy derived
its name; then Bura and Helice, to which the Ionians fled
when they were defeated by the Achaeans ; JEgium, Rhypes,
Patrees, Pharees, and Olenus, in which is the great river Pirus ;
lastly, Dyma and Tritaees, the only inland places among them.
These now are the twelve divisions of the Achaeans, which
formerly belonged to the Ionians ; 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 Ionians,
would be great folly ; since the Abantes from Euboea, who
had no connection even in name with Ionia, are no inconsider-
able part of this colony; and Minyan-Orchomenians are in-
termixed with them, and Cadmaeans, Dryopians, Phocians
(who separated themselves from the rest of their countrymen),
and Molossians, Pelasgians of Arcadia, Dorian Epidaurians,

146-150] THE IONIAN CITIES 59

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 Ionians, 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 hus-
band ; 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. The Ioni-
ans appointed kings to govern them ; some choosing Lycians,
of the posterity of Glaucus, son of Hippolochus ; others Cau-
conian 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
Ionians who derive their original from Athens and celebrate
the Apaturian festival ; but all do so except the Ephesians and
Colophonians ; for these alone do not celebrate the Apaturian
festival, on some pretext of a murder. The Panionium is a
sacred place in Mycale, looking to the north, and by the Ioni-
ans consecrated in common to Heliconian Neptune; and
Mycale is a headland on the continent, stretching westward
toward Samos. At this place the Ionians, 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 all the festivals of all the Greeks
terminate, like the Persian names, in the same letter. These
then are the Ionian cities.

The following are the ^olian : Cyme, called also Phri-
conis, Larissae, Neon-teichos, Temnos, Cilia, Notium, JEgivo-
essa, Pitane, ^Egsese, Myrina, and Grynia : these are eleven
of the ancient cities of the ^Eolians ; for one of them, Smyrna,
was taken away from them by the Ionians ; for they too had
twelve cities on the continent. These Cohans have settled in
a more fertile country than the Ionians, but not equal in cli-
mate. The Cohans 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 afterward, the Colophonian exiles, having watched
the opportunity while the Smyrnaeans were celebrating a festi-
val to Bacchus outside the walls, shut to the gates, and seized
the city. But when all the Cohans came to the assistance of

60 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [150-153

the Smyrnaeans, an agreement was made that the Ionians should
restore the movable property, and that the vEolians should
abandon Smyrna. When the Smyrnaeans did this, the other
eleven cities distributed them among themselves and gave
them the privilege of citizens. These then are the yEolian
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 in
Lesbos, Arisba, the Methymnaeans reduced to slavery, al-
though 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 Ioni-
ans of the islands, had nothing to fear ; but all the other cities
resolved with one accord to follow the Ionians wherever they
should lead the way.

When the ambassadors of the Ionians and iEolians 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 Lacedaemonians would
not listen to him, and determined not to assist the Ionians:
they therefore returned home. Nevertheless the Lacedaemoni-
ans, though they had rejected the Ionian ambassadors, de-
spatched men in a penteconter, as I conjecture, to keep an
eye upon the affairs of Cyrus and Ionia. These men, arriving
in Phocaea, 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 in the Grecian
territory, for in that case they would not pass it by unnoticed.
When the herald gave this message, it is related that Cyrus
inquired of the Grecians who were present who the Lace-
daemonians were, and how many in number, that they sent
him such a warning. And when informed, he said to the Spar-
tan 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 levelled 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

153-156] REVOLT OF THE LYDIANS 6 1

bring away the gold, both that belonging to Croesus and to
the other Lydians, took Croesus with him, and departed for
Ecbatana, for from the first he took no account of the Ionians.
But Babylon was an obstacle to him, as were also the Bac-
trians, the Sacae, and the Egyptians ; against whom he resolved
to lead an army in person, and to send some other general
against the Ionians. But as soon as Cyrus had marched from
Sardis, Pactyas prevailed on the Lydians to revolt from Ta-
balus and Cyrus ; and going down to the sea-coast, with all
the gold taken from Sardis in his possession, he hired mer-
cenaries 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.

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 ; 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 of-
fence: 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 en-
join 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 appre-
hensions about their revolting." 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 un-
less 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,

62 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [156-159

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 Lydians to conform themselves to the regulations pro-
posed by Croesus, and moreover to enslave all the others who
had joined the Lydians in the attack on Sardis ; but by all
means to bring Pactyas to him alive. Cyrus then having given
these orders on his way, proceeded to the settlements of the
Persians. But Pactyas, hearing that the army which was com-
ing 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 in-
junctions of Cyrus ; and by his order the Lydians completely
changed their mode of life : after this Mazares despatched
messengers to Cyme, requiring them to deliver up Pactyas.
But the Cymaeans, 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 Ioni-
ans and Cohans were in the practice of consulting : this place
is situated in Milesia, above the port of Panormus.1 The
Cymaeans, therefore, having sent persons to consult the ora-
cle at Branchidae, asked what course they should pursue re-
specting 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 Cymaeans heard this an-
swer 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, dis-
trusting the oracle, and suspecting the sincerity of the con-
suiters, prevented them from doing so ; till at last other mes-
sengers, among whom was Aristodicus, went to inquire a
second time concerning Pactyas. When they arrived at Bran-
chidae, 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
Cymaeans 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

1 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 Panormus, in the
vicinity of Ephesus. — Beloe.

159-162] PACTYAS 63

was the inquiry of Aristodicus ; but the oracle gave the same
answer 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:
"O most impious of men,, how darest thou do this? Dost
thou tear my suppliants from my temple ? " Aristodicus with-
out hesitation answered, " O king, art thou then so careful to
succour 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." When the Cymaeans heard this last answer,
they, not wishing to bring destruction on themselves by sur-
rendering Pactyas, or to subject themselves to a siege by pro-
tecting him, sent him away to Mitylene. But the Mitylenae-
ans, when Mazares sent a message to them requiring them
to deliver up Pactyas, were preparing to do so for some re-
muneration ; what, I am unable to say precisely, for the pro-
posal was never completed. For the Cymaeans, being informed
of what was being done by the Mitylenaeans, despatched a
vessel to Lesbos, and transported Pactyas to Chios, whence
he was torn by violence from the Temple of Minerva Poli-
uchus by the Chians, and delivered up. The Chians delivered
him up in exchange for Atarneus ; this Atarneus was a place
situated in Mysia, opposite Lesbos. In this manner Pactyas
fell into the hands of the Persians ; therefore having got pos-
session 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 coun-
try were excluded from the temples. Thus the Chians gave
up Pactyas. 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.

On his death Harpagus came down as his successor in
the command : he also was by birth a Mede, the same whom
Astyages, King of the Medes, entertained at an impious feast,
and who assisted Cyrus in ascending the throne. This man,

64 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [162-165

being appointed general by Cyrus, on his arrival in Ionia, took
several cities by means of earthworks ; for he forced the peo-
ple 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.

These Phocaeans were the first of all the Grecians who
undertook long voyages, and they are the people who discov-
ered the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Seas, and Iberia, and Tar-
tessus.1 They made their voyages in fifty-oared galleys, and
not in merchant ships. When they arrived at Tartessus they
were kindly received by the King of the Tartessians, whose
name was Arganthonius ; he reigned eighty years over Tar-
tessus, and lived to the age of one hundred and twenty. The
Phocaeans became such great favourites 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 around their
city; and he gave it unsparingly, for the wall is not a few
stades in circumference, and is entirely built of large and well-
compacted stone. Now the wall of the Phocaeans had been
built in the above manner; but when Harpagus marched his
army against them, he besieged them, 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 Phocaeans, detesting
slavery, said that they wished for one day to deliberate, and
would then give their answer; but while they were delib-
erating they required him to draw off his forces from the
wall. Harpagus said that, though he well knew their de-
sign, yet he would permit them to consult together. In the
interval, then, during which Harpagus withdrew his army
from the wall, the Phocaeans launched their fifty-oared galleys,
and having put their wives, children, and goods on board, to-
gether with the images from the temples, and other offerings,
except works of brass or stone, or pictures — with these ex-
ceptions, having put everything on board, and embarked
themselves, they set sail for Chios : and the Persians took pos-
session of Phocaea, abandoned by all its inhabitants. The
Phocaeans, when the Chians refused to sell them the CEnyssae
Islands, for fear they should become the seat of trade, and
their own island be thereby excluded, thereupon directed their

1 Tartessus was situated between the two branches of the Bcetis (now
Guadalquiver), through which it discharges itself into the sea.

165-167] THE WANDERINGS OF THE PHOCAEANS 65

course to Cyrnus, where, by the admonition of an oracle, they
had twenty years before built a city, named Alalia. But Ar-
ganthonius was at that time dead. On their passage to Cyr-
nus, having first sailed down to Phocaea, 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 Phocaea till this burn-
ing mass should appear again. Nevertheless, as they were
on their way toward Cyrnus, more than one half of the citi-
zens were seized with regret and yearning for their city and
dwellings in the country, and violating their oaths, sailed back
to Phocaea ; but such of them as kept to their oath, weighed
anchor and sailed from the CEnyssae Islands. On their ar-
rival at Cyrnus they lived for five years in common with the
former settlers : but as they ravaged the territories of all their
neighbours, the Tyrrhenians and Carthaginians combined to-
gether to make war against them, each with sixty ships : and
the Phocaeans, on their part, having manned their ships, con-
sisting of sixty in number, met them in the Sardinian Sea;
and having engaged, the Phocaeans obtained a kind of Cad-
mean victory ; * 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.
As to the men belonging to the ships destroyed, most of them
fell into the hands of the Carthaginians and Tyrrhenians, who
took them on shore and stoned them to death. But after-
ward all animals belonging to the Agyllaeans that passed by
the spot where the Phocaeans who had been stoned lay, be-
came distorted, maimed, and crippled, as well sheep, as beasts
of burden, and men. The Agyllaeans therefore, being anxious
to expiate the guilt, sent to Delphi : and the Pythia enjoined
them to use those rites which the Agyllaeans still observe;
for they commemorate their death with great magnificence,
and have established gymnastic and equestrian contests. This
was the fate of these Phocaeans; but the others who fled to
Rhegium, left that place, and got possession of that town in
the territory of (Enotria, 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

1 A proverbial expression, importing "that the victors suffered more
than the vanquished."

66 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [167-171

sacred rites to Cyrnus as being a hero, but not to colonize the
island of that name.

The Teians also acted nearly in the same manner as the
Phocaeans. 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 Clazomense having
formerly founded, did not enjoy, but was driven out by the
Thracians, and is now honoured as a hero by the Teians of
Abdera.

These were the only Ionians who abandoned their coun-
try rather than submit to servitude. The rest, except the
Milesians, gave battle to Harpagus, 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 Milesians, as I
have before mentioned, having made a league with Cyrus,
remained quiet. Thus then was Ionia a second time enslaved ;
and when Harpagus had subdued the Ionians on the conti-
nent, those that occupied the islands, dreading the same fate,
made their submission to Cyrus. When the Ionians were
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 servi-
tude, they would flourish, inhabiting the most considerable
of the islands, and governing the rest; whereas if they re-
mained 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 Milesian, who was of Phoenician extraction, was
also good. He 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.

Harpagus, having subdued Ionia, marched against the
Carians, Caunians, Lycians, Ionians, and Cohans. Of these
the Carians had come from the islands to the continent. For
being subjects of Minos, and anciently called Leleges, they
occupied the islands without paying any tribute, as far as I

171-173] HARPAGUS SUBDUES IONIA 67

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
shields ; they 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 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.
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 dei-
ties, 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. The Lycians were originally sprung
from Crete, for in ancient time Crete was entirely in the pos-
session of barbarians. But a dispute having arisen between
Sarpedon and Minos, sons of Europa, respecting the sover-
eign 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 Solymi. So long as Sarpe-

68 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [»73~i7S

•

don 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 neighbours. But when Lycus, son of
Pandion, who was likewise driven out by his brother JEgeus,
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 de-
scribe himself by his mother's side, and reckon up his ma-
ternal 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, marry
a foreigner, or cohabit with a concubine, the children are in-
famous.

Now the Carians were subdued by Harpagus without hav-
ing done any memorable action in their own defence : and
not only the Carians, but all the Grecians that inhabit those
parts, behaved themselves with as little courage. And among
others settled there are the Cnidians, colonists from the Lace-
daemonians, whose territory juts on the sea, and is called the
Triopean: but the region of Bybassus extended 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 Rhodes : 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 ap-
peared 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 Pythia
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 sur-
rendered without resistance to Harpagus as soon as he ap-
proached with his army. The Pedasians were situated inland
above Halicarnassus. When any mischief is about to befall

175-179] THE CITY 0F BABYLON 69

them or their neighbours, the priestess of Minerva has a long
beard; this has occurred three times. 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. After some time, however, the Pedasians were sub-
dued. The Lycians, when Harpagus marched his army to-
ward the Xanthian plain, went out to meet him, and, engaging
with very inferior numbers, displayed great feats of valour.
But being defeated, and shut up within their city, they col-
lected 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, ex-
cept eighty families, are strangers ; but these eighty families
happened at the time to be away from home and so survived.
Thus Harpagus got possession of Xanthus, and Caunia almost
in the same manner, for the Caunians generally followed the
example of the Lycians.

Harpagus, therefore, reduced the lower parts of Asia, but
Cyrus conquered the upper parts, subduing every nation with-
out 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.

When Cyrus had reduced all the other parts of the conti-
nent, 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 de-
struction of Nineveh, was Babylon, which is of the follow-
ing description : the city stands in a spacious plain, and is
quadrangular, and shows a front on every side of one hun-
dred 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 round 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. 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 weeds between the thirty bottom courses of

70 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [179-182

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 suf-
ficient for turning a chariot with four horses. In the circum-
ference of the wall there are a hundred gates, all of brass,
as also are the posts and lintels. Eight days' journey from
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 Baby-
lon was brought. 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 Red Sea. The wall, therefore, on either bank has an
elbow carried down to the river ; from thence along the curva-
tures 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 ; all the others as well 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. This outer
wall is the chief defence, 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, brazen gated ; and in the other, the pre-
cinct of Jupiter Belus, which in my time was still in exist-
ence, 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 middle 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 Chaldseans, who are priests of this
deity, say. These same priests assert, though I can not credit
what they say, that the god himself comes to the temple and

182-185] SEMIRAMIS AND NITOCRIS 71

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 priest-
ess, 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. 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 hun-
dred talents, as the Chaldaeans 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 Chaldaeans 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 be-
sides there are many private offerings.

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. 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 grow-
ing formidable and restless, and that, among other cities,
Nineveh was captured by them, she took every possible pre-
caution for her own defence. 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 having
channels dug above, she made so winding that in its course
it touches three times at one and the same village in Assyria :
the name of this village at which the Euphrates touches is
Arderica : and to this day those who go from our sea to Baby-
lon, if they travel by the Euphrates, come three times to this

72 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [185-187

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
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. She inclosed
herself, therefore, with these defences by digging, and imme-
diately 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
to 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 reser-
voir for the lake, she left this other monument built by similar
toil. She had large blocks of stone cut, and when they were
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 lead and 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 an-
other. 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.

187-189] CYRUS AT THE GYNDES 73

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: Should any one of my suc-
cessors, Kings of Babylon, find himself in want 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 re-
mained 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 invit-
ing 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 body, and these words written: Hadst thou not
been insatiably covetous, and greedy of the most
sordid gain, thou wouldst not have opened the cham-
bers of the dead. Such then is the account given of this
queen.

Cyrus made war against the son of this queen, who bore
the name of his father Labynetus, and had the empire of As-
syria. 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. When Cyrus, in his march against Babylon,
arrived at the river Gyndes, whose fountains are in the Ma-
tienian Mountains, and which flows through the 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 endeavouring 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 en-
raged 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 ; and having so divided it, he marked out by lines one
hundred and eighty channels, on each side of the river, di-

74 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [189-191

verging 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. 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 ad-
vanced 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 ad-
vanced. Whether therefore some one else made the sug-
gestion 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, 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 Per-
sians 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 de-
stroyed 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,

191-193] CYRUS TAKES BABYLON 75

till they received certain information of the truth ; and thus
Babylon was taken for the first time.1

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 di-
vided 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 Tritsechmes, son of Artabazus, who held this dis-
trict from the king: the artabe is a Persian measure, con-
taining three Attic chcenices 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
plains were exempted from all other taxes, and appointed to
find food for the dogs. Such were the advantages accruing
to the governor of Babylon. The land of Assyria is but little
watered by rain, and that little nourishes the root of the
corn ; 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 ; 2 and it ex-
tends 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 sesame 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 sesame. They have palm

1 It was again taken by Darius. ' That is, southeast.

]6 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [193-196

trees growing all over the plain ; most of these bear fruit from
which they make bread, wine, and honey. These they cul-
tivate 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.

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 mak-
ing 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
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 ves-
sels 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 re-
turn 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. 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 Boeo-
tian 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 some-
thing of the kind ; for it is not allowable to wear a stick with-
out a device. Such, then, is their manner of adorning the
body.

The following customs prevail among them : this, in my
opinion, was the wisest, which I hear the Venetians, of Illyria,
also practise. Once in every year the following course was

BABYLOXIAX MARRIAGE MARKET.

Photogravure from an engraving after a painting bv Edwin Long.

£0 'I^

I torn

Hey cul-

tie the

i about

ing the

naturity;

;es.

city

that

made of

jws that

udes

•her mak-

the prow,

ned

ied

<-fly

; but

e larger ones more,
d of their
by public
■

neans
rrent :

i put

with
Every
every
T or sotne-
a stick with-
out a (lev adorning the

'urse was

196-198] CUSTOMS OF THE BABYLONIANS jj

pursued in every village : whatever maidens were of a mar-
riageable 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 in
beauty. They were sold on condition that they should be mar-
ried. Such men among the Babylonians as were rich and de-
sirous of marrying used to bid against one another, and pur-
chase 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 maid-
ens, he made the ugliest stand up, or one that was 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 beauti-
ful 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. They
have also this other custom, second to the former in wisdom.
They bring out their sick to the market-place, for they have
no physicians ; then those who pass by the sick person con-
fer 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 to 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. They embalm the dead in honey,
and their funeral lamentations are like those of the Egyptians.
Whenever a Babylonian has had intercourse with his wife,

78 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [198-202

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 prac-
tice is observed by the Arabians.

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
of servants attending them. But the far greater part do thus :
many sit down in the Temple of Venus, wearing a crown of
cord 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 Mylitta to favour thee " : for
the Assyrians call Venus Mylitta. The silver may be ever so
small, but she will not reject it, inasmuch as it is not lawful
for her to do so, for such 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 ; md
after that time, however great a sum you may give her, you
will not gain possession of her. Those that are endowed 'nth
beauty and symmetry of shape are soon set free ; but the de-
formed 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. 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.

When Cyrus had conquered this nation, he was anxious
to reduce the Massagetae 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. The Araxes is reported by some persons to be

202-204] THE MASSAGET^E 79

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 that they
have discovered other trees that produce fruit of a peculiar
kind, which the inhabitants, when they meet together in com-
panies, and have lit a fire, throw on the 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 odour, 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 Gyndes, which Cyrus distributed into the
three hundred and 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 unob-
structed 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 be-
yonc the Pillars, called the Atlantic, and the Red Sea, are all
one But the Caspian is a separate sea of itself, being in
leng* '1 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 con-
tains 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 chat by rubbing them and mixing them with
water the people paint figures on their garments ; these fig-
ures, 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. The Caucasus, then, bounds the western side
of this sea, which is called the Caspian ; and on the east, to-
ward the rising sun, succeeds a plain in extent unbounded in
the prospect. A great portion of this extensive plain is in-
habited by the Massagetae, against whom Cyrus resolved to
make war ; for the motives that urged and incited him to this

80 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [204-207

enterprise were many and powerful ; first of all his birth, which
he thought was something more than 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.

A woman whose husband was dead was Queen of the Mas-
sagetae; her name was Tomyris; and Cyrus sent ambassa-
dors under pretence of wooing her, and made her an offer of
marriage. But Tomyris, being aware that he was not woo-
ing her, but the kingdom of the Massagetae, forbade their
approach. Upon this Cyrus, perceiving his artifice ineffec-
tual, marched to the Araxes, and openly prepared to make
war on the Massagetae, by throwing bridges over the river
and building turrets on the boats which carried over his army.
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 ter-
minate 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
everything 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 princi-
pal 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. But Croesus the Lydian, who
was present and disapproved this advice, delivered a contrary
opinion to that which was put forward, and said : " O king, I
assured you long ago that, since Jupiter delivered me into
your hands, I would to the utmost of my power avert what-
ever misfortune I should see impending over your house ;
and my own calamities, 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
revolving, does not suffer the same persons to be always suc-
cessful. Now, therefore, I hold an opinion touching the mat-
ter before us, wholly at variance with that already given. For
if we shall receive the enemy into this country, there is this

207-209] CYRUS CROSSES THE ARAXES 8 1

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 Massagetae, 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 be-
fore a woman. My opinion therefore is that you should pass
over and advance as far as they retire ; and then by the fol-
lowing stratagem endeavour to get the better of them: as
I hear, the Massagetae are unacquainted with the Persian luxu-
ries, and are unused to the comforts of life. My 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, be-
sides, bowls of unmixed wine without stint, and all other pro-
visions ; and that having done this, and having left the weak-
est part of your army behind, the rest should return again
toward the river; for the Massagetae, 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 achieve-
ments."

Now these two contrary opinions were given. Cyrus, re-
jecting the former, and approving that of Croesus, bade Tomy-
ris retire, for that he would cross over to her. She accord-
ingly 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 honour Croesus, and treat him well, in case his inroad
on the Massagetae should fail ; having given these injunctions,
and sent them back to Persia, he himself crossed the river
with his army. When he had passed the Araxes, and night
came on, he saw the following vision, as he was sleeping in
the country of the Massagetae : Cyrus fancied in his sleep that
he saw the eldest son of Hystaspes with wings on his shoul-
ders ; 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 Achaemenides ; 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 sum-
6

82 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [209-212

moned Hystaspes, and, taking him aside, said : " Hystaspes,
your son has been detected plotting against me and my em-
pire ; and I will show you how I know it for a certainty. The
gods watch over me, and forewarn me of everything that is
about to befall me. Now, in the past night, as I was sleep-
ing, I saw the eldest of your sons with wings on his shoul-
ders, and with one of these he overshadowed Asia, and Eu-
rope 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." 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, O king, that a Persian should be born who
would plot against you ! But if any such there be, may sud-
den 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.

Cyrus having advanced one day's march from the Araxes,
proceeded to act according to the suggestion of Crcesus. 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 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 Massagetae, and whose name was Spargapises. She, when
she heard what had befallen her army and her son, sent a
herald to Cyrus with the following message : " Cyrus, insa-
tiate 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

212-216] THE DEATH OF CYRUS 83

poison you have deceived and conquered my son, instead of
by prowess in battle. Now, however, take the good advice
that I offer you. Restore my son ; depart out of this coun-
try unpunished for having insolently disgraced a third di-
vision of the army of the Massagetse. But if you will not do
this, I swear by the sun, the Lord of the Massagetse, that, in-
satiable as you are, I will glut you with blood." Cyrus, how-
ever, paid no attention to this message ; but Spargapises, the
son of Queen Tomyris, as soon as he recovered from the ef-
fects 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. 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 bar-
barians. And I am informed that it took place in the follow-
ing manner : it is related that, first of all, they stood at a dis-
tance 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 Massagetse 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, hav-
ing found it, thrust the head into the skin, and insulting the
dead body, said : " Thou hast indeed ruined me though alive
and victorious in battle, since thou hast taken my son by
stratagem ; but I will now glut thee with blood, as I threat-
ened." Of the many accounts given of the end of Cyrus, this
appears to me most worthy of credit.

The Massagetse resemble the Scythians in their dress and
mode of living ; they have both horse and foot ; for they have
some of each; and bowmen, and javelin-men, who are ac-
customed to carry battle-axes : they use gold and brass for
everything; 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 manner 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 is found in their country,
but they have brass and gold in abundance. Their manners

84 HERODOTUS— BOOK I, CLIO [216

are as follows: each man marries a wife, but they use the
women promiscuously. What the Grecians say the Scythians
do is a mistake, for they do it not, but the Massagetse; for
when a Massagetan desires to have the company of a woman
he hangs up his quiver in front of her chariot, and has inter-
course with her without shame. No 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 ; but
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 did not reach the age to be sacrificed. They sow noth-
ing, 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

A FTER the death of Cyrus, Cambyses succeeded to the
/\ kingdom : he was the son of Cyrus, and Cassandane, the
J V. daughter of Pharnaspes, who, having died some time
before, Cyrus both deeply mourned for her himself,
and commanded all his subjects to mourn. Cambyses, being
the son of this lady and Cyrus, considered the Ionians and
Cohans 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.

The Egyptians, before the reign of Psammitichus, consid-
ered themselves to be the most ancient of mankind. But
afterward Psammitichus, having come to the throne, endeav-
oured 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 fol-
lowing manner: he gave strict orders that no one should
utter a word in their presence, that they should lie in a soli-
tary 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. Psam-
mitichus contrived and ordered this, for the purpose of hear-
ing what word the children would first articulate after they
had given over their insignificant mewlings ; and such ac-
cordingly was the result. For when the shepherd had pur-
sued 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 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

85

86 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [2-5

children, he at length acquainted his master, and by his com-
mand brought the children into his presence. When Psam-
mitichus 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 Egyp-
tians, convinced by the above experiment, allowed that the
Phrygians were more ancient than themselves. This relation
I had from the priests of Vulcan at Memphis. But the Greeks
tell many other foolish things, and moreover that Psammiti-
chus, 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 also 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 Heliopoli-
tans are esteemed the most learned in history of all the Egyp-
tians. The parts of the narration that I heard concerning di-
vine 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.

But as concerns human affairs, they agree with one an-
other 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, reckon-
ing 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 Egyp-
tians 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 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 from the sea
is a seven days' passage up the river. 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 be-
fore, but sees it, that the part of Egypt which the Greeks fre-

5-8] EGYPT 87

quent with their shipping is land acquired by the Egyptians,
and a gift from the river; and the parts above this lake, dur-
ing a three days' passage, of which, however, they said noth-
ing, are of the same description. For the nature of the soil
of Egypt is of this kind : when you are first 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 de-
posit.

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 schcenus, which is an Egyptian measure, is equal
to sixty stades. So the whole coast of Egypt is three thou-
sand six hundred stades in length. 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 com-
pare 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. From Heliopolis
upward Egypt is narrow, for on one side the mountain of
Arabia extends from north to south and southwest, stretch-
ing up continuously to that which is called the Red Sea. In
this mountain are the quarries whence the stone was cut for
the pyramids at Memphis ; here the mountain, deviating,
turns to the parts above 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

88 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [8-u

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 mountain to that called the Libyan ;
but above this Egypt again becomes wide. Such, then, is
the character of this country. 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 amounts
to eighty-one schoeni. Now, if we compute these stades to-
gether, 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.

The greater part of all this country, as the priests informed
me, and as appeared to me also to be the case, has been ac-
quired by the Egyptians. For the space between the above-
mentioned mountains, that are situated 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. 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 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

11-14] EGYPT 89

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? I therefore both give credit to
those who relate these things concerning Egypt, and am my-
self persuaded of their truth when I see that Egypt projects
beyond the adjoining land ; that shells are found on the moun-
tains ; that a saline humour 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 or 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.

The priests told me this also, as a great proof of what they
related concerning this country, that in the reign of Moeris,
when the river rose at least eight cubits, it irrigated all Egypt
below Memphis ; and yet Moeris had not been nine hundred
years dead when I received this information. But now, un-
less 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 propor-
tion, and to contribute in like manner toward its increase,
those Egyptians below Lake Moeris, who inhabit other dis-
tricts and that which is called Delta, must, by reason of the
Nile not overflowing their land, forever suffer the same calam-
ity 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; mean-
ing, 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. And 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 in-
crease 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 labour than

90 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [14-17

any other people, and than the rest of the Egyptians, for they
have not the toil of breaking up the furrows with the plough,
nor of hoeing, nor of any other work which all other men
must labour at to obtain a crop of corn ; for 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.
But if we should adopt the opinion of the Ionians respect-
ing 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 schceni in
length; and who say that from the sea inland it stretches to
the city of Cercasorus, where the Nile divides, and flows to-
ward Pelusium and Canopus ; and who attribute the rest of
Egypt partly to Libya and partly to Arabia — if we adopted
this account, we should show that the Egyptians had not for-
merly any country of their own ; for the Delta, as the Egyp-
tians themselves acknowledge, and as I think, is alluvial, and
(if I may so express myself) has lately come to 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 chil-
dren to ascertain what language they would first speak. For
my own part, I am not of opinion that the Egyptians began
their existence with the country which the Ionians 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. 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 them-
selves 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. I consider that the whole
country inhabited by Egyptians is Egypt, as that inhabited by
Cilicians is Cilicia, and that by Assyrians, Assyria. And,

17-19] EGYPT 91

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 Ele-
phantine, 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 renowned ; this is called
the Sebennytic mouth. There are also two other mouths that
diverge from 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 Bolbitine and Bucolic mouths
are not natural but artificial. 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 in-
habit the cities of Marea and Apis, in the part of Egypt bor-
dering on Libya, deeming themselves Libyans and not Egyp-
tians, 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
had 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.
And 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 num-

92 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [19-23

ber 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 has 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. Nevertheless, some of the Greeks, wishing
to be distinguished for their wisdom, have attempted to ac-
count for these inundations in three different ways : two of
these ways are scarcely worth mentioning, except that I wish
to show what they are. One of them says that the Etesian
winds are the cause of the swelling of the river, by prevent-
ing the Nile from discharging itself into the sea. But fre-
quently the Etesian winds have not blown, yet the Nile pro-
duces 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 at all affected as the Nile is. The
second opinion shows still more ignorance than the former,
but, if I may so say, is more marvellous. It says that the Nile,
flowing from the ocean, produces this effect; and that the
ocean flows all round the earth. 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 exces-
sive 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. But the person who speaks about the ocean,

23-26] THE NILE 93

since he has referred his account to some obscure fable, pro-
duces 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.

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, causes
the Nile to overflow in summer. During the winter season,
the sun, being driven by storms from his former course, re-
tires to the upper parts of Libya : this in few words compre-
hends 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. 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 mid-
dle 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 win-
ter 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 rain-
water mixed with them, flow with full streams : but as the
country has been watered by showers and torn up by tor-
rents, 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. The
same cause in my opinion occasions also the dryness of the
air in these parts, the sun scorching everything 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 midday,

94

HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [26-29

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 ; I sup-
pose he would produce in his passage the same effects on
the Ister which he now does on the Nile. 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 coun-
tries, for they generally blow from some cold one.

But I leave these things as they are, and as they were at
the beginning. With respect to the sources of the Nile, no
man of all the Egyptians, Libyans, or Grecians with whom I
have conversed ever pretended to know anything, except the
registrar of Minerva's treasury at Sais in Egypt. He indeed
seemed to be trifling with me when he said he knew per-
fectly well; yet his account was as follows: that there are
two mountains rising into sharp peaks, 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, Psam-
mitichus, 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 whirl-
pools and an eddy here ; so that the water beating against
the rocks, a sounding line, when let down, can not reach the
bottom. I was unable to learn anything more from any one
else. But this much I learned by carrying my researches
as far as possible, having gone and made my own observa-
tions as far as Elephantine, and beyond that obtaining infor-
mation 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 to both sides of a boat as one
does with an ox in a plough, and so proceed ; but if the rope
should happen to break, the boat is carried 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 Maeander.
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 Elephan-

29-31] THE NILE 95

tine, and one half of the island ; the other half is inhabited
by Egyptians. Near to this island lies a vast lake, on the
borders of which Ethiopian nomads 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 Bac-
chus ; but these they honour 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 what-
ever country he bids them. 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 Egyp-
tian war tribe, revolted to the Ethiopians on the following
occasion : in the reign of King Psammitichus 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 unani-
mous 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 them not to forsake the gods
of their fathers, and their children and wives. These men,
when they arrived in Ethiopia, offered their services to the
King of the Ethiopians, who made them the following recom-
pense : there were certain Ethiopians disaffected 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.

Now for a voyage and land journey of four months the

96 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [31-32

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 cer-
tainty, for the rest of the country is desert by reason of the
excessive heat. But I have heard the following account from
certain Cyrenseans, 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 further 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 further dis-
covery 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 ex-
tremity 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 further 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 to-
ward the west; and when they had traversed much sandy
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 under-
stand their language, nor those who carried them off the lan-
guage of the Nasamonians. However, they conducted them
through vast morasses, and when they had passed these they

V

32-35] THE NILE 97

came to a city, in which all the inhabitants were of the same
size as their conductors, and black in colour : and by the city
flowed a great river, running from the west to the east, and
that crocodiles were seen in it. Thus far I have set forth the
account of Etearchus the Ammonian, to which may be added,
as the Cyrenaeans 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 con-
jectured 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. 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. Re-
specting this stream, therefore, as far as I was able to reach
by inquiry, I have already spoken. It discharges itself into
Egypt; and Egypt lies, as near as may be, opposite to the
mountains of Cilicia; from Cilicia to Sinope, on the Euxine
Sea, is a five days' 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.

I now proceed to give a more particular account of Egypt ;
it possesses more wonders than any other country, and ex-
hibits 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 them-
selves, and a river differing in its nature from all other rivers,
have adopted customs and usages in almost every respect dif-
ferent 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. They ease themselves
in their houses, but eat out of doors ; alleging that, whatever
7

98 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [35-37

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 un-
less they choose; but daughters are compelled to do so,
whether they choose or not. 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 occa-
sions of death, let the hair grow both on the head and face,
although accustomed 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 Egyp-
tian 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. The Egyp-
tians 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.

They are of all men the most excessively attentive to 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 practised 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 whole 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 them every day, and 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,

37-4°] CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIANS 99

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.
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 ex-
amination, 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. 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 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 impreca-
tions on the head, they who have a market and Grecian mer-
chants 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. But a different mode of disem-
bowelling and burning the victims prevails in different sacri-
fices. I proceed therefore to speak of the practice with regard
to the goddess whom they consider the greatest, and in whose
honour 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

IOo HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [40-42

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 them-
selves, they spread a banquet of what remains of the victims.
All the Egyptians 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 repre-
sent Io; and all Egyptians alike pay a far greater rever-
ence 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 severally inter in the
suburbs, with one horn, or both, appearing above the ground
for a mark. When it is putrefied and the appointed time ar-
rives, a raft comes to each city from the island called Pro-
sopitis ; this island is in the Delta, and is nine schceni in cir-
cumference : 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 not kill any of them. 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 Egyp-
tians 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 Mendesian 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 de-
sirous 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, hav-
ing put on the fleece, he in that form showed himself to Her-
cules. 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 Ethi-

42-44] CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTlA

opians, and who speak a language between both, have
adopted the same practice ; and, as I conjecture, the Am-
monians 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.
Of this Hercules I have heard this account, that ke-' is dne
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 gave 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 Hercules,
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 de-
rived 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 Amasis, when
the number of their gods was increased from eight to twelve,
of whom Hercules was accounted one. And being desirous
of obtaining certain information from whatever source I could,
I sailed to Tyre in Phoenicia, 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 shin-
ing exceedingly 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

,DOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [44-47

~._~^o uuilt 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 Hercules is a god of great antiquity, and, there-
fore, those Grecians appear to me to have acted most cor-
rectly 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 honour to the other as a hero. But the
Grecians say many other things on this subject inconsider-
ately ; for instance, this is a silly story of theirs which they
tell of Hercules : that when he arrived in Egypt, the Egyp-
tians having crowned him with a garland, led him in proces-
sion, 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 him-
self, 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, sacri-
fice 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 speak-
ing of them may I meet with indulgence both from gods and
heroes.

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. The Mendesians pay reverence to all goats,
and more to the males than to the females (and the goat-
herds who tend them receive greater honour), and particu-
larly 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. The Egyp-
tians 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 native Egyptians
are the only men who are not allowed to enter any of their

47-49] CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIANS 103

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 men-
tion 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. On
the eve of the festival of Bacchus, every one slays a pig be-
fore his door, and then restores it to the swineherd that sold
it, that he may carry it away. The rest of this festival to Bac-
chus, except as regards the pigs, the Egyptians celebrate much
in the same manner as do the Greeks, 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. Now Melam-
pus, son of Amytheon, appears to me not to have been igno-
rant of this sacrifice, but perfectly well acquainted with it ;
for Melampus is the person who first introduced among the
Greeks the name and sacrifices of Bacchus, and the proces-
sion of the phallus ; he did not, however, fully explain every
particular, but other learned persons who lived after him re-
vealed them more accurately. Melampus, then, is the person
who introduced the procession of the phallus in honour of
Bacchus, and from him the Greeks, 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 cere-

104 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [49-52

monies adopted in Egypt in honour 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 re-
specting the ceremonies of Bacchus chiefly from Cadmus the
Tyrian, and those who accompanied him from Phoenicia to
the country now called Boeotia.

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 worshipped him. Moreover, the Egyptians
pay no religious honour to heroes. 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. Who-
ever is initiated in the mysteries of the Cabiri, which the Samo-
thracians have adopted from the Pelasgians, knows what I
mean. For these Pelasgians dwelt in the same country as the
Athenians formerly inhabited, Somathrace, and from them
the Samothracians learned the mysteries : the Athenians there-
fore 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. 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, be-
cause they had set in order and ruled over all things. Then,

52-55] CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIANS 105

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, there-
fore, they adopted the names of the gods in their sacrifices,
and the Grecians afterward received them from the Pelas-
gians. Whence each of the gods sprung, whether they ex-
isted 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
honours 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.

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 Phoe-
nicians, 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. This, 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 accord-
ingly. 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 Dodonseans, engaged in the service of the temple,

106 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [55-60

agreed with them. 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 formerly 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 afterward, 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. The women,
I conjecture, were called doves by the Dodonaeans, 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 lan-
guage, she appeared to them to chatter like a bird : for how
could a dove speak with a human voice? But in saying that
the dove was black, they show that the woman was an Egyp-
tian. The manner in which oracles are delivered at Thebes
in Egypt, and at Dodona, is very similar ; and the art of divina-
tion from victims came likewise from Egypt.

The Egyptians were also the first who 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 been lately introduced. The Egyptians hold public fes-
tivals not only once in a year, but several times : that which is
best and most rigidly observed is in the city of Bubastis, in
honour of Diana ; the second, in the city of Busiris, is in hon-
our 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 honour of Minerva ; the fourth, at Heliopolis,
in honour of the sun ; the fifth, at the city of Buto, in honour
of Latona; the sixth, at the city of Papremis, in honour of
Mars. Now, when they are being conveyed to the city Bu-
bastis, they act as follows : for men and women embark to-
gether, 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

60-64] CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIANS 107

to any town, they lay their barge near to land, and do as fol-
lows : 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. With men and women, besides children, they congre-
gate, as the inhabitants say, to the number of seven hun-
dred thousand. 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 them-
selves 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 for-
eigners and not Egyptians. 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 sac-
rifice, and all kindle lamps, and this not only in Sais, but
throughout all Egypt. A religious reason is given why this
night is illuminated and so honoured. Those who assemble
at Heliopolis and Buto perform sacrifices only. But in Pa-
premis 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 oppo-
site 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 succour to
the god, oppose, and then strike, whereupon an obstinate com-
bat 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. The inhabitants say they
instituted this festival on the following occasion : they say
that the mother of Mars dwelt in this temple, and that Mars,

108 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [64-66

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 be-
fore, did not allow him to pass them, but repelled him ; where-
upon he, having collected men from another city, handled the
servants roughly, and got access to his mother. In conse-
quence of this, they say that they have instituted this combat
on this festival in honour 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 Gre-
cians, have intercourse in sacred places, and enter them un-
washed ; thinking mankind to be like other animals : there-
fore, 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, even the brute creatures would not
do it. They who argue thus act in a manner that I can not
approve. The Egyptians, then, are beyond measure scrupu-
lous in all things concerning religion, and especially in the
above-mentioned particulars.

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 neces-
sity. They have a custom of the following kind relating to ani-
mals : Superintendents, consisting both of men and of women,
are appointed to feed every kind separately ; and the son suc-
ceeds 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 wilfully, death is the punishment ; if by ac-
cident, he pays such fine as the priests choose to impose.
But whoever kills an ibis or a hawk, whether wilfully or by
accident, must necessarily be put to death. Although the
domesticated animals are many, they would be much more

66-68] CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIANS 109

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 lamentations are made
among the Egyptians. In whatever house a cat dies of a natu-
ral death, all the family shave their eyebrows only; but if a
dog die, they shave the whole body and the .head. 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 manner 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. -^

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 seven-
teen 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 broken on the back. It is blind
in the water, but very quick-sighted on land ; and because it
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

HO HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [68-73

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. 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 of them train
up a crocodile, which is taught to be quite tame; and they
put crystals 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 " champsae ; 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. 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 is drawn 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. 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, cloven-footed, 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. Otters are also met with in the river,
which are deemed sacred : and among fish, 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.
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 follow-

73-76] CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIANS IU

ing size and description : The plumage of his wings is partly
golden-coloured, 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 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 car-
ries him to the temple of the sun in Egypt. This they say is
done by this bird.

In the neighbourhood 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. 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 lay scattered is of the following de-
scription : 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. 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

112 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [76-80

that of the water-snake; but he has wings without feathers,
and as like as possible to the wings of a bat. This must suf-
fice for the description of sacred animals.

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 suc-
cessively, 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 peo-
ple 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 of spelt, made into
loaves, 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. 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 colour 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.

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 imme-
morial. The Linus in the Egyptian language is called
Maneros ; and the Egyptians say that he was the only son
of the first King of Egypt, and that happening to die prema-
turely, he was honoured by the Egyptians in this mourning
dirge : and this is the first and only song they have. In this
other particular the Egyptians resemble the Lacedaemonians
only among all the Grecians : the young men when they meet

80-86] CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIANS 113

their elders give way and turn aside; and when they ap-
proach, rise from their seats. In the following custom they
do not resemble any nation of the Greeks : instead of ad-
dressing one another in the streets, they salute by letting the
hand fall down as far as the knee. They wear linen tunics
fringed round the legs, which they call calasiris, and over
these they throw white woollen mantles ; woollen 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 worshippers of Orpheus and Bacchus, who
are Egyptians and Pythagoreans. For it is considered pro-
fane for one who is initiated in these mysteries to be buried
in woollen garments, and a religious reason is given for this
custom.

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 de-
termine 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. 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 hon-
our 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. The art of medicine is thus di-
vided among them : each physician applies himself to one dis-
ease 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.

Their manner of mourning and burying is as follows:
When in a family a man of any consideration dies, all the
women 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. There are persons who
are appointed for this very purpose; they, when the dead
8

114 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [86-88

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 em-
balming, the name of which I do not think it right to men-
tion 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 relatives, when they have agreed on the price, depart ; but
the embalmers remaining in the workshops 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 the belly with
pure myrrh pounded, and cassia, and other perfumes, frank-
incense 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, smear-
ing it with gum, which the Egyptians commonly use instead
of glue. After this the relatives, having taken the body back
again, make a wooden case in the shape of a man, and hav-
ing 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. Those who, avoid-
ing 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 of the corpse
without making any incision or taking out the bowels, but
inject it at the fundament; and having prevented the injec-
tion 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 in-
jected, 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 with-
out any further operation. The third method of embalming
is this, which is used only for the poorer sort: Having thor-
oughly rinsed the abdomen in syrmaea, they steep it with

88-91] CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIANS 115

natrum for the seventy days, and then deliver it to be carried
away. But 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. 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 relatives or friends, to touch him ; but the priests
of the Nile bury the corpse with their own hands, as being
something more than human.

They avoid using Grecian customs; and, in a word, the
customs of all other people whatsoever. All the other Egyp-
tians are particular in this. But there is a large city called
Chemmis, situated 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 Chemmitse affirm that Perseus has
frequently appeared to them on earth, and frequently within
the temple, and that a sandal worn by him is sometimes found,
which is two cubits in length; and that after its appearance
all Egypt flourishes. This they affirm. They adopt the fol-
lowing Grecian customs in honour of Perseus : they cele-
brate gymnastic games, embracing every kind of contest ; and
they give as prizes, cattle, cloaks, and skins. When I in-
quired 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 na-
tives 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 affirm 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

Il6 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [91-93

his mother: they add that by his order they instituted gym-
nastic games in honour of him.

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 follow-
ing inventions : When the river is full, and has made the
plains like a sea, great numbers of lilies, which the Egyp-
tians 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 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 fish, which they catch, and gut, and dry in the
sun, and then eat them dried.

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 shoals 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 fol-
lowing devour them ; but from the spawn that escapes and
are 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

93-96] CUSTOMS OF THE EGYPTIANS 117

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.

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. They have the following contrivance to
protect themselves from the mosquitoes, which abound very
much : the towers are of great service to those who inhabit
the upper parts of the marshes ; for the mosquitoes are pre-
vented 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 it: if he should wrap himself up in
his clothes or in linen, the mosquitoes would bite through
them, but they never attempt to bite through the net.

Their ships in which they convey merchandise are made
of the acacia, which in shape is very like the Cyrensean 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 calk 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

118 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [96-99

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 to the
bottom, keeps the vessel in its course. They have very many
of these vessels, and some of them carry many thousand tal-
ents. 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 navi-
gate 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 usual
course, but by the point of the Delta and the city of Cerca-
sorus ; 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. 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 Da-
naus, Archander, son of Phthius, and grandson of Achseus;
for it is called Archandropolis. There may, indeed, have been
another Archander, but the name is certainly not Egyptian.

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 moun-
tains : 1 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 Mem-
phis should be flooded. When the part cut off had been made
firm land by this Menes, who was first king, he in the first
1 That is, those of Arabia and Libya.

99-102] SESOSTRIS II9

place built on it the city that is now called Memphis; for
Memphis is situated in the narrow part of Egypt; and out-
side 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. After this
the priests enumerated from a book the names of three hun-
dred 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, 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 con-
cealed 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. 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 here-
after), 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
anything.

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 war from the Arabian Gulf, subdued those na-
tions that dwell by the Red Sea ; until sailing onward, he ar-
rived at a sea which was not navigable on account of the
shoals ; and afterward, when he came back to Egypt, accord-
ing to the report of the priest, he assembled a large army, and
marched through the continent, subduing every nation that
he fell in with ; and wherever he met with any who were
valiant, and who were very ardent in defence of their liberty,
he erected columns in their territory, with inscriptions de-

120 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [102-105

daring 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 on them the secret parts
of a woman, wishing to mke it known that they were cow-
ardly. Thus doing, he traversed the 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 col-
umns 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 de-
tached 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. 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 in-
quired of both people, and the Colchians had more recollec-
tion 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 con-
jecture, not only because they are swarthy and curly-headed,
for this amounts to nothing, because others are so likewise,
but chiefly from the following circumstances, because the Col-
chians, Egyptians, and Ethiopians are the only nations of the
world who, from the first, have practised 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
neighbours 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 Egyp-
tians 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 that the 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. I will now mention another fact
respecting the Colchians, how they resemble the Egyptians.
They alone and the Egyptians manufacture linen in the same

105-108] EXPEDITION OF SESOSTRIS 121

manner; and the whole way of living, and the language, is
similar in both nations ; but the Colchian linen is called by
the Greeks Sardonic, though that which comes from Egypt
is called Egyptian. 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. There are also in Ionia two im-
ages of this king, carved on rocks, one on the way from
Ephesia to Phocsea, 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 Egyp-
tian and partly Ethiopian ; from one shoulder to the other
across the breast extend sacred Egyptian characters en-
graved, which have the following meaning : " I acquired
this region by my own shoulders." Who or whence he
is, he does not here show, but has elsewhere made known.
Some who have seen these monuments have conjectured them
to be images of Memnon, herein being very far from the
truth.

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 Pelu-
sian Daphnse, 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. Sesostris hav-
ing 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 labour they made Egypt, which
before was throughout practicable for horses and carriages,
unfit for these purposes; for from that time Egypt, though
it was one level plain, became impassable for horses or car-

122 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [108-111

riages ; 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 drew from wells; and for this reason Egypt was inter-
sected. 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 re-
quired 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 ; where-
upon the king sent persons to inspect and measure how much
the land was diminished, that in future he might pay a pro-
portionate 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 pole and the sun-dial, and the divi-
sion of the day into twelve parts, the Greeks learned from
the Babylonians. This king 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 afterward, 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 Sesos-
tris the Egyptian: for that Sesostris had subdued other na-
tions, not fewer than Darius had done, and the Scythians
besides ; but that Darius was not able to conquer the Scythi-
ans; wherefore it was not right for one who had not sur-
passed him in achievements to place his statue before his offer-
ings. They relate, however, that Darius pardoned these ob-
servations.

After the death of Sesostris, they said that his son Pheron
succeeded to the kingdom ; that he undertook no military ex-
pedition, and happened to become blind through the follow-
ing occurrence: The river having risen a very great 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 arro-
gance 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 re-

m-113] PHERON AND PROTEUS 123

cover 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 cele-
brated temples, and, what is most worthy of mention, he dedi-
cated 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.

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 Phoenicians dwell
round this inclosure, and the whole tract is called the Tyrian
camp. 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 tem-
ples of Venus, none is anywhere called by the name of foreign.
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 yEgean, 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

124 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [113-116

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. Thonis having heard
this, immediately sent 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, hav-
ing beguiled the wife of his own host, he has brought her with
him, and very great treasures, 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 sent back a messenger with the following answer:
" Seize this man, whoever he may be, that has acted so wick-
edly toward his host, and bring him to me, that I may know
what he will say for himself." Thonis having received this
message, seized Paris, and detained 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 Pro-
teus 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 ne-
farious deed : you seduced the wife of your host, and this did
not content you, but having excited her passions, 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."

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 re-

Ii6-n8] HELEN IN EGYPT 125

jected 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 godlike Paris himself brought from
Sidon, sailing over the wide sea, along the course by which
he conveyed high-born Helen." x He mentions it also in the
" Odyssey," in the following lines : " Such well-chosen drugs
had the daughter of Jove, of excellent quality, which Poly-
damna 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 follow-
ing to Telemachus : " The gods detained me in Egypt, though
anxious to return hither because I did not offer perfect heca-
tombs 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 be-
longs, inhabit Syria. 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
favourable 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.

When I asked the priests whether the Greeks tell an idle
story about the Trojan war, or not, they gave me the follow-
ing answer, saying that they knew it by inquiry from Mene-
laus 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 ambassadors 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
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,
1 Iliad, vi: 289. ' Odyssey, iv: 227. 3 Odyssey, iv: 351.

126 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [118-120

had in his possession : but the Greeks, thinking they were
derided by them, therefore besieged them until they took their
city. When, after they had taken the fortifications, Helen
was nowhere found, but they heard the same story as be-
fore, then they gave credit to the first account, and sent Mene-
laus himself to Proteus. 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 in addition all his treasures. Menelaus,
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 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 ; 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 Egyp-
tians 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 knowl-
edge to speak of with certainty. These things the priests
of the Egyptians related ; and I myself agree with the ac-
count that is given respecting Helen, from the following con-
siderations : 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 per-
sons, 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 hap-
pened, 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 king-
dom 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 be-
come him to give way to his brother when acting unjustly,
and this too when through his means so many evils were fall-
ing on himself, and on all the rest of the Trojans. But indeed

I20-I2I] THE TROJAN WAR 1 27

they had it not in their power to restore Helen, nor when they
spoke the truth, did the Greeks give credit to them : provi-
dence 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 in store. Thus
these things have been related as they appear to me.

The priests also informed me that Rhampsinitus 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 Sum-
mer; and that to the south, Winter: and the one that they
call Summer, they worship and do honour to; but the one
called Winter, they treat in a quite contrary way.

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 con-
trivance : 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, finding his end approaching, called his sons
to him, for he had two, and described to them how (pro-
viding for them that they might have abundant sustenance)
he had contrived when building the king's treasury ; and hav-
ing clearly explained to them everything relating to the re-
moval 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. He accordingly died, and the
sons were not long in applying themselves to the work ; and
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. 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. And 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,

128 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [121

therefore, 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 recognised, 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. When day came, the king, hav-
ing 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 whom-
soever 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.
When the mother treated her surviving son harshly, and when
with many entreaties he was unable to persuade her, he con-
trived 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 three 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 : and the sentinels, when they saw wine flowing in
abundance, ran into the road, with vessels in their hands,
caught the wine that was being spilt, 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 pre-
tended 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 more 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 remained with them ; and as they treated him kindly dur-
ing 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

121-122] THE TREASURE OF RHAMPSINITUS 129

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. 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 or-
dered 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, there-
fore, 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 crafti-
ness, did as follows : Having cut off the arm of a fresh corpse
at the shoulder, he took it with him under his cloak, and hav-
ing 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, endeavoured 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. 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 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.

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 pres-
ent from her a napkin of gold. On account of the descent of
9

130 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [122-124

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.
Any person to whom such things appear credible may adopt
the accounts given by the Egyptians; it is my object, how-
ever, 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 Egyp-
tians 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 ex-
istence; 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 knew their names I do not men-
tion them.

Now, they told me that in 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, com-
ing to reign over them, plunged into every kind of wicked-
ness. 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
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 pyra-
mid : for its length is five stades, and its width ten orgyse, and
its height, where it is the highest, eight orgyse; and it is of
polished stone, with figures carved on it: on this road then

■

BUILDING THE PYRAMIDS.

Photogravure from a painting bv Gustavc Richter.

130

"US-

npsinitus, since he came

uted a ?•
even in my time ; bu
other reason, or for

wever, 01 t ■ .

east for

n enters
revoluti<
the Greeks I

ater, as if it
do not n

anfi

^re ti
stones, s

stone, w:

-;. an
on this 1

124-127] BUILDING THE PYRAMIDS 131

ten years were expended, and in forming the subterranean
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 com-
posed of polished stones, and jointed with the greatest exact-
ness ; none of the stones are less than thirty feet. This pyra-
mid was built thus : in the form of steps, which some call
crossse, 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 an-
other 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, when-
ever they wished to raise the stone higher ; for I should relate
it in both ways, as it is related. The highest parts of it, there-
fore, 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 garlics for the workmen;
which the interpreter, as I well remember, reading the in-
scription, told me amounted to one thousand six hundred tal-
ents 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 labourers, since they 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
subterranean excavations ! 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 cer-
tain sum of money, privately, as much as her father ordered
her; and she contrived to leave a monument of herself, and
asked every one that came in to her to give her a stone to-
ward the edifice she designed : of these stones they said the
pyramid was built that stands in the middle of the three, be-
fore the great pyramid, each side of which is a plethron and
a half in length. The Egyptians say that this Cheops reigned
fifty years ; and when he died, his brother Chephren suc-
ceeded to the kingdom ; and he followed the same practices as

132 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [127-131

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 subterranean cham-
bers; 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. 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. From the hatred they bear them, the Egyptians are
not very willing to mention their names; but call the pyra-
mids after Philition, a shepherd, who at that time kept his
cattle in those parts.

They said that after him, Mycerinus, son of Cheops,
reigned over Egypt; that the conduct of his father was dis-
pleasing to him; and that he opened the temples, and per-
mitted 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 more-
over, 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 Mycerinus, who was thus beneficent to-
ward 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.
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 concu-
bines, as the priests of Sais affirmed ; and indeed wooden stat-
ues, about twenty in number, all formed naked, are placed
there ; however, as to who they are, I am unable to say, ex-
cept what was told me. Some people give the following ac-

131-134] MYCERINUS 133

count 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, 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 be-
trayed her daughter to the father ; and now their images have
suffered the same that they did when 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. 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 beat 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, en-
treated her father Mycerinus to permit her to see the sun once
every year. After the loss of his daughter, this second calam-
ity 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, be-
cause he had not done what he ought to have done; for it
was needful that Egypt should be afflicted during one hun-
dred 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.

This king also left a pyramid much less than that of his
father, being on each side twenty feet short of three plethra;

134 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [134-136

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 courtesan 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, serv-
ant to Iadmon, son of Hephaestopolis, a Samian, and fellow-
servant with ^Esop, the writer of fables, for he too belonged
to Iadmon, 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 .<Esop, no one else appeared, but another Iad-
mon, the grandson of this Iadmon, required it; thus ^Esop
must have belonged to Iadmon. 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 de-
sirous of leaving a monument to herself in Greece, and, hav-
ing had such a work made as no one ever yet devised and
dedicated in a temple, 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 behind 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 re-
turned to Mitylene, Sappho gibed him very much in an ode.
Now I have done speaking of Rhodopis.

After Mycerinus, the priests said that Asychis became
King of Egypt, and that he built the eastern portico to the
Temple of Vulcan, which is by far the most beautiful and the

136-138] THE TEMPLE OF BUBASTIS 135

largest: for all the porticoes have sculptured figures, and an
infinite variety of architecture, but this most of all. They
related that during his reign, there being a great want of cir-
culation 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 bor-
rower ; and that on any one who gave this pledge the follow-
ing 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 desirous 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.

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 magni-
tude of his offence, 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, 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 lan-
guage, answers to Diana. Her sacred precinct is thus situ-
ated : 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 flow-
ing round it on one side, the other on the other. Each is a
hundred feet broad, and shaded with trees. The portico is

136 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [138-141

ten orgyae 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 con-
siderable 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 around a large temple in which the image is placed.
The width and length 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. 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
out this 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.
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 or-
dered unknown to the Ethiopian, he bade them bring some
ashes also as a present. No one before Amyrtaeus was able
to discover this island; but for more than seven hundred
years the kings who preceded Amyrtaeus were unable to find
it out : the name of this island was Elbo ; its size is about ten
stades in each direction.

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

141-143] THE KINGS OF EGYPT 1 37

lands ; to each of whom, under former kings, twelve chosen
acres had been assigned. After this, Sennacherib, King of the
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 him-
self 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 trades-
men, 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."

Thus much of the account the Egyptians and the priests
related, showing that from the first king to this priest of Vul-
can who last reigned, were three hundred forty and one gen-
erations of men ; and during these generations, there were
the same number of chief priests and kings. Now, three hun-
dred generations are equal to ten thousand years, for 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 re-
maining 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 re-
spect to deaths. In former time the priests of Jupiter did to
Hecataeus the historian, when he was tracing his own gene-
alogy, and connecting his family 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

1 38 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [143-146

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 life-
time; 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
Hecatseus traced his own genealogy, and connected himself
with a god in the sixteenth degree, they controverted his gene-
alogy 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."
Y 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.

Among the Greeks, the most recent of the gods are
thought to be Hercules, Bacchus, and Pan ; but by the Egyp-
tians Pan is esteemed the most ancient, and one of the eight
gods 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 de-
clared 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
said to have been born of Semele, the daughter of Cadmus,
to my time, is about sixteen hundred years, and from Her-
cules, 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. Of these two accounts, each person may adopt

146-148] THE TWELVE KINGS 1 39

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 as-
cribe their generation to that time, and not higher. These
things then the Egyptians themselves relate.

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 reasons : 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. Now,
they determined to leave in common a memorial of them-
selves ; and having so determined, they built a labyrinth a
little above the lake of Mceris, situated 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 labour and expense than this laby-
rinth ; 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

I40 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [148-150

the south, contiguous to one another; and the same exte-
rior 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 underground 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 there-
fore 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 by a colonnade of white stone, closely
fitted. And adjoining the extremity of the labyrinth is a pyra-
mid, forty orgyae in height, on which large figures are carved,
and a way to it has been made under ground.

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 schceni, 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, each ris-
ing fifty orgyae 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 orgyae in height: and a hundred
orgyae are equal to a stade of six plethra ; the orgya measur-
ing 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 minae. The people
of the country told me that this lake discharges itself under

150-152] PSAMMITICHUS 141

ground into the Syrtis of Libya, running westward toward
the interior by the mountain above Memphis. But when I
did not see anywhere a heap of soil from this excavation, for
this was an object of curiosity to me, I inquired of the peo-
ple 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 subterranean 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 proceeded 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 have been excavated in this way.

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,
Psammitichus, since he had not a bowl, having taken off his
helmet, which was of brass, held it out and made the liba-
tion. All the other kings were in the habit of wearing hel-
mets, and at that time had them on. Psammitichus, there-
fore, without any sinister intention, held out his helmet: but
they having taken into consideration what was done by Psam-
mitichus, and the oracle that had foretold to them that who-
ever 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 examina-
tion they found that he had done it by no premeditated de-
sign. 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 inter-
course with the rest of Egypt. This Psammitichus, who had
before fled from Sabacon the Ethiopian, who had killed his
father Neco — having at that time fled into Syria, the Egyp-
tians, who belong to the Saitic district, brought back when

I42 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [152-154

the Ethiopian withdrew in consequence of the vision in a
dream. 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 en-
tertained 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
incredulous that men of brass would come to assist him. But
when no long time had elapsed, stress of weather compelled
some Ionians and Carians, who had sailed out for the pur-
pose of piracy, to bear away to Egypt; and when they had
disembarked and were clad in brazen armour, 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. He
perceiving that the oracle was accomplished, treated these
Ionians and Carians in a friendly manner, and having prom-
ised them great things, persuaded them to join with him :
and when he had succeeded in persuading them, he thus, with
the help of such Egyptians as were well affected to him, and
with these allies, overcame the other kings.

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, sur-
rounded 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 Epa-
phus. 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
Camps. 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

154-156] THE ORACLE AT BUTO I43

such constant communication with them that we are accu-
rately 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.

Of the oracle that is in Egypt, I have already made fre-
quent mention ; and I shall 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 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 ;
each of these measures forty cubits : for the roof, another
stone is laid over it, having a cornice four cubits deep. This
temple, then, is the most wonderful thing that I saw about
this precinct: next to it is the island called Chemmis, situ-
ated 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 this,
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 float-
ing island, when Typhon arrived, searching everywhere, 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 caled Orus ; Ceres, Isis ; and Diana, Bubas-
tis. Now, from this account, and no other, yEschylus, the son
of Euphorion, alone among the earlier poets, derived the tra-

144 HERODOTUS— BOOK II. EUTERPE [156-160

dition that I will mention ; for he made Diana to be the daugh-
ter of Ceres. On this account they say that the island was
made to float. Such is the account they give.

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.
Neco was son of Psammitichus, and became King of Egypt :
he first began the canal that leads to the Red Sea, which
Darius' the Persian afterward completed. Its length is a voy-
age 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 the Red Sea.
The parts of the Egyptian plain that lie toward Arabia were
dug first; above this plain is situated the mountain that
stretches toward Memphis, in which are the quarries. Along
the base of this mountain, therefore, the canal is carried length-
ways 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 north-
ern sea to the southern, which is the same as that called the
Red Sea, namely, from Mount Casius, 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 hav-
ing caused an impediment : that he was working for a bar-
barian ; for the Egyptians call all men barbarians who do
not speak the same language as themselves. But Neco, hav-
ing put a stop to his excavation, turned his attention to mili-
tary 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 Magdolus, 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 Branchidse of the Milesians.
Afterward, having reigned sixteen years in all, he died and
left the kingdom to his son, Psammis.

While this Psammis was reigning over Egypt, ambassa-

160-162] APRIES AND AMASIS 145

dors arrived from the Eleans, boasting that they had estab-
lished 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 anything sur-
passing them. When the Eleans, having arrived in Egypt,
mentioned for what purpose they had come, this king there-
upon summoned those who were reputed to be the wisest
among the Egyptians ; and the Egyptians, having met to-
gether, heard the Eleans relate what was settled for them
to do with regard to the games ; and they, having mentioned
everything, said they had come to inquire whether the Egyp-
tians could invent anything more equitable. And they, hav-
ing 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 favour a citizen of their
own to the prejudice of a stranger. But if they really wished
to make just enactments, and had 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.

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 Tyrians 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, and briefly in
this place. For Apries, having sent an army against the
Cyrenseans, met with a signal defeat ; and the Egyptians, com-
plaining 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. Apries, having heard of
this, sent Amasis to appease them by persuasion. But when
he, having come to them, was endeavouring 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, and as he put it on said that he put it on him to make
zo

I46 HERODOTUS— BOOK If, EUTERPE [162-166

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 ar-
rived and summoned Amasis, Amasis, raising his leg (for he
happened to be on horseback), broke wind and bade 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 bring-
ing Amasis, Apries, taking no time for deliberation, in a trans-
port 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 un-
worthy a manner, did not delay a moment, but went imme-
diately over to the others and gave themselves to Amasis.
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 mag-
nificent. 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.

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 fol-
lowing districts, for all Egypt is divided into districts. The
following are the districts of the Hermotybies : 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. These next are

166-169] AMASIS MADE KING 147

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 Bubastis. These are the districts of
the Calasiries, being in number, when they are most numer-
ous, two hundred and fifty thousand men; neither are these
allowed to practise any art, but they devote themselves to
military pursuits alone, the son succeeding to his father.
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 bar-
barous nations hold in less honour 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 Lacedae-
monians ; but the Corinthians hold handicraftsmen in least
disesteem. To these alone of all the Egyptians, besides the
priests, the following special privileges are attached : To each
twelve chosen acres 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 fol-
lowing 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.

When therefore Apries, leading his auxiliaries, and Ama-
sis, 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.
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 en-
gagement 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 complain-
ing 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; and they strangled him,

I48 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [169-172

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 Saitae used to bring all the
kings sprung from this district within the sacred precinct;
however, the tomb of Amasis is further from the temple than
that of Apries and his progenitors, but even this is in the
court of the sacred precinct, consisting of a large stone cham-
ber, 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. 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. In this lake they perform by
night the representation of that person's adventures, which
they call mysteries. On these matters, however, though ac-
curately acquainted with the particulars of them, I must ob-
serve a discreet silence. And respecting the sacred rites of
Ceres, which the Greeks call Thesmophoria, 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 after-
ward, when almost the whole Peloponnese was depopulated
by the Dorians, these rites were lost ; but the Arcadians, who
were the only Peloponnesians left, and not expelled, alone pre-
served them.

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; and the Egyptians,
flocking to the image, paid it the greatest reverence. But
Amasis, informed of their behaviour, called the Egyptians to-
gether, and explained the matter to them, saying that the statue
was made out of the foot-pan in which the Egyptians formerly

172-175] THE REIGN OF AMASIS 149

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 foot-pan ; for though he
was before but a private person, yet he was now their king;
he therefore required them to honour and respect him : by
this means he won over the Egyptians, so that they thought
fit to obey him. He adopted the following method of man-
aging his affairs : Early in the morning, until the time of full-
market, he assiduously despatched the business brought be-
fore 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, con-
trol 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 himself up sometimes to sport, he would unawares be-
come mad or stupefied. I, being well aware of this, give up
a portion of my time to each." Thus he answered his friends.
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 per-
sons 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.
When, 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
anything 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 de-
livering authentic responses.

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;

150 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [175-178

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 Elephan-
tine, 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 eighteen 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 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 pre-
cinct. 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 Memphis,
which is spacious and well worthy of notice.

Under the reign of Amasis Egypt is said to have enjoyed
the greatest prosperity, both in respect to the benefits de-
rived 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 an-
nually 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 regula-
tion. Amasis, being partial to the Greeks, both bestowed

178-181] THE REIGN OF AMASIS 151

other favours 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
Clazomenae; of the Dorians, Rhodes, Cnidus, Halicarnassus,
Phaselis ; and of the ^olians, 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 ^gina built a temple to Jupiter for themselves ; and
the Samians another to Juno, and the Milesians one to Apollo.
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. When the Amphyctions
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.

Amasis also contracted a friendship and an alliance with
the Cyrenaeans ; and resolved to take a wife from that coun-
try, either out of a desire of having a Grecian woman, or from
some peculiar affection to the Cyrenaeans. He therefore mar-
ried, as some say, the daughter of Battus; others, of Arces-
ilaus; 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 : O woman, you have used
charms against me, and no contrivance can prevent your per-
ishing by the most cruel death of all women." But Ladice,

152 HERODOTUS— BOOK II, EUTERPE [181-182

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 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. 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
corselet 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
^Eaces ; but those at Lindus, not on account of any friend-
ship, 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 con-
quered Cyprus, and subjected it to the payment of tribute.

BOOK III

THALIA

AGAINST this Amasis, Cambyses, son of Cyrus, made
/\ war, leading with him both others, his own subjects,
/ Y. and of the Grecians, Ionians, and ^Eolians. 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 se-
lected 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 sug-
gestions, 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 mis-
tress. 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 : " O king, you do not perceive that
you have been imposed upon by Amasis, who, having dressed
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 Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, being greatly
enraged, to invade Egypt. Such is the account the Persians
give. But the Egyptians claim Cambyses as their own, say-

i53

I54 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [2-5

ing 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 Achaemenidae, 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. This other story is also
told, which to me seems 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 chil-
dren, Cyrus holds me in disdain, and honours her whom he
has obtained from Egypt." This she said through envy of
Nitetis ; but the eldest of her sons, Cambyses, said, " There-
fore, 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 he grew up and was possessed of the kingdom, accord-
ingly invaded Egypt.

The following other incident also occurred to promote this
invasion : There was among the auxiliaries of Amasis a man
by birth an 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 Per-
sians ; and coming over to Cambyses as he was preparing 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, ad-
vising him to send to the King of the Arabians, and ask
him to grant him a safe passage through his territories. By
this way only is there an open passage into Egypt. For from
Phoenicia to the confines of the city of Cadytis, which belongs

5-8] ARABIA 1 55

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 seaports 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, be-
longs 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. A circum-
stance 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 rilled
with wine are imported into Egypt twice every year, and
yet, so to speak, not a single one of these wine jars is after-
ward 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. Thus the Per-
sians, 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 Halicarnas-
sian stranger, sent ambassadors to the Arabian, and requested
a safe passage, which he obtained, giving to and receiving
from him pledges of faith.

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 con-
tractors ; 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 Bac-
chus's is cut ; but they cut it in a circular form, shearing it
round the temples. They call Bacchus, Orotal ; and Urania,

156 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [9-12

Alilat. When, therefore, the Arabian had exchanged pledges
with the ambassadors who came from Cambyses, 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 ac-
counts 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.

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 hav-
ing 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 re-
markable prodigy befell the Egyptians ; for rain fell at Egyp-
tian Thebes, which had never happened before, nor since, to
my time, as the Thebans themselves affirm. For no rain
ever falls in the upper regions of Egypt ; but at that time rain
fell in drops at Thebes. 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, consist-
ing 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 drag-
ging 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
drunk 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. Here I saw
a very surprising fact, which the people of the country in-
formed me of. For as the bones of those who were killed

12-14] CAMBYSES CONQUERS EGYPT 157

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 Per-
sians 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 Egyp-
tians 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 the same thing
at Papremis, with respect to those who were slain with Achae-
menes, son of Darius, by Inarus the Libyan.

The Egyptians, when they were defeated, fled in complete
disorder from the battle. When they had shut themselves up
in Memphis, Cambyses sent a Mitylenaean bark up the river,
with a Persian herald on board, to invite the Egyptians to
terms. But they, when they saw the bark entering Mem-
phis, 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 neighbouring Libyans, fear-
ing what had befallen Egypt, gave themselves up, without
resistance; and submitted to pay a tribute, and sent presents.
In like manner the Cyrenaeans and Barcseans, being equally
alarmed with the Libyans, did as they had done. But Cam-
byses received very graciously the presents that came from
the Libyans ; but was displeased with those of the Cyrenaeans,
because, as I suppose, they were inconsiderable. For the Cyre-
naeans sent only five hundred minae of silver, which he grasped
and dispersed with his own hand among the soldiers. On
the tenth day after Cambyses had taken the citadel of Mem-
phis, 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 man-
ner as the king's daughter. As the virgins, with loud lamenta-

158 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [14-15

tion 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 Psam-
menitus 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 Egyp-
tians of the same age, with halters about their necks and a
bridle in their mouths ; and they were led out to suffer retri-
bution for those Mitylenseans 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, when 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 lamenta-
tions, 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 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 everything that
was done by him at each procession : but Cambyses, surprised
at this behaviour, sent a messenger, and inquired of him as
follows : " Psammjenitus, 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 in no way related to
you, as he is informed." He then asked this question, but
Psammenitus answered as follows : " Son of Cyrus, the calami-
ties of my family are too great to be expressed by lamenta-
tion ; 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. Those who were
sent found the son no longer alive, having been the first that
suffered ; but having removed Psammenitus himself, they con-
ducted him to Cambyses, with whom he afterward lived, with-

I5-I6] TOMB OF AMASIS VIOLATED 1 59

out experiencing any violence. And had it not been suspected
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 honour 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 Amyrtseus, for he also recovered his
father's government : yet none ever did more mischief to the
Persians than Inarus 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 was compelled to drink the blood of a bull,
and died immediately. Such, then, was his end.

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 im-
pious. 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 everything it can lay hold of, and when it is
glutted with food it expires with what it has consumed ; there-
fore 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, com-
manded 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 sepul-
chre, and charged his son to deposit his own in the remotest
part of the vault. Now, these commands of Amasis, touch-

l6o HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [16-20

ing his own burial, and this man, appear to me never to have
been given, but the Egyptians falsely boast of them.

Afterward, Cambyses planned three several expeditions:
one against the Carthaginians, another against the Ammoni-
ans, and a third against the Macrobian Ethiopians, who in-
habit 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 de-
tachment of his land forces ; and against the Ethiopians, spies
in the first instance, who were to see the table of the sun, which
was said to exist among the Ethiopians, and besides to ex-
plore other things, and to cover their design they were to
carry presents to the king. 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 quadru-
peds; in this the several magistrates of the city, for some
purpose, place the flesh at night, and in the daytime 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.
When Cambyses had determined to send the spies, he imme-
diately 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 im-
piously 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 slav-
ery 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. When the Ichthyophagi came to Cambyses from Ele-
phantine, he despatched them to the Ethiopians, having in-
structed 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 hand-
somest of all men ; and they say that they have customs dif-
ferent from those of other nations, and especially the follow-
ing, with regard to the regal power; for they confer the sov-
ereignty upon the man whom they consider to be of the largest
stature, and to possess strength proportionable to his size.

21-23] THE ETHIOPIANS l6l

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 be-
coming your friend and ally, has sent us, bidding us 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 the Persians sent you with presents to me, because
he valued my alliance; nor do you speak the truth; for ye
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 Ethi-
opians 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.'"
Having spoken thus and unstrung the bow, he delivered it
to the comers. Then taking up the purple 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 further 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 he admitted they were
surpassed by the Persians. 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, and some even exceeded that term, and that their food
ii

162 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [23-25

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 odour 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 everything sinks
to the bottom. If this water is truly such as it is said to be,
it may be they are long-lived by reason of the abundant use
of it. Leaving this fountain, he conducted them to the com-
mon 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. After this, they vis-
ited 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 un-
pleasant smell, nor is it in any way offensive: and it is all
visible * 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 somewhere near the city.

The spies, having seen everything, 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 parts 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 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 provisions that they had were ex-

1 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.

2S-27] RETREAT FROM ETHIOPIA 163

hausted, 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 ad-
vancing. 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. Those who had been sent on the ex-
pedition 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 ^Eschrionian tribe; and they are distant
seven days' march from Thebes, across the sands. This coun-
try in the Greek language is called the Island of the Blessed.
It is said then that the army reached this country; but after-
ward 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. But the Am-
monians make the following report: When they had ad-
vanced 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.

When Cambyses arrived at Memphis, Apis, whom the
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 them thus occupied, and concluding that they made
these rejoicings on account of his ill success, summoned the
magistrates of Memphis ; and when they came into his pres-
ence, 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 ac-
customed to manifest himself at distant intervals, and that
when he did appear then all the Egyptians were used to re-

164 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [27-30

joice and keep a feast. Cambyses, having heard this, said
they lied, and as liars he put them to death. 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 con-
ceiving another offspring; and the Egyptians say that light-
ning 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. 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 com-
manded 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.

But Cambyses, as the Egyptians say, immediately became
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, Cam-
byses saw the following vision in his sleep : he imagined that
a messenger arrived from Persia and informed him that Smer-
dis 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

PROCESSION OF THE HULL APIS-OSIRIS.

Photogravure from a painting by Frederick Arthur Bridgman in the
Corcoran Art Gallery at Washington.

■
rr

.'"

ourge the pr

horn they should find feas

;rians was put an end to,

an, w

a me

dip \. th

-
should kill h who w

to Persia,
gone u;
taken hii

30-32] MADNESS OF CAMBYSES 1 65

hunt ; but others, that he led him to the Red Sea and drowned
him. This, they say, was the first of the crimes of Cambyses :
the second he committed against his sister, who had accom-
panied 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 enamoured
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 con-
tinue in office until they die, or are convicted of some injus-
tice. 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 per-
mitted 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 favoured his desire of marrying his
sister. Thereupon, Cambyses married her of whom he was
enamoured, and shortly afterward he had another sister. The
youngest of these, then, who followed him into Egypt, he
put to death. 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 overmatched, 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 his
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 " : where-
upon she remarked, " Then you have imitated this lettuce, in
dismembering the house of Cyrus." Whereupon he, being

166 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [32-35

enraged, kicked her when she was with child ; and she miscar-
ried and died.

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 man-
kind. For Cambyses is said, even from infancy, to have been
afflicted with a certain severe malady, which some called the
sacred disease.1 In that case, it was not at all surprising that
when his body was so diseased his mind should not be sound.
And toward the other Persians he behaved madly in the fol-
lowing instances : for it is reported that he said to Prexaspes,
whom he highly honoured, and whose office it was to bring
messages to him, and whose son was cup-bearer to Cam-
byses, and this is no trifling honour, he is reported to have
spoken as follows : " Prexaspes, what sort of 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 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 him, Cambyses asked what sort of 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, O 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. 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, it has been clearly shown to

1 Epilepsy.

35-37] MADNESS OF CAMBYSES 1 67

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.

While he was acting in this manner, Croesus 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 with-
out any just cause ; and you slay their children. If you per-
sist in such a course, beware lest the Persians revolt from you.
Your father Cyrus strictly charged me to admonish you, and
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 Massagetae, 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 pur-
pose 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 at-
tendants, knowing his temper, concealed Croesus for the fol-
lowing reason, that if Cambyses should repent, and inquire
for Croesus, they, by producing him, might receive rewards
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 Cam-
byses 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.

He, then, committed many such mad actions, both against
the Persians and his allies, while he stayed at Memphis, both
opening ancient sepulchres, and examining the dead bodies ;
he also entered the Temple of Vulcan, and derided the image,

1 68 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [37-39

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 de-
scribe them ; it is a representation of a pigmy. He 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. It is then in every way clear to me that
Cambyses was outrageously mad; otherwise he would not
have attempted to deride sacred things and established cus-
toms. 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 prob-
able that any but a madman would make such things the sub-
ject 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."

While Cambyses was invading Egypt, the Lacedaemonians
made an expedition against Samos and Polycrates, the son
of ^Eaces, who had made an insurrection and seized on Samos.
At first, having divided the state into three parts, he shared it
with his brothers Pantagnatos 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 Amasis, 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 everything 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

39-42] POLYCRATES 1 69

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 over-
came 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. Somehow the exceeding good fortune of Polyc-
rates did not escape the notice of Amasis, but was the cause
of uneasiness to him ; and when his successes continued to in-
crease, having written a letter in the following terms, he de-
spatched 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 re-
verses ; 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 there-
fore 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 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." Polyc-
rates, 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 in-
quiry, he discovered the following: He had a seal which he
wore, set in gold, made of an emerald, and it was the work-
manship of Theodorus, the son of Telecles, a Samian; when
therefore he had determined to cast this away, he did as fol-
lows : Having manned a fifty-oared galley, he 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. But on the fifth or sixth
day after this the following circumstance occurred : A fisher-
man, having caught a large and beautiful fish, thought it a
present worthy to be given to Polycrates ; he accordingly car-
ried 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,

170 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA . [42-45

I did not think it right to take it to market, although I get
my living by hard labour ; but it seemed to me worthy of you
and your empire ; I bring it, therefore, and present it to you."
He, pleased with these words, replied, " You have done well,
and I give you double thanks for your speech and your pres-
ent, and I invite you to supper." The fisherman, thinking a
great deal of this, went away to his own home ; but the serv-
ants, opening the fish, found the seal of Polycrates in its belly ;
and as soon as they had seen it, and taken it out, they car-
ried 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 despatched the account t0"""
Egypt. 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 Polyc-
rates would not come to a good end, since he was fortunate
in everything, and even found what he had thrown away ; hav-
ing 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. —T"— "

Against this Polycrates, then, who was so universally pros-
perous, the Lacedaemonians made war, at the solicitation of
those Samians who afterward founded Cydonia in Crete.
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, re-
questing 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. Now, some say that these Sami-
ans 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 ar-
rived 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 en-
gagement ; 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 Lacedsemon. There
are some who say that the party from Egypt conquered Polyc-

45-48] EXPEDITION AGAINST SAMOS 171

rates ; in my opinion, giving an erroneous account : for there
would have been no need for their calling in the Lacedaemoni-
ans if they were themselves able to get the better of Polyc-
rates. 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 to-
gether in the arsenals 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. 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, an-
swered 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 super-
fluous : it was, however, decreed that they should assist them.
Then the Lacedaemonians, 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 Lacedae-
monians 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 bowl which they
sent to Croesus, and the corselet which Amasis, King of Egypt,
had sent to them as a present ; for the Samians had robbed
them of the corselet the year before they took the bowl. This
corselet was made of linen, with many figures of animals in-
wrought, and adorned with gold and cotton wool : and on this
account each thread of the corselet makes it worthy of ad-
miration ; for though it is fine, it contains three hundred and
sixty threads, all distinct. Such another is that which Amasis
dedicated to Minerva at Lindus.

The Corinthians readily assisted in abetting the expedi-
tion 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
Periander, son of Cypselus, had sent three hundred youths,
of the noblest families of the Corcyraeans, to Alyattes at Sar-
dis, for the purpose of emasculation ; but when the Corin-
thians who were conducting the youths touched at Samos,
the Samians, having ascertained for what purpose they were

YJ2 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [48-51

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 Corcyraean 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 Corey ra.
Now if, after the death of Periander, the Corinthians had been
on friendly terms with the Corcyrseans, they would not have
assisted in the expedition against Samos for the above-men-
tioned 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 Corcyraean nobles, and sent them to Sardis to
be emasculated, in revenge of an insult offered him; for the
Corcyrseans had first committed an outrageous deed against
him. 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 this that on his return at Corinth he nei-
ther addressed his father, regarding him as the murderer of
his mother, nor entered into conversation with him, nor an-
swered a word to his questions. At last Periander, being ex-
ceedingly angry, drove him from the palace. 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 re-
ceived 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 resolv-

51-53] PERIANDER 173

ing not to show any indulgence, sent a messenger to the per-
sons 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.
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 con-
sequence 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 for-
bidden, 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 relax-
ing his anger, approached him, and said : " My son, which of
these is preferable, your present mode of life or, by accommo-
dating 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 vaga-
bond life, by opposing and snowing 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 con-
ceived 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 and superiors, return to your home." With these
words Periander endeavoured 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 dis-
temper 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 Epi-
daurus, and took Procles himself and kept him prisoner. But
when, in lapse of time, Periander grew old, and became con-
scious that he 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, but he appeared to him

174 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [53-55

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 de-
stroyed, 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 in-
heritance. A kingdom is an uncertain possession, and many
are suitors for it. He is now old, and past the vigour of life.
Do not give your own to others." Thus she, having been
instructed by her father, said what was most likely to per-
suade 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 Corinth; 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 Peri-
ander took vengeance on the Corcyraeans.

The Lacedaemonians, arriving with a great armament, be-
sieged 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
slaughter. Now, if all the Lacedaemonians who were present
on that day had behaved 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 Sami-
ans. 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

55-59] EXPEDITION AGAINST SAMOS 175

was given to his father, because he was son to that Archias
who fell so gloriously at Samos ; and he said that he honoured
the Samians, because his grandfather had been buried by them
at the public charge. The Lacedaemonians, 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 Polyc-
rates, having coined a large quantity of the country money
in lead, had it gilded and gave it to them ; and that they, hav-
ing received it, thereupon took their departure. This was
the first expedition that the Lacedaemonian Dorians under-
took against Asia.

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, hav-
ing in the island gold and silver mines, so that from the tenth
of the money accruing from thence a treasure is laid up at
Delphi equal to the richest, and they used every year to di-
vide the riches that accrued from the mines. When, there-
fore, 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. This response they were unable to compre-
hend, 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 ambassadors 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 ambassadors, then, hav-
ing 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. From the Hermionians they received an island in-
stead of money, Thyrea, near Peloponnesus, and gave it in
charge to the Trcezenians ; and they themselves founded
Cydonia in Crete; though they did not sail thither for that

i;6 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [59-61

purpose, but to expel the Zacynthians from 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 van-
quished 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 Minerva in TEg'ma.. The ^Eginetae did this
on account of a grudge they bore the Samians; for former
Samians, when Amphicrates reigned in Samos, having made
war against iEgina, did the yEginetae much mischief, and
suffered in return. This, then, was the cause.

I have dwelt longer on the affairs of the Samians, because
they have three works the greatest that have been accom-
plished by all the Greeks. The first is of a mountain, one hun-
dred and fifty orgyae in height; in this is dug a tunnel, be-
ginning 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 excava-
tion was a Megarian, Eupalinus, son of Naustrophus. This,
then, is one of the three. The second is a mound in the sea
round the harbour, in depth about one hundred orgyse; 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 first architect was Rhoecus, son of Phileus, a na-
tive. On account of these things I have dwelt longer on the
affairs of the Samians.

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 ac-
cordingly 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 gener-
ality thought him still alive. Therefore, having formed the
following design, he determined to make an attempt on the
throne. He 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 everything for him, set him on the throne;
and having done this, he sent heralds in various directions,

61-64] REVOLT OF THE MAGI 177

and particularly to Egypt, to proclaim to the army that they
must in future obey Smerdis, son of Cyrus, and not Cambyses.
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 Prexaspes
(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 enjoined thee ? " But he an-
swered : " Sir, it is not true that your brother Smerdis has re-
volted 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."
When Prexaspes had spoken thus, as the advice was ap-
proved by Cambyses, the herald was immediately pursued,
and brought back. When he arrived Prexaspes questioned
him as follows : " 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 ? " 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 mes-
sage to you." Thus the man spoke without adding any un-
truth. 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 against you, Patizithes, whom you
left steward of the palace, and his brother Smerdis." When
Cambyses heard the name of Smerdis, the truth of this account
and of the dream 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, there-
fore, that he had destroyed his brother without a cause, he

178 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [64-65

wept for Smerdis; and after he had lamented him, and bit-
terly 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, the chape of his sword's
scabbard fell off, and the blade, being laid bare, struck the
thigh ; being wounded in that part where he himself had for-
merly smitten the Egyptian god Apis. Cambyses, when he
thought that he was mortally wounded, 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. He 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 been 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 re-
turned to his right mind ; and comprehending the oracle said,
" Here it is fated that Cambyses, son of Cyrus, should die."

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 con-
strained 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 king-
dom 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 perpe-
trated 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 neverthe-
less deprived of my kingdom. For Smerdis the magus was the
person whom 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

65-68] DEATH OF CAMBYSES 1 79

you, O Persians, the most necessary is, to 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 Achsemenidae 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 sov-
ereign power, I imprecate upon you the contrary of all these
things : and, moreover, may such an end befall every Per-
sian as has befallen me." When Cambyses had spoken thus,
he deplored his whole fortunes. 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 story that the magi had posses-
sion 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 hos-
tile 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.

Accordingly, the magus, after the death of Cambyses, re-
lying on his having the same name as Smerdis, the son of
Cyrus, reigned securely during the seven months that re-
mained 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, re-
gretted his loss. For the magus, having despatched messen-
gers to every nation he ruled over, proclaimed a general ex-
emption from military service and tribute for the space of
three years : and he made this proclamation immediately on
assuming the sovereignty. But in the eighth month he was
discovered in the following manner: Otanes, son of Phar-
naspes, was by birth and fortune equal to the first of the Per-
sians. This Otanes first suspected the magus not to be Smer-

l8o HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [68-69

dis, the son of Cyrus, but the person 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 prin-
cipal men of Persia to his presence. Having conceived sus-
picion of him, he contrived the following artifice: Cambyses
had married his daughter, whose name was Phsedyma; the
magus therefore had her as his wife, 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 Smer-
dis, 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 co-
habited 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 co-
habits, for she must of necessity know her own brother." To
this his daughter replied : " I can neither have any conversa-
tion 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 apart- \/
ments." 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 under-
take 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 pos-
sessing the empire of the Persians, should escape with im-
punity, but suffer the punishment due to his offences. 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 Phaedyma 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 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 offence. This Phaedyma, daughter of Otanes, there-
fore, 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 diffi-

69-72] DISCOVERY OF SMERDIS l8l

culty that the man had no ears, as soon as it was day she sent
and made known to her father what the case was.

Thereupon Otanes, 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.
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 con-
trive 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 incon-
siderately 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 his own private advantage: and indeed
you ought to have carried out your project immediately, with-
out communicating it to any one else ; 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."
Otanes, seeing Darius so eager, replied : " Since you compel
us to precipitate our enterprise, and will not permit us to
defer, come, do you tell us in what way we are to enter the
palace and attack them ; for you yourself know, if not hav-
ing 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

1 82 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [72-74

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 admis-
sion, 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 further 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." After this Go-
bryas 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? 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 remem-
ber the imprecations he uttered at the point of death against
the Persians if they should not attempt to repossess them-
selves of the sovereign power : we did not then believe his
story, but thought that Cambyses spoke from ill-will. I there-
fore give my voice that we yield to Darius, and that on break-
ing up this conference we go nowhere else than direct to the
magus." Thus spoke Gobryas, and all assented to his pro-
posal.

While they were deliberating on these things, the follow-
ing events happened to take place : The magi, on consulta-
tion, determined to make Prexaspes their friend ; both be-
cause he had suffered grievous wrongs 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 despatched 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 en-
deavoured to win his friendship, binding him by pledges and

74-77] DEATH OF PREXASPES 1 83

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 everything in abundance. When
Prexaspes had promised that he would do as the magi per-
suaded him, they made a second proposal, saying that they
would assemble all the Persians under the walls of the palace,
and 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. When Prexaspes said
that he was ready to do that also, the magi, having convoked
the Persians, placed him on the top of a turret, and com-
manded him to harangue the people. But he purposely forgot
what they desired him to say, and, beginning from Achae-
menes, described the genealogy of Cyrus's family; and after-
ward, when he came down to him, he ended by telling them
what great benefits Cyrus had done the Persians : and hav-
ing gone through these, he declared the whole truth, saying
that he had before concealed it, as it was not safe for him to
tell what had happened; but that in the present emergency
necessity constrained him to make it known. He 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 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.

The seven Persians, having resolved to attack the magi
without delay, set out after they had offered prayers to the
gods ; and while they were in the midst of their way they
were informed of all that had occurred with respect to Prex-
aspes ; 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 see-
ing this, all approved the opinion of Darius, and forthwith
proceeded to the palace, emboldened by the omen. When
they approached the gates, it happened as Darius had sup-

184 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [77~79

posed : 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 doorkeepers for permitting them to
pass, and endeavoured 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. 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 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 Go-
bryas 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, obey-
ing, made a thrust with his dagger, and by good fortune hit
the magus.

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 shout-
ing and clamour, and then called upon the rest of the Per-
sians, 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, deter-

79-8i] FALL OF THE MAGI 185

mined 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 any 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.

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-
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 inso-
^lence of Cambyses reached, and you have experienced the
insolence of the magus. And indeed how can a monarchy
be a well-constituted 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 hon-
oured ; and if any one honours him very much he is offended
as with a flatterer. But I proceed to relate what is most im-
portant. He changes the institutions of our ancestors, vio-
lates 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. Megabyzus advised them to intrust the government

1 86 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [81-82

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 a use-
less crowd, therefore it is on no account to be endured, that
men, who are endeavouring to avoid the insolence of a tyrant,
should fall under the insolence of an unrestrained multitude.
The former, when he does anything, does it knowingly, but
the latter have not the means of knowing, for how should they
know who have neither been taught nor are acquainted with
anything good or fitting; they who, rushing on without re-
flection, 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 our-
selves shall be included, and it is reasonable to expect that
the best counsels will proceed from the best men." Mega-
byzus accordingly advanced this opinion. 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 mon-
archy, 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 com-
monly 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 monarchy: 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 commonwealth 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,
and 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 as we were made free by one man,

82-85] KINGDOM RE-ESTABLISHED 1 87

we should maintain the same kind of government ; and, more-
over, that we should not subvert the institutions of our an-
cestors, seeing they are good ; for that were not well."

These three opinions were proposed, and four of the seven
adhered to the last. When the opinion of Otanes, who was
anxious to introduce equality among the Persians, was over-
ruled, 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 be governed. But on this con-
dition 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 assem-
bly ; and this family alone, of all the Persians, retains its lib-
erty to this day, and yields obedience only so far as it pleases,
but without transgressing the laws of the Persians. 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 honourable among the Persians. They de-
creed that these things should be given him for this reason,
because he first advised the enterprise, and associated them
together. These honours 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 determina-
tion : that he whose horse should first neigh in the suburbs at
sunrise, while they were mounted, should have the kingdom.

Darius had a groom, a shrewd man, whose name was
CEbares; to this person, when the assembly had broken up,
Darius spoke as follows : " CEbares, 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 in-
genuity, contrive that I may obtain this honour, and not an-
other." CEbares answered : " If, sir, it indeed depends on

1 88 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [85-88

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 prac-
tice, 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. 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 pre-
ceding 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, dismount-
ing from their horses, did obeisance to Darius as king. Some
say that CEbares had recourse to the foregoing artifice ; others,
to the following (for the story is told both ways by the Per-
sians) : That having rubbed his hand upon the genital part
of the mare, he kept it concealed under his trousers, 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.

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 Cam-
byses. 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 Per-
sians could not have penetrated into Egypt. Darius con-
tracted 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 daughter of Otanes who de-
tected 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 man on
horseback ; and he had engraved on it the following inscrip-
tion : Darius, son of Hystaspes, by the sagacity of
his horse (here mentioning the name), and by the address
of CEbares, his groom, obtained the empire of the Per-

89-91] DARIUS MADE KING 189

sians. Having done this in Persia, he constituted twenty
governments, which they call satrapies ; and having consti-
tuted the governments and set governors over them, he ap-
pointed tributes to be paid to him from each nation, both
connecting the adjoining people with the several nations, and
omitting some neighbouring people, he annexed to some
others that were more remote. He distributed the govern-
ments, 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 minae. Dur-
ing 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 everything; the second, be-
cause he was severe and arrogant ; the latter, because he was
mild, and always aimed at the good of his people. From the
Ionians, the Magnesians in Asia, the Cohans, Carians, Lyci-
ans, 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 di-
vision. From the Mysians, Lydians, Lasonians, Cabalians,
and Hygennians, five hundred talents ; this was the second
division. From the Hellespontians, who dwell on the right
as one sails in, the Phrygians, the Thracians in Asia, Paphla-
gonians, 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 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. From the
city of Poseideium, which Amphilochus, son of Amphiaraus,
founded on the confines of the Cilicians and Syrians, begin-
ning 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 Phoenicia, Syria which is called Palestine, 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

Iqo HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [91-95

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 one hun-
dred and twenty thousand measures of corn for the Persians
who occupy the white fortress at Memphis, and their allies :
this was the sixth division. The Sattagydae, Gandarians,
Dadicae, and Aparytae, joined together, contributed one hun-
dred and seventy talents ; this was the seventh division. From
Susa, and the rest of the country of the Cissians, three hun-
dred talents; this was the eighth division. From Babylon
and the rest of Assyria, there accrued to him a thousand tal-
ents of silver, and five hundred young eunuchs; this was the
ninth division. From Ecbatana and the rest of Media, and
the Paricanians, and Orthocorybantes, four hundred and fifty
talents; this was the tenth division. The Caspians, Pausicae,
Pantimathians, and Daritae, contributing together, paid two
hundred talents ; this was the eleventh division. From the
Bactrians as far as the iEglae, was a tribute of three hundred
and sixty talents ; this was the twelfth division. From Pac-
tyica, and the Armenians, and the neighbouring people as far
as the Euxine Sea, four hundred talents ; this was the thir-
teenth division. From the Sagartians, Sarangeans, Thama-
naeans, Utians, Mycians, and those who inhabit the islands
on the Red Sea, in which the king settles transported con-
victs ; from all these came a tribute of six hundred talents ;
this was the fourteenth division. The Sacae and Caspians
paid two hundred and fifty talents ; this was the fifteenth di-
vision. The Parthians, Chorasmians, Sogdians, and Arians,
three hundred talents ; this was the sixteenth division. 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,
Macronians, Mosyncecians, and Marsians, three hundred tal-
ents 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 proportionably
larger than all the rest, three hundred and sixty talents of
gold dust ; this was the twentieth division. Now the Baby-
lonian standard, compared with the Euboic talent, makes the
total nine thousand five hundred and forty talents; and the
gold estimated at thirteen times 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

95-98] TRIBUTARY NATIONS I9I

sixty Euboic talents were collected by Darius as an annual
tribute ; and passing over less sums than these, I do not
mention them. 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 Eu-
rope 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
has occasion for from time to time.

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
neighbours, use the same grain as the Calantian Indians, and
live in subterranean dwellings — both these bring every third
year, and they continued to do so to my time, two chcenices
of unmolten gold, two hundred blocks of ebony, five Ethi-
opian boys, and twenty large elephants' tusks. The Colchians
numbered themselves among those who gave presents, as well
as the neighbouring 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 them-
selves, furnished, even to my time, every five years one hun-
dred boys and one hundred virgins. The Arabians also fur-
nished every year a thousand talents of frankincense. These,
then, brought to the king the above gifts besides the tribute. .

The Indians obtain the great quantity of gold, from which y(^
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 anything certain is told, the In-
dians 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 na-
tions of Indians, and they do not speak the same language
as each other; some of them are nomads, 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

1 92 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [98-103

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 corselet. Other Indians, living to the east of these,
are nomads, and eat raw flesh ; they are called Padaeans. 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. Other Indians have the following differ-
ent custom : They neither kill anything that has life, nor sow
anything, 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,
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. All have a complexion closely resembling the Ethiopians.
These Indians are situated very far from the Persians, toward
the south, and were never subject to Darius.

There are other Indians bordering on the city of Caspa-
tyrus and the country of Pactyica, settled northward of the
other Indians, whose mode of life resembles that of the Bac-
trians. 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. What
kind of figure the camel has I shall not describe to the Greeks,

103-107] INDIA I93

as they are acquainted with it; but what is not known re-
specting it I will mention. A camel has four thighs and four
knees in his hinder legs, and his private parts are turned be-
tween the hinder legs to the tail. 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 dur-
ing 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 breaking 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. 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 equalled 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, 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.

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 Nyssean 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 in-
stead of fruit, that in beauty and quality excels that of sheep ;
and the Indians make their clothing from these trees. Again,
Arabia is the farthest of inhabited countries toward the south ;
and this is the only region in which grow frankincense, myrrh,
cassia, cinnamon, and ledanum. All these, except myrrh, the
X3

I94 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [107-110

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 in form, guard the trees that bear frankin-
cense, a great number round each tree. These are the same
serpents that invade Egypt. They are driven from the trees
by nothing else but the smoke of the styrax. The Arabians
say this also, that the whole land would be filled by these ser-
pents 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 pro-
lific that it alone of all beasts conceives to superfetation, hav-
ing 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. 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, 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.

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
and other skins, they go to the cassia ; it grows in a shallow
lake; and around the lake and in it lodge winged animals

no-US] ARABIA 195

very like bats, and they screech fearfully, and are exceed-
ingly fierce. These they keep off from their eyes, and so
gather the cassia. 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 prob-
able 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 cin-
namon, 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 asses, 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 carry 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. But the ledanum, which the Ara-
bians 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 per-
fume. It may suffice to have said thus much of these per-
fumes ; and there breathes from Arabia, as it were, a divine
odour. 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 shep-
herd 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.
Where the meridian declines toward the setting sun,1 the Ethi-
opian territory reaches, being the extreme part of the habitable
world. It produces much gold, huge elephants, wild trees of
all kinds, ebony, and men of large stature, very handsome, and
long-lived.

These, then, are the extremities of Asia and Libya. Con-
cerning 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
1 That is, "southwest."

196 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA ["5-"7

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 in-
quired, 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. 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 ex-
cellent and rare.

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,
Sarangaeans, and Thamanaeans; 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 calam-
ity : 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 no-
where 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 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, raise 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 im-
bibing water, these gates were shut, and he ordered others
to be opened to those who were next in greatest need. And

117-119] FATE OF INTAPHERNES 197

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.

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 doorkeeper, how-
ever, and the messenger, would not let him pass, saying that
the king was then in bed with one of his wives ; but Inta-
phernes, suspecting they told a falsehood, did as follows : hav-
ing drawn his scimetar, he cut off their ears and noses, and
having strung them to the bridle of his horse, he 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 endeavoured 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 him-
self, and his children, and all his family, having many reasons
to suspect that he, with his relatives, 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 con-
tinually, she prevailed on Darius to have compassion on her.
He therefore, having sent a messenger, spoke as follows :
" Madam, King Darius allows you to release one of your
relatives 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 in-
quires 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 : " O
king, I may have another husband if God will, and other chil-
dren 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

I98 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [11^-122

reason I spoke as I did." The woman appeared to Darius to
have spoken well, and he granted to her the one whom she
asked, and her eldest son, he was so pleased with her : all the
rest he put to death. Of the seven, therefore, one very soon
perished in the manner now mentioned.

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 hav-
ing 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. Orcetes and another Persian, whose name was
Mitrobates, governor of the district of Dascylium, were sit-
ting together at the palace gates, and fell into a dispute. As
they were quarrelling about valour, 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 re-
venge himself on the man who said it, as of utterly destroy-
ing Polycrates, on whose account he had been reproached.
A fewer number say that Orcetes sent a herald to Samos to
make some demand which is not mentioned, and that Polyc-
rates happened to be reclining in the men's apartment, and
that Anacreon of Teos was with him ; and somehow (whether
designedly disregarding the business of Orcetes, 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. 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, situ-
ated on the river Maeander, being acquainted with the inten-
tions 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 historical age, Polycrates is the first who
had entertained great expectations of ruling Ionia and the
islands. Orcetes, therefore, having ascertained that he had

122-125] DEATH OF POLYCRATES 1 99

formed this design, sent a message to the following effect:
" Orcetes 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." Polycrates, having heard this, was
delighted, and accepted the offer; and as he was very eager
for wealth, he first sent Maeandrius, son of Maeandrius, 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 Maeandrius, hav-
ing come and inspected the chests, took back a report to
Polycrates. 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 im-
agined she saw her father elevated in the air, washed by Jupi-
ter, and anointed by the sun. Having seen this vision, she
endeavoured by all possible means to divert Polycrates from
going from home to Orcetes ; and as he was going on board
a fifty-oared 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. Thus Polyc-
rates, disregarding all advice, set sail to visit Orcetes, taking
with him many others of his friends, and among them Demo-
cedes, son of Calliphon, a Crotonian, who was a physician,
and the most skilful practitioner of his time. But Polycrates,
on his arrival at Magnesia, was put to death in a horrid man-
ner, 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

200 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [125-128

crucified : of those that 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 endexl^
as Amasis, King of Egypt, had foretold. s^

Not long after, vengeance on account of Polycrates over-
took Orcetes; for after the death of Cambyses, and during
the reign of the magi, Oroetes, continuing at Sardis, gave no
assistance to the Persians, who had been deprived of the gov-
ernment 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
committed various other atrocities ; and a certain courier of
Darius who came to him, because he brought him an unwel-
come message, he had assassinated on his return, having set
men to waylay him ; and when he had caused him to be slain,
he had him and his horse put out of sight. Darius, therefore,
when he got possession of the throne, was anxious to punish
Orcetes 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: hav-
ing called the most eminent of the Persians together, he ad-
dressed 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 Orcetes
alive, or put him to death? He has never done the Persians
any service, but has brought great mischiefs upon them. In
the first place, he destroyed two of us, Mitrobates and his
son; and in the next place, he slew the messenger sent by
me to recall him, displaying intolerable insolence. He must
therefore be stopped by death, before he has perpetrated any
greater evils against the Persians." 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

128-130] PUNISHMENT OF ORCETES 201

to their competitions by desiring them to cast lots ; and when
they cast lots it fell to Bagaeus, son of Artontes. Bagaeus,
having obtained it, did as follows : Having written several let-
ters relating to a variety of affairs, he affixed to them Darius's
seal, and then proceeded with them to Sardis. On his ar-
rival, 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. Bagaeus
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." 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 Orcetes to death." The guards, when they heard
this, drew their scimetars, and killed him immediately. Thus
vengeance overtook Orcetes the Persian, on account of Polyc-
rates the Samian.

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
dislocated; and at first thinking he had about him those of
the Egyptians who had the first reputation for skill in the
healing art, he made use of their assistance. But they, by
twisting the 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 fet-
ters behind him, and clothed in rags. 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

202 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [130-133

knowledge of the art. Upon which, when Darius put himself
under his care, by using Grecian medicines, and applying leni-
tives 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,
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, fol-
lowing behind, picked up the staters that fell from the goblets
and collected a large quantity of gold.

This Democedes visited Polycrates, after having left Cro-
tona on the following account: He 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 .Egina; hav-
ing settled there, in the first year, though he was unprovided
with means, and had none of the instruments necessary for
the exercise of his art, he surpassed the most skilful of their
physicians ; and in the second year, the vEginetae engaged
him for a talent out of the public treasury; and in the third
year the Athenians, for a hundred minse; and in the fourth
year Polycrates, for two talents ; thus he 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 Cyrenaeans
the second. At the same time the Argives were accounted
the most skilful of the Greeks in the art of music. 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 everything he could wish for, except the
liberty of returning to Greece. And in the first place he ob-
tained from the king a pardon for the Egyptian physicians,
who first attended the king, and were about to be empaled,
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. ;

Not long after these things, the following events took
place: Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, and wife to Darius, had a
tumour on her breast; after some time it burst, and spread

133-135] DEMOCEDES 203

considerably. As long as it was small, she concealed it, and
from delicacy informed no one of it ; when it became danger-
ous, she sent for Democedes and showed it to him. He, say-
ing 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
might bring disgrace on her. When therefore he had healed
her, and restored her to health, Atossa, instructed by Demo-
cedes, 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 Corin-
thian attendants ; and you have the fittest man in the world
to show and inform you of everything 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." 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

204 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [135-137

these commands to them, he next summoned Democedes
himself, and requested him, when he had conducted the Per-
sians through all Greece, and shown it to them, to return
again ; he also commanded him to take with him all his mov-
ables 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 in-
tention ; 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.

Accordingly, 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 things ;
and having prepared everything, 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 Demo-
cedes, Aristophilides, King of the Tarentines, first took off
the rudders of the Median ships, and next shut up the Per-
sians 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. 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? How 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 en-
deavour to reduce to slavery ? " Saying this, they did not per-
suade the Crotonians ; but being forcibly deprived of Demo-
cedes, and having had the trading vessel which they brought
with them taken from them, they sailed back to Asia; nor,

137-140] DARIUS AND SYLOSON 205

as they were deprived of their guide, did they attempt to ex-
plore Greece any further. At their departure Democedes en-
joined them to tell Darius that he had Milo's daughter affi-
anced 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 mar-
riage, that he might appear to Darius to be a man of conse-
quence in his own country. The Persians, having set sail
from Crotona, were driven to Iapygia, and being made slaves
there, Gillus, a Tarentine exile, ransomed them, and conducted
them to King Darius ; and he in return for this professed him-
self 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 ; think-
ing 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 de-
spatched 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.

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 ^aces, 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, per-
ceiving that Darius was very anxious to have the cloak, im-
pelled by a divine impulse, said, " I will not sell it for any
sum, but I will give it you for nothing, if so it must needs
be." Darius, having accepted his offer with thanks, took the
cloak. 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 king-

206 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [140-142

dom 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 to the king; but he, wondering, said
to the man : 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 anything 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 an-
swered : " 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 re-
ceive a thing of great value. In return I will give thee abun-
dance of gold and silver, so that thou shalt never repent hav-
ing conferred a favour 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 Orcetes, a
slave of ours has possessed himself of. Give me this without
blodshed and bondage." 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. Where-
upon Otanes, going down to the sea, embarked his army.

Maeandrius, son of Mseandrius, 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-
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

142-145] PERSIANS OCCUPY SAMOS 207

government into your hands, proclaim equality to all. I re-
quire, 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 Tem-
ple 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 them
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." Thus spoke a man of eminence
among the citizens, whose name was Telesarchus. But Maean-
drius, 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 with-
drawn 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 then were kept in confinement;
but after this disease attacked Maeandrius ; 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.

When the Persians arrived at Samos, bringing Syloson
with them, no one raised a hand against them, and the parti-
sans 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 prin-
cipal men of the Persians, having had seats placed for them,
sat down opposite the citadel. The tyrant Maeandrius had a
brother somewhat out of his senses, whose name was Chari-
laus ; 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 ; and Maeandrius, having
heard this, commanded him to be released, and brought into
his presence ; and as soon as he was brought there, upbraid-
ing and reviling his brother, he urged him to attack the Per-
sians, saying : " Me, O 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.

208 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [145-148

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." Thus spoke Charilaus ; and Maean-
drius 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, Maeandrius 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 anything of the kind, but thought everything had
been agreed upon ; and the auxiliaries, falling on, slew those
of the Persians who were seated in chairs, 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 citadel. But Otanes,
the general, when he saw that the Persians had suffered great
loss, purposely 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.
Maeandrius, having escaped from Samos, sailed to Lacedae-
mon ; 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 his offer two or three
times, Cleomenes showed himself a man of the highest in-
tegrity, who refused to accept what was offered ; and being
informed that by giving to other citizens he would gain their

148-153] REVOLT OF THE BABYLONIANS 209

support, he went to the Ephori, and said that it would be better
for Sparta that this Samian stranger should quit the Pelopon-
nesus, lest he should persuade him or some other of the Spar-
tans to become base. And they, having assented, banished
Maeandrius by public proclamation. The Persians having
drawn Samos as with a net, delivered it to Syloson, utterly
destitute of inhabitants. Afterward, however, Otanes, the
general, repeopled it, in consequence of a vision in a dream. "^

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 es-
caped observation. But when they openly revolted they did
as follows : Having excepted their mothers, each man selected
one woman besides, whomsoever he chose, from his own fam-
ily, but all the rest they assembled together and strangled : the
one woman each man selected to cook his food. They stran-
gled them, that they might not consume their provisions.
Darius, being informed of this, and having collected all his
forces, marched against them ; and having advanced to Baby-
lon, 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, O Persians ?
will ye not be off? for ye will take us when mules bring
forth young." One of the Babylonians said this, who never
expected that a mule would breed. 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.

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 conse-
14

2io HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [i 53-155

quence 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. 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 hon-
oured in the 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. 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.
He answered : " O king, there is no man except yourself who
could have power to treat me thus; no stranger has done
this, O king, but I have done it to myself, deeming it a great
indignity that the Assyrians should deride the Persians." He
replied : " Most wretched of men, you have given the fairest
name to the foulest deed, in saying that you have injured your-
self 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 com-
municated 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 en-
tered 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 Chaldseans ; but let neither
the first nor these carry any defensive arms except swords,

155-157] SIEGE OF BABYLON 211

but let them have these. After the twentieth day, straight-
way command the rest of the army to invest the wall on all
sides, but station the Persians for me at those called the Be-
lidian and Cissian gates; for as I think, when I have per-
formed great exploits, the Babylonians will intrust everything
to me, and, moreover, the keys of the gates, and then it will
be mine and the Persians' care to do what remains to be
done."

Having given these injunctions, he went to the gates, turn-
ing 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 had deserted to them : the
doorkeepers, 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, there-
fore," he said, " I come to you, O Babylonians, the greatest
blessing ; and to Darius, his army, and the Persians, the great-
est mischief; for he shall not escape with impunity, having
thus mutilated me ; and I am acquainted with all his designs."
Thus he spoke : and the Babylonians, seeing a man of dis-
tinction 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 performed deeds suit-
able to his promises, were exceedingly rejoiced, and were
ready to obey him in everything. 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 witnessing 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 accord-
ing to the settled plan, and having surrounded the four thou-
sand, he cut them in pieces. And when he had accomplished

212 HERODOTUS— BOOK III, THALIA [157-160

this, Zopyrus was everything to the Babylonians, and he was
appointed commander-in-chief, and guardian of the walls.
But when 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 his post, until they also discovered that
they had been betrayed.

Thus Babylon was taken a second time. And 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 Baby-
lonians 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 pre-
vent the consumption of their provisions; and to that end
he enjoined the neighbouring 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. 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 ad-
dition to that he had. And he honoured 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 Mega-
byzus, who commanded the army in Egypt against the Athe-
nians and their allies ; and from this Megabyzus sprung Zopy-
rus, who deserted to the Athenians from the Persians.

<

BOOK IV

MELPOMENE

A FTER the capture of Babylon, Darius's expedition against
/\ the Scythians took place; for as Asia was flourishing
jf \ in men, and large revenues came in, Darius was desir-
ous of revenging himself upon the Scythians, because
they formerly, having invaded the Median territory, and de-
feated in battle those that opposed them, were the first begin-
ners of violence. For the Scythians, as I have before men-
tioned, 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, be-
fore 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. The Scythians deprive all their slaves of
sight for the sake of the milk which they drink, doing as fol-
lows : 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
other. On this account the Scythians put out the eyes of
every prisoner they take; for they are not agriculturists, but
feeders of cattle. 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

213

214 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [3-6

Media. And first they cut off the country by digging a wide
ditch, stretching from Mount Taurus to the Lake Maeotis,
which is of great extent, and afterward encamping opposite,
they came to an engagement with the Scythians, who were
endeavouring 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 fight-
ing 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." The Scythians, having heard this, adopted the ad-
vice ; 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, re-'
turned in this manner to their own country: and for the
above-mentioned reasons Darius, desiring to take revenge,
assembled an army to invade them.

As the Scythians say, theirs is the most recent of all na-
tions; 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 Borys-
thenes ; 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 plough,
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
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 au-
thority to the youngest. From Lipoxais, they say, are de-
scended those Scythians who are called Auchatse; from the
second, Apoxais, those who are called Catiari and Traspies;
and from the youngest of them, the royal race, who are called

6-9] ORIGIN OF THE SCYTHIANS 21 5

Paralatae. But all have the name of Scoloti, from the surname
of their king; but the Grecians call them Scythians. 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 feathers shed there ; for that
the earth and air are full of feathers, and that it is these which
intercept the view.

Such is the account the Scythians give of themselves, and
of the country above them : but the Greeks who inhabit Pon-
tus give the following account : they say that Hercules, as he
was driving away the herds of Geryon, arrived in this coun-
try, that was then a desert, and which the Scythians now in-
habit: that Geryon, fixing his abode outside the Pontus, in-
habited the island which the Greeks call Erythia, situated
near Gades, beyond the columns of Hercules in the ocean.
The ocean, they say, beginning from the sunrise, flows round
the whole earth, but they do not prove it in fact; that Her-
cules thence came to the country now called Scythia, and as
a storm and frost overtook him, he drew his lion's skin over
him, and went to sleep ; and in the meanwhile his mares, which
were feeding apart from his chariot, vanished by some divine
chance. 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; 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 her he was astonished, but
asked her if she had anywhere seen his strayed mares. She
said that she herself had them, and would not restore them
to him before she had lain 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 Her-
cules as long as she could; he was desirous of recovering

2i6 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [9-1 1

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, and 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 injunc-
tions." 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 de-
parted. But she, when the sons who were born to her attained
to the age of men, in the first place gave them names ; to the
first, Agathyrsis, to the second, Gelonus, and to the young-
est, Scythes ; and, in the next place, remembering the orders,
she did what had been enjoined ; and two of her sons, Agathyr-
sis 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, re-
mained there. From this Scythes, son of Hercules, are de-
scended those who have been successively kings of the Scyth-
ians ; and from the cup, the Scythians even to this day wear
cups from their belts. This thing only the mother did for
Scythes. Such is the account given by the Greeks who in-
habit Pontus.

There is another account, to the following effect, to which
I myself rather incline: It is said that the Scythian nomads
who dwelt in Asia, being harassed in war by the Massagetse,
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 need 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 sub-

11-14] ARISTEAS OF PROCONNESUS, 2\J

mit to the kings, nor the kings to the people; and one party
resolved to depart without fighting, and abandon the coun-
try 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 resolu-
tion, 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 coun-
try. And there are now in Scythia Cimmerian fortifications
and Cimmerian Porthmia ; x there is also a district named
Cimmeria, and a bosphorus called Cimmerian. The Cim-
merians 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, pur-
suing 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 the midland.
This last account is given in common both by Greeks and
barbarians.

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, be-
ginning from the Arimaspians, continually encroached upon
their neighbours ; 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. 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 workshop,
went to acquaint the relatives of the deceased. When the
* Passages or ferries.

2i8 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [14-17

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 vehe-
mently disputed the truth of the report, but the relatives 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. 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 Meta-
pontines 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 Pro-
connesian ; for he said that Apollo had visited their country
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, and if they obeyed, it would
conduce to their benefit: they accordingly, having received
this answer, fulfilled the injunctions. And now a statue bear-
ing 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.

No one knows with certainty what is beyond the country
about which this account proceeds to speak ; 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. 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 Callipidae, being
Greek-Scythians ; beyond these is another nation, called Ala-
zones. These and the Callipidae, in other respects, follow the
usages of the Scythians, but they both sow and feed on wheat,

17-22] THE SCYTHIANS 219

onions, garlic, lentils, and millet; but beyond the Alazones
dwell husbandmen, who do not sow wheat for food, but for
sale. Beyond these the Neuri 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 Hypanis, to the
west of the Borysthenes. But if one crosses the Borysthenes,
the first country from the sea is Hylaea ; and from this higher
up live Scythian agriculturists, where the Greeks settled on
the river Hypanis, called Borysthenitae, but they call them-
selves Olbiopolitse. These Scythian husbandmen, then, oc-
cupy the country eastward, for three days' journey, extend-
ing to the river whose name is Panticapes ; and northward a
passage of eleven days up the Borysthenes. Beyond this re-
gion the country is desert for a great distance ; and beyond
the desert Androphagi dwell, who are a distinct 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. The
country eastward of these Scythian agriculturists, when one
crosses the river Panticapes, nomads occupy, who neither sow
at all, nor plough ; and all this country is destitute of trees,
except Hylaea. These nomads occupy a tract eastward for
fourteen days' journey, stretching to the river Gerrhus. Be-
yond 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 Me-
lanchlaeni inhabit, a distinct race, and not Scythian. But above
the Melanchlaeni are lakes, and an uninhabited desert, as far
as we know.

After one crosses the river Tanais, it is no longer Scythian,
but the first region belongs to the Sauromatae, who, begin-
ning from the recess of the Lake Maeotis, occupy the country
northward, for a fifteen days' journey, all destitute both of
wild and cultivated trees. Above these dwell the Budini, oc-
cupying the second region, and possessing a country thickly
covered with all sorts of trees. 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 Thyssagetae, 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

220 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [22-25

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. As far as the territory of these
Scythians, the whole country 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 moun-
tains, 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 cos-
tume, 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 sedi-
ment 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 woollen covering ;
but in summer, without the woollen 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 neigh-
bours ; and in the next place, whoever takes refuge among
them is injured by no one. They are called Argippaei.

As far, then, as these bald people, our knowledge respect-
ing the country and the nations before them is very good, for
some Scythians frequently go there, from whom it is not diffi-
cult 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. So far, then, is
known ; but beyond the bald men no one can speak with cer-
tainty, for lofty and impassable mountains form their bound-
ary, and no one has ever crossed them ; but these bald men
say, what to me is incredible, that men with goats' feet inhabit
these mountains ! and when one has passed beyond them, other
men are found, who sleep six months at a time ; but this I do
not at all admit. However, the country eastward of the bald

25-29] THE ISSEDONES 221

men is well known, being inhabited by Issedones, though the
country above to the north, either of the bald men or the Isse-
dones, is utterly unknown, except only such things as these
people relate. The Issedones are said to observe these cus-
toms : 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 hav-
ing made bare and cleansed his head, they gild it; and after-
ward they treat it as a sacred image, performing grand an-
nual sacrifices to it. A son does this to his father, as the
Greeks celebrate the anniversary of their father's death. These
people are likewise accounted just ; and the women have equal
authority with the men. These, then, are well known.

Among them, the Issedones affirm, are the men with only
one eye, and the gold-guarding griffins. The Scythians re-
peat this account, having received it from them ; and we have
adopted it from the Scythians, and call them, in the Scythian
language, Arimaspi ; for Arima, in the Scythian language,
signifies one, and Spou, the eye. 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 the cold, waste away; but asses
and mules endure it. 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," con-
firms 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

222 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [29-33

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. I am surprised (for my narrative has from its
commencement sought for digressions) that in the whole ter-
ritory of Elis no mules are 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 to the neigh-
bouring districts, and there put the he-asses with them until
they are in foal ; then they drive them home again. 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 fall-
ing thick near him will know what I 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 neighbours call the snow
feathers, comparing them together. These regions, therefore,
which are said to be the most remote, have been sufficiently
described.

Concerning the Hyperboreans, neither the Scythians say
anything, nor any people of those parts, except the Issedones ;
and, as I think, neither do they say anything, 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. 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 Scythians each con-
tiguous 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 reach Delos. They add that the Hyper-
boreans first sent two virgins, whom they called by the names
of Hyperoche and Laodice, to carry these sacred things ; and

33-36] THE HYPERBOREANS 223

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 honour 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, there-
fore carried their offerings wrapped in wheat-straw to their
borders, and enjoined their neighbours 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 Paeonian women, when they sacrifice to Royal
Diana, do not offer their sacrifices without wheat-straw; and
I know that they do this. In honour 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 distaff, 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 Delians having wound some of their hair
round a plant, place it also on the sepulchre. These virgins
receive such honour from the inhabitants of Delos. These
same persons also affirm that Arge and Opis, who were Hy-
perborean 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 ar-
rived with the gods themselves, and that different honours
are paid them by themselves, for that the women collect con-
tributions for them, calling on their names in a hymn which
Olen, a Lycian, composed for them ; and that the islanders
and Ionians afterward, having learned it from them, celebrate
Opis and Arge in song, mentioning their names, and collect-
ing contributions (now this Olen, coming from Lycia, com-
posed 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. 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 anything. If, however, there are Hyperbo-
reans, there must also be Hypernotians. But I smile when I
see many persons describing the circumference of the earth,

224 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [36-42

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 make Asia equal to Europe. I will therefore
briefly show the dimensions of each of them, and what is the
figure of each.

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 Col-
chians, who reach to the northern sea, into which the river
Phasis discharges itself. These four nations occupy the space
from sea to sea. 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 Sigaeum;
and on the south, this same tract, beginning from the Myrian-
drian Gulf, which is adjacent to Phoenicia, stretches toward
the sea as far as the Triopian promontory. In this tract dwell
thirty different nations. This, then, is one of the tracts. The
other, beginning at Persia, reaches to the Red Sea; it com-
prises Persia, and after that Assyria, and after Assyria, Arabia ;
it terminates (terminating only by custom) at the Arabian
Gulf, into which Darius carried a canal from 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. 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.

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 orgyae, which make
one thousand stades. But from this narrow neck the tract
which is called Libya becomes very wide. I wonder there-
fore 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.
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

42-43] CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF AFRICA 225

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,1 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 what-
ever 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. Subsequently the Car-
thaginians say that Libya is surrounded by water. For Satas-
pes, son of Teaspes, one of the Achsemenidse, did not sail round
Libya, 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 offence 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 the cause : that his ship could not proceed any far-
ther, 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 origi-
nal sentence. A eunuch of this Sataspes, as soon as he heard
of his master's death, ran away to Samos with great wealth,
1 Meaning "the Mediterranean," which was north of Libya.
15

226 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [43-46

which a Samian detained: though I know his name, I pur-
posely conceal it.

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 despatched the PhcEnicians, whom I before men-
tioned, to sail round Libya. After these persons had sailed
round, Darius 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.

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 Mseotian river
Tanais, and the Cimmerian Porthmeia) ; nor can I learn the
names of those who made this division, nor whence they de-
rived 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 re-
ceived 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.

The Euxine Sea, to which Darius led an army of all coun-
tries, except the Scythians, exhibits the most ignorant na-
tions : for we are unable to mention any one nation of those
on this side the Pontus that has any pretensions to intelli-

46-49] THE RIVERS OF SCYTHIA 227

gence; nor have we ever heard of any learned men among
them, except the Scythian nation and Anacharsis. By the
Scythian nation one of 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 all equestrian archers, living not from
the cultivation of the earth, but from cattle, and whose dwell-
ings are wagons — how must not such a people be invincible,
and difficult to engage with ? 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:

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 them-
selves 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 to-
ward 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. The river Maris, flowing from the
Agathyrsi, mingles with the Ister. From the summits of
Mount Haemus 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 them-
selves 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 Triballic
plain and into the river Brongus, and the Brongus into the

228 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [49-52

Ister; thus the Ister receives both these, which are consider-
able. From the country above the Umbrici, the river Carpis
and another river, Alpis, flowing toward the north, also dis-
charge themselves into it. For the Ister flows through all
Europe, beginning from the Celts, who, next to the Cynetse,
inhabit the remotest parts of Europe toward the west ; and
flowing through all Europe, enter the borders of Scythia. By
these, then, that have been mentioned, and many other rivers
that contribute 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 en-
tirely 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 equi-
librium results, so that it is always found to be equal.

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 Tyritse. 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
five days' voyage, but from thence, for a four days' voyage
to the sea, it is exceedingly bitter; for a bitter fountain dis-
charges 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 Scythian language, Exampaeus, but in the language of
the Greeks, " The sacred ways." The Tyres and Hypanis
contract their boundaries in the country of the Alazones ;
but after that, each turning away, flows on widening the inter-
mediate space.

53-57] THE RIVERS OF SCYTHIA 229

The fourth is the river Borysthenes, which is the largest
of these after the Ister, and, in my opinion, the most pro-
ductive, not only of the Scythian rivers, but of all others,
except the Egyptian Nile ; for to this it is impossible to com-
pare any other river, but of the 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 spon-
taneously ; and it produces large whales, without any spinal
bones, which they call Antacaei, 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 Scyth-
ians 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 Borys-
thenes continues flowing near the sea, and the Hypanis min-
gles 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
Borysthenitae are settled. Thus much concerning these rivers.

After these is the fifth river, the name of which is the Pan-
ticapes ; 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 Hylsea, and having passed
through that region, mingles with the Borysthenes. The
Hypacyris is the sixth river, which proceeds from a lake, and,
flowing through the middle of the Scythian nomads, discharges
itself near the city Carcinitis, skirting Hylaea on the right, and
that which is called the Course of Achilles. 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 coun-
try, Gerrhus ; and flowing toward the sea, it divides the ter-
ritory of the Nomadic and the Royal Scythians, and discharges
itself into the Hypacyris. The eighth river is the Tanais,
which flows originally from a vast lake, and discharges itself
into a still larger lake, called Mseotis, which divides the Royal
Scythians and the Sauromatse. Into this river Tanais runs

230 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [57-62

another river, the name of which is Hyrgis. Thus the Scyth-
ians are provided with these celebrated rivers. The grass
that grows in Scythia 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.

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 Scyth-
ian language, is named Tahiti; Jupiter is, in my opinion,
very rightly called Papaeus ; the Earth, Apia; Apollo, GEto-
syrus; Venus Urania, Artimpasa; and Neptune, Thamima-
sadas. They are not accustomed to erect images, altars, and
temples, except to Mars; to him they are accustomed. 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, stand-
ing 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 round its
neck, and having put in a stick, he twists it round and stran-
gles it, without kindling any fire, or performing any prepara-
tory ceremonies, or making any libation, but having strangled
and flayed it he applies himself to cook it. 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 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 of 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 also sacri-
fice other cattle, chiefly horses.

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 struc-

62-64] CUSTOMS OF THE SCYTHIANS 23 1

ture 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 scimetar
is placed by each tribe, and this is the image of Mars ; and to
this scimetar they bring yearly sacrifices of cattle and horses ;
and to these scimetars 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 scimetar. 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. Such, then, are the sacrifices instituted
among them. Swine they never use, nor suffer them to be
reared in their country at all.

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. He skins it in the
following manner: Having made a circular incision round
the ears and taking hold of the skin, he shakes from it 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 who-
ever has the greatest number of these skin napkins is ac-
counted the most valiant man. Many of them make cloaks
of these skins, to throw over themselves, sewing them to-
gether 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 skin on wood, carry it about on
horseback. Such usages are received among them. The

232 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [65-68

heads themselves, not indeed of all, but of their greatest ene-
mies, they treat as follows : Each, having sawn off all below
the eyebrows, 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. When strangers of considera-
tion 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.
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 dishonour; this is accounted the greatest dis-
grace: such of them as have killed very many men, having
two cups at once, drink them together.

Soothsayers among the Scythians are numerous, who di-
vine 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, or Androgyni,
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 fin-
gers, and then untwisting it, he utters a response. 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, mention-
ing 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. He 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,

68-71] CUSTOMS OF THE SCYTHIANS 233

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. 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 ter-
rify the oxen, and let them go. Many oxen therefore are
burned with the prophets, and many escape very much
scorched, when the pole has been burned asunder. In this
manner, and for other reasons, they burn the prophets, call-
ing them false prophets. The king does not spare the chil-
dren of those whom he puts to death, but kills all the males,
and does not hurt the females. 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 scimetar, some
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.

The sepulchres of the kings are in the country of the Ger-
rhi, 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
of 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,

234 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [71-74

and cover it over with mats. In the remaining space of the
grave they bury one of the king's concubines, having stran-
gled her, and his cup-bearer, a cook, a groom, a page, a
courier, and horses, and firstlings of everything else, and
golden goblets ; they make no use of silver or brass. Having
done this, they all heap up a large mound, striving and vying
with each other to make it as large as possible. 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 money; when,
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 upper-
most, 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 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. Hav-
ing placed such horsemen round the monument, they depart.
Thus they bury their kings. But the other Scythians, when
they die, their nearest relatives 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 Scyth-
ians, 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 woollen 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.
They have a sort of hemp growing in this country very like

74-76] CUSTOMS OF THE SCYTHIANS 235

flax, except in thickness and height ; in this respect the hemp
is far superior: it grows both spontaneously and from culti-
vation ; and from it the Thracians make garments, very like
linen, nor would any one who is not well skilled in such mat-
ters distinguish whether they are made of flax or hemp, but
a person who has never seen this hemp would think the gar-
ment was made of flax. 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 ; and this being
put on, smokes, and produces such a steam that no Grecian
vapour-bath would surpass it. The Scythians, transported
with the vapour, shout aloud ; and this serves them instead
of 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 mat-
ter, when it is thick, they smear over the whole body and
face : and this at the same time gives them an agreeable odour,
and when they take off the cataplasm on the following day
they become clean and shining.

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, as the example of Anacharsis, and
afterward of Scylas, sufficiently demonstrated ; for, in the first
place, Anacharsis, having visited many countries, and hav-
ing displayed great wisdom during his progress, was return-
ing 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 Cyzi-
cus doing, and would also institute a vigil. Accordingly, when
he arrived in Scythia, he returned into the country called
Hylaea ; 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 fasten-
ing images about his person. But one of the Scythians, hav-
ing observed him doing this, gave information to the king,
Saulius ; and he, having come in person, when he saw Ana-
charsis thus employed, shot at him with an arrow, and killed
him. And now if any one speaks about Anacharsis, the Scyth-
ians say they do not know him, because he travelled 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

236 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [76-79

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, and
it was Saulius who killed Anacharsis. However, I have heard
another story told by the Peloponnesians, that Anacharsis,
being sent abroad by the King of the Scythians, became a dis-
ciple 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 Lacedaemoni-
ans, 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 cus-
toms and intercourse with the Grecians.

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. After-
ward, 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 Opcea ; this Opoea was a native, by whom Ariapithes
had a son, Oricus. Scylas, though reigning over the Scyth-
ians, was by no means pleased with the Scythian mode of life,
but was much more inclined to the Grecian manners on ac-
count of the education he had received ; he, therefore, acted
thus : Whenever he led the Scythian army to the city of the
Borysthenitse (now these Borysthenitae 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 stayed 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 Borys-
thenes, and married a native woman, to inhabit it. Since,
however, it was fated that misfortune should befall him, it
happened on this occasion. He was very desirous to be initi-
ated in the mysteries of Bacchus; and as he was just about
to begin the sacred rites, a very great prodigy occurred.

79-81] CUSTOMS OF THE SCYTHIANS 237

He had in the city of the Borysthenitse a large and magnifi-
cent 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 ; Scy-
las, nevertheless, accomplished his initiation. Now, the Scyth-
ians reproached the Grecians on account of their Bacchic cere-
monies, 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 Borys-
thenitse 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 dis-
believe me, follow, and I will show you." The chief men of
the Scythians followed him; and the Borysthenite, conduct-
ing 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. 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. Octama-
sades, 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 Octama-
sades, 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, re-
ceived his brother Scylas in exchange. Now Sitalces, having
got his brother in his power, drew off his forces ; but Octama-
sades beheaded Scylas on the same spot. Thus the Scythians
maintain their own customs, and impose such punishments on
those who introduce foreign usages.

I have never been able to learn with accuracy the amount
of the population of the Scythians, but I heard different ac-
counts concerning the number; for some pretend that they
are exceedingly numerous, and others that there are very few

238 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [81-84

real Scythians : thus much, however, they exposed to my sight.
There is a spot between the river Borysthenes and the Hypanis,
called Exampaeus, 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 Ariantas, 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 whomsoever should fail to bring
it. Accordingly, a vast number of arrow points were brought,
and he resolved to leave a monument made from them ; he
therefore made this brass bowl, and dedicated it at Exampaeus.
This I heard concerning the population of the Scythians.
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.

While Darius was making preparations against the Scyth-
ians, 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 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, there-
fore, when everything was prepared, marched his army from
Susa. 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, hop-
ing 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.

85-87] DARIUS AT THE BOSPHORUS 239

When Darius, marching from Susa, reached Chalcedon
on the Bosphorus, where a bridge was already laid across,
from 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 hun-
dred 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 fiLgean. These seas have been meas-
ured 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 thou-
sand 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 Hellespont, have been thus measured 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.

Darius, when he had viewed the Pontus, sailed back to the
bridge, of which Mandrocles, a Samian, was the architect.
And having also viewed the Bosphorus, he erected two col-
umns of white marble on the shore, engraving on one in
Assyrian 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
Byzantians 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 Byzan-

240 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [87-92

tium, covered with Assyrian letters. The spot of the Bos-
phorus which King Darius caused the bridge to be laid over
was, as I conjecture, midway between Byzantium and the
temple at the mouth. Darius after this, being pleased with
the bridge, presented its architect, Mandrocles the Samian,
with ten of everything; 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, he dedicated it as first fruits in the Temple
of Juno, with this inscription : " Mandrocles, having thrown a
bridge across the fishy Bosphorus, dedicated to Juno a me-
morial 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.

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 they should have reached
the Ister, to throw a bridge over the river and there wait his
arrival : for the Ionians, yEolians, and Hellespontines con-
ducted the naval armament. The fleet accordingly, having
sailed through the Cyanean 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 Ister are separated.
But Darius, when he had passed over the Bosphorus by the
bridge of boats, marched through Thrace, and, having ar-
rived at the sources of the river Tearus, encamped there three
days. 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 Heraeopolis, 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 yEnus. 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 inscrip-
tion : " 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 con-
tinent." Darius, having set out from thence, came to another

92-953 ZALMOXIS 241

river, the name of which is Artiscus, which flows through the
Odrysae ; 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 exe-
cuted his order, having left vast heaps of stones there, he
continued his march.

But before he reached the Ister he subdued the Getae first,
who think themselves immortal ; for the Thracians who oc-
cupy Salmydessus, and those who dwell above the cities of
Apollonia and Mesambria, who are called Scyrmiadae and
Nypsaei, 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. 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 despatch one of themselves, taken by lot,
to Zalmoxis, with orders to let him know on each occasion
what they want. Their mode of sending 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 despatch another, and they give
him his instructions while he is yet alive. These same Thra-
cians, 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. 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, hav-
ing 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 man-
ner, 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
16

242 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [95-98

place where they should live eternally, and have every kind of
blessing. While he did and said as above described, he, in
the meantime, had a subterranean habitation made, and when
the building was completed, he disappeared from among the
Thracians ; and having gone down to the subterranean hab-
itation, he abode there three years. But they both regretted
him, and lamented him as dead ; but in the fourth year he ap-
peared to the Thracians : and thus what Zalmoxis said became
credible to them. Thus they say that he acted. For my own
part, I neither disbelieve nor entirely believe the account of
this person and the subterranean habitation ; but I am of
opinion that this Zalmoxis lived many years before Pythag-
oras. 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.

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 Erxan-
drus, 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 wander-
ings. Perhaps some one may think I say this for my own
sake, that I may remain here; but, O king, I advanced 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." 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 resolu-
tion concerning the bridge ; therefore take this thong and do

98-101] INVASION OF SCYTHIA 243

thus : as soon as you see me march against the Scythians, be-
ginning 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 coun-
try. Till that time, since I have changed my determination,
do you guard the bridge, and apply the utmost care to pre-
serve and secure it : and if you do this, you will oblige me
exceedingly." Darius, having spoken thus, hastened forward.
Thrace, in the part next the sea, projects before the Scyth-
ian 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,
I now proceed 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 simi-
lar 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 Brundu-
sium, should cut off the country as far as Tarentum, and oc-
cupy the promontory. Mentioning these two, I might men-
tion many others, to which Taurica is like. From Taurica,
Scythians inhabit the country above the Tauri, and the parts
along the eastern sea, and the parts westward of the Cim-
merian Bosphorus and the lake Maeotis, 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 Melanchlaeni. 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

244 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [101-105

Borysthenes to the lake Mseotis ten more; from the sea to
the interior, as far as the Melanchlaeni, wtio 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.

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 Melanchlaeni, the Geloni, the Budini,
and the Sauromatae. Of these, the Tauri observe the follow-
ing customs : They sacrifice to the virgin all who suffer ship-
wreck, 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, and 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, daugh-
ter 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 house-
hold. This people live by rapine and war. 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. The
Neuri observe Scythian customs. One generation before the
expedition of Darius it happened to them to be driven out
of their whole country by serpents ; for their country pro-
duced 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,

io5-no] THE BUDINI 245

however, they do not persuade me; they affirm it neverthe-
less, and support their assertion with an oath. The Andro-
phagi have the most savage customs of all men : they pay no
regard to justice, nor make use of any established law. They
are nomads, and wear a dress like the Scythian ; they speak
a peculiar language ; and of these nations are the only people
that eat human flesh. The Melanchlaeni all wear black gar-
ments, from which circumstance they take their name. These
follow Scythian usages. 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 they have there tem-
ples of Grecian gods, adorned after the Grecian manner with
images, altars, and shrines of wood. They celebrate the tri-
ennial 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.
The Budini, however, do not use the same language as the
Geloni, nor the same mode of living; for the Budini, being
indigenous, are nomads, and are the only people of these 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 sewed as borders
to cloaks, and their testicles are useful for the cure of diseases
of the womb.

Concerning the Sauromatae the following account is given :
When the Grecians had fought with the Amazons (the Scyth-
ians called the Amazons " Aiorpata," and this name in the Gre-
cian language means manslayers, for they call a man " Aior,"
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 knowl-
edge of navigation, nor any skill in the use of the rudder, sails,
or oars, when they had cut the men to pieces, they were car-
ried by the waves and wind, and arrived at Cremni on the

246 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [110-114

lake Maeotis, but Cremni belongs to the territory of the free
Scythians. Here the Amazons, landing from the vessels,
marched to 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. The Scythians knew
not what to make of the matter ; for they were not acquainted
either with their language, dress, or nation, but wondered
whence they had come. They conjectured that they were
men of the same stature, they 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 pur-
sue 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. The
young men, being despatched, 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 hunt-
ing and pillage. 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 the same ; and one of them drew near one of the
Amazons who was alone ; and she did not repel him, but suf-
fered 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 they heard this, conciliated the
rest of the Amazons. 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 an-
other, the men spoke to the Amazons as follows : " We have

II4-U8] THE SAUROMATAE 247

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 have 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, remain-
ing in their wagons, and do not go out to hunt, or anywhere
else ; we could not therefore consort with them. If, then, you
desire to have us for your wives, and to prove yourselves hon-
est men, go to your parents, claim your share of their prop-
erty, then return, and let us live by ourselves." 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." 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 liv-
ing, 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. The Sauromatae use the Scythian
language, speaking it corruptly from the first, since the Ama-
zons never learned it correctly. Their rules respecting mar-
riage are thus settled : 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.

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 neck
of the Bosphorus, and crossed over to this continent; and
having crossed over and subdued the Thracians, he was build-
ing a bridge over the river Ister, designing to make all these
regions also subject to him : " Do you, therefore, on no ac-

248 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV. MELPOMENE [1 18-120

count, 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 lay in his way; and holds in
subjection the rest of the Thracians, and more particularly
our neighbours the Getae." 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, Neuri-
an, 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 having 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, however, 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 com-
ing against us, but against those who were the authors of
wrong."

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 of the ground, having di-
vided their forces into two bodies, and they resolved that to
one of the divisions, which Scopasis commanded, the Sauro-
matse should attach themselves, and that they should retire,

120-123] INVASION OF SCYTHIA 249

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 alli-
ance, 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. 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 sub-
sistence, which they left behind — the rest they sent forward
with the wagons, ordering them to march continually toward
the north. These, therefore, were carried to a distance.

When the advance guard of the Scythians fell in with the
Persians, about three days' march from the Ister, they, hav-
ing 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 coun-
try of the Sauromatae, they reached that of the Budini. 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 situated above the territory of the Budini,

250 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [123-126

and is a seven days' march in extent. Beyond the desert the
Thyssagetae dwell ; and four large rivers, flowing from them
through the Mseotians, discharge themselves into the lake
called Maeotis ; their names are these : Lycus, Oarus, Tanais,
and Syrgis. When Darius came to the desert, having ceased
his pursuit, he encamped his army on the river Oarus. 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 van-
ished, 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.

Advancing with his army as quickly 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, 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 neighbours flying before the Scythians, and thrown into
confusion before the Scythians entered, despatched a herald,
and forbade the Scythians to cross their borders, warning
them that if they should attempt to force their way they must
first fight with them. The Agathyrsi having sent this mes-
sage beforehand, advanced to protect their frontiers, deter-
mined to repel the invaders. Whereas the Melanchlaeni, An-
drophagi, and Neuri, when the Persians and Scythians to-
gether invaded them, offered no resistance, but forgetting
their former menaces, fled continually in great confusion north-
ward, 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 Per-
sians into their own.

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

126-129] INVASION OF SCYTHIA 25 1

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 in-
feriority, in that case also cease thy hurried march, and bring-
ing earth and water as presents to thy master, come to a con-
ference." To this Indathyrsus, the King of the Scythians,
made answer as follows : " This is the case with me, O Per-
sian ; I never yet fled from any man out of fear, neither before,
nor do I now so flee from thee; nor have I done anything
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 ex-
plain. We have no cities nor cultivated lands, for which we
are under any apprehension lest they should be taken or rav-
aged, and therefore should hastily offer you battle. Yet if
it is by all means necessary to come to this at once, we have
the 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.

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 com-
manded, with orders to confer with the Ionians, who guarded
the bridge over the Ister. Those who were left resolved no
longer to lead the Persians about, but to attack them when-
ever they were taking their meals ; accordingly, observing the
soldiers of Darius taking their meals, they put their design
into execution. The Scythian cavalry always routed the Per-
sian cavalry, but the Persian horsemen in their flight fell back
on the infantry, and the infantry supported them. The Scyth-
ians, having beaten back the cavalry, wheeled round through
fear of the infantry. The Scythians also made similar attacks
at night. A very remarkable circumstance, that was advan-
tageous to the Persians and adverse to the Scythians, when
they attacked the camp of Darius, I will now proceed to men-
tion : 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 ; nor is there in the whole Scythian ter-

252 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [129-133

ritory 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, prick-
ing 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.

The Scythians, when they saw the Persians in great com-
motion, 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 com-
ing up, took the cattle, and, having taken them, exulted in
what they had done. When this had happened several times,
at last Darius was in a great strait, and the kings of the Scyth-
ians, having ascertained this, sent a herald, bearing as gifts
to Darius a bird, a mouse, a frog, and five arrows. The Per-
sians 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 Per-
sians, having heard this, consulted together. Darius's opin-
ion 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 in-
timated : " Unless, O 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.

In the meantime that division of the Scythians that had
been before appointed to keep guard about the lake Mseotis,
and then to confer with the Ionians 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, there-

i33-!36] RETREAT OF DARIUS 253

fore, 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 Ionians promising
to do so, the Scythians hastened back with all expedition.

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 accus-
tomed 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 : " O king, I was in some measure ac-
quainted 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. 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, hear-
ing the asses, firmly believed that the Persians were still at
their station. When day appeared, the men that were aban-
doned, discovering that they had been betrayed by Darius,
extended their hands to the Scythians, and told them what

254 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [136-139

had occurred ; when they heard this, the two divisions of the
Scythians, and the single one, the Sauromatse, Budini, and
Geloni, having joined their forces together as quickly as pos-
sible, 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 short-
est 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 Ioni-
ans who were on board the ships in these terms : " Men of
Ionia, 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."

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 Histiseus the Milesian was of a contrary opin-
ion, 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 Miletus, 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.
Histiseus had no sooner delivered this opinion than all went
over to his side who had before assented to that of Miltiades.
These were they who gave their votes and were in high esti-
mation with Darius ; the tyrants of the Hellespontines, Daph-
nis 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, iEaces of Samos, Laodamas of
Phocsea, and Histiseus of Miletus, whose opinion was opposed
to that of Miltiades. Of the iEolians the only person of con-
sideration present was Aristagoras of Cyme.

When these men had approved the opinion of Histiseus,
they determined to add to it the following acts and words:
To break up the bridge on the Scythian side as far as a bow-
shot might reach, that they might seem to do something, when
in effect they did nothing; and that the Scythians might not
attempt to use violence and purpose to cross the Ister by the

I39-H3] RETREAT OF DARIUS 255

bridge; and to say, while they were breaking up the bridge
on the Scythian side, that they would do everything that
might be agreeable to the Scythians. This they added to the
opinion of Histiaeus. And afterward Histiaeus 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." The Scythians, be-
lieving 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 direc-
tion, 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
were forage and water for the horses, thinking that they too
would make their retreat by that way. But the Persians, care-
fully 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.
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. 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. The Scythians in their search missed
them a second time: and on the one hand, considering the
Ionians as 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 Scyth-
ians fling out against the Ionians.

Darius, marching through Thrace, reached Sestos in the
Chersonesus ; and thence he himself crossed over on ship-
board into Asia, and left Megabyzus, a Persian, to be his gen-
eral in Europe. Darius once paid this man great honour,
having expressed himself in this manner in the presence of the
Persians : Darius being about to eat some pomegranates, as

256 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [143-146

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 Megabyzuses than Greece subject to him.
By saying this he honoured him in the presence of the Per-
sians, and now he left him as general, with eighty thousand
men of his own army. This Megabyzus by making the follow-
ing 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 Byzantines; 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 beau-
tiful a spot to settle in. This Megabyzus, then, being left as
general in the country of the Hellespontines, subdued those
nations who were not in the interest of the Medes. He ac-
cordingly did this.

About the same time another great expedition was under-
taken 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, set sail for Lacedaemon, and seating themselves on
Mount Taygetus, lighted fires. The Lacedaemonians, having
seen this, despatched a messenger to demand who and whence
they were. They said to the messenger who questioned them
that they were Minyae, 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 honours, 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, there-
fore, received the Minyae, they assigned them a portion of
land, and distributed them among their tribes, and they im-
mediately contracted marriages, and gave to others the wives
they brought from Lemnos. But when no long time had
elapsed the Minyae became insolent, and demanded a share
in the sovereignty, and committed other crimes. The Lace-

146-148] ORIGIN OF THE THERJEANS " 257

daemonians 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 daugh-
ters to the principal Spartans, begged permission to enter the
prison, and confer each with her husband. The Lacedae-
monians gave them permission, not suspecting any fraud on
their part, but they, when they entered, did as follows : hav-
ing given all the clothes they had on to their husbands, them-
selves took their husbands' clothes. Upon which, the Minyse,
having put on the women's dress, passed out as women, and
having thus escaped, again seated themselves on Mount Tay-
getus.

At the same time Theras, son of Austesion, son to Tisa-
menus, son of Thersander, son of Polynices, set out from Lace-
daemon 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 in-
fants Theras had the kingdom of Sparta under his guardian-
ship. 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 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 Phoenician. 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. To these people, then, Theras went, hav-
ing, with a multitude drawn out of the tribes, set out, pur-
posing to dwell with them, and on no account to drive them
out, but by all means to conciliate them. But when the Minyae
who had escaped from the prison seated themselves on Mount
Taygetus, as the Lacedaemonians determined to destroy them,
Theras begged that they might not be put to death, and prom-
ised that he would himself take them out of the country.
The Lacedaemonians acceding to his request, he set sail with
three thirty-oared galleys, to the descendants of Membliares,
taking with him not all the Minyae, but some few of them ;
for the greater number of them went over to Paroreates and
17

258 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [148-151

Caucones ; and having driven them out from their country,
distributed themselves into six divisions, and then founded
the following cities there : Leprium, Macistus, Phrixas, Pyr-
gus, Epium, and Nudium ; most of these the Eleans have de-
stroyed in my time. The name of Thera was given to the
island after the founder. 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 iEgeus, from whom
the JEgidze, 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
CEdipus; and after that the same thing happened in Thera
to those who were descended from these men.

To this part of the story the Lacedaemonians agree with
the Theraeans ; but after this the Theraeans only say that what
follows took place : Grinus, son of .<Esanius, who was a de-
scendant 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
Minyae. And as Grinus, King of the Theraeans, was consult-
ing the oracle concerning other affairs, the Pythian admon-
ished him to build a city in Libya. But he answered : " I,
O prince, am now too old and heavy to move myself; there-
fore 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 atten-
tion to the oracle, neither knowing in what part of the world
Libya was, nor daring to send out a colony on an uncertainty.
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 ob-
jected to them the colonization of Libya. When they found
no remedy for the evil, they despatched messengers to Crete
to inquire if any of the Cretans, or strangers settled among
them, had ever gone to Libya. These messengers, wander-
ing 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 per-
suaded 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

151-154] FOUNDING OF CYRENE 259

island Platea, they left Corobius there with provisions for a
few months, and themselves sailed back with all speed to give
the Theraeans tidings of the island. 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 way
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 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 dedi-
cated 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 Cyrenseans and Therae-
ans first contracted a great friendship with the Samians. 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 re-
solved to send one of every family, 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.

The Theraeans give this account ; in the rest of the story
the Theraeans are supported by the Cyrenaeans : for the Cy-
renaeans 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 moth-
erless daughter, whose name was Phronima, married another
wife ; she coming into the family, thought proper to be a step-
mother indeed to Phronima, treating her shamefully, and con-
triving every mischief she could against her ; and at last, hav-
ing 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 Theraean merchant ; this man Etearchus re-
ceived hospitably, and made him swear that he would serve

26o HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [154-156

him in anything 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 com-
pact of friendship, and did as follows : Having taken the dam-
sel with him, he set sail ; and 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. After that Polymnestus, a man of distinction
among the Theraeans, took Phronima for 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 Cyrenaeans 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 voice ; and to his in-
quiries the Pythian gave the following answer : " Battus, you
are 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, " O king, you are come
about your voice." He answered as follows : " O king, I
came indeed to consult you about my voice, 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 an-
swer; and as she was repeating the same response as before,
he in the meanwhile left her and returned to Thera. After
this Battus himself and the other Theraeans fell anew into
troubles ; but the Theraeans, not knowing whence their mis-
fortunes came, sent to Delphi to inquire concerning their pres-
ent sufferings. The Pythian answered that it would fare better
with them when with Battus they had founded Cyrene in
Libya. Upon this the Theraeans despatched Battus with two
fifty-oared galleys. But these having sailed to Libya, for they
had nothing else that they could do, returned back to Thera;
the Theraeans, however, beat them off as they drew to shore,
and would not suffer them to approach the land, but com-
manded them to sail back again. Thus compelled, they sailed
back again, and settled in an island that lies off Libya, whose

156-159] FOUNDING OF CYRENE 261

name, as I before mentioned, is Platea. This island is said to
be equal in extent to the present city of the Cyrenaeans.

Having inhabited this island for two years, as nothing
turned out prosperously for them, they left one of their com-
pany 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. Hav-
ing, 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 beautiful
hills inclose it on two sides, and a river flows by it on the third.
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." Now, during the life of Battus the founder, who
reigned forty years, and of his son Arcesilaus, who reigned
sixteen years, the Cyrenaeans continued the same in number
as when they were first sent to settle the colony : but under
the third king, Battus, surnamed the Fortunate, the Pythian
by an oracle encouraged all Grecians to sail to Libya and
join the Cyrenaeans in colonizing it; for the Cyrenaeans in-
vited 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 re-
pent." A great multitude having assembled at Cyrene, the
neighbouring Libyans and their king, whose name was Adi-
cran, being curtailed of much of their land, finding that they
were deprived of their territory, and injuriously treated by the
Cyrenaeans, sent an embassy to Egypt, and gave themselves up
to Apries, King of Egypt ; and he, having assembled a large
army of Egyptians, sent it against Cyrene; and the Cyrenae-
ans, having drawn out their forces to the district of Irasa, and

262 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [159-162

near the fountain Thestes, came to an engagement with the
Egyptians, and conquered them : for the Egyptians, not hav-
ing 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.

This Battus had a son, Arcesilaus, who, having come to
the throne, first of all quarrelled 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 Cyrenaeans.
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 con-
quered the Cyrenseans 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 Arcesi-
laus, whose name was Eryxo, put Learchus to death by strata-
gem. Battus, the son of Arcesilaus, a lame man, and not per-
fect 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 com-
manded them to procure an arbitrator from Mantinea, a city
of the Arcadians. The Cyrenaeans 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, di-
viding them as follows : of the Theraeans and their immediate
neighbours, he formed one division; another of Pelopon-
nesians and Cretans ; and a third of all the islanders : and in
the next place, having reserved certain portions of land and
the office of the priesthood for King Battus, he restored to
the people everything else that the kings had before.

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 pre-

162-164] ARCESILAUS 263

rogatives of his ancestors ; and thereupon having raised a sedi-
tion, he was defeated, and fled to Samos ; and his mother fled
to Salamis, in Cyprus. At that time Euelthon bore rule over
Salamis, the same who dedicated the curious censer at Delphi,
which is deposited in the treasury of the Corinthians. Phere-
time, 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 I 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. In the meantime 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 favourable 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." 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, forgot the oracle, and exacted venge-
ance of the adverse party for his own exile; so that some
of them 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 res-
cued, and sent away to Thera. Some others of the Cyrenaeans,
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 forbade him, when he found
amphorae in a furnace, to bake them, he of his own accord
withdrew from the city of the Cyrenaeans, dreading the pre-
dicted death, and supposing that Cyrene was the place sur-
rounded with water. He had a wife who was his own kins-
woman, and daughter to the King of the Barcaeans, whose
name was Alazir; to him he retired: and the Barcaeans, and

264 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV. MELPOMENE [164-168

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 wilfully or otherwise, disobeying
the oracle, accomplished his own destiny.

While Arcesilaus was living at Barce, working out his own
destruction, his mother Pheretime held the honours 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. Aryandes
had been appointed governor of Egypt by Cambyses ; he in
succeeding time was put to death for attempting to make him-
self equal with Darius. For having been informed that Darius
desired to leave such a memorial of himself as had been ac-
complished by no other king, he imitated him until he re-
ceived 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 in-
formed that he had done this, brought another charge against
him, that he designed to rebel, and put him to death. At that
time, however, this Aryandes, taking compassion on Phere-
time, 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, Badres, a Pasargadian by birth. But
before he despatched 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 in-
juries at his hands. And when Aryandes received their an-
swer he despatched the army with Pheretime. Now this cause
was only a pretext for his proceeding; but, in my opinion,
the expedition was undertaken with the intention of subduing
the Libyans. For there are many and various nations of Lib-
yans, and some few of them were subject to the king, but the
greater part paid no regard to Darius.

The Libyans dwell as follows : Beginning from Egypt, the
Adrymachidae 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

168-172] THE LIBYANS 265

when they catch vermin, each bites those from her own per-
son, 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 Adrymachidse reach
from Egypt to the harbour named Plunus. Next to these are
the Giligammse, who occupy the country westward as far as
the island Aphrodisias. Midway on this coast the island of
Platea is situated, which the Cyrenseans colonized, and on the
continent is the port of Menelaus, with Aziris, which the
Cyrenseans 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. The Asbystse adjoin the Giligammae westward ; they
inhabit the country above Cyrene, but the Asbystae do not
reach to the sea ; for the Cyrenseans occupy the sea-coast.
They drive four-horsed chariots more than any of the Libyans,
and endeavour to imitate most of the customs of the Cyrense-
ans. The Auschisse adjoin the Asbystse westward; these are
situated above Barce, extending to the sea near the Eues-
perides. In the midst of the territory of the Auschisse the
Cabales, a small nation, dwell, extending to Tauchira, a city
of Barcsea. They observe the same customs as those who
dwell above Cyrene. The Nasamones, a very numerous peo-
ple, adjoin these Auschisse 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, re-
duce 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 Massagetse, they have intercourse when
they have set up a staff before them. When a Nasamonian
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 had inter-
course 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 sepul-
chres 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

266 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [172-179

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.

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. Above these to the north, in a country abound-
ing with wild beasts, live the Garamantes, who avoid all men
and the society of any others: they do not possess any war-
like weapon, nor do they know how to defend themselves.
These, then, live above the Nasamonians ; and the Macae ad-
join them on the sea-coast westward ; these shave their heads
so as to 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 armour. The river Cinyps,
flowing through their country from a hill called the Graces,
discharges itself into the sea. This hill of the Graces is thickly
covered with trees, though all the rest of Libya above men-
tioned is bare. From the sea to this hill is a distance of two
hundred stades. The Gindanes adjoin these Macae ; their
women wear bands of leather around 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. The Lotophagi occupy the coast that pro-
jects 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.

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 Lace-
daemonians were commanded by an oracle to colonize this
island. 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 tri-
pod, sailed round the Peloponnesus, purposing to go to Del-

179-181] THE LIBYANS 267

phi; 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 bade Jason give him
the tripod, promising that he would both show them the pas-
sage and conduct them away in safety. When Jason con-
sented, 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 that a
hundred Grecian cities should be built about the lake Tritonis ;
the neighbouring nations of the Libyans, when they heard
this concealed the tripod. 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 to-
gether 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 righting 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 of Grecian armour, and having placed her in a chariot,
conduct her round the lake. In what way they formerly dec-
orated the virgins before the Grecians settled in their neigh-
bourhood I am unable to say ; but I conjecture that they were
decked in Egyptian armour, for I am of opinion that the
shield and helmet were brought from Egypt into Greece. They
say that Minerva is the daughter of Neptune and the lake Tri-
tonis ; 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 child grown up, he is considered to be
the son of that man whom he most resembles.

Those, then, of the Libyan nomads 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

268 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [181-184

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 far-
thest 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 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. Next to the
Ammonians, along the ridge of sand, at the end of another
ten days' journey, there is a hill of salt, like that of the Am-
monians, and water, and men live round it : the name of this
region is Augila ; to this place the Nasamonians go to gather
the dates. From the Augilse at the end of another ten days'
journey is another hill of salt and water, and many fruit-bear-
ing 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 respects
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 other
reptiles : they speak a language like no other, but screech
like bats.

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 in-

184-187] THE LIBYANS 269

vectives, 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 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. 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, how-
ever, extends as far as the Pillars of Hercules, and even be-
yond them; and there is a mine of salt in it at intervals of
ten days' journey, and men dwelling there. Their houses
are all 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.

Thus, then, as far as the lake Tritonis from Egypt, the
Libyans are nomads, eat flesh, and drink milk, but they do
not taste the flesh of cows, for the same reason as the Egyp-
tians, nor do they breed swine. Indeed, not only do the
women of the Cyrenseans 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 honour of her : and the
women of the Barcaeans do not taste the flesh of swine in ad-
dition to that of cows. These things, then, are so. Westward
of the lake Tritonis the Libyans are no longer nomads, nor
do they follow the same customs, nor do they do with respect
to their children what the nomads 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 chil-
dren are four years old they burn the veins on the crown
of their heads with unclean sheep's wool ; and some of them
do it on the veins in the temples; to the end that humours
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

270 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [187-191

healthy. But if convulsions seize the children when 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. These Libyan nomads
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 sacri-
fice : but those who live about the lake Tritonis sacrifice prin-
cipally to Minerva, and next to Triton and Neptune. From
the Libyan women the Grecians derived the attire and aegis
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 vEgis.
And the howlings in the temples were, I think, first derived
from thence; for the Libyan women practise the same cus-
tom, and do it well. The Grecians also learned from the Lib-
yans to yoke four horses abreast. All the nomads, 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.

To the west of the river Triton, Libyans who are husband-
men 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 nomads ; for
the eastern country of Libya, which the nomads inhabit, is
low and sandy as far as the river Triton ; but the country west-
ward of this, which is occupied by agriculturists, is very moun-
tainous, woody, and abounds with wild beasts. For among
them there are enormous serpents, and lions, elephants, 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

191-195] THE LIBYANS 271

wild beasts which are not fabulous. None of these things
are found among the nomads, 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, hyenas, porcupines, wild rams, dictyes,
thoes, panthers, boryes, and land crocodiles about three cubits
long, very much like lizards, ostriches, and small serpents,
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 mice 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 nomads produces wild animals of the above de-
scription, as far as I by the most diligent inquiry have been
able to ascertain.

The Zaveces adjoin the Maxyan Libyans ; their women
drive their chariots in war. The Gyzantes adjoin them;
among them bees make a great quantity of honey, and it is
said that confectioners make much more. All these paint
themselves with vermilion, and eat monkeys, which abound
in their mountains. Near them, the Carthaginians say, lies
an island called Cyraunis, two hundred stades in length, in-
considerable 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 orgyae 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 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.

272 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [196-199

The Carthaginians further say that beyond the Pillars of Her-
cules 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 ade-
quate to the value of the merchandise, nor do the natives touch
the merchandise before the other party has taken the gold.

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 distinct 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. No part of Libya appears to me so good in fer-
tility 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 Babylon. The land also which
the Euesperides occupy is good ; for when it yields its best it
produces a hundredfold ; but that in Cinyps three hundred-
fold. The district of Cyrene, which is the highest of that
part of Libya which the nomads 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 re-
gion, 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

199-202] EXPEDITION AGAINST BARCE 273

months. This may be sufficient to say concerning these
things.

The Persians sent to avenge Pheretime, when, having been
despatched 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. There-
upon 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 ap-
plied it, it made no noise, but at the parts that were excavated
the brass of the shield sounded. The Barcaeans, therefore,
countermining them in that part, slew the Persians who were
employed in the excavation ; thus, then, this was discovered ;
and the assaults the Barcaeans repulsed. 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, and 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 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 Persians 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 Barcaeans that
the treaty should continue so long as the earth should re-
main as it then was ; but when they had broken down the
bridge the treaty no longer remained in force.

Those of the Barcaeans who were most to blame Pheretime
impaled round the walls when they had been delivered up to
18

274 HERODOTUS— BOOK IV, MELPOMENE [202-205

her by the Persians ; and having cut off the breasts of their
wives, she studded the wall with them. The rest of the
Barcaeans she gave up as booty to the Persians, except such
of them as were Battiadse, and had not participated in the
murder; to these Pheretime intrusted the city. The Per-
sians, therefore, having reduced the rest of the Barcaeans 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 com-
mander 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 Lycaean 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, al-
though 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 re-
quest, and having received them, marched away toward Egypt.
And from thence the Libyans, laying wait for them, put to
death those that strayed and loitered behind, for the sake of
their dress and baggage, until they reached Egypt. The far-
thest point of Africa to which this Persian army penetrated
was the country of the Euesperides. The Barcaeans, whom
they had enslaved, they transported from Egypt to the king ;
and King Darius gave them a village in the district of Bac-
tria to dwell in. They gave then the name of Barce to this
village, which was still inhabited in my time, in the Bactrian
territory. Pheretime, however, did not close her life happily;
for immediately after she returned from Libya to Egypt, hav-
ing 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.

BOOK V

TERPSICHORE

THE Persians, left in Europe by Darius under the com-
mand of Megabyzus, subdued the Perinthians first of
the Hellespontines, who were unwilling to submit to
Darius, and had been before roughly handled by the
Paeonians. For the Paeonians 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
Paeonians 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 Perinthians being victorious in two of these combats,
when through excess of joy they sang the Paeon, the Paeonians
conjectured that this was the meaning of the oracle, and said
among themselves : " Now surely the oracle must be accom-
plished ; now it is our part to act." Thus the Paeonians at-
tacked the Perinthians as they were singing the Paeon, and
gained a complete victory, and left but few of them alive.
Such, then, had formerly been the achievements of the Paeo-
nians ; but at that time, though the Perinthians proved them-
selves valiant in defence of their liberty, the Persians and
Megabyzus overcame them by numbers. When Perinthus
was subdued, Megabyzus 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.

The nation of the Thracians is the greatest of any among
men, at least except 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

275

276 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [3-8

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 Crestonaeans. Of these, what
are the customs of the Getae, who pretend to be immortal, I
have already described. The Trausi, in all other respects, ob-
serve the same usages as the rest of the Thracians ; but with
regard to one born among them, or that dies, they do as fol-
lows : The relatives, seating themselves round one that is
newly born, bewail him, deploring the many evils he must
needs fulfil, since he has been born ; enumerating the various
sufferings incident to mankind : but one that dies they bury
in the earth, making merry and rejoicing, recounting the many
evils from which being released, he is now in perfect bliss.
Those above the Crestonaeans do as follows : Each man has
several wives ; when, therefore, a husband dies, a great con-
test arises among the wives, and violent disputes among their
friends, on this point, which of them was most loved by him.
She who is adjudged to have been so, and is so honoured,
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. There is, moreover, this cus-
tom 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 honour-
able ; but to be a tiller of the soil, most dishonourable ; to live
by war and rapine is most glorious. These are the most re-
markable of their customs. They worship the following gods
only : Mars, Bacchus, and Diana. But their kings, to the ex-
ception of the other citizens, reverence Mercury most of all
the gods ; they swear by him only, and say that they are them-
selves sprung from Mercury. 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 vic-
tims, 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.

9-12] HISTLEUS AND COES REWARDED 277

To the north of this region no one is able to say with cer-
tainty 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, flat-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 anything may happen in course of
time. Now, the Ligyes, who live above Massilia, call traders
Sigynnae, and the Cyprians give that name to spears. 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 im-
probable, 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 coun-
try. Megabyzus, then, subjected its maritime parts to the
Persians.

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 Myr-
cinus of Edonia, wishing to build a city there. But Coes, as
not being a tyrant, but a private citizen, asked for the govern-
ment of Mitylene. When their requests were granted to both
of them, they betook themselves to the places they had chosen.
It happened that Darius, having witnessed a circumstance of
the following kind, was desirous of commanding Megabyzus
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 oppor-
tunity 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 spin-
ning flax. As the woman passed by, it attracted the attention
of Darius, for what she was doing was neither according to

278 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [12-15

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. 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 appear-
ance, who were keeping a lookout somewhere 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 de-
liver themselves up to him, and that Paeonia was situated on
the river Strymon, and the Strymon was not far from the
Hellespont; 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.

Thereupon Darius wrote letters to Megabyzus, whom he
had left general in Thrace, commanding him to remove the
Paeonians from their abodes, and to bring to him themselves,
their children, and their wives. A horseman immediately
hastened to the Hellespont with the message; and having
crossed over, delivered the letter to Megabyzus ; but he, having
read it, and taking guides from Thrace, marched against
Paeonia. The Paeonians, 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, ac-
cordingly, were prepared to repel the army of Megabyzus at
its first onset. But the Persians, understanding that the Pae-
onians had assembled and were guarding the approaches on
the coast, having guides, went the upper road ; and having
escaped the notice of the Paeonians, 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.

1 5-i 8] REMOVAL OF THE PyEONIANS 279

Thus the Siropseonians and Paeoplae, and those tribes of Pae-
onians as far as the lake Prasias, were removed from their
abodes, and transported into Asia. But those around Mount
Pangaeus and near the Doberes, the Agrianae, Odomanti, and
those who inhabit Lake Prasias itself, were not at all subdued
by Megabyzus. 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 mainland by a single bridge.
These piles that support the planks all the citizens anciently
placed there at the common charge ; but afterward they estab-
lished a law to the following effect : whenever a man marries,
for each wife he sinks three piles, bringing wood from a moun-
tain 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 bur-
den they give fish for fodder ; of which there is such an abun-
dance 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 time, draws it up full of fish. They have two kinds of
fish, which they call papraces and tilones. Those of the Pas-
onians, then, who were subdued were taken to Asia.

When Megabyzus had subdued the Paeonians, he sent into
Macedonia seven Persians as ambassadors, who next to him-
self 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. When, therefore, the Persians who were
sent arrived at the court of Amyntas, on going into the pres-
ence 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 magnifi-
cent 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 Per-
sians, when we have given a great feast, to introduce our con-
cubines and lawful wives to sit by our sides : since, therefore,
you have received us kindly, and have entertained us mag-
nificently, and promise to give earth and water to King Darius,

28o HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [18-20

do you follow our custom." To this Amyntas answered : " O
Persians, we have no such custom, but that the men should be
separated from the women ; yet, since you, who are our mas-
ters, require this also, this shall also be granted to you."
Amyntas, having 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,
being very full of wine, began to feel their breasts ; and some
even attempted to kiss them. Amyntas, when he beheld
this, though very indignant, remained quiet, through exces-
sive fear of the Persians. But Alexander, son of Amyntas,
who was present, and witnessed this behaviour, being a young
man and inexperienced in misfortune, was no longer able to
restrain himself; so that, bearing it with difficulty, he ad-
dressed 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
in execution, said : " Son, I pretty well discern by your words
that you are burning with rage, and that you wish to dis-
miss 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."
When Amyntas, having made this request, had retired, Alex-
ander said to the Persians : " Friends, these women are en-
tirely at your service; and whether you desire to have inter-
course 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 abun-
dance to drink, let these women, if that is agreeable to you,
go and bathe, and when they have bathed expect their re-
turn." Having spoken thus, as the Persians approved his pro-
posal, he sent away the women, as they came out, to their
own apartment ; and Alexander himself, having dressed a like
number of smooth-faced 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 : " Per-

20-23] MURDER OF THE AMBASSADORS 28 1

sians, you appear to have been entertained with a sumptuous
feast; for we have given you not only all we had, but what-
ever we could procure; and, what 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 honoured 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 Mace-
donians, gave you a good reception both at table and bed."
Having thus spoken, Alexander placed by the side of each
person a Macedonian man, as if a woman ; but they, when the
Persians attempted to touch them, put them to death. 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, disap-
peared. But after no long time a 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 Gygaea, 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. 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 history
I will prove that they are Greeks. Moreover, the judges pre-
siding at the games of the Grecians in Olympia have deter-
mined 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 Gre-
cians. 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.

Megabyzus, leading with him the Paeonians, arrived at
the Hellespont ; and having crossed over, came to Sardis.
In the meantime 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 Megabyzus, having heard what was
being done by Histiaeus, as soon as he reached Sardis, bring-
ing the Paeonians with him, addressed Darius as follows : " O
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,

282 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [23-26

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." Megabyzus, speaking thus, easily persuaded Darius,
since he wisely foresaw what was likely to happen. There-
upon Darius, having sent a messenger to Myrcinus, spoke
as follows : " Histiaeus, King Darius says thus : I find on con-
sideration 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 com-
municate them to thee." Histiaeus, giving credit to these
words, and at the same time considering it a great honour to
become a counsellor of the king, went to Sardis : when he ar-
rived, Darius addressed him as follows : " Histiaeus, 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 no 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
councils." 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 flayed, 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 judg-
ment: 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. This Otanes, then, who
had been placed on this seat, being now appointed successor
to Megabyzus in the command of the army, subdued the
Byzantians and Chalcedonians, and took Antandros, which

26-30] NAXIAN EXILES AT MILETUS 283

belongs to the territory of Troas, and Lamponium ; and hav-
ing obtained ships from the Lesbians, he took Lemnos and
Imbrus, both of which were then inhabited by Pelasgians.
(Now the Lemnians fought valiantly, and having defended
themselves for some time, were at length overcome ; and over
those who survived, the Persians set up Lycaretus as gov-
ernor, the brother of Maeandrius, who had reigned in Samos.
This Lycaretus died while governor of Lemnos.) Otanes en-
slaved and subdued them all ; his reasons for doing so 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.

Afterward, for the intermission from misfortune was not
of long duration, evils arose a second time to the Ionians 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. 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 ad-
minister the public affairs as well as they had done their own.
The rest of the Milesians, who before had been split into fac-
tions, they ordered to obey them. Thus the Parians recon-
ciled the Milesians. From these two cities at that time mis-
fortunes began to befall Ionia in the following manner : Some
of the opulent 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 Histiaeus, son of Lysagoras, whom Darius de-
tained at Susa. For Histiaeus was tyrant of Miletus, and hap-
pened to be at that time at Susa, when the Naxians came,
who were before on terms of friendship with Histiaeus. The

284 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [30-32

Naxians, then, having arrived at Miletus, entreated Aristago-
ras if he could 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 friend-
ship of Histiaeus as a pretence, 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 Naxians 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 endeavours ; 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 pres-
ents, and their expenses to the army, for that they would repay
it, having great expectations 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.

Accordingly, Aristagoras, having gone to Sardis, told
Artaphernes that Naxos was an island of no great extent, but
otherwise beautiful and fertile, and near Ionia, and in it were
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 Eubcea, 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 fol-
lows : " You propose things advantageous to the king's house,
and advise everything well, except the number of ships; in-
stead of one hundred, two hundred shall be ready at the
beginning of spring. But it is necessary that the king him-
self should approve of the design." Now Aristagoras, when
he heard this, being exceedingly rejoiced, went back to
Miletus. But Artaphernes, when, on his sending to Susa
and communicating what was said by Aristagoras, Darius

32-34] EXPEDITION AGAINST NAXOS 285

himself also approved the plan, made ready two hundred tri-
remes, 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 Pau-
sanias, son of Cleombrotus the Lacedaemonian, who aspired to
become tyrant of Greece. Artaphernes, having appointed
Megabates general, sent forward the army to Aristagoras.

Megabates, having taken with him from Miletus Aristag-
oras and the Ionian forces and the Naxians, sailed profess-
edly for the Hellespont; but when he arrived at Chios, an-
chored 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 this 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
was 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 Mega-
bates, exasperated at this, as soon as night arrived, despatched
men in a ship to Naxos to inform the Naxians of the impend-
ing danger. Now the Naxians did not at all expect that this
armament was coming against them ; when, therefore, they
heard of it, they immediately carried everything from the
fields into the town, and prepared to undergo a siege, and
brought food and drink within the walls. Thus they made
preparations, as if war was close at hand; but the Per-
sians, 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.

286 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [35-36

Aristagoras was unable to fulfil his promise to Artapher-
nes; and at the same time the expense of the expedition,
which was demanded, pressed heavily 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 Histiaeus, urging Aristagoras to revolt
from the king. For Histiaeus, 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. Histiaeus 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 at-
tempt, he thought that he should never go there again. His-
tiaeus accordingly under these considerations sent off the
messenger. All these things concurred 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 Histiaeus: now all the rest concurred in the
same opinion, urging him to revolt; but Hecataeus, the his-
torian, at first endeavoured 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 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 Bran-
chidae, 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. This opinion, however, did not prevail. Neverthe-
less it was resolved to revolt, and that one of them, having
sailed to Myus to the force that had returned from Naxos,

36-40] REVOLT OF MILETUS 287

which was then there, should endeavour to seize the cap-
tains on board the ships. Iatragoras, having been despatched
for this very purpose, and having, by stratagem, seized Oli-
atus, son of Ibanolis of Mylassa, Histiaeus, son of Tymnes of
Termera, Coes, son of Erxandrus, to whom Darius had given
Mitylene, Aristagoras, son of Heraclides, of Cyme, and many
others, Aristagoras thus openly revolted, devising everything
he could against Darius. And first, in pretence, having laid
aside the sovereignty, he established an equality in Miletus,
in order that the Milesians might more readily join with him
in the revolt. And afterward he effected the same throughout
the rest of Ionia, expelling some of the tyrants ; and he deliv-
ered 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 respect-
ive cities, from which each came. The Mityleneans, as soon
as they received Coes, 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 sup-
pression 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 ambassador to Sparta,
for it was necessary for him to procure some powerful alliance.
Anaxandrides, son of Leon, no longer survived and reigned
over Sparta, but was already dead ; Cleomenes, son of Anax-
andrides, held the sovereignty, not having acquired it 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, hav-
ing sent for him, said : " If you do not provide for your own
interests, yet we must not overlook this, that the race of Eurys-
thenes 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 dis-
miss the wife he had, when she had committed no error, and
to take another in her place, and therefore he would not
obey them. Upon this the Ephori and senators, having con-
sulted, 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

288 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [40-43

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. 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
labour. She, however, when she had borne Dorieus, shortly
afterward had Leonidas, and after him, in due course, Cleom-
brotus ; though some say that 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.

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 should
obtain the sovereignty. So that, being of this persuasion,
when Anaxandrides died, and the Lacedaemonians, 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 hav-
ing 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 Therseans piloted him. Having
arrived at Cinyps, he settled near the river, in the most beau-
tiful spot of the Libyans. But in the third year, being driven
out from thence by the Macse, Libyans, and Carthaginians,
he returned to Peloponnesus. 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 Heraclidse, 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. At

44-46] DORIEUS 289

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 Dorieus to assist them, and
obtained their request; whereupon Dorieus marched with
them against Sybaris, and took Sybaris in concert with them.
Now, the Sybarites say that Dorieus, and those who were
with him, did this. But the Crotonians affirm that no for-
eigner took part with them in the war against the Sybarites,
except only Callias of Elis, a seer of the Iamidae, and he did
so under the following circumstances : he had fled from Telys,
King of the Sybarites, and come over to them, when the vic-
tims did not prove favourable as he was sacrificing against
Crotona. Such is the account they give. Each party produces
the following proofs of what they assert : The Sybarites allege
a sacred inclosure and temple near the dry Crastis,1 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 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 de-
stroyed. 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 as-
sisted 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. There sailed with Dori-
eus also other Spartans, joint founders of a colony, as Thes-
salus, Parsebates, Celeas, and Euryleon ; who, on their ar-
rival with the whole armament in Sicily, were killed, being
defeated in battle by the Phoenicians and Egestaeans. Eury-
leon 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
1 Called "dry" because its stream was dried up in summer.
19

290 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [46-49

altar of the Forensian Jupiter. 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 disap-
pointed 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 ob-
tained from the Egestseans what no other person ever did,
for having erected a shrine on his sepulchre, they propitiate
him with sacrifices. Dorieus, then, met with his death in the
manner above described ; but if he had submitted to be gov-
erned by Cleomenes, and had continued in Sparta, he would
have become King of Lacedsemon. For Cleomenes did not
reign for any length of time, but died without a son, leaving
a daughter only, whose name was Gorgo.

Aristagoras, then, tyrant of Miletus, arrived at Sparta
when Cleomenes held the government ; and he went to con-
fer 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. Now, there-
fore, 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 trou-
sers and turbans on their heads, so they are easy to be over-
come. 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 are 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,

-■::,■ ;

I

THE WOULD AS A'XOIIX TO TH.

'IENTS.

'$S<\

altar of tl Ides,

a citiv

him. He having e

daughter of Telys disap-

pointed of his itu. tg out

from them own,

with a crc ; been

victor >mest

:e ob-

ever did,

: itiate

in the

gov-

i in Sp; vould

leomenes did not

\>ut a so

r Sparta

tablet, on which was engraved the circumference of the .
earth, and the whole sea, and all rivers. And Arista?
having come to a conference, addressed him as follows :

omenes, at my eagerness in coming
for th s I will

I be sla
is a g

is easy for
tiiant; wherea*
r, have attained t<
■

i . battle, w

•
natio

variegated gai

you may hav ">g one ai

as I will show you. Nex e Lydia

inhabit a fertile country ilver." As

he showed the circun of the earth,

brought with him, engrav * " Ne:

is, " are these Ph*

49-50 ARISTAGORAS AND CLEOMENES 291

who are the richest in cattle and in corn of all with whom
I am acquainted. Next to the Phrygians are the Cappa-
docians, whom we call Syrians ; and bordering on them, the
Cilicians, extending to this sea in which the island of Cyprus
is situated ; 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 Mati-
enians, 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 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 valour,
and with the Arcadians and Argives, who have nothing akin
to gold and 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 anything else ? "
Aristagoras spoke thus, and Cleomenes answered him as fol-
lows, Milesian friend, I defer to give you an answer until
the third day." 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. 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 bade 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, Aristag-
oras went on increasing in his offers, until he promised fifty
talents ; then the girl cried out, Father, this stranger will

292 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [51-53

corrupt you unless you quickly depart." Cleomenes, pleased
with the advice of the child, retired to another apartment ; and
Aristagoras left Sparta altogether, nor could he get an op-
portunity to give further particulars of the route to the king's
residence.

With respect to this road, the case is as follows : There are
royal stations all along, and excellent inns, and the whole road
is through an inhabited and safe country. There are twenty
stations extending through Lydia and Phrygia, and the dis-
tance is ninety-four parasangs and a half. After Phrygia, the
river Halys is met with, at which there are gates, through
which it is absolutely necessary to pass, 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 bor-
ders 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 Ar-
menia there are fifteen stations for resting places, 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 coun-
try, 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 Ar-
menians, 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 : x accordingly, the resting places at the stations are so
many as you go up from Sardis to Susa. 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 hun-

1 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.

53-58] ARISTAGORAS AT ATHENS 293

dred and fifty ; and by those who travel one hundred and fifty
stades every day, just ninety days are spent on the journey.
Thus Aristagoras the Milesian spoke correctly when he told
Cleomenes the Lacedaemonian 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 thou-
sand 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.

Aristagoras, being driven from Sparta, went to Athens,
which had been delivered from tyrants in the following man-
ner: When Aristogiton and Harmodius, who were originally
Gephyraeans by extraction, had slain Hipparchus, son of Pisis-
tratus, 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. 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 enig-
matical words : " Lion, endure with enduring mind to bear
unendurable ills ; no one among unjust men shall escape retri-
bution." 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.

The Gephyraeans, of whom were the murderers of Hip-
parchus, were, as they themselves say, originally sprung from
Eretria; but, as I find by diligent inquiry, they were Phoe-
nicians, of the number of those Phoenicians who came with
Cadmus to the country now called Bceotia, 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 Gephyraeans being afterward expelled
by the Boeotians, betook themselves to Athens ; and the Athe-
nians admitted them into the number of their citizens, on cer-
tain conditions, enacting that they should be excluded from
several privileges, not worth mentioning. These Phoenicians
who came with Cadmus, and of whom the Gephyraeans were,
when they settled in this country, introduced among the
Greeks many other kinds of useful knowledge, and more par-

294 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [58-62

ticularly 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 great-
est 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 Phoenician, as justice required they
should be called, since the Phoenicians had introduced them
into Greece. Moreover, the Ionians, from ancient time, call
books made of 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. And I myself have seen in the Temple of Is-
menian Apollo at Thebes, in Bceotia, Cadmian letters engraved
on certain tripods, for the most part resembling the Ionian.
One of the tripods has this inscription, " Amphitryon dedi-
cated me on his return from the Teleboans." These must be
about the age of Laius, son of Labdacus, son of Polydorus,
son of Cadmus. 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." Scseus
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 Laius. A third tripod has these
words also in hexameters, " Laodamas, being a monarch,
dedicated this tripod, a very beautiful offering, to thee, far-
seeing Apollo." During the reign of this Laodamas, son of
Eteocles, the Cadmeans were expelled by the Argives, and
betook themselves to the Encheleae. But the Gephyraeans,
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 dis-
tinct from the other temples ; more particularly the temple and
mysteries of the Achaean Ceres.

Thus I have related the vision of Hipparchus's dream, and
whence were sprung the Gephyraeans, of whom were the mur-
derers 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 Athe-
nians by extraction, and were then banished by the Pisistrati-

62-64] PISISTRATIDAE AND ALCMjEONIDjE 295

dae, when they with other Athenian exiles did not succeed in
their attempt to effect their return by force, but were signally
defeated in their endeavours to reinstate themselves and lib-
erate Athens, having fortified Lipsydrium, which is above
Paeonia — thereupon the Alcmaeonidae, practising 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 dis-
tinction, they constructed the temple in a more beautiful man-
ner 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. Accordingly, as the Athe-
nians 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 servi-
tude. The Lacedaemonians, when the same warning was al-
ways 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 Phalerum, dis-
embarked his army : but the Pisistratidae, 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 despatched
a thousand horse to their assistance, and their king Cineas, a
native of Conium. When the Pisistratidae had these auxil-
iaries, 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 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. Afterward the
Lacedaemonians, having fitted out a larger armament, sent it
from Sparta, having appointed King Cleomenes, son of Anax-
andrides, commander in chief; they did not, however, send it
again by sea, but by land. On their entrance into the Athe-
nian 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 Thes-
saly. Cleomenes having reached the city, accompanied by

296 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [64-67

those Athenians who wished to be free, besieged the tyrants
who were shut up in the Pelasgian fort. However, the Lace-
daemonians would not by any means have been able to expel
the Pisistratidae ; for they had no intention of forming a block-
ade, and the Pisistratidae 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 hap-
pened, unfortunate for one party, and at the same time ad-
vantageous to the other; for the children of the Pisistratidae
were taken as they were being secretly removed from the coun-
try ; when this occurred all their plans were thrown into con-
fusion ; 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 Scaman-
der, having governed the Athenians for thirty-six years. They
were by extraction Pylians, and Neleidae, being sprung from
the same ancestors as Codrus and Melanthus, who, though
formerly foreigners, became kings of Athens. For this reason
Hippocrates gave the same name to his son, in token of re-
membrance, calling him Pisistratus after Nestor's son Pisis-
tratus. Thus the Athenians were delivered 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.

Athens, although it was before powerful, being now deliv-
ered 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 Tysander, who was of an illustrious family, though I
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, ^Egicores, Argades, and Hoples, and in-
venting names from other heroes who were all natives, except
Ajax ; him, though a stranger, he added as a near neighbour
and ally. Herein, I think, this Clisthenes imitated his ma-
ternal grandfather, Clisthenes, tyrant of Sicyon. For Clis-
thenes, when he made war on the Argives, in the first place
put a stop to the rhapsodists in Sicyon contending for prizes
in reciting 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

67-69] CLISTHENES OF SICYON 297

desirous of expelling him from the country, because he was
an Argive. Going, therefore, to Delphi, he consulted the ora-
cle whether he should expel Adrastus ; and the Pythian an-
swered 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. Clis-
thenes, therefore, having introduced Melanippus, appointed
him a precinct in the very prytaneum, and placed it there in
the strongest position. But Clisthenes introduced Melanip-
pus, 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 honour 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 honours to Adras-
tus, and, moreover, celebrated his misfortune by tragic cho-
ruses; not honouring Bacchus, but Adrastus, to that time.
But Clisthenes transferred these dances to the worship of Bac-
chus, and the rest of the ceremonies to Melanippus. This he
did with reference to Adrastus. 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 de-
rived 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 Arche-
lai ; but others Hyatae, some Oneatae, and others Choereatas.
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 Hylleans, Pamphylians, and Dymanatse;
and they added a fourth, after iEgialeus, son of Adrastus, giv-
ing them the name of ^gialeans.

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
Ionians, as it appears to me, that the Athenians might not
have the same tribes as the Ionians, imitated his namesake

298 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [69-72

Clisthenes. For when he had brought over to his own side
the whole of the Athenian people, who before had been alien-
ated from him, he changed the names of the tribes, and aug-
mented 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. Isagoras, being overcome in his turn, had re-
course to the following counterplot: He called in Cleomenes
the Lacedaemonian, who had been on terms of friendship with
him from the time of the siege of the Pisistratidae ; and, be-
sides, Cleomenes was suspected of having had intercourse with
the wife of Isagoras. First of all, therefore, Cleomenes, send-
ing 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 Isag-
oras : for the Alcmaeonidae, and those of their party, were
accused of the following murder ; but neither he himself had
any share in it, nor had his friends. Those of the Athenians
who were " accursed " obtained the name on the 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, he seated himself as a sup-
pliant at the statue of the goddess. The prytanes of the Nau-
crari, who then had the administration of affairs in Athens,
removed them, under promise that they should not be pun-
ished with death. But the Alcmaeonidae are accused of hav-
ing put them to death. These things were done before the
time of Pisistratus.

When Cleomenes sent a herald to require the expulsion of
Clisthenes and the accursed, Clisthenes himself withdrew. But,
nevertheless, Cleomenes came afterward to Athens with a
small force, and, on his arrival, banished seven hundred Athe-
nian 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 Acropo-
lis ; 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, purposing to take pos-
session of it, he approached the sanctuary of the goddess to

72-75] CLISTHENES OF ATHENS 299

consult her; but the priestess, rising from her seat before he
had passed the door, said : " Lacedaemonian stranger ! retire,
nor enter within the precincts, for it is not lawful for Dorians
to enter here." He answered, " Woman, I am not a Dorian,
but an Achaean." He, however, paying no attention to the
omen, made the attempt, and was again compelled to with-
draw with the Lacedaemonians. The Athenians put the rest
in bonds for execution ; and among them Timesitheus of Del-
phi, of whose deeds, both of prowess and courage, I could say
much. These, then, died in bonds. After this the Athenians,
having recalled Clisthenes, and the seven hundred families
that had been banished by Cleomenes, sent ambassadors 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 ambassadors arrived at
Sardis, and had spoken according to their instructions, Arta-
phernes, 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 ambassadors, he an-
swered 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 ambassadors, having conferred together,
said that they would give them, being anxious to conclude the
alliance : they, however, on their return home were greatly
blamed.

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 re-
venge 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 Hysiae, 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 Pelo-
ponnesians, who were at Eleusis. 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 Demoratus, son of Ariston, who was also King
of the Spartans, and joined in leading out the army from Lace-

300 HERODOTUS— BOOK V. TERPSICHORE [75-77

daemon, 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 accom-
pany 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 Tyndaridae *
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
Lacedaemonians did not agree, and that the Corinthians had
quitted their post, likewise took their departure. This, then,
was the fourth time that the Dorians had come to Attica, hav-
ing twice entered to make war, and twice for the good of the
Athenian people. First, when they settled a colony in Me-
gara, 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 Pisistratidae ; and a
fourth time, when Cleomenes, at the head of the Pelopon-
nesians, invaded Eleusis. Thus the Dorians then invaded
Athens for the fourth time.

When this army was ingloriously dispersed, the Athe-
nians, desirous to avenge themselves, marched first against
the Chalcidians. The Boeotians came out to assist the Chal-
cidians at the Euripus ; and the Athenians, seeing the auxil-
iaries, resolved to attack the Boeotians 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 pos-
session of the lands of the Hippobotae ;2 for the most opulent of
the Chalcidians were called Hippobotae. As many of them
as they took prisoners they kept in prison with the Boeotians
that were taken, having bound them in fetters ; but in time
they set them at liberty, having fixed their ransom at two
minae. The fetters in which they had been bound they hung
up in the Acropolis, where they remained to my time hang-
ing on a wall that had been much scorched by fire by the
Mede, opposite the temple that faces the west. And they dedi-
cated a tithe of the ransoms, having made a brazen chariot
with four horses, and this stands on the left hand as you first
enter the portico in the Acropolis ; and it bears the following

1 Castor and Pollux, the guardian deities of Sparta.
* " Feeders of horses,"

77-81] BENEFITS OF LIBERTY 301

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." The
Athenians accordingly increased in power. And equality of
rights shows, not in one instance only, but in every way, what
an excellent thing it is. For the Athenians, when governed
by tyrants, were superior in war to none of their neighbours ;
but when freed from tyrants, became by far the first ; this,
then, shows that as long as they were oppressed they pur-
posely acted as cowards, as labouring for a master ; but when
they were free every man was zealous to labour for himself.
They accordingly did this.

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 assem-
bly, and referred the oracle to them. But when they heard
them say that they were to ask the assistance of their nearest
friends, the Thebans, on hearing this, said : " Do not the Tana-
grseans, Coronaeans, 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 as-
sistance ? But probably this is not the meaning of the oracle."
While they were discussing the matter, one, having at length
comprehended it, said : " I think I understand what the oracle
means. Thebe and ^Egina are said to be daughters of Asopus.
Now because these were sisters, I think the god has admon-
ished us to entreat the ^ginetse to become our avengers."
As no better opinion than this was brought forward, they im-
mediately sent and entreated the JEginetae, calling upon them
to assist them according to the admonition of the oracle, as
being their nearest friends. But they, on their petition, prom-
ised to send the iEacidae x to their assistance. The Thebans,
relying on the assistance of the ^acidae, having tried the for-
tune of war, and being roughly handled by the Athenians, sent
again and restored the ^acidse, and requested a supply of
men. Whereupon the ^ginetae, 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
1 Meaning " the statues of the jEacidae."

302 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [81-84

to Attica, they ravaged Phalerum and many villages on the
rest of the coast ; and in doing this they did considerable dam-
age to the Athenians.

The enmity that was due of old from the JEg'metze to the
Athenians proceeded from this origin. The land of the Epi-
daurians 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
made of brass or stone ; but the Pythian did not allow it to be
of either, but of the wood of a cultivated olive. The Epidau-
rians 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 the 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 Epi-
daurians, 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 ful-
filled their engagements to the Athenians. At that time and
before the ^Eginetae obeyed the Epidaurians, both in other
respects, and crossing over to Epidaurus, the vEginetae gave
and received 1 justice from one another. But afterward hav-
ing 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 these statues of Damia
and Auxesia, and carried them off, and set them up in the
interior of their own territory, the name of which is (Ea, and
about twenty stades distant from the city. Having set them
up 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 cere-
monies are kept secret. When these statues had been stolen,
the Epidaurians ceased to fulfil their engagements to the
Athenians. The Athenians sent to expostulate with the Epi-
daurians, but they demonstrated that they were not in 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
1 That is, " brought and defended actions there."

84-87] THE ATHENIANS AND ^EGINET^ 303

pay the tribute, but they bade them demand it of the ^Eginetae
who possessed them. Upon this the Athenians, having sent
to JEg'ma., demanded back the statues ; but the ^ginetae made
answer that they had nothing to do with the Athenians. The
Athenians say that after this demand some of their citizens
were sent in a single trireme, who being sent by the common-
wealth, and arriving at ^gina, attempted to drag these statues
from off the pedestals, as made from their wood, in order that
they might carry them away; but not being able to get pos-
session of them in that way, they threw cords about the statues,
and hauled them along, and as they were hauling them, thun-
der, and with the thunder an earthquake, came on ; and the
crew of the trireme who were hauling them were in conse-
quence 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. Thus the Athenians say that it
happened ; but the ^Eginetae say that the Athenians did not
come with a single ship ; for that they could easily have re-
pulsed 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 Athe-
nians, 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 yEginetae say that the Athenians did this ;
but concerning themselves, that being informed that the Athe-
nians were about to make war upon them, they prepared the
Argives to assist them ; and, accordingly, that the Athenians
landed on the territory of ^gina, and that the Argives came
to their assistance ; and that they crossed over to the island
from Epidaurus unperceived, and fell upon the Athenians un-
expectedly, cutting off their retreat to the ships ; and at this
moment the thunder and earthquake happened. Such is the
account given by the Argives and ^Eginetse : and it is ad-
mitted 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

304 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [87-89

Athenians, on the contrary, say when the deity destroyed it;
and that this one did not survive, but perished in the follow-
ing 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 iEgina, 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; however, 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
nearly resembles the Corinthian ; they changed it, therefore,
for a 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. In consequence
of this event it became a custom with both the Argives and
the iEginetae 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 iEginetae, on account
of their quarrel with the Athenians, continued even to my
time to wear clasps larger than formerly.

The origin of the enmity entertained by the Athenians
against the ^Eginetae was such as has been described. At
that time, therefore, when the Thebans called upon them, the
vEginetse, recalling to mind what had taken place respecting
the statues, readily assisted the Boeotians. The yEginetae
therefore laid waste the maritime places of Attica, and when
the Athenians were preparing to march against the /Eginetae,
an oracle came from Delphi enjoining them " to wait for thirty
years from the period of the injury committed by the /Eginetas ;
and in the thirty-first year, after building a temple to /Eacus,
to begin the war against the /Eginetae : and then they would
succeed according to their wishes. But if they should march
against them immediately, they should in the meanwhile en-
dure much and also inflict much ; but in the end would sub-
due them." When the Athenians heard this answer reported,
they erected that temple to /Eacus which now stands in the
forum ; yet they could not bear to wait thirty years when they

89-91] JEALOUSY OF THE SPARTANS 305

heard that they ought to wait, though they had suffered such
indignities from the ^ginetae. But as they were preparing
to take their revenge an affair, set on foot by the Lacedae-
monians, became an impediment. For the Lacedaemonians,
being informed of the practices of the Alcmaeonidae toward
the Pythia, and those of the Pythia against themselves and the
Pisistratidae, 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 to 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 the Athenians; the
Pisistratidae had had them before, and left them in the temple
when they were expelled; and as they were left behind, Cle-
omenes took them away. When the Lacedaemonians 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 consid-
ered each of these things, they sent for Hippias, son of Pisis-
tratus, from Sigeum on the Hellespont, to which place the
Pisistratidae had retired. And when Hippias came, in compli-
ance with their invitation, the Spartans, having summoned
also the ambassadors of the rest of their confederates, ad-
dressed them as follows : " Confederates, we are conscious that
we have not acted rightly ; for, being induced by lying ora-
cles, the men who were our best friends, and who had prom-
ised to keep Athens subject to us — them we expelled from
their country, and then, having done this, we delivered the
city to an ungrateful people, who, after they had been set at
liberty, and had lifted up their heads through our means, have
insultingly ejected us and our king; and having obtained re-
nown, are growing in power, as their neighbours the Boeotians
and Chalcidians have already learned full well, and as others
will soon learn to their cost.1 Since, then, in doing these
things we have committed an error, we will now endeavour,
with your assistance, to remedy the mischief and punish them.

1 I have ventured on a new mode of translating this passage, which
appears to me more in accordance with the Greek idiom. Baehr, whose
version is most simple and literal, renders it, "and perhaps some one else
will learn that he has committed an error" ; meaning the Lacedaemonians
themselves, to whom the speaker doubtless alludes.
20

306 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [91-92

For on this very account we sent for Hippias, who is here
present, and summoned you from your cities, that by common
consent and combined forces we may take him back to Athens
and restore to him what we took away."

Thus these spoke ; but the majority of the confederates did
not approve of their proposition. The rest kept silence, but
Sosicles the Corinthian spoke as follows : " Surely the heav-
ens will sink beneath the earth, and the earth ascend aloft
above the heavens; men will live in the sea, and the fishes
where men did before, now that you, O Lacedaemonians, abol-
ish equality, dissolve a commonwealth, and prepare to restore
tyrannies in the cities, than which there is nothing more un-
just nor more cruel among men. If, in truth, this appears to
you a good thing, that cities should be ruled by tyrants, do
you first set up a tyrant over yourselves, and then attempt to
set them up over others. But now, while ye yourselves are
altogether unacquainted with tyrannical power, and watch
with jealousy that such a thing should not happen in Sparta,
ye behave contemptuously toward your allies. But if ye had
been taught by experience, as we have, ye would have a better
proposal to make to us than you now do. The constitution of
the Corinthians was formerly of this kind : it was an oligarchy,
and those who were called Bacchiadae governed the city ; they
intermarried only within their own family. Amphion, one
of these men, had a lame daughter ; her name was Labda. As
no one of the Bacchiadse would marry her, Eetion, son of
Echecrates, who was of the district of Petra, though originally
one of the Lapithae, and a descendant of Caeneus, had her.
He had no children by this wife, nor by any other ; he there-
fore went to Delphi to inquire about having offspring, and
immediately as he entered the Pythian saluted him in the fol-
lowing lines : ' Eetion, no one honours thee, though worthy
of much honour. Labda is pregnant, and will bring forth
a round stone; it will fall on monarchs, and will vindicate
Corinth.' This oracle, pronounced to Eetion, was by chance
reported to the Bacchiadae, to whom a former oracle concern-
ing Corinth was unintelligible, and which tended to the same
end as that of Eetion, and was in these terms : * An eagle
broods on rocks ; * and shall bring forth a lion, strong and
carnivorous ; and it shall loosen the knees of many. Now
ponder this well, ye Corinthians, who dwell around beauteous
Pirene and frowning Corinth.' Now this, which had been

1 The words, aicrbs, " an eagle," and ir£rpTj<n, " rocks," bear an enigmat-
ical meaning ; the former intimating " Eetion," and the latter his birth-
place, " Petra."

92] SPEECH OF SOSICLES 307

given before, was unintelligible to the Bacchiadse; but now,
when they heard that which was delivered to Eetion, they
presently understood the former one, since it agreed with that
given to Eetion. And though they comprehended, they kept
it secret, purposing to destroy the offspring that should be
born to Eetion. As soon as the woman brought forth, they
sent ten of their own number to the district where Eetion
lived to put the child to death ; and when they arrived at Petra,
and entered the court of Eetion, they asked for the child;
but Labda, knowing nothing of the purpose for which they
had come, and supposing that they asked for it out of affec-
tion for the father, brought the child, and put it into the hands
of one of them. Now, it had been determined by them on the
way that whichever of them should first receive the child should
dash it on the ground. When, however, Labda brought and
gave it to one of them, the child, by a divine providence,
smiled on the man who received it; and when he perceived
this, a feeling of pity restrained him from killing it; and,
moved by compassion, he gave it to the second, and he to the
third; thus the infant, being handed from one to another,
passed through the hands of all the ten, and not one of them
was willing to destroy it. Having therefore delivered the
child again to its mother, and gone out, they stood at the door,
and attacked each other with mutual recriminations ; and espe-
cially the first who took the child, because he had not done
as had been determined : at last, when some time had elapsed,
they determined to go in again, and that every one should
share in the murder. But it was fated that misfortunes should
spring up to Corinth from the progeny of Eetion. For Labda,
standing at the very door, heard all that had passed ; and fear-
ing that they might change their resolution, and having ob-
tained the child a second time might kill it, she took and hid
it, in a place which appeared least likely to be thought of, in
a chest; being very certain that if they should return and
come back to search, they would pry everywhere; which, in
fact, did happen : but when, having come and made a strict*
search, they could not find the child, they resolved to depart
and tell those who sent them that they had done all that they
had commanded. After this Eetion's son grew up, and, hav-
ing escaped this danger, the name of Cypselus was given him,
from the chest. When Cypselus reached man's estate, and
consulted the oracle, an ambiguous answer was given him at
Delphi ; relying on which, he attacked and got possession of
Corinth. The oracle was this : ' Happy this man, who is come
down to my dwelling; Cypselus, son of Eetion, King of re-

3o8 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [92

nowned Corinth ; he and his children, but not his children's
children.' Such was the oracle. And Cypselus, having ob-
tained the tyranny, behaved himself thus : he banished many
of the Corinthians, deprived many of their property, and many
more of their life. When he had reigned thirty years, and
ended his life happily, his son Periander became his successor
in the tyranny. Now Periander at first was more mild than
his father; but when he had communicated by ambassadors
with Thrasybulus, tyrant of Miletus, he became far more cruel
than Cypselus. For having sent a nuncio to Thrasybulus, he
asked in what way, having ordered affairs most securely, he
might best govern the city. Thrasybulus conducted the per-
son who came from Periander out of the city, and going into
a field of corn, and as he went through the standing corn,
questioning him about, and making him repeat over again,
the account of his coming from Corinth, he cut off any ear
that he saw taller than the rest, and having cut it off, he threw
it away, till in this manner he had destroyed the best and deep-
est of the corn. Having gone through the piece of ground,
and given no message at all, he dismissed the nuncio. When
the nuncio returned to Corinth, Periander was anxious to
know the answer of Thrasybulus; but he said that Thrasy-
bulus had given him no answer, and wondered he should have
sent him to such a man, for that he was crazy, and destroyed
his own property, relating what he had seen done by Thrasy-
bulus. But Periander comprehending the meaning of the
action, and understanding that Thrasybulus advised him to
put to death the most eminent of the citizens, thereupon exer-
cised all manner of cruelties toward his subjects ; for what-
ever Cypselus had left undone, by killing and banishing, Peri-
ander completed. One day he stripped all the Corinthian
women, on account of his own wife Melissa ; for when he sent
messengers to the Thesprotians on the river Acheron to con-
sult the oracle of the dead respecting a deposit made by a
.stranger, Melissa having appeared, said that she would neither
make it known nor tell in what place the deposit lay, because
she was cold and naked ; for that there was no use in the gar-
ments in which he had buried her, since they had not been
burned : and as a proof that she spoke truth, she added that
Periander had put his bread into a cold oven. When this an-
swer was brought back to Periander, for the token was con-
vincing to him, since he had lain with Melissa after her death,
he immediately, on receiving the message, made proclama-
tion that all the women of Corinth should repair to the Temple
of Juno. They accordingly went, as to a festival, dressed in

92-95] SPEECH OF SOSICLES 309

their best attire; but he having privately introduced his
guards, stripped them all alike, both the free women and
attendants ; and having collected them together in a pit, he
invoked Melissa, and burned them. When he had done this,
and sent a second time, the phantom of Melissa told in what
place she had laid the stranger's deposit. Such, O Lacedae-
monians, is a tyranny, and such are its deeds. Great aston-
ishment, therefore, immediately seized us Corinthians when
we understood you had sent for Hippias ; but now we are still
more astonished at hearing you say what you do ; and we en-
treat you, adjuring you by the Grecian gods, not to establish
tyrannies in the cities. Nevertheless, if you will not desist,
but against all right will endeavour to restore Hippias, know
that the Corinthians, at least, do not approve of your designs."
Sosicles, who was ambassador 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
Pisistratidae, 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 Corinthians ;
and they adjured the Lacedaemonians not to introduce any in-
novation into a Grecian city. And thus that design was de-
feated. When Hippias departed thence, Amyntas the Mace-
donian offered him Anthemus, and the Thessalians offered him
Iolcus ; 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
Sigeum, carried on war for a long time ; the former demand-
ing restitution of the place, and the Athenians not only not
conceding it, but showing by argument that the ^Eolians 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. While they were at war various other
events occurred in the different battles ; and among them,
Alcaeus 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. Alcaeus having described

310 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [95-98

this in an ode, sent it to Mitylene to inform his friend Melanip-
pus of his misfortune. Periander, son of Cypselus, reconciled
the Mityleneans and Athenians, for they referred to him as
arbitrator; and he reconciled them on these terms, that each
should retain what they had. Thus, then, Sigeum became
subject to the Athenians. When Hippias returned from Lace-
daemon to Asia, he set everything 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 Athe-
nians, having heard of it, sent ambassadors to Sardis, warn-
ing the Persians not to give ear to the Athenian exiles. But
Artaphernes bade them, if they wished to continue safe, re-
ceive 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 ene-
mies to the Persians.

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, re-
specting the wealth of Asia and the Persian mode of warfare,
how they used neither shield nor spear, and would be easily
conquered. He 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
singly, but did so to thirty thousand Athenians. The Athe-
nians accordingly, being persuaded, decreed to send twenty
ships to succour the Ionians, having appointed Melanthius
commander over them, a citizen who was universally esteemed.
These ships were the source of calamities both to Greeks and
barbarians. 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 pur-
pose, but that he might vex King Darius. He sent a man into
Phrygia to the Paeonians, who had been carried away captive
by Megabyzus from the river Strymon, and occupied a tract
in Phrygia, and a village by themselves. When he reached
the Paeonians, he spoke as follows : " Men of Paeonia, Aristag-

98-101] IONIANS BURN SARDIS 3U

oras, 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 re-
turning 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, re-
mained 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 Paeonians; and when they did not
overtake them, sent orders to Chios to the Paeonians, com-
manding them to return. But the Paeonians did not listen
to the proposal ; but the Chians conveyed them to Lesbos,
and the Lesbians forwarded them to Doriscus; thence pro-
ceeding on foot they reached Paeonia.

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 Athe-
nians, 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 gen-
erals of the Milesians, his own brother Charopinus, and of the
other citizens Hermophantus. 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 Artaphernes with a strong gar-
rison defended the citadel. The following accident prevented
them, after they had taken the city, from plundering it : Most
of the houses in Sardis were built with reeds ; and such of
them as were built with brick 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,

312 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [101-104

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 Per-
sians, 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 defence,
and others coming up in great numbers, retired through fear
to the mountain called Tmolus, and thence under favour of the
night retreated to their ships. Thus Sardis was burned, and
in it the temple of the native goddess Cybebe; the Persians,
making a pretext of this, afterward burned in retaliation the
temples of Greece. As soon as the Persians who had settle-
ments on this side the river Halys were informed of these
things, they drew together, and marched to assist the Lydi-
ans ; 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.

At that time such was the result of the encounter. After-
ward the Athenians, totally abandoning the Ionians, though
Aristagoras urgently solicited them by ambassadors, refused
to send them any assistance. The Ionians, being deprived of
the alliance of the Athenians (for they had conducted them-
selves in such a manner toward Darius from the first), never-
theless 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 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. 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 occa-
sion : Onesilus was younger brother of Gorgus, King of the
Salaminians, and son of Chersis, son of Siromus, son of Euel-
thon ; this man had frequently before exhorted his brother to
revolt from the king ; but when he heard that the Ionians had

104-106] DARIUS LEARNS OF THE REVOLT 313

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 One-
silus ruled over Salamis, and endeavoured 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.

Onesilus accordingly besieged Amathus. But when it was
told King Darius that Sardis had been taken and burned by
the Athenians and Ionians, 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 Athe-
nians ! " Having thus spoken, he commanded one of his at-
tendants every time dinner was set before him to say thrice,
" Sire, remember the Athenians." Having given this order,
and summoned to his presence Histiseus the Milesian, whom
he had already detained a long time, Darius said : " I am in-
formed, Histiaeus, that your lieutenant, to whom you intrusted
Miletus, has attempted innovations against me ; for having
brought men from the other continent, and with them Ionians,
who shall give me satisfaction for what they have done; hav-
ing 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? Beware
lest hereafter you expose yourself to blame." To this His-
tiaeus 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 anything 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

314 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [106-109

Ionians 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."
Histiseus, speaking thus, deceived the king. Darius was per-
suaded, and let him go ; having charged him to return to him
at Susa, so soon as he should have accomplished what he had
promised.

While the news concerning Sardis was going up to the
king, and Darius, having done what has been described relat-
ing to the bow, held a conference with Histiseus, and while
Histiaeus, having been dismissed by Darius, was on his jour-
ney 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 ex-
pected in Cyprus. Onesilus, having been informed of this,
sent heralds to the different parts of Ionia, inviting them to
assist him ; and the Ionians, without any protracted delibera-
tion, 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
Phoenicians in their ships doubled the promontory, which
is called the key of Cyprus. This having taken place, the
tyrants of Cyprus, having called together the generals of the
Ionians, said : " Men of Ionia, we Cyprians give you the
choice, to engage with whichever you wish, the Persians or
the Phoenicians. If you choose to try your strength with the
Persians draw 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 Phoenicians : but if you
would rather try your strength with the Phoenicians, which-
ever of these you choose, it behooves you so to behave your-
selves that as far as depends on you both Ionia and Cyprus
may be free." To this the Ionians 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
endeavour to do our duty in that post to which we have been
appointed; and it behooves you, bearing in mind what you

109-113] THE WAR IN CYPRUS 315

have suffered under the yoke of the Medes, to prove your-
selves to be brave men." The Ionians made answer in these
words. 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 Sala-
minians and Solians, they stationed them against the Persians.
Onesilus voluntarily took up his position directly against Ar-
tybius, the general of the Persians. 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 other-
wise 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 there-
fore 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 gen-
eral, your glory is great; and, in the next place, if he
should vanquish you, which may the gods avert, to fall by
a noble 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." Thus he
spoke, and forthwith the forces joined battle by land and sea.
Now the Ionians, fighting valiantly on that day, defeated the
Phoenicians at sea ; and of these the Samians most distin-
guished 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 con-
certed 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. 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 conse-

3i6 HERODOTUS— BOOK V. TERPSICHORE [113-118

quence 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 Athe-
nian, when he visited Cyprus, celebrated in his verses above
all tyrants. Now the Amathusians, having cut off the head
of Onesilus, because he had besieged them, took it to Ama-
thus, and suspended it over the gates ; and when the head
was suspended, and had become hollow, a swarm of bees en-
tered it, and filled it with honeycomb. 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." 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 Sala-
mis, but this the Salaminians had restored to their former
king 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 un-
dermined the wall all round, took it in the fifth month.

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 con-
quered them in battle, next divided the cities among them-
selves and proceeded to plunder them. Daurises, directing
his march toward the cities on the Hellespont, took Dardanus ;
he also took Abydos, Percote, Lampsacus, and Psesus ; these
he took each in one day. But as he was advancing from Paesus
against Parium, news was brought him that the Carians, hav-
ing conspired with the Ionians, had revolted from the Per-
sians. Therefore turning back from the Hellespont, he led
his army against Caria. 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, falls into the Maeander. When the Carians were as-
sembled on this spot, several other propositions were made,
of which the best appeared to be that of Pixodarus, son of

H8-I22] RECOVERY OF IONIA 317

Mausolus, a Cyndian, who had married the daughter of Syen-
nesis, King of the Cicilians. His opinion was that the Carians,
having crossed the Maeander, 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 Maeander 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. 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 Mar-
syas, 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 of the Carians ten thou-
sand. Such of them as escaped from thence were shut up
in Labranda, in 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 them-
selves to the Persians or by abandoning Asia altogether.
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 pre-
pared 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 Mile-
sians suffered most. The Carians, however, afterward recov-
ered 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 to pieces, both they and their gen-
erals Daurises, Amorges, and Sisamaces; and with them per-
ished Myrses, son of Gyges. The leader of this ambuscade
was Heraclides, son of Ibanolis, a Mylassian. Thus these
Persians were destroyed.

Hymees, who was also one of those who pursued the Ioni-
ans that had attacked Sardis, bending his march toward the
Propontis, took Cius of Mysia. 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 iEolians
who inhabited the territory of Ilium, and subdued the Ger-

318 HERODOTUS— BOOK V, TERPSICHORE [122-126

githae, the remaining descendants of the ancient Teucrians;
but Hymees himself, having subdued these nations, died of
disease in the Troad. Thus then he died: but Artaphernes,
governor of Sardis, and Otanes, one of the three generals,1
were appointed to invade Ionia and the neighbouring terri-
tory of ^olia. Of Ionia, accordingly, they took Clazomenae ;
and of the iEolians, Cyme.

When these cities were taken, Aristagoras the 2 Milesian,
for he was not, as it proved, a man of strong courage, who
having thrown Ionia into confusion, and raised great disturb-
ances, thought of flight when he saw these results; and, be-
sides, it appeared 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 Histiaeus had begun to fortify, having re-'
ceived it as a gift from Darius. However, the opinion of
Hecataeus the historian, son 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 Hecataeus. But Aristagoras
himself was decidedly in favour of proceeding to Myrcinus ;
he therefore intrusted Miletus to Pythagoras, a citizen of dis-
tinction, and he himself, taking with him all who were will-
ing, 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
Thracians as he was laying siege to a city, and the Thracians
were willing to depart on terms of capitulation.

1 The two others were Daurises and Hymees.

* The reader will observe that the sentence is broken and imperfect ; it
is so in the original.

BOOK VI

ERATO

ARISTAGORAS, having induced the Ionians to revolt,
/\ thus died; and Histiaeus, tyrant of Miletus, having
£ \. been dismissed by Darius, repaired to Sardis. When
he arrived from Susa, Artaphernes, governor of
Sardis, asked him for what reason he supposed the Ionians
had revolted. Histiaeus said he did not know, and seemed
surprised at what had happened, as if he in truth knew noth-
ing of the present state of affairs. But Artaphernes, perceiv-
ing that he was dissembling, and being aware of the exact
truth as to the revolt, said : " Histiaeus, the state of the case
is this : you made the shoe and Aristagoras has put it on."
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 plan-
ning some new design against them in favour of Darius.
However, the Chians, having learned the whole truth, and
that he was an enemy to the king, released him.* At that time
Histiaeus being questioned by the Ionians why he had so ear-
nestly 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 in Ionia, and the Ionians in Phoenicia ; and for
this reason he had pressed him. Although the king had
formed no resolution of the kind, he terrified the Ionians.
After this, Histiaeus, corresponding by means of a me'ssenger,
Hermippus, an Atarnian, sent letters to certain Persians in
Sardis, as if they had before conferred with him on the 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

319

320 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [4-8

hands of Artaphernes ; he, having discovered all that was
going on, commanded Hermippus to deliver the letters of His-
tiaeus to the persons for whom he brought them, and to de-
liver to him the answers that should be sent back to Histiseus
from the Persians. Thus they being discovered, Artaphernes
thereupon put many of the Persians to death ; and in conse-
quence there was a great commotion in Sardis. Histiseus
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 into their country, as they had tasted of free-
dom. Thereupon Histiseus, going down to Miletus by night,
endeavoured 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 Mitylene, and prevailed with the Lesbians to
furnish him with ships ; and they, having manned eight tri-
remes, sailed with Histiseus to Byzantium. There taking up
their station, they took all the ships that sailed out of the Pon-
tus, except such of them as said they were ready to submit to
Histiseus.

Histiseus, then, and the Mitylenians acted as above de-
scribed. 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, deem-
ing 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 Cili-
cians, and Egyptians. They then advanced against Miletus
and the rest of Ionia; 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 de-
termined not to assemble any land forces to oppose the Per-
sians; 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 fight in defence of
Miletus. Lade is a small island lying off the city of the Mile-
sians. After this the Ionians came up with their ships manned,
and with them the iEolians who inhabit Lesbos ; and they
formed their line in the following order : The Milesians them-
selves, 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,

8-1 1] ASSEMBLY OF THE IONIANS 32 1

with seventeen ships ; the Chians were next the Teians, with
a hundred ships ; next to these, the Erythrasans and the Pho-
caeans were drawn up, the Erythraeans furnishing eight ships,
and the Phocaeans three; next the Phocaeans were the Les-
bians with seventy ships ; last of all the Samians 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 Ionians. 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 num-
ber 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 hap-
pened at that time to 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 endeavour 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." Thus they 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 treach-
ery ; 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.

Afterward, when the Ionians had assembled at Lade, coun-
cils 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 critical x state, O Ionians,
whether we shall be freemen or slaves, and that too as run-

1 Literally, "on a razor's edge."
21

322 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [11-13

away slaves : now, then, if you are willing to undergo hard-
ships, 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 in-
trust 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." 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 prac-
tising the manoeuvre 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 con-
tinued to obey, and did what was ordered ; but on the follow-
ing day the Ionians, unaccustomed to such toil, and worn
down by hardships and the heat of the sun, spoke one to an-
other 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 guid-
ance of a presumptuous Phocaean, 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
it may, than be oppressed by the present. Come, then, let us
no longer obey him." Thus they spoke, and from that mo-
ment 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. The generals
of the Samians observing what was passing among the Ioni-
ans, and at the same time seeing great disorder among them,
thereupon accepted the proposal of j^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 lay-
ing hold of this pretext, as soon as they saw the Ionians re-
fusing to behave well they deemed it for their advantage to
preserve their own buildings, sacred and profane. This ^Eaces,

i3-i7] IONIAN FLEET DEFEATED 323

from whom the Samians received the proposal, was son of
Syloson, son of ^Eaces ; and being tyrant of Samos, had been
deprived of his government by Aristagoras the Milesian, as the
other tyrants of Ionia.

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 ^aces, and steered out of the line to Samos,
with the exception of eleven ships ; the captains of these stayed
and fought, refusing to obey their commanders ; and for this
action the commonwealth of the Samians conferred upon them
the honour 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 exam-
ple. Of those that persisted in the battle, the Chians were
most roughly handled, as they displayed signal proofs of
valour, and would not act as cowards. They contributed, as
has been before mentioned, one hundred ships, 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' line,
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. 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 terri-
tory, 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. Dionysius the
Phocaean, when he perceived that the affairs of the Ionians
were utterly ruined, having taken three of the enemies' ships,

324 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [17-21

sailed away, not indeed to Phocsea, 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 merchant-
men, and obtained great wealth, he sailed to Sicily ; and sally-
ing out from thence, he established himself as a pirate, attack-
ing none of the Grecians, but only the Carthaginians and
Tyrrhenians.

The Persians, when they had conquered the Ionians in the
sea-fight, besieging Miletus both by land and sea, and under-
mining the walls, and bringing up all kinds of military engines
against it, took it completely, in the sixth year after the re-
volt of Aristagoras ; and they reduced the city to slavery, so
that the event coincided with the oracle delivered concerning
Miletus. 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 Pyth-
ian uttered concerning the Milesians. The part relating to
the Argives I will mention when I come to that part of the
history ; the words she uttered relative to the Milesians, who
were not present, were as follows : " Then Miletus, contriver
of wicked deeds, thou shalt become a feast and a rich gift to
many : thy wives shall wash the feet of many long-haired mas-
ters, 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 history. Such
of the Milesians as were taken alive were afterward conveyed
to Susa; and King Darius, without having done them any
harm, settled them on that which is called the Red Sea, in the
city of Ampe, near which the Tigris, flowing by, falls into
the sea. Of the Milesian territory, the Persians themselves
retained the parts round the city, and the plain; the moun-
tainous parts they gave to the Carians of Pedasus to occupy.
When the Milesians suffered thus at the hands of the Per-
sians, the Sybarites, who inhabited Laos and Scydrus, hav-
ing been deprived of their country, did not show equal sym-
pathy. For when Sybaris 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

21-23] CAPTURE OF MILETUS 325

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 drachmas
for renewing the memory of their domestic misfortunes ; and
they gave order that henceforth no one should act this drama.
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 favour of the
Medes, and determined, on a consultation immediately after
the sea-fight, to sail away to a colony before the tyrant ^aces
should arrive in their country, and not by remaining become
slaves to the Medes and ^aces. 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 Ionians
there. This Cale Acte, as it is called, belongs to the Sicilians,
and is in that part of Sicily that faces the Tyrrhenians. Ac-
cordingly, when they invited them, the Samians alone of all
the Ionians set out, and with them such Milesians as had
escaped by flight. 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 em-
ployed 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 Zan-
claeans, who had already lost his city, and his brother Pytho-
genes, sent them away to the city of Inycum : after having con-
ferred with the Samians, and given and received oaths, he
betrayed the rest of the Zanclaeans ; 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 have for his share all that was in the country. Ac-
cordingly, having put in chains the greater part of the Zanc-
laeans, he treated them as slaves; and three hundred of the
principal citizens he delivered to the Samians to be put to

326 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [23-27

death ; the Samians, however, would not do this. Scythes,
King of the Zanclaeans, 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 men 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. After the sea-fight which took place off Mile-
tus, the Phoenicians, by order of the Persians, conveyed
yEaces, 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 sea-fight. 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.

While Histiaeus the Milesian was near Byzantium, inter-
cepting 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 en-
gaged 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, Histiaeus, with the Les-
bians, got the mastery of, setting out from Polichne of the
Chians. The deity is wont to give some previous warning
when any great calamities are about to befall any city or na-
tion, 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, only two of them 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 only one escaped. These warnings the deity
showed them beforehand. After this, the sea-fight following,
threw the city prostrate ; and after the sea-fight Histiaeus
with the Lesbians came upon them ; and as the Chians had
been much shattered, he easily reduced them to subjection.

28-31] DEATH OF HISTLEUS 327

From thence Histiaeus proceeded to attack Thasus with a large
body of Ionians and ^Eolians ; and while he was besieging
Thasus news came that the Phoenicians 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 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 Histiaeus himself
prisoner, and destroyed the greater part of his army.

Histiaeus was thus taken prisoner : When the Greeks were
fighting with the Persians at Malene, in the district of Atar-
neus, 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 be-
taken themselves to flight, Histiaeus, hoping that he should
not be put to death by the king for his present offence, con-
ceived 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 Per-
sian language, discovered himself to be Histiaeus the Milesian.
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, gov-
ernor 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 Histiaeus, they should inter it honourably, as the re-
mains of a man who had been a great benefactor to himself
and the Persians. Such was the fate of Histiaeus.

The naval force of the Persians having wintered near Mile-
tus, 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 net 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

328 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [31-35

also took the Ionian cities on the continent with the same
ease ; but they did not net the inhabitants, for that was im-
possible. Then the Persian generals did not belie the threats
which 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 cas-
trated 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. 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, Perin-
thus, and the fortified towns toward Thrace, and Selybrie, and
Byzantium. The Byzantians, however, and the Chalcedoni-
ans on the opposite side, did not wait the coming of the Phoe-
nician fleet; but having abandoned their country, went in-
ward to the Euxine, and there founded the city of Mesam-
bria. But the Phoenicians, having burned down the places
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 capitu-
lated with CEbares, son of Megabyzus, governor of Dascylium.
All the other cities of the Chersonese, except Cardia, the Phoe-
nicians subdued.

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 Do-
lonci, 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 hos-
pitality. 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 the road toward
Athens. At that time Pisistratus had the supreme power at

35-38] MILTIADES 329

Athens; but Miltiades, son of Cypselus, had considerable in-
fluence; he was of a family that maintained horses for the
chariot races, and v/as originally descended from ^Eacus and
JEgina, 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 enter-
tained by him, made known to him the whole oracle, and en-
treated him to obey the deity. Their words persuaded Milti-
ades 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 re-
quested of him. The Pythian having bade him do so, there-
upon 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 hun-
dred and twenty stades in length. 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 am-
bush, took him prisoner. But Miltiades was well known to
Croesus; Crcesus, therefore, having heard of this event, sent
and commanded the Lampsacenians to release Miltiades ; if
not, he threatened that he would destroy them like a pine
tree. The Lampsacenians being in uncertainty in their in-
terpretations 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 entirely; whereupon the Lampsa-
cenians, dreading the power of Crcesus, set Miltiades at lib-
erty. He accordingly escaped by means of Crcesus, and after-
ward died childless, having bequeathed the government and

330 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [38-41

his property to Stesagoras, son of Cimon, his brother by the
same mother. And when he was dead the Chersonesians sacri-
ficed to him, as is usual to a founder, and instituted eques-
trian 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 pretence was a deserter, but was in fact an enemy, and
that a very vehement one.

Stesagoras having died in that manner, the Pisistratidae
thereupon sent Miltiades, son of Cimon, and brother of Ste-
sagoras who had died, with one ship to the Chersonese, to as-
sume the government; they had also treated him with kind-
ness 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. Miltiades having arrived in the Chersonese,
kept himself at home under colour of honouring the memory
of his brother Stesagoras ; but the Chersonesians having heard
of this, the principal persons of all the cities assembled to-
gether 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 got possession of the Cher-
sonese, maintaining five hundred auxiliaries, and married
Hegesipyle, daughter of Olorus, King of the Thracians. This
Miltiades, son of Cimon, had lately arrived in the Chersonese ;
and after his arrival other difficulties, greater than the present,
befell him. For in the third year before these things he fled
from the Scythians ; for the Scythian nomads, 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 Scyth-
ians departed, and the Dolonci brought him back again.
These things happened in the third year before the present
affairs. Miltiades, having heard that the Phoenicians were at
Tenedos, loaded five triremes with the 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,

41-44] FIRST INVASION OF GREECE 331

thinking that they should obtain great favour for themselves,
because Miltiades had given an opinion to the Ionians advis-
ing them to comply with the Scythians, when the Scythians
requested them to loose the bridge and return to their own
country. But Darius, when the Phoenicians had taken Metio-
chus, son of Miltiades, up to him, did him no injury, but
many favours ; for he gave him a house and estate, and a Per-
sian wife, by whom he had children, who were reckoned
among the Persians. But Miltiades arrived at Athens from
Imbros.

During this year nothing more was done by the Persians
relative to the war with the Ionians ; on the contrary, the fol-
lowing things were done in this year which were advantageous
to the Ionians : Artaphernes, governor of Sardis, having sent
for deputies from the cities, compelled the Ionians to enter
into engagements among themselves, that they would submit
to legal decisions, and not commit depredations one upon an-
other. 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. In the begin-
ning 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 numer-
ous naval force : he was young in years, and had lately mar-
ried King Darius's daughter Artazostra. Mardonius, lead-
ing this army, when he arrived in Cilicia, having gone in
person on board ship, proceeded with the rest of the 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, estab-
lished democracies in the cities. Having done this, he hastened
to the Hellespont. And when a vast body of ships, and a nu-
merous land army was assembled, having crossed the Helles-
pont in ships, they marched through Europe and directed
their march against Eretria and Athens. These cities, in-
deed, were the pretext of the expedition ; but purposing to
subdue as many Grecian cities as they could, in the first place

332 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [44~47

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 of 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 en-
deavoured to double Mount Athos, but a violent and irre-
sistible 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 mon-
sters, some of them were seized and destroyed by these mon-
sters ; 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. 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 subjec-
tion. 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.

In the second year after these events, the Thasians having
been accused by their neighbours of designing a revolt, Darius
sent a messenger and commanded them to demolish their
walls, and to transport their ships to Abdera. For the Tha-
sians, having been besieged by Histiaeus the Milesian, and
having large revenues, applied their wealth 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. 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.

47-51] TROUBLE WITH THE iEGINET^E 333

These Phoenician mines are in that part of Thasus between
a place called yEnyra and Ccenyra, opposite Samothrace: a
large mountain has been thrown upside down in the search.
This, then, is of such a description. The Thasians, in obedi-
ence to the king, both demolished their walls and transported
all their ships to Abdera.

After this Darius made trial of what were the intentions of
the Greeks, whether to make war with him or to deliver them-
selves up. He therefore despatched heralds, appointing dif-
ferent 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 despatched other heralds
to the tributary cities on the coast, with orders to build ships
of war and transports for horses. They then set about prepar-
ing these things ; and to the heralds who came to Greece
many of the inhabitants of the continent gave what the Per-
sian 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 ^Eginetae : but when
they had done so, the Athenians forthwith threatened them,
thinking that the ^Eginetse had given earth and water out of
ill will toward themselves, in order that they might make
war on them in conjunction with the Persians : they therefore
gladly laid hold of the pretext, and, going to Sparta, accused
the ^Eginetae of what they had done, as betraying Greece. On
this accusation Cleomenes, son of Anaxandrides, who was
then King of the Spartans, crossed over to JEg'ma, intending
to seize the most culpable of the ^ginetae; but when he at-
tempted to seize them, others of the ^Eginetae opposed him,
and among them especially Crius, son of Polycritus, who said
that he should not carry off any one of the ^ginetae with im-
punity; 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 ^gina, asked Crius what his
name was ; and he told him the truth ; whereupon Cleomenes
said to him, " Now then tip your horns with brass, O Crius,1
as you will have to contend with great misfortunes." Mean-
while 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 re-
spect inferior, for they were sprung from the same origin,
1 Crius signifies "a ram."

334 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [51-53

but somehow the family of Eurysthenes was more honoured,
on account of seniority.

For the Lacedaemonians, 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 Aris-
todemus. 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 bore twins ; and that Aris-
todemus, having looked on the children, died of disease : that
the Lacedaemonians of that day resolved, according to cus-
tom, 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 dis-
tinguish. 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 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 hon-
our the eldest most : this answer the Pythian gave them ; but
the Lacedaemonians, 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. There-
upon the Spartans, in pursuance of the suggestion of the Mes-
senian, 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
honoured 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. The Lacedae-
monians alone of the Greeks give this account: but I now

53-57] THE KINGS OF SPARTA 335

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 Her-
cules. 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. 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 that the progenitors of Acrisius, being
in no way related to Perseus, were Egyptians, as the Greeks
also say. 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.

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 what-
ever 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 ex-
peditions, 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. 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 on the 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 ;
and it is their prerogative to appoint such citizens as they
please to be Proxeni ; * and also to choose each two Pythii.

1 Officers appointed to receive and entertain foreign ambassadors.

336 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [57-59

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
everything is given them ; and when invited to a banquet by
private persons, they are honoured 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 de-
termine the following matters only : With respect to a virgin
heiress, who is to marry her, if her 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. 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 neg-
lect to do so, heavy fines are imposed on them. The Lace-
daemonians have the same custom with regard to the deaths
of their kings, as the barbarians in Asia ; for most of the bar-
barians 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 Lacedaemon,
besides the Spartans, a certain number of the neighbouring
inhabitants should of necessity attend the funeral : when, ac-
cordingly, 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 fore-
heads 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. 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

59-61] CLEOMENES AND DEMARATUS 337

Spartan to the king or the public ; and so among the Persians,
a newly appointed king remits to all the cities the arrears of
tribute then due. In this respect also the Lacedaemonians
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 voice apply
themselves to this profession and exclude others ; but they
continue to practise it after their fathers. These things, then,
are so.

At that time, therefore, while Cleomenes was at yEgina,
and co-operating for the common good of Greece, Demaratus
accused him ; not so much caring for the /Eginetse as moved
by envy and hatred. But Cleomenes, having returned from
/Egina, formed a plan to deprive Demaratus of the sover-
eignty, getting a handle against him by means of the follow-
ing 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
friend, who was a Spartan, to whom he was more attached
than to any other of the citizens. The wife of this man hap-
pened to be by far the most beautiful of all the women in
Sparta, and this, moreover, having become the most beauti-
ful 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, consider-
ing 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 de-
formity. And it is related that one day, as the nurse was
going out of the temple, a woman appeared to her, and hav-
ing appeared, asked what she was carrying in her arms ; and
she answered that she was carrying an infant; whereupon
she bade 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 anx-
ious 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 of Sparta in beauty; and from
that day her appearance began to change. When she reached
22

338 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI. ERATO [61-65

the age for marriage, Agetus, son of Alcides, married her;
this, then, was the friend of Ariston. Now love for this
woman excited Ariston ; he therefore had recourse to the fol-
lowing stratagem : He promised he 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 appre-
hension 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 anything
but this only ; nevertheless, being compelled by his oath, and
circumvented by deceit, he suffered him to take her away
with him. 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 es-
teemed the most illustrious of all the kings that had ever
reigned in Sparta, might have a son. For this reason the
name of Demaratus x was given to him. 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 sover-
eignty, for Demaratus had incurred the hatred of Cleomenes,
because he had before led away the army from Eleusis, and
now more particularly when Cleomenes had crossed over
against those yEginetae, who were inclined to Medism. Cle-
omenes, 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 he should ac-
company him against the ^ginetae. Leutychides had become
1 Demaratus means " granted to the prayers of the people."

65-67] DEMARATUS DEPOSED 339

an enemy to Demaratus, chiefly for this reason. When Leu-
tychides was affianced to Percalus, daughter of Chilon, son
of Demarmenes, Demaratus, having plotted against him, dis-
appointed Leutychides of his marriage ; having himself an-
ticipated 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, Leu-
tychides 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 serv-
ant 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, main-
tained 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. At length, the matter coming to trial, 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, Cle-
omenes thereupon gained over one Cobon, son of Aristo-
phantus, 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 per-
sons 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.

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 from the sovereignty, he was chosen to and
held the office of magistrate. The Gymnopaediae * were being
celebrated; and, when Demaratus was looking on, Leuty-
chides, who had been appointed king in his place, sent a serv-
ant and asked him, by way of ridicule and mockery, what
kind of thing it was to be a magistrate after having been a
king. 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 beginning either of infinite
calamity or infinite prosperity to the Lacedaemonians. Hav-
ing spoken thus and covered his face, he went out of the thea-

1 An annual festival at Sparta, at which boys danced naked and per-
formed various athletic exercises.

340 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [67-69

tre to his own house ; and having immediately made prepara-
tion, he sacrificed an ox to Jupiter, and, having sacrificed,
called for his mother. When his mother came, he placed
part of the entrails in her hands, and supplicated her, speak-
ing as follows : " Mother, I beseech you, calling to witness
both the rest of the gods and this Hercaean Jupiter, to tell me
the truth, who is in reality my father? For Leutychides af-
firmed at 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, there-
fore, by the gods to speak the truth : for even if you have done
anything 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. 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 ; where-
upon 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
situated 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 con-
ceived you in that night. 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 at seven, and not all complete ten months.
But I bore you, my son, at seven months : and Ariston him-
self 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

69-73] DEMARATUS FLEES TO DARIUS 341

feeders of asses may their wives bring forth children to Leu-
tychides, and such as spread such reports." Thus she spoke.
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 Lace-
daemonians, 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 honour-
ably, 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 Olym-
pic victory with a four-horsed chariot, he procured this hon-
our for his native city, being the only one of all the kings
of Sparta who had done this.

Leutychides, son of Menares, when Demaratus was de-
posed, succeeded to the kingdom. A son was born to him
named Zeuxidemus, whom some of the Spartans called Cynis-
cus. This Zeuxidemus was never King of Sparta, for he
died before Leutychides, leaving a son, Archidamus. Leu-
tychides 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,
Lampito ; her, Archidamus, son of Zeuxidemus, married, Leu-
tychides having bestowed her upon him. However, Leuty-
chides did not grow old in Sparta, but made the following
reparation, as it were, to Demaratus : He commanded the
Lacedaemonian 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.

When Cleomenes had succeeded in his design against
Demaratus, he immediately took Leutychides with him, and
went against the ^Eginetae, bearing a deep grudge against
them on account of the insult he had received. The ^ginetae
accordingly thought proper to make no further resistance : as
both kings were coming against them, they therefore, having

342 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [73-76

selected ten of the JEgmetze, 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
iEginetae. After this, fear of the Spartans seized upon Cle-
omenes, 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 de-
signs, 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 sur-
rounds the hollow. Nonacris, in which this fountain happens
to be, is a city of Arcadia near Pheneum. The Lacedaemoni-
ans, 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 crazed ;
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 relatives confined him
in wooden fetters : but he 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 length-
wise, 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 ; * but as the Argives say, because he,
having called out those Argives who had fled from battle,
from their sacred precincts of Argus, he massacred them,
and holding the grove itself in contempt, set it on fire.

For when Cleomenes consulted the oracle at Delphi, an

1 Ceres and Proserpine.

76-79] DEATH OF CLEOMENES 343

answer was given him that he should take Argus. 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, re-
appears in Argos, and from that place this water is, by the
Argives, called Erasinus : Cleomenes, therefore, having ar-
rived at this river, offered sacrifice to it; but as the victims
by no means gave a favourable 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. 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 Lacedae-
monians, leaving no great space between the two armies.
There, then, they were not afraid of coming to a pitched bat-
tle, but lest they should be taken by stratagem ; for it was to
this event the oracle had reference, which the Pythian pro-
nounced in common to them and the Milesians, running thus :
" When the female, having conquered the male, shall drive
him out, and obtain 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 Spar-
tan herald gave any signal to the Lacedaemonians, the Argives
did the same. 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 Lacedaemonians,
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.
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

344 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [79-83

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. 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." After this Cleomenes sent away the greater
part of his army to Sparta; and he himself, taking a thou-
sand chosen men with him, went to offer sacrifice at the Tem-
ple 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. 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 favour or obstruct him ; and that while he was sacri-
ficing favourably 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 everything 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. 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

83-85] MADNESS OF CLEOMENES 345

Argos, expelled the slaves ; and the slaves, being driven out,
took Tiryns by assault. For a time concord subsisted be-
tween 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 cir-
cumstance there was war between them for a long time, till
at last the Argives with difficulty got the upper hand.

Now the Argives say that on this account Cleomenes be-
came mad and perished miserably. But the Spartans them-
selves say that Cleomenes became mad from no divine influ-
ence, but that by associating with the Scythians he became
a drinker of unmixed wine, and from that cause became mad.
For that the Scythian nomads, since Darius had invaded their
country, were afterward desirous to take vengeance on him,
and having sent to Sparta to make an alliance, and agree that
the Scythians themselves should endeavour to make an irrup-
tion into Media near the river Phasis, and to urge the Spar-
tans 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, asso-
ciated 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 be-
came mad from this cause. And from that time, as they them-
selves 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.

When the yEginetse were informed of the death of Cle-
omenes, they sent ambassadors to Sparta to complain loudly
against Leutychides, on account of the hostages detained at
Athens: and the Lacedaemonians, having assembled a court
of judicature, determined that the /Eginetae had been very
much injured by Leutychides, and condemned him to be de-
livered up and taken to /Egina, in the place of the men who
were detained at Athens. But when the /Eginetae were about
to take Leutychides away, Theasides, son of Leoprepes, an
eminent man in Sparta, said to them : " Men of /Egina, 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 coun-
try a calamity which will utterly destroy you." The /Eginetae
having heard this, refrained from taking him away ; and came
to this agreement, that Leutychides should accompany them

346 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [85-86

to Athens, and restore the men to the vEginetae. When Leu-
tychides, on his arrival at Athens, demanded back the pledges,
the Athenians had recourse to evasion, 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, Leuty-
chides addressed them as follows : " O Athenians, do which-
ever you yourselves wish ; for if you deliver them up, you
will do what is just, 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 state-
ment : ' 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 Ionia is con-
tinually 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.' The
stranger who came from Miletus spoke thus. And 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 re-
member 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 everything 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.' The Milesians,
accordingly, considering it a great calamity, departed, as

86-89] ATHENIANS ATTACK ^GINA 347

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 words : ' Glaucus, son of Epi-
cydes, 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 name-
less son of Perjury, who has neither hands nor feet; he pur-
sues 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, en-
treated the god to pardon the words he had spoken. But the
Pythian said that to tempt the god, and to commit the crime,
were the same thing. Glaucus, therefore, having sent for the
Milesian strangers, restored to them the money. With what
design this story has been told you, O Athenians, shall now be
mentioned. 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.

But the ^ginetae, before they received punishment for the
injuries they had done to the Athenians, to gratify the The-
bans, 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 am-
buscade and took the ship Theoris,1 filled with the principal
Athenians ; and having taken the men, they put them in
chains. The Athenians, having been treated thus by the
^Eginetae, no longer delayed to devise all sorts of plans against
them. Now there was in iEgina an eminent man named Nico-
dromus, son of Cncethus ; he being incensed against the
^Eginetse on account of his former banishment from the island,
and now hearing that the Athenians were preparing to do a
mischief to the ^Eginetse, entered into an agreement with the
Athenians for the betrayal of ^gina, mentioning on what day
he would make the attempt, and on what it would be neces-
sary for them to come to his assistance. After this Nico-
dromus, according to his agreement with the Athenians, seized
that which is called the old town. The Athenians, however,

1 The Theoris was a vessel which was sent every year to Delos to offer
sacrifice to Apollo.

348 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [89-92

did not arrive at the proper time, for they happened not to
have a sufficient number of ships to engage with the ^Eginetse ;
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 drachmae 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 ^gina, and arrived
one day after that agreed upon. Nicodromus, when the Athe-
nians did not arrive at the proper time, embarked on ship-
board and made his escape from iEgina ; and others of the
^Eginetse accompanied him, to whom the Athenians gave
Sunium for a habitation ; and they, sallying from thence, plun-
dered the iEginetae in the island. /This, however, happened
subsequently. In the meantime the most wealthy of the
^Eginetae 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 un-
able 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 peo-
ple 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. Thus, then, the
^Eginetse 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 succour them, but complained
that the ships of the ^ginetse, having been forcibly seized
by Cleomenes, had touched on the territory of Argos, and the
crews had disembarked with the Lacedaemonians. Some men
had also disembarked from Sicyonian ships in the same in-
vasion ; 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 ^Eginetae would not own themselves
in the wrong, and were very obstinate. On this account,

92-96] INVASION OF GREECE 349

therefore, none of the Argives were sent by the common-
wealth to assist them; but, on their request, volunteers went
to the number of a thousand : a general, whose name was
Eurybates, and who had practised for the pentathlon, led
them : the greater number of these never returned home, but
were slain by the Athenians in JEg'ma.. The general, Eury-
bates, engaging in single combat, killed three several antag-
onists in that manner, but was slain by the fourth, Sophanes
of Decelea. The ^Eginetse, however, having attacked the fleet
of the Athenians, when they were in disorder, obtained a vic-
tory, and took four of their ships with the men on board.

War was accordingly kindled between the Athenians and
^Eginetse. But the Persian pursued his own design, for the
servant continually reminded him to remember the Athenians,
and the Pisistratidae 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 suc-
ceeded ill in his expedition ; and having appointed other gen-
erals, he sent them against Eretria and Athens — namely,
Datis, who was a Mede by birth, and Artaphernes, son of
Artaphernes, his own nephew; and he despatched them with
strict orders, having enslaved Athens and Eretria, to bring
the bondsmen into his presence. 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. Having put the horses
on board of these, and having embarked the land forces in the
ships, they sailed for Ionia with six hundred triremes. From
thence they did not steer their ships along the continent di-
rect 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. When, being carried out of the Icarian Sea, they
arrived off Naxos (for the Persians, bearing in mind what
had formerly happened, 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

35o HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [96-99

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.

While they were doing this, the Delians also, abandoning
Delos, fled to Tenos ; but as the fleet was sailing down to-
ward 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 unfavourable 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 to 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. Datis, accordingly, having done this, sailed with the army
first against Eretria, taking with him both Ionians and iEoli-
ans. 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 generations,
more disasters befell Greece than during the twenty genera-
tions 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 un-
moved." And in the Grecian language these names 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.

The barbarians, after 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 neighbour-
ing cities, meaning Eretria and Athens, they thereupon be-
1 Apollo and Diana.

99-103] PERSIANS SUBDUE ERETRIA 351

sieged them, and ravaged their country, until at last the Carys-
tians also submitted to the will of the Persians. The Ere-
trians, 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 auxil-
iaries those four thousand men to whom had been allotted the
territory of the horse-feeding Chalcidians. But the councils
of the Eretrians were not at all sound : they sent for the Athe-
nians, indeed, but held divided opinions ; for some of them
proposed to abandon the city, and to retire to the fastnesses
of Eubcea; but others of them, hoping that they should de-
rive gain to themselves from the Persians, were planning to
betray their country. But ^Eschines, 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 iEschines, and having
crossed over to Oropus, saved themselves. In the meantime
the Persians, sailing on, directed their ships' course to Tamy-
nae, Chcerea, and ^gilia, of the Eretrian territory; and hav-
ing taken possession of these places, they immediately dis-
embarked 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 pre-
vailed, 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 Alci-
machus, and Philargus, son of Cyneus, men of rank among
the citizens, betrayed the city to the Persians. And 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 inhab-
itants, in obedience to the commands of Darius.
»G^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. 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, son of Stesagoras, had been banished from Athens
by Pisistratus, son of Hippocrates. During his exile it was

352 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [103-105

his good fortune to obtain the Olympic prize in the four-
horse chariot race, and having gained this victory, he trans-
ferred the honour to Miltiades, his brother by the same
mother; and afterward, in the next Olympiad, being victori-
ous with the same mares, he permitted Pisistratus to be pro-
claimed victor; and having conceded the victory to him, he
returned home under terms. And after he had gained an-
other Olympic prize with these same mares, it happened that
he died by the hands of the sons of Pisistratus, when Pisistra-
tus himself was no longer alive : they slew him near the Pry-
taneum, 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, the elder of the sons of Cimon, was at that time
being educated by his paternal uncle Miltiades, in the Cher-
sonese, but the younger by Cimon himself at Athens, and he
had the name of Miltiades, from Miltiades, the founder of
the Chersonese. 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 ex-
ceedingly 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 own 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.

' And first, while the generals were yet in the city, they
despatched 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 Par-
thenion, above Tegea ; and Pan, calling out the name of Phi-
dippides, bade him ask the Athenians why they paid no at-
tention 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 pros-
perous 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

105-108] MARATHON 353

the torch race. 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 magis-
trates, 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 in-
deed 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 ; 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.

Meanwhile Hippias, son of Pisistratus, had led the bar-
barians to Marathon, having the preceding night seen the
following vision in his sleep : Hippias fancied that he lay with
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 ^gilia ; and next he moored the
ships as they came to Marathon, and drew up the barbarians
as they disembarked on land : and as he was busied in doing
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 endeavour to find it, but when the
tooth could nowhere be found, he drew a deep sigh, and said
to the bystanders : " 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.

When the Athenians were drawn up in a place sacred to
Hercules, the Plataeans 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 Anax-
andrides, and to the Lacedaemonians who happened to be
23

354 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [108-109

present. They would not receive them, but addressed them
as follows : " We live at too great a distance, and such assist-
ance would be of little value to you ; for you would often be
enslaved before any of us could be informed of it. We ad-
vise you, therefore, to give yourselves up to the Athenians,
who are your neighbours, and are not backward in assisting."
The Lacedaemonians gave this advice, not so much from any
good-will to the Plataeans, as from a desire that the Athenians
might be subject to toil, by being set at variance with the
Boeotians. The Lacedaemonians, accordingly, gave this ad-
vice 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,
marched against the Plataeans, and the Athenians went to
assist ; and as they were about to engage in battle, the Corin-
thians 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 Boeotians. The Corinthians,
having made this decision, returned home ; but the Boeotians
attacked the Athenians as they were departing, and 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 Hysiae to be the boundary between the The-
bans and Plataeans. The Plataeans, therefore, gave themselves
up to the Athenians in the manner above described; and at
that time came to assist them at Marathon.

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 Athe-
nians, for the Athenians in ancient times gave the minister
of war an equal vote with the generals, and at that time Cal-
limachus 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

I09-112] MARATHON 355

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 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 in-
duce them to a compliance with the Medes. But if we engage
before any dastardly thought arises in the minds of some of
the Athenians, if the gods are impartial, we shall be able to
get the better in the engagement. All these things, there-
fore, 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." Mil-
tiades, by these words, gained over Callimachus, and the opin-
ion 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 ac-
cepted it, would not come to an engagement before his own
turn to command came.

When it came round to his turn, then the Athenians 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 reck-
oned, adjoining one another; but the Platseans 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 Athe-
nian herald prays, saying, May blessings attend both the
Athenians and the Plataeans ! " At that time, when the Athe-
nians 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 weak-
est ; but each wing was strong in numbers. When they were
thus drawn out, and the victims were favourable, thereupon
the Athenians, as soon as they were ordered to charge, ad-
vanced against the barbarians in double-quick time, and the

356 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [112-116

space between them was not less than eight stades. But the
Persians, seeing them charging at full speed, prepared to re-
ceive them ; and they imputed madness to them, and that
utterly destructive, when they saw that they were few in num-
ber, 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. The
battle at Marathon lasted a long time; and in the middle of
the line, where the Persians themselves and the Sacae were
arrayed, the barbarians were victorious ; in this part, then,
the barbarians conquered, and having broken the line, pur-
sued to the interior; but in both wings the Athenians and
the Plataeans 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 that
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.

And in the first place, in this battle the war minister, Cal-
limachus, 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. In this manner the Athenians made themselves
masters of seven ships : but with the rest the barbarians row-
ing 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 Alcmseonidae ; for that they,
having agreed with the Persians, held up a shield to them
when they were on board their ships. They then sailed round
Sunium. But the Athenians marched with all speed to the
assistance of the city, and were beforehand in reaching it be-
fore the barbarians arrived ; and having come from the pre-
cinct of Hercules at Marathon, they took up their station in
another precinct of Hercules at Cynosarges : but the bar-
barians, having laid to with their fleet off Phalerum, for this

116-119] MARATHON 357

was at that time the port of the Athenians, having anchorecjf / /
their ships there for a time, they sailed away for Asia^clry/
this battle at Marathon there died of the barbarians about'''
sixty-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 Cu-
phagoras, while fighting in the medley, and behaving val-
iantly, 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.

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 taken ; 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. 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, harboured
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 sta-
tion 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 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 as-

358 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [i 19-123

sumes three different forms : the asphalt and the salt immedi-
ately become solid, but the oil they collect, and the Persians
call it rhadinace ; it is black and emits a strong odour. 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. 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 achieve-
ment, they returned home.

It is a marvel to me, and I can not credit the report, that
the Alcmaeonidae 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 Phoenip-
pus, 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 everything else that was most
hostile to him. This Callias deserves to have frequent men-
tion 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 distin-
guished 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 magnificent
present, and gratified their wishes ; for he gave each to that
man of all the Athenians whom she wished to select for her
own husband. And the Alcmseonidae 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 Pisistratidse abandoned the tyranny.
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 Pisis-
tratidse, but did not any the more put an end to the tyranny
of the rest; whereas the Alcmseonidae manifestly liberated

123-126] THE ALCM^ONID^E 359

their country, if indeed they were the persons who persuaded
the Pythian to enjoin the Lacedaemonians to liberate Athens,
as I have already shown. 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 honoured : so that it is not consistent with reason
that a shield was held up by them from 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
further than this.

The Alcmaeonidae were even from a very early period dis-
tinguished at Athens; for through Alcmason, and again
through Megacles, they became very distinguished. For, in
the first place, Alcmseon, son of Megacles, was coadjutor to
the Lydians from Sardis, who came on the part of Croesus to
consult the oracle at Delphi, 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 from Sardis ; and when he arrived, presented him with
so much gold as he could carry away at once on his own per-
son. Alcmaeon, for the purpose of such a present, had re-
course 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 his boots with difficulty, and
resembling anything rather than a man ; for his mouth was
stuffed, and he was all over swollen. Croesus, when he saw
him, burst into laughter; and he gave him all that, and, be-
sides, presented him with other things not of less value than
it. Thus this family became extremely rich ; and this Ale-
mason, having by these means bred horses, won the prize in
the Olympic games. In the second generation after, Clis-
thenes, 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

360 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [126-128

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 them-
selves and their country came as suitors ; and Clisthenes, hav-
ing made a racecourse and palaestra for them, kept it for this
very purpose. 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 Epi-
damnian ; 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 ^Etolian 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 re-
moved the Elean empires, 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 Paeos, Laphanes, son of Euphorion, who, as the
story is told in Arcadia, received the Dioscuri in his house,
and after that entertained all men ; and an Elean, Onomastus,
son of Agaeus : these accordingly came from the Pelopon-
nesus itself. From Athens there came Megacles, son of Alc-
maeon, the same who had visited Croesus, and another, Hippo-
elides, 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 Eubcea. And
from Thessaly there came, of the Scopades, Diactorides, a
Cranonian ; and from the Molossi, Alcon. So many were the
suitors. When they had arrived on the appointed day, Clis-
thenes 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 to-
gether, 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 some-
how of all the suitors those that had come from Athens pleased

128-131] THE ALCMy£ONID,E 361

him most, and of these Hippoclides, son of Tisander, was pre-
ferred both on account of his manly qualities and because he
was distantly related to the Cypselidae in Corinth. 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 Sicy-
onians ; and when they had concluded the feast, the suitors
had a contest about music, and any subject proposed for con-
versation. 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 awhile, 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 ges-
ticulated with his legs. But Clisthenes, when he danced the
first and second time, revolted from the thought of having
Hippoclides for a son-in-law, on account of his dancing and
want of decorum, yet restrained himself, not wishing to burst
out 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 Hip-
poclides answered, " No matter to Hippoclides." Hence this
answer became a proverb. Clisthenes, having commanded
silence, thus addressed the assembled company : " Gentle-
men, 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 rejecting 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 be-
trothal, the marriage was celebrated by Clisthenes. This hap-
pened respecting the decision between the suitors, and thus
the Alcmaeonidae became celebrated throughout Greece. From
this marriage sprang Clisthenes, who established the tribes
and a democracy among the Athenians, taking his name from
his maternal grandfather the Sicyonian ; he was born to Mega-
cles, as was also Hippocrates : and from Hippocrates, another

362 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [i3»-i34

Megacles, and another Agarista, who took her name from
Agarista, daughter of Clisthenes; she having married Xan-
thippus, 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.

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, with-
out 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; speak-
ing thus, he asked for the ships ; and the Athenians, elated by
these hopes, granted them. Miltiades, accordingly, having
taken with him the troops, sailed against Paros, alleging as
a pretext that the Parians had first begun hostilities by send-
ing a trireme with the Persians 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. Up to this point of the story all the Greeks
agree; but after this the Parians themselves say that it hap-
pened as follows : That when Miltiades was in a state of per-
plexity 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 sug-
gest. 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

134-137] DEATH OF MILTIADES 363

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 leap-
ing over the fence his thigh was dislocated ; others say that
he hurt his knee. 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 in-
formed that Timo, the priestess of the goddesses, had directed
Miltiades, and desiring to punish her for so doing, sent depu-
ties 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, 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. When Miltiades
returned from Paros, the Athenians were loud in their com-
plaints against him, both all others, and especially Xanthip-
pus, 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 per-
son, made no defence; for he was unable, as his thigh had
begun to mortify. But while he lay on a couch, his friends
made a defence 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 favouring him as to acquit him of the capital offence,
and having fined him fifty talents for the injury he had done,
Miltiades soon afterward ended his life by the putrefaction
and mortification of his thigh. His son Cimon paid the fifty
talents.

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 un-
justly (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
about the Acropolis ; when the Athenians saw this well culti-
vated, which was before barren and of no value, jealousy and

364 HERODOTUS— BOOK VI, ERATO [137-139

a desire of the land took possession of them, and so the Athe-
nians drove them out, without alleging any other pretence
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 women went there, the
Pelasgians used, out of insolence and contempt, to offer vio-
lence 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, with-
drawing, possessed themselves of other places, and among
them of Lemnos. Hecataeus has given the former account,
and the Athenians give the latter. 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 fifty-oared galleys and laid an ambus-
cade 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 sup-
plied 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 Pelas-
gians, observing this, consulted together, and, on considera-
tion, considerable alarm came over them as to what these boys
would do when they were grown up, if they already deter-
mined to assist each other against the sons of their lawful
wives, and even now endeavoured to rule over them. There-
upon 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 Thoas, killed their own husbands, all enormous actions are
wont to be called Lemnian throughout Greece. But when the

139-14°] SUBJUGATION OF LEMNOS 365

Pelasgians had murdered their own children and women, nei-
ther did their land yield fruit, nor were their wives and flocks
equally prolific as before ; being, therefore, afflicted by famine
and childlessness, they sent to Delphi to seek for some deliv-
erance from their 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 coun-
try 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 impos-
sible the thing should happen, because Attica lies far to the
south of Lemnos. 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 Elaeus, on the Hellespont, to Lem-
nos, required the Pelasgians to quit the island, reminding
them of the oracle, which the Pelasgians expected could never
be accomplished. The Hephsestians accordingly obeyed ; but
the Myrinaeans, not acknowledging the Chersonese to be At-
tica, 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 messen-
gers to the several cities, he enjoined them to prepare an army,
imposing on each a much greater number than they had fur-
nished 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 ; where-
upon Darius only became more eager to march against both.
When Darius was preparing for his expeditions against Egypt
and Athens, a violent dissension arose between his sons con-
cerning 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 born afterward, Xerxes :
and these two not being of the same mother, were at variance.
Artabazanes urged 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 Per-
sians. 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, and having imposed on himself a voluntary exile from

366

3-6] DEATH OF DARIUS 367

Lacedaemon. This man, having heard of the difference be-
tween 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 king, and
was possessed of the empire of the Persians ; whereas Arta-
bazanes was born to Darius while he was yet a private per-
son; wherefore it was not reasonable or just that any other
should possess that dignity in preference to himself, since in
Sparta also, Demaratus continued to suggest, this custom pre-
vailed, 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 sug-
gestion of Demaratus, Darius, 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. 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.

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 Per-
sians, should go unpunished for what they have done. How-
ever, 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 reputa-
tion 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 beauti-
ful country, and produced all kinds of cultivated trees, and
was very fertile, and worthy to be possessed by the king alone
of all mortals. 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 favourably assisted

368 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [6-8

him in persuading Xerxes. In the first place, messengers
coming from Thessaly on the part of the Aleuadae, invited
the king, with earnest importunity, to invade Greece: these
Aleuadae 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 Aleuadae, still more eagerly pressed
him, having with them Onomacritus, an Athenian, a sooth-
sayer and dispenser of the oracles of Musaeus. For they went
up to Susa, having first reconciled their former enmity with
him. 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 Musaeus, one importing that the islands lying off
Lemnos would disappear beneath the sea: wherefore Hip-
parchus 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 were among them any that
portended misfortune to the barbarians, of these he made no
mention ; but selecting such as were most favourable, he said
it was fated that the Hellespont should be bridged over by a
Persian, describing the march. Thus he continually assailed *
the king, rehearsing oracles, as did the Pisistratidae and Aleu-
adae, by declaring their opinions. When Xerxes was per-
suaded 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 re-
duced all Egypt to a worse state of servitude than it had been
under Darius, he committed the government to Achaemenes,
his own brother, and son of Darius. Some time after, Inarus,
son of Psammitichus, a Libyan, slew Achaemenes, to whom
the government of Egypt was committed.

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 : " Men of Persia, I shall not be the first to intro-
duce this custom among you, but shall adopt it, having re-
ceived 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 Asty-
ages : but the deity thus leads the way, and to us who follow
1 Or "conducted himself."

8] XERXES ADDRESSES THE PERSIANS 369

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, have carefully consid-
ered in what way I may not fall short of my predecessors
in this honour, nor acquire less additional power for 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 pos-
sess ; 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. I in-
tend 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 injus-
tice against my father and me. First of all having come to
Sardis, 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. 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 sub-
due them, and their neighbours, who inhabit the country of
Pelops the Phrygian, we shall make the Persian territory co-
extensive with the air of heaven ; nor will the sun look down
upon any land that borders on ours ; but I, with your assist-
ance, 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. 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 ac-
counted most honourable in our country. But that I may
24

370 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [8-9

not appear to follow my own counsel only, I lay the matter
before you, bidding any one of you who wishes to declare his
opinion." Having said this, he ceased.

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 also, 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
Sacse, 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? 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 our ter-
ritories, and are called Ionians, ^Eolians, 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 reach-
ing Athens itself, no one opposed me in battle. 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 de-
stroyed. Whereas, being of the same language, they ought,
by the intervention of heralds and ambassadors, 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.
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 de-
ceived 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 noth-

9-io] ADVICE OF ARTABANUS 37 1

ing is accomplished of its own self, but all things are achieved
by men through endeavours." Mardonius, having thus
smoothed over the opinion of Xerxes, ceased to speak.

The rest of the Persians remaining silent, not daring to de-
clare an opinion contrary to the one proposed, Artabanus, son
of Hystaspes, being uncle to Xerxes, and relying on this,
spoke as follows : " O king, unless opinions opposite to each
other are spoken, it is impossible to choose the better, but it
becomes necessary to adopt that which has been advanced ;
whereas, when various opinions have been given, it is pos-
sible: 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, a people who
have no city in any part of their territory; but he, hoping to
subdue the Scythian nomads, heeded not my advice, and hav-
ing led an army against them, returned with the loss of many
brave men of his army. But you, O king, are about to make
war on 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. You say
that, having thrown a bridge over the Hellespont, you will
march an army through Europe into 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 Arta-
phernes. 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. 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 passage over the Ister
had been intrusted, to break up the bridge : and if, at that
time, Histiaeus, tyrant of Miletus, had assented to the opin-
ion of the other tyrants, and had not opposed it, the power
of the Persians would have been utterly ruined. It is dread-
ful even to hear it said that the whole power of the king de-
pended on a single man. 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,

372 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [10

whenever it shall seem fit to you, having considered with
yourself, proclaim what appears to you to be most advan-
tageous. For to deliberate well, I find is the greatest gain.
For if the result prove unfortunate, the matter has, neverthe-
less, been well deliberated on, but our deliberation is de-
feated by fortune; but he who has deliberated badly, if for-
tune attend him, has met with a success he had no right to
expect, but has, nevertheless, formed bad plans. Do you see
how the deity strikes with his thunder the tallest animals, and
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 everything that is too highly ex-
alted. Thus, even a large army is often defeated by a small
one, in such 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 suf-
fer any one but himself to have high thoughts. 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. But
do you, Mardonius, son of Gobryas, cease to speak vain words
of the Grecians, who do not deserve to be lightly spoken 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 may it not so be. For calumny
is the worst of evils : in it there are two who commit injus-
tice, and one who is injured : for he who calumniates another,
acts unjustly by accusing one that is not 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, being calumniated by the one, and by the
other deemed to be base. 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 se-
lected 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 affirm that some of those who are left in this country

IO-I2] XERXES' DREAM 373

will hear that Mardonius, having brought some great dis-
aster upon the Persians, and being torn in pieces by dogs
and birds, either in the territory of the Athenians or in that
of the Lacedaemonians, if not sooner on his march, has dis-
covered against what sort of men you now persuade the king
to make war."

Artabanus thus spoke, but Xerxes, inflamed with anger,
answered as follows : " Artabanus, you are my father's broth-
er; 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 Achaemenes,
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 to
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 honour-
able for us, who have first 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."

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, O 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

374 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [12-16

words, flew away. 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, O 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 per-
son 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 re-
main quiet." The Persians, when they heard this, being trans-
ported with joy, did him homage. When night came, the
same dream, again standing by Xerxes as he slept, said : " Son
of Darius, you have then openly renounced, in the pres-
ence 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 im-
mediately undertake this expedition, this will be the conse-
quence to you : as you have become great and powerful in
a short time, so you shall become low again in an equally
short space." 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 meas-
ures 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 van-
ished, 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." 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 : " I deem it an equal merit, O king, to form good
plans, and to be willing to yield to one who gives good ad-

I6-I7] ARTABANUS SEES THE VISION 375

vice; 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 re-
proaches 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. 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 enter-
prise. 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 commonly hover around men, respecting things which
one has thought of during the day ; and we, during the pre-
ceding days, have been very much busied about this expedi-
tion. If, however, this is not such as I judge, but has some-
thing divine in it, you have correctly summed up the whole
in few words ; then let it appear and give the same injunc-
tion 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 to 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 opin-
ion." Artabanus, 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:

376 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [17-20

"Art thou, then, the man who dissuadeth Xerxes from in-
vading Greece, as if thou wert very anxious for him? But
neither hereafter nor at present shalt thou escape unpunished
for endeavouring to avert what is fated to be. What Xerxes
must suffer if he continues disobedient has been declared
to him himself." Artabanus imagined that the dream ut-
tered 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 mis-
chievous it is to desire much, calling to mind the expedition
of Cyrus against the Massagetae, how it fared, and calling
to mind also that of Cambyses against the Ethiopians, and
having accompanied Darius in the invasion of Scythia, know-
ing 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 hap-
pened ; and Artabanus, who before was the only man who
greatly opposed the expedition, now as openly promoted it.

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. For from the reduction of Egypt, he was em-
ployed four whole years in assembling his forces, and pro-

20-23] THE MARCH BEGINS 377

viding 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 Atridae against Ilium ; nor that
of the Mysians and Teucrians, which took place before the
Trojan war, who having passed over into Europe by the Bos-
phorus, subdued all the Thracians, and went down to the
Ionian Sea, and marched southward as far as the river Peneus.
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 re-
quired, 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.

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
around Athos also dug. Bubares, son of Megabyzus, and
Artachseus, son of Artaeus, both Persians, 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 penin-
sula, 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 situated on Athos itself, which the
Persian then was proceeding to make insular instead of con-
tinental, are the following: Dion, Olophyxus, Acrothoon,
Thyssus, and Cleonae. These are the cities which occupy
Mount Athos. They made the excavation as follows: The
barbarians divided the ground among the several nations, hav-
ing drawn a straight line near the city of Sana; and when

378 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [23-26

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 Phoenicians, the brink of the excavation falling in gave
double labour, for as they made the upper opening and the
lower of equal dimensions, this must necessarily happen. But
the Phoenicians show their skill in other works, and especially
did so in this ; for having received the 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 bazaar, and great abundance of meal was
brought to them from Asia. According to my deliberate
opinion,1 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 labour, 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. 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 pro-
visions 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.

While these men were employed in their appointed task,
the whole land force, 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 conti-
nent, that were to march with Xerxes himself, should be as-
sembled at that place. Now which of the generals, bringing

1 Literally, "as I conjecturing discover."

26-29] XERXES AND PYTHIUS 379

the best appointed troops, received the gifts promised by the
king, I am unable to mention ; for I am not at all aware that
they came to any decision on this point. They then, when
having crossed the river Halys they entered Phrygia, march-
ing through that country, arrived at Celaense, where rise the
springs of the Maeander, and of another river not less than
the Maeander, which is called the Catarractes, which, spring-
ing up in the very forum of the Celaenians, discharges itself
into the Mseander; in this city also the skin of Silenus Mar-
syas is suspended, which, as the Phrygians report, was stripped
off and suspended by Apollo. 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 ex-
pense 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 know of in the world, next to yourself/' Xerx-
es, surprised with these last words, next asked Pythius what
might be the amount of his wealth. He 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 my slaves
and lands." 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 to-
ward the war. But you have entertained my army magnifi-
cently, 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 required, and be careful always to continue
such as you are ; for, if you do this, you shall never repent,
either now or hereafter."

380 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [30-34

Having said this, and performed his promise, 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 Colossse, 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 dis-
charges itself into the Mseander. From Colossse the army,
advancing toward the boundaries of the Phrygians and Lydi-
ans, arrived at the city of Cydrara, where a pillar, planted in
the ground, and erected by Crcesus, indicates the boundaries
by an inscription. 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 traveller
is compelled to cross the river Mseander, 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,1 on the next day he arrived at Sardis,
the capital of the Lydians. 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; ex-
cept that he did not send either to Athens or Lacedsemon,
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.

In the meanwhile those who were appointed had joined
the Hellespont from Asia to Europe. There is in the Cher-
sonese on the Hellespont, between the city of Sestos and
Madytus, a craggy shore extending into the sea, directly op-
posite Abydos : there, not long after these events, under Xan-
thippus, 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 Temple of Protesilaus at Elaeus, committed atrocious
crimes. To this shore, then, beginning at Abydos, they, on
whom this task was imposed, constructed bridges, the Phoe-
nicians 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

'"One of the ten thousand chosen men called immortals, of whom we
shall hear more hereafter.

34-36] BRIDGING THE HELLESPONT 38 1

arising, broke in pieces and scattered the whole work. When
Xerxes heard of this, being exceeding indignant, he com-
manded 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 thou hadst not suf-
fered 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 ! " 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. 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 pen-
teconters and triremes, under that toward the Euxine Sea,
three hundred and sixty ; and under the other, three hundred
and fourteen, obliquely in respect to the Pontus, but in the
direction of the current in respect to 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 ^Egean, 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
assigning 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

382 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [36-39

and horses might not be frightened by looking down upon
the sea.

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 per-
ceived this, it occasioned him much uneasiness ; he, there-
fore, 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 por-
tender of the future to the Greeks, and the moon to the Per-
sians." Xerxes, having heard this, was much delighted, and
set out upon his march. 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 anything 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 confi-
dently as follows : Sire, I have five sons ; and it happens
that they are all attending you in the expedition against
Greece. But do you, O 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." Xerxes was highly incensed, and answered
as follows : " Base man ! hast thou dared, when I am march-
ing 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 de-
light, 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.

39-40 THE ARMY LEAVES SARDIS 383

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 com-
manded 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.

When they had done this, the army afterward passed be-
tween. 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, carry-
ing their lances turned downward to the earth. After these
came ten sacred horses called Nisaean, gorgeously caparisoned.
These horse are called Nisaean 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
ascends this seat. Behind this came Xerxes himself on a
chariot drawn by Nisaean horses ; and a charioteer walked at
his side, whose name was Patiramphes, son of Otanes, a Per-
sian. 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 thou-
sand spearmen, the bravest and most noble of the Persians,
carrying their spears in the usual manner ; and after them an-
other body of a thousand horse, chosen from among the Per-
sians : after the cayalry 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 in-
stead of ferules, and they inclosed the others all round; but
the nine thousand, being within them, had silver pomegran-
ates. 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 cav-
alry was left an interval of two stades; and then the rest of

384 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [41-46

the throng followed promiscuously. The army directed its
march from Lydia to the river Caicus and the Mysian terri-
tory; and proceeding from the Caicus, leaving Mount Canae
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 upon them, and de-
stroyed a considerable number of the troops on the spot.
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 1 of Priam, being de-
sirous of seeing it ; and having seen it, and inquired into every
particular, he sacrificed a thousand oxen to the Ilian Minerva,
and the magi poured out libations in honour 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 the city of Rhaetium, and Ophrynium, and
Dardanus, which borders on Abydos ; and on the right the
Gergithse Teucrians.

When they were at Abydos, Xerxes wished to behold the
whole army. A lofty throne of white marble had been pre-
viously erected on a hill at this place for his express use ; 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.
When he saw the whole Hellespont covered with the ships, and
all the shores and the plains of Abydos full of men, Xerxes
thereupon pronounced himself happy ; but afterward shed
tears. Artabanus, his paternal uncle, having observed him,
the same who had before freely declared his opinion and ad-
vised Xerxes not to invade Greece ; this man, having per-
ceived 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 pro-
nounced yourself happy, now you weep." He answered,
" Commiseration seized me when I considered how brief all

1 That is, " the citadel."

46-49] XERXES AT THE HELLESPONT 385

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." 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? 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." 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 numerous
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." He an-
swered, saying : " O king, no man of common understanding
can find fault either with this army or the number of the
ships. But even if you should muster more, the two things
which I mean would become still more hostile. These two
things are land and sea. For, as I conjecture, there is nowhere
any harbour of the sea so large as to be capable, in case a
storm should arise, of receiving this your navy and shelter-
ing the ships. And yet there is need, not only that there be
one such harbour, but others along the whole continent, by
which you are about to coast. Since there are not harbours
sufficiently capacious, remember, that accidents rule men, not
men accidents. One of the two things having thus been men-
tioned, 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
25

386 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [49-51

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 de-
liberation he should be apprehensive and consider himself
likely to suffer every misfortune, but in action should be bold."
Xerxes answered in these words : " Artabanus, you have dis-
cussed each of these particulars plausibly; but do not fear
everything, nor weigh every circumstance with equal strict-
ness. For if in every matter that is proposed you should
weigh everything with equal care, you would never do any-
thing at all ; it is better, being confident on all occasions, to
suffer half the evils than, fearing everything beforehand, never
suffer anything at all. But if you oppose everything that is
proposed, and do not advance something certain, you must fail
in your plans equally with the person who has given a con-
trary opinion. This, therefore, comes to the same. Can any
one who is a man know for a certainty what ought to be
done?1 I think, certainly not. To those, however, who are
ready to act, gain for the most part is wont to accrue ; but to
those that weigh everything 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 me had
entertained such opinions as you do, or not entertaining such
opinions, had such counsellors, you would never have seen
their power advanced to this pitch. But now, by hazarding
dangers, they carried it to this height. For great undertak-
ings are wont to be accomplished at great hazards. We, there-
fore, emulating them, set out at the most favourable season
of the year, and having subdued all Europe, will return home,
without having met with famine anywhere, or suffered any
other reverses. 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." After this Artabanus said : " O king, since you
will not allow us to fear anything, 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

1 I have followed the reading and punctuation of Matthiae and Baehr.
The latter, though he approves the mark of interrogation, omits it in his
version of this passage.

51-54] XERXES AT THE HELLESPONT 387

against 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 endeavouring to maintain its free-
dom. Now if they should be most unjust, they will not add
any great pain to us ; but if just, they are able to damage your
army to a great degree. Consider, therefore, this ancient
saying, since it has been well said that the termination is not
always evident at the beginning. To this Xerxes answered :
" Artabanus, of all the opinions you have given, you are de-
ceived 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 pos-
sessions 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;
for to you alone, of all men, I intrust my sceptre."

Having spoken thus, and despatched Artabanus to Susa,
Xerxes again summoned the most distinguished of the Per-
sians, and when they were assembled he addressed them as
follows : " O 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 endeavouring to accom-
plish 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 con-
quer 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." 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 meantime 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 acci-
dent 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

388 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [54-58

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. When these cere-
monies were finished, the infantry and all the cavalry crossed
over by that bridge which was toward the Pontus; and the
beasts of burden and attendants by that toward the JEgean.
First of all the ten thousand Persians led the van, all wearing
crowns; and after them the promiscuous host of all nations.
These crossed on that day. On the following, first the horse-
men, 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 way
to the opposite shore. I have also heard that Xerxes crossed
over last of all. Xerxes, when he had crossed over into Eu-
rope, 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."

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. But taking no 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 con-
tinent 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

ANCIENT GREECE, INCLUDING EPIRUS AND
THESSALIA.

^><iSf.

of havir
gifts to
monies were fii
over by that brid.

and pre

and the sacred

crossed over nt, a ce

<ter, wh;

Xerxes, do you v ubvert Greece, brim

>u? since without t ;vas in your

^vith

force

by the land, ta

toward the
arrival, it w;

d toward the
onese, having on
Hellc, daughter of Athamas,

he

on the
the rising sun, thrv
it hand the

city, th<
om thence, b

58-61] THE TROOPS REVIEWED 389

bay called Melas, and having 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 .^Enos, an iEolian city, and the lake
Stentoris, until they reached Doriscus. 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 he accordingly did. All the ships, therefore, hav-
ing 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 meantime Xerxes numbered his army at Doriscus. How
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.

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 coloured
sleeved breastplates, with iron scales like those of fish; and
on their legs, loose trousers ; 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 neighbours Artaeans; but
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

390 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII. POLYMNIA [61-67

in the country, for Cepheus had no male offspring ; from him
therefore they derived their appellation. 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 Achaemenidae ; 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, in-
stead 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. The Assyrians who
served in the army had helmets of brass, twisted in a bar-
barous fashion, 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 Artachaeus, commanded them. The Bac-
trians joined the army, having turbans on their heads, very
much like those of the Medes, and bows made of cane pecul-
iar to their country, and short spears. The Sacse, who are
Scythians, had on their heads caps, which came to a point and
stood erect : they also wore loose trousers, and carried bows
peculiar to their country, and daggers, and also battle-axes,
called sagares. These, though they are Amyrgian Scythians,
they called Sacse, for the Persians call all the Scythians Sacae.
Hystaspes, son of Darius and Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, com-
manded the Bactrians and Sacae. The Indians, clad with gar-
ments made of cotton, had bows of cane, and arrows of cane
tipped with iron. Thus the Indians were equipped ; and they
were marshalled under the command of Phanazathres, son of
Artabates. 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 the
army, having the same accoutrements as the Bactrians. The
following leaders commanded them : Artabazus, son of Phar-
naces, commanded the Parthians and Chorasmians ; Azanes,
son of Artaeus, the Sogdians ; and Artyphius, son of Arta-
banus, the Gandarians and Dadicae. The Caspians, clothed
in goat-skin mantles, and carrying bows made of cane peculiar
to their country, and scimetars, joined the expedition. These

67-72] CATALOGUE OF THE TROOPS 391

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 Megabyzus, commanded the Sarangae. The Pactyes
wore goat-skin mantles, and had bows, peculiar to the coun-
try, and daggers. The Pactyes had for their general Artyn-
tes, son of Ithamatres. The Utians, Mycians, and Parican-
ians 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 Pari-
canians. 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 ante-
lope'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, daugh-
ter of Cyrus, whom Darius loved more than all his wives, and
whose image he had made of beaten gold. The Ethiopians
from the sunrise (for two kinds served in the expedition) were
marshalled 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 with the ears and mane ; and the
mane served instead of a crest, and the horses' ears were fixed
erect ; and as defensive armour they used the skins of cranes
instead of shields. The Libyans marched, clad in leathern
garments, and made use of javelins hardened by fire. They
had for their general Massages, son of Oarizus. The Paph-
lagonians 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.

392 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [72-78

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
Mariandynians, Ligyes, and Syrians. 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. The Lydians' arms were
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.
The Thracians joined the expedition, having fox-skins on
their heads and tunics around their body, and over them they
were clothed with various coloured 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 Bithynians ; 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 Teucrians and
Mysians. Bassaces, son of Artabanus, commanded the Thra-
cians of Asia. The . . .* 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. 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 Milyae 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. The Moschians had on their heads

1 There is an hiatus in the manuscripts, which the ingenuity of anno-
tators and editors has been unable to supply.

78-83] CATALOGUE OF THE TROOPS 393

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 Mos-
chians. The following generals marshalled these: The Mos-
chians and Tibarenians, Ariomardus, son of Darius and
Parmys, daughter of Smerdis, son of Cyrus ; the Macrones
and Mosynceci, Artayctes, son of Cherasmis, who was in-
trusted with the government of Sestos on the Hellespont. The
Mares wore helmets on their heads, painted after the manner
of their country; and carried small shields made of skin, and
javelins. The Colchians had about their heads wooden hel-
mets, and small shields of raw-hide, and short lances ; and,
besides, they had swords. Pherendates, son of Teaspes, com-
manded the Mares and Colchians. The Alarodi and the Sas-
pires marched armed like the Colchians ; Masistius, son of
Siromitres, commanded them. The insular nations that came
from the Erythraean 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 Bagaeus, who, when commanding the army at Mycale,
two years after this, died in battle, commanded these islanders.
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 order,
and numbered them, and appointed commanders of thou-
sands and of ten thousands. But the commanders of ten thou-
sands appointed the captains of hundreds and captains of tens.
There were other subaltern officers over the troops and na-
tions, but those who have been mentioned were the com-
manders. Over these and the whole infantry were appointed
as generals Mardonius, son of Gobryas ; Tritantsechmes, 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. These were generals of the whole land forces,
except the ten thousand ; of these ten thousand chosen Per-
sians, Hydarnes, son of Hydarnes, was general. These Per-
sians 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 splendour of
all, and were also the bravest ; their equipment was such as
has been described; but, besides this, they were conspicuous

394 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [83-88

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.

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. There is a certain nomadic race, called Sagar-
tians, 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 mode
of fighting ; and they were marshalled with the Persians. 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 saddle horses 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. 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 mar-
shalled in troops ; but the Arabians were stationed in the rear :
for as horses can not endure camels, they were stationed be-
hind, that the horses might not be frightened. Armamithres
and Tithseus, 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
into consumption. With respect to the horse, his servants

88-93] CATALOGUE OF THE SHIPS 395

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.

The number of the triremes amounted to twelve hundred
and seven ; the following nations furnished them : The Phoe-
nicians, with the Syrians of Palestine, furnished three hun-
dred, 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,
and pikes fit for a sea-fight, and large hatchets. The greater
part of them had breastplates, and carried large swords. 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 at-
tired like the Greeks. Of these there are the following na-
tions, some from Salamis and Athens ; others from Arcadia ;
others from Cythnus ; others from Phoenicia ; and others from
Ethiopia, as the Cyprians themselves say. The Cilicians con-
tributed 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 woollen
tunics ; every one had two javelins, and a sword made very
much like the Egyptian scimetar. They were anciently called
Hypachaeans, and took their present name from Cilix, son of
Agenor, a Phoenician. The Pamphylians contributed thirty
ships, and were equipped in Grecian armour. These Pam-
phylians are descended from those who, in their return from
Troy, were dispersed with Amphilochus and Calchas. The
Lycians contributed fifty ships, and wore breastplates and
greaves. They had bows made 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 fal-
chions. The Lycians were called Termilae, being sprung from
Crete, but took their present name from Lycus, son of Pan-
dion, an Athenian. The Dorians of Asia contributed thirty
ships, wearing Grecian armour, and sprung from the Pelopon-
nesus. The Carians contributed seventy ships, and were in
other respects accoutred like the Greeks, but had falchions

396 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII. POLYMNIA [93-98

and daggers. What these were formerly called I have men-
tioned in the first part of my history. 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
iEgialees ; but Ionians from Ion, son of Xuthus. The island-
ers 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 from Athens. The yEolians 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, how-
ever, 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.

Persians, Medes, and Sacae served as marines on board all
the ships. Of these the Phoenicians furnished the best sail-
ing 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, fol-
low 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. The following were admirals of the navy : Ariabignes,
son of Darius ; Prexaspes, son of Aspathines ; Magabyzus,
son of Megabates ; and Achsemenes, son of Darius ; of the
Ionian and Carian force, Ariabignes, son of Darius and the
daughter of Gobryas ; Achaemenes, who was brother to Xerxes
on both sides, commanded the Egyptians ; and the other
two commanded the rest of the fleet. Trieconters, pentecon-
ters, light boats, and long horse transports were found to as-
semble to the number of three thousand. 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 ; Cybernis-
cus, son of Sicas, a Lycian; Gorgus, son of Chersis, and

98-101] THE REVIEW COMPLETED 397

Timonax, son of Timagoras, Cyprians ; and of the Carians,
Histiseus, son of Tymnes; Pygres, son of Seldomus, and
Damasithymus, son of Candaules. Of the other captains I
make no mention, as I deem it unnecessary, except of Arte-
misia, whom I most admire, as having, though a woman,
joined this expedition against Greece; who, her husband
being dead, herself holding 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 Lyg-
damis, and by birth she was of Halicarnassus on her father's
side, and on her mother's a Cretan. She commanded the Hali-
carnassians, the Coans, the Nisyrians, and the Calydnians, hav-
ing 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 Trceze-
nians, and the rest Epidaurians. Thus far the naval arma-
ment has been spoken of.

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.

When he had sailed through them, and had landed from
the ship, he sent for Demaratus, son of Ariston, who accom-
panied him in his 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,

398 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [101-103

if all the Grecians, and all the rest of the nations that dwell
toward the west, were collected together, they would not be
able to withstand my attack, unless they were united together.
However, I am desirous to know what you say on this sub-
ject." Such was the question he asked; but Demaratus an-
swering said, " O 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. When Demaratus heard this, he spoke thus : " O
king, since you positively require me to speak truth, I will
say such things as whoever should utter them would not here-
after be convicted of falsehood. Poverty has ever been famil-
iar to Greece, but virtue has been acquired, having been ac-
complished by wisdom and firm laws; by the aid of which
Greece has warded off poverty and tyranny. I commend,
indeed, all those Greeks who dwell round those Doric lands;
but I shall now proceed to speak, not of all, but of the Lace-
daemonians 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." Xerxes, having heard this, re-
plied : " 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
king, 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 prob-
ability : 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 to our custom,
subject to the command of a single person, they might,
through fear of him, prove superior to their natural courage ;

103-106J XERXES AND DEMARATUS 399

and, compelled by the lash, might, though fewer, attack a
greater number: but now, being left to their own free will,
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 valour 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, hav-
ing no experience of these men, talk very idly." To this
Demaratus replied : " O king, I knew from the first that, by
adhering to the truth, I should not say what would be agree-
able 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 honours and dig-
nity, 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 mani-
fest 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
Lacedaemonians 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,
O king, turn out according to your wish ! "

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 appointed Mas-
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. 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,

400 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [106-109

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. 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 honours on his sons who survived in
Persia. And indeed Boges deserved great praise ; for when
he was besieged by the Athenians under Cimon, son of Mil-
tiades, and might have marched out by capitulation and re-
turned 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.

Xerxes set out from Doriscus toward Greece, and com-
pelled such nations as he met with to join his army. For, as I
before observed, the whole country as far as Thessaly had
been brought to subjection, and made tributary to the king,
Megabyzus, and afterward Mardonius, having subdued it. In
his march from Doriscus, he first passed the Samothracian
fortresses ; the last of which is situated 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 ;
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.

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
them, the following celebrated lakes : the Ismaris, situated be-
tween Maronea and Stryme; and Bistonis, near Dicaea, into
which two rivers empty their water, the Travus and Comp-
satus. 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;

109-115] THE MARCH OF XERXES 401

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. The nations of
Thrace, through whose country he marched, are these: the
Paeti, Ciconians, Bistonians, Sapaei, Dersaei, 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.
The Satrae, 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 tem-
ple ; a priestess delivers them, as in Delphi, and they are not
at all more ambiguous. Xerxes, having traversed the coun-
try 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. Passing by the
Paeonians, Doberes, and Paeoplae, 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, whom I have
lately mentioned, being still alive, was governor. The land
itself, which is about Mount Pangaeus, is called Phillis, ex-
tending 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.
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. 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.

When the army marched from the Strymon. there is a
shore toward the sunset on which it passed by a Grecian city
26

402 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [115-119

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
Syleus; and passing by Stagirus, a Grecian city, arrived at
Acanthus; taking with them each of the above nations, and
those that dwell round Mount Pangaeus, 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. 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. 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 Achaemenidae, and in stature the
tallest of the Persians, for he wanted only four fingers of five
royal cubits; and he had the loudest voice 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 Artachaees
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. 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 Tha-
sians, who received and entertained the army of Xerxes on
behalf of the cities on the continent, showed that four hun-
dred talents of silver had been expended on the banquet. 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 dis-
tributed 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 ves-
sels, and all such things as are placed on a table. But these
things were made for the king himself, and those who sat at

1 19-123] THE MARCH OF XERXES 403

table with him ; for the rest of the army provisions only were
required. Wherever 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 furni-
ture, went away, leaving nothing, but carrying away every-
thing. On this occasion a clever remark was made by Maga-
creon 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 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 upon them.

At Acanthus Xerxes dismissed the ships from his presence
to proceed on their voyage, having given orders to the ad-
mirals that the fleet should await his arrival at Therma; at
Therma, which is situated on the Thermsean 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, ordered one of them
to accompany the fleet along the coast : of this division Mar-
donius and Masistes were commanders. Another of the three
divisions of the army marched inland, commanded by Trin-
tantaechmes and Gersis. But the third division, with which
Xerxes himself went, marched between the other two, and
had for generals Smerdomenes and Megabyzus. 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 situated, 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 passed by the
following Greek cities, from which it took ships and men :
Torone, Galepsus, Sermyla, Mecyberna, and Olynthus ; all of
which country is now called Sithonia. Xerxes's fleet, stretch-
ing across from the Cape of Ampelus to the Cape of Canas-

404 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [123-127

traeum, which is the most prominent point of all Pallene,
thence took ships and men from Potidaea, Aphytis, Neapolis,
Mga, Therambus, Scione, Menda, and Sana, for these are the
cities that belong to what is now Pallene, but was formerly
called Phlegra. Coasting along this country, it sailed to the
appointed place, taking with it troops also from the cities
near Pallene and bordering on the Thermaean Gulf; their
names are as follows : Lipaxus, Combrea, Lisse, Gigonus,
Campsa, Smila, and -dinea. The country in which these cities
are situated is to the present time called by the name of Cros-
saea. From ^Enea, with which I ended my enumeration of
the cities, the course of the fleet was direct to the Thermaean
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
Bottiaeis ; on a narrow tract of which, near the sea, stand the
cities of Ichnae and Pella.

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 Paeonian and
Crestonian territories toward the river Echidorus, which, be-
ginning from the Crestonians, flows through the Mygdonian
territory, and discharges itself into the marsh which is above
the river Axius. 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 at-
tacked 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. 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 fore part 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.
When Xerxes arrived at Therma, he there ordered his army
to halt. And his army, when encamped, occupied the fol-
lowing district along the coast: extending from the city of
Therma, and from Mygdonia, to the rivers Lydias and Haliac-
mon, which divide the territories of Bottiaeis and Macedonia,

127-129] THE MARCH OF XERXES 405

uniting their waters in the same channel. In these countries,
then, the barbarians encamped. Of the rivers above men-
tioned, the Echidorus, which flows from the Crestonians, was
the only one that was not sufficient for the army, but failed.

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 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 Perrhsebi, near the city
of Gonnus ; for 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 anything of this kind, he made a signal for all
the rest of the fleet to get under way, 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. 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 moun-
tains 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.1 It is said that formerly
when the pass and outlet did not yet exist, these rivers, and
besides them the lake Bcebeis, 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. How-
ever, the Thessalians themselves say that Neptune made the
pass through which the Peneus flows ; and their story is prob-

1 Literally, " the- river Peneus gaining the victory as to the name,
causes the others to be nameless."

f

406 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [129-133

able. For whoever thinks that Neptune shakes the earth, and
that rents occasioned by earthquakes are the works of this
god, on seeing 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. 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 territory, 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, 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.

He remained several days about Pieria, for a third division
of his army was employed in felling the trees on the Mace-
donian range, that the whole army might pass in that direc-
tion to the Perrhsebi. In the meantime the heralds, who had
been sent to Greece to demand earth, returned to Xerxes ; some
empty, and others bringing earth and water. Of those who
gave them were the following: the Thessalians, the Dolopes,
the Enienes, the Perrhaebi, the Locrians, the Magnetes, the
Melians, the Achgeans of Pthiotis, and the Thebans, and all
the rest of the Boeotians, except the Thespians and Plataeans.
Against these the Greeks who engaged in war with the bar-
barians made a solemn oath. 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, these shall be compelled to pay a tithe to the god
at Delphi." Such was the oath taken by the Greeks. 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 having thrown those
who made the demand into the barathrum,1 and the latter

1 The barathrum was a deep pit at Athens, into which certain criminals
who were sentenced to death, were thrown.

133-136J FATE OF THE PERSIAN HERALDS 407

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 man-
ner, I can not say, except that their territory and city were
ravaged; but I do not think that happened in consequence
of that crime. On the Lacedaemonians, however, the anger
of Talthybius, Agamemnon's herald, alighted. For Talthyb-
ius has a temple in Sparta ; and there are descendants of Tal-
thybius, 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 favourable omens; and
this continued for a long time. The Lacedaemonians being
grieved, and considering it a great calamity, and having fre-
quently 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. 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 Hy-
darnes ; but Hydarnes was a Persian by birth, and governor
of the maritime people in Asia ; he having offered them hos-
pitality, 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 honour brave men, by
looking at me and my condition. So also, if you would sur-
render 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 an-
swered 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 you have never tried lib-
erty, 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. Afterward, when
they went up to Susa, and were come into the king's presence,
in the first place, when the guards commanded and endeav-
oured to compel them to prostrate themselves and worship
the king, they said they would by no means do so, although

40$ HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [136-139

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 address-
ing Xerxes in words to the following effect, " King of the
Medes, the Lacedaemonians have sent us in return for the
heralds who were killed at Sparta, to make satisfaction for
them " ; on their saying this, Xerxes answered with magna-
nimity that he would not be like the Lacedaemonians, 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. Thus the wrath of Talthyb-
ius, 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 Lacedae-
monians 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 satis-
fied, 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 Aneristus, son of Sperthies,
who, sailing in a merchant vessel fully manned, captured some
fishermen from Tiryns, makes it clear to me that the occur-
rence was extraordinary in consequence of that wrath. For
they, being sent by the Lacedaemonians as ambassadors to
Asia, and being betrayed by Sitalces, son of Teres, King of
the Thracians, and by Nymphodorus, son of Pytheas of Ab-
dera, 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.

But I return to my former subject. This expedition 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 Persians felt
confident that they should suffer no harm from the barbarians ;
but those who had refused to give them were in great con-
sternation, since the ships in Greece were not sufficient in num-
ber to resist the invader, and many were unwilling to engage
in the war, and were much inclined to side with the Medes.
And here I feel constrained by necessity to declare my opin-
ion, although it may excite the envy of most men; however,

I39-HO PREDICTIONS OF THE PYTHIAN 409

I will not refrain from expressing how the truth appears to
me to be. If the Athenians, terrified with the impending dan-
ger, 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 follow-
ing things must have occurred on land : Although many lines
of walls had been built by the Peloponnesians across the isth-
mus, yet the Lacedaemonians, being abandoned by the allies
(not willingly, but by necessity, they being taken by the bar-
barians city by city), would have been left 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 saviours of Greece would not deviate from the truth ;
for to whichever side they turned, that must have prepon-
derated. 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, re-
pulsed 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.

For the Athenians, having sent deputies to Delphi, were
anxious to consult the oracle : and after they had performed
the usual ceremonies about the temple, when they entered
the sanctuary and 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 tem-
ples of the immortals to devouring fire, which now stand drip-
ping with 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." The deputies of the Athenians, having

4io HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [141-H3

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 : O king, vouchsafe to give us a more favour-
able answer concerning our country, having regard to these
supplicatory branches which we have brought with us ; other-
wise 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 pro-
pitiate 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 Cithae-
ron, 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 cav-
alry and infantry advancing in multitudes from the continent,
but turn your back and withdraw. You will still be able to
face them. O divine Salamis, thou shalt cause the sons of
women to perish, whether Ceres is scattered or gathered in."
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 deputies, on their return, reported
it to the people, many different opinions were given by per-
sons endeavouring 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 everything else, they should
get them ready. However, the last two 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. There was a cer-
tain 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

143-145] ASSEMBLING THE GREEKS 411

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,
" O unhappy Salamis," instead of " O divine Salamis," if the
inhabitants were about to perish on its shores ; therefore who-
ever 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 Athe-
nians considered 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. An-
other opinion of Themistocles had before this opportunely pre-
vailed. When the Athenians, having great riches in the treas-
ury, 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, meaning
for the war with the ^Eginetse. 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 al-
ready built for the Athenians, and it was necessary to con-
struct others besides. And it was resolved, on their consult-
ing 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.

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 in hand between several others, but the most con-
siderable was that between the Athenians and ^ginetae. 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 ambassadors
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

4I2 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [145-148

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. 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 hav-
ing arrived at Sardis, and endeavoured 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 gen-
erals, 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, 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 un-
harmed, to whatever country they should choose. 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 attend-
ants where they were sailing ; they answered, " To your ene-
mies, 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, re-
turned to Europe.

But the Greeks who had engaged in a confederacy against
the Persian, after the despatch of the spies, next sent ambas-

148-150] ATTITUDE OF THE ARGIVES 413

sadors 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 endeavour 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 Lacedaemo-
nians, and by Cleomenes, son of Anaxandrides : for this rea-
son they sent, and the Pythian gave the following answer
to their inquiries : " Hated by your neighbours, beloved by
the immortal gods, holding your lance at rest, keep on the
watch, and guard your head ; the head shall save the body."
They say that the Pythian gave this answer first, and after-
ward, when the ambassadors came to Argos, they were intro-
duced 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 Lace-
daemonians, 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. 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 anx-
ious 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 apprehen-
sive lest if, in addition to their present calamity, another fail-
ure should befall them in the Persian war, they might in
future become subject to the Lacedaemonians. Those of the
ambassadors who came from Sparta gave the following an-
swer 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 there-
fore 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 ambassadors to quit the territories of the
Argives before sunset, otherwise they would treat them as
enemies.

Such is the account which the Argives themselves give of

414 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII. POLYMNIA [150-152

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 descend-
ants: it is, therefore, neither right that we should lead an
army against our progenitors, nor that you 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 anything nor demand any-
thing in return ; but when the Greeks wished to take them
into the confederacy, they then, knowing that the Lacedae-
monians would not share the command with them, made the
demand in order that they might have a pretext for remain-
ing quiet. 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 ambassadors of the Athenians, happened to be at the
Memnonian Susa on some other business ; and the Argives
at the same time having sent ambassadors 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. Now whether Xerxes did send
a herald to Argos with such a message, and whether am-
bassadors of the Argives, having gone up to Susa, asked Arta-
xerxes 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 neighbours,
when they had looked closely into their neighbours' 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 everything : 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 anything might happen to them rather

152-155] GELON 415

than continue in their present troubles. This is sufficient con-
cerning the Argives.

Other ambassadors went from the allies to Sicily to con-
fer with Gelon ; and among them Syagrus on the part of the
Lacedaemonians. An ancestor of this Gelon, who was an
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 in-
fernal deities, continued to be so, Telines, one of their an-
cestors, 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 dei-
ties; though whence he got them, or how he became pos-
sessed 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 vigour. Whereas, on the contrary, he is
reported by the inhabitants of Sicily to have been an effemi-
nate and delicate man. Thus, however, he acquired this dig-
nity. 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 was 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 ^Enesidemus, son of Pataicus,
one of the guards of Hippocrates ; and soon after was made
commander of the whole cavalry on account of his valour.
For when Hippocrates besieged the Callipolitse, the Naxians,
the Zanclseans, 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 Corcyraeans 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. When Hippocrates, having reigned the
same number of years as his brother Cleander, met with his

4i6 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [155-157

death before Hybla, while carrying on the war against the
Sicilians, Gelon thereupon, under colour 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 son of Hippocrates. After
this success, Gelon leading back those Syracusans who were
called Gamori,1 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 them-
selves to Gelon on his first approach. When he had made
himself master of Syracuse, he took less account of the gov-
ernment of Gela, and intrusted it to his brother Hiero ; but
he strengthened Syracuse, and Syracuse was everything to
him ; and it grew up rapidly and flourished. For, first of all,
he removed all the Camarinaeans 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 Camarinseans. 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 ex-
portation from Sicily. He treated the Euboeans 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 neighbour. By such means Gelon be-
came a powerful tyrant.

At this time, when the ambassadors of the Grecians ar-
rived 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 march-
ing 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
pretence that he is advancing against Athens, but really de-
signing to reduce all Greece under his own power. 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 main-

1 Landholders.

157-160] GELON AND THE AMBASSADORS 417

taining 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
I assisting us, you protect yourself. "A favourable result is gen-
erally wont to attend a well-devised plan." Thus they spoke.
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 barbarians. 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 Dorieus, son of Anaxandrides, upon
the vEgestaeans, 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 Dorieus. So that as far as you are
concerned, all this country is subject to barbarians. How-
ever, 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 thou-
sand 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 barbarians : on no other con-
dition will I come myself, or send others." Syagrus, when he
heard this, could not contain himself, but spoke as follows:
" Agamemnon, the descendant of Pelops, would indeed groan
aloud if he heard that the Spartans had 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 succour Greece,
know that you must be commanded by Lacedaemonians, or,
if you will not deign to be commanded, you need not assist
us." Upon this Gelon, when he observed the indignant lan-
guage of Syagrus, made this last proposal : " Spartan stranger,
reproaches uttered against a man are wont to rouse his indig-
27

4l8 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [160-163

nation. 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 com-
mand at sea, I will lead the land forces. And you must either
be content with these terms, or return destitute of such allies."
Gelon, then, proposed these terms ; but the ambassador 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 require 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 govern the navy, the matter stands thus. Even
if the Lacedaemonians 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 com-
mand, 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 Troy,
both for arraying and marshalling an army. So that it is no
disgrace to us to speak as we do." 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 com-
pared to a year from which the spring should be taken away.
The ambassadors of the Greeks, having thus negotiated

163-165] GELON AND THE AMBASSADORS 419

with Gelon, sailed away. But Gelon, upon this, fearing for
the Grecians, that they would not be able to withstand the
barbarians, but deeming it an intolerable disgrace that he who
was tyrant of Sicily should go to Peloponnesus, and be sub-
ject 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 despatched 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 termi-
nate ; 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 victori-
ous, he was to bring back the treasure. 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 up-
rightness that had been given by him, left this not the least
monument of them : for having in his possession vast treas-
ures, which Gelon had intrusted to him, when it was in his
power to appropriate them, he would not; but when the
Greeks conquered in the sea-fight, and Xerxes had retired, he
returned to Sicily, and took back all the treasures.

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
^nesidemus, King of the Agrigentines, at that time brought
in an army of three hundred thousand men, consisting of
Phoenicians, Libyans, Iberians, Ligyans, Elisycians, Sar-
dinians, 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.

42o HERODOTUS— BOOK VII. POLYMNIA [165-168

Thus, as Gelon was not able to assist the Greeks, he sent the
treasures to Delphi. In addition to this, they say that it hap-
pened on the same day that Gelon and Theron conquered Amil-
car 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 engage-
ment 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 everywhere.
The following story is also related by the Carthaginians them-
selves, who endeavour to give a probable account, that the
barbarians fought with the Grecians in Sicily from the morn-
ing 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 disap-
peared in such manner as the Phoenicians relate, or in another
manner, as the Syracusans, the Carthaginians in the first place
offer sacrifices to him, and in the next have erected monu-
ments 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.

The Corcyraeans, having given the following answer to the
ambassadors, acted as I shall relate. For the same ambassa-
dors 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 ; there-
fore 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
Peloponnesus, and anchored about Pylus and Taenarus, 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 Per-
sian, having gained a decided superiority, would become mas-
ter of all Greece. They therefore acted thus purposely, in
order that they might be able to say to the Persian : " O king,

168-170] TREACHERY OF THE CORCYR^ANS 421

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 anything displeas-
ing 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 pre-
pared, 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.

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 whether
it would be to 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. 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 Polichnitae 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 Iapygians, and becoming,
instead of islanders, inhabitants of the continent. From the
city of Hyria they founded other cities, which a long time after-
ward the Tarentines endeavouring 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 Rhe-
gians, who being compelled by Micythus, son of Chcerus, and

422 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [170-173

coming to assist the Tarentines, thus perished to the number
of three thousand ; but of the Tarentines themselves no num-
ber was given. This Micythus was a servant of Anaxilaus,
and had been left in charge of Rhegium. He is the same per-
son that was expelled from Rhegium, and who, having settled
in Tegea, a city of Arcadia, dedicated the many statues in
Olympia. These events relating to the Rhegians and Taren-
tines are a digression from my history. To Crete, then, desti-
tute of inhabitants, as the Prsesians say, other men, and espe-
cially 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 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

4 Grecians.
The Thessalians at first sided with the Mede from neces-
_, as they showed, in that the intrigues of the Aleuadae did
not please them. For as soon as they were informed that the
Persian was about to cross over into Europe, they sent ambas-
sadors to the isthmus; and at the isthmus deputies from
Greece were assembled chosen from those cities that were
better disposed toward Greece. The ambassadors of the Thes-
salians, having come to them, said : " Men 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 also must 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 defence. 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 endeavour to contrive some
means of safety." Thus spoke the Thessalians. And the
Grecians thereupon resolved to send an army by sea to Thes-
saly, to guard the pass ; and when the army was assembled,
it sailed through the Euripus, and having arrived at Alus of
Achaia, debarked, 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, be-
tween Mount Olympus and Ossa. There heavy armed troops
of the Grecians, being assembled together to the number of

173-1/6] THE RETREAT FROM THESSALY 423

ten thousand, encamped, and to them was added the cavalry
of the Thessalians. The Lacedaemonians were commanded
by Euaenetus, son of Carenus, chosen from among the Pole-
marchs, though not of the royal race, and the Athenians were
commanded by Themistocles, son of Neocles. There they
remained but a few days, for messengers coming from Alex-
ander, son of Amyntas, a Macedonian, 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
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 Perrhaebi, 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. This expedition into Thes-
saly took place while the king was about to cross over from
Asia into Europe, and was still at Abydos. But the Thes-
salians, being abandoned by their allies, then readily took part
with the Medes, and with no further hesitation, so much so
that in emergency they proved most useful to the king. ^

The Greeks, when they arrived at the isthmus, consulted *
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 Thermopylae; for it appeared to be narrower than that
into Thessaly, and at the same time nearer to their own terri-
tories. For the path by which the Greeks who were taken
at Thermopylae 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 terri-
tory of Histiaeotis, for these places are near one another, so
that they could hear what happened to each other. These
spots are thus situated : In the first place, Artemisium is con-
tracted from a wide space of the Thracian Sea into a narrow
frith, which lies between the island of Sciathus and the con-
tinent of Magnesia. From the narrow frith begins the coast
of Eubcea, called Artemisium, and in it is a Temple of Diana.
But the entrance into Greece through Trachis in the narrow-
est part is no more than a half plethrum in width ; however,
the narrowest part of the country is not in this spot, but before

424 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [176-179

and behind Thermopylae; 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 carriage-
road. On the western side of Thermopylae is an inaccessible
and precipitous mountain, stretching to Mount (Eta : and on
the 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
Phocaeans built it through fear, when the Thessalians came
from Thesprotia to settle in the ,ZEolian territory which they
now possess: apprehending that the Thessalians would at-
tempt to subdue them, the Phocaeans 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 barbarians from Greece. Very near this road
there is a village called Alpeni ; from this the Greeks expected
to obtain provisions. Accordingly, these situations appeared
suitable for the Greeks. For they, having weighed everything
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 Thermopylae, and others
by sea to Artemisium.

The Greeks, therefore, being appointed in two divisions,
hastened to meet the enemy. But at the same time the Del-
phians, 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 zeal-
ous 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 Del-
phians, in obedience to that oracle, to this day propitiate the
winds.

The naval force of Xerxes, setting out from the city of

179-184] THE FIRST ENGAGEMENT 425

Therma, advanced with ten of the fastest-sailing ships straight
to Scyithus, where were three Grecian ships keeping a look-
out, a Trcezenian, an yEginetan, and an Athenian. These,
seeing the ships of the barbarians at a distance, betook them-
selves to flight. The Trcezenian ship, which Praxinus com-
manded, 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. The ^Eginetan ship,
which Asonides commanded, gave them some trouble, Pyth-
eas, son of Ischenous, being a marine on board, a man who
on this day displayed the most consummate valour; who,
when the ship was taken, continued fighting until he was en-
tirely 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 valour,
healing his wounds with myrrh, and binding them with band-
ages 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. Thus, then, two of the ships were
taken ; but the third, which Phormus, an Athenian, com-
manded, 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, leaving scouts on the heights of Eu-
bcea, intending to defend the Euripus. Of the ten barbarian
ships, three approached the sunken rock called Myrmex, be-
tween 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 ob-
stacle 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 in Magnesia, and
the shore that lies between the city of Casthanaea and the coast
of Sepias.

As far as this place, and Thermopylae, the army had suf-

426 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [184-186

fered 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 and forty-one thousand four hundred men, allowing
two hundred to each ship ; and on these ships thirty Persians,
Medes, and Sacae served as marines, in addition to the native
crews of each: this further number amounts to thirty-six
thousand two hundred and ten. To this and the former num-
ber 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, three thousand of these vessels were assem-
bled ; 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 thou-
sand six hundred and ten. Of infantry there were seventeen
hundred thousand, and of cavalry eighty thousand; to these
I add the Arabians who rode 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 million 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. 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 thou-
sand men. Of land forces, which were furnished by Thracians,
Pseonians, the Eordi, the Bottiaeans, the Chalcidian race,
Brygi, Pierians, Macedonians, Perrhaebi, iEnianes, Dolopians,
Magnesians, and Achseans, 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 myri-
ads added to those from Asia make a total of two million six
hundred and forty-one thousand six hundred and ten fighting
men. 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 num-
ber with the fighting men, they make up the former number
of myriads. Thus Xerxes, son of Darius, led five million two
hundred and eighty-three thousand two hundred and twenty

186-189] FLEET DAMAGED BY STORM 427

men to Sepias and Thermopylae. This, then, was the num-
ber 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. There-
fore 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 chcenix 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.

When the fleet, having set out, sailed and reached the
shore of Magnesia that lies between the city of Casthansea 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 daybreak,
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 from their 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 Melibcea, and others at Casthansea.
The storm was indeed irresistible. A story is told that the
Athenians invoked Boreas, in obedience to an oracle, an-
other 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 mar-
riage, 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

428 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [189-193

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. In this disaster those who give the lowest ac-
count 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, gave him great affliction. The provision
ships and other vessels destroyed were beyond number; so
that the commanders of the naval force, fearing lest the Thes-
salians 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
endeavoured to charm the winds by incantations, and, more-
over, 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 coun-
try by Peleus, and that all the coast of Sepias belonged to
her and the other Nereids. Accordingly, the wind was lulled
on the fourth day. The scouts on the heights of Euboea, run-
ning 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 Deliv-
erer, 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 Arte-
misium; and from that time to the present have given to
Neptune the surname of the Deliverer.

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 Mag-
nesia, 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

193-197] PERSIAN SHIPS CAPTURED 429

Asia in Colchis, for the golden fleece; for from thence they
purposed to put out to sea, after they had taken on water :
from this circumstance the name of Aphetae was given to the
place. In this place, then, the fleet of Xerxes took up its
moorings. 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 ene-
mies. They were commanded by Sandoces, son of Thau-
masius, governor of Cyme, of ^olia. He, being one of the
royal judges, had been formerly condemned to be crucified by
King Darius, who had detected him in the following offence :
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, hav-
ing 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. In one of these Ari-
dolis, tyrant of the Alabandians, in Caria, was taken ; and in
another the Paphian commander Penthylus, son of Demonous.
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.

Accordingly, the naval force of the barbarians, with the
exception of the fifteen ships which, I have mentioned, San-
doces commanded, arrived at Aphetae. But Xerxes and the
land forces marching through Thessaly and Achaia, had en-
tered on the third day into the territories of the Maelians. In
Thessaly he had 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. When
Xerxes arrived at Alos in Achaia, the guides, wishing to tell
everything, related to him the tradition of the country, con-

430 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [197-200

cerning the Temple of Laphystian Jupiter ; how Athamas, son
of ^Eolus, conspiring with Ino, planned the death of Phryxus ;
and then, how the Achaians, in obedience to an oracle, im-
posed the following penalty on his descendants : whoever is
the eldest person of this race, having ordered him to be ex-
cluded from the Prytaneum, they themselves keep watch ; the
Achaians call the Prytaneum Leietum ; and if he should enter,
he can not possibly go out again except in order to be sacri-
ficed : 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 re-
lated how such a one, being covered with sacred fillets, is
sacrificed, and how conducted with great pomp. The de-
scendants of Cytissorus, son of Phryxus, are liable to this pun-
ishment ; 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 JEolus, Cytissorus, arriving
from Aia of Colchis, rescued him, and having done so, drew
down the anger of the gods 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 pre-
cinct.

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 a flow take 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 terri-
tory. The first city in the bay, as one comes from Achaia, is
Anticyra, by which the river Sperchius, flowing from the coun-
try of the yEnianes, 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. 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 in-
closes 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. To the south of the Asopus is

200-204] THERMOPYLAE 43 1

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 Phcenix it is fifteen stades
to Thermopylae; and between the river Phcenix and Ther-
mopylae 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. '"''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 Thermopylae, but
by the inhabitants and neighbours Pylae. Both 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 which stretch toward the south and meridian,
on this continent.

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 Arca-
dians ; from Corinth four hundred ; from Phlius two hundred
men, and from Mycenae eighty. These came from Pelopon-
nesus. From Bceotia, of Thespians seven hundred, and of
Thebans four hundred. 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 ambassadors 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 yEginetae, 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 re-
verses happen. That it must, therefore, needs be, that he
who is marching against us, being a mortal, will be disap-
pointed in his expectation. They, having heard this, marched
with assistance to Trachis. These nations had separate gen-
erals for their several cities ; but the one most admired, and
who commanded the whole army, was a Lacedaemonian, Le-
onidas, son of Anaxandrides, son of Leon, son of Eurycratides,
son of Anaxander, son of Eurycrates, son of Polydorus, son

432 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [204-208

of Alcamenes, son of Teleclus, son of Archelaus, son of Agesi-
laus, son of Doryssus, son of Leobotes, son of Echestratus, son
of Agis, son of Eurysthenes, son of Aristodemus, son of Aris-
tomachus, son of Cleodseus, son of Hyllus, son of Hercules;
who had unexpectedly succeeded to the throne of Sparta.
For as he had two elder brothers, Cleomenes and Dorieus,
he was far from any thought of the kingdom. J However,
Cleomenes having died without male issue, and Dorieus being
no longer alive, having ended his days in Sicily, the kingdom
thus devolved upon Leonidas ; both because he was older
than Cleombrotus (for he was the youngest son of Anaxan-
drides), and also because he had married the daughter of
Cleomenes. He then marched to Thermopylae, having chosen
the three hundred men allowed by law, and such as had chil-
dren. On his march he took with him the Thebans, whose
numbers I have already reckoned, 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 favouring 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. 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 manner; for the Olympic games occurred at
the same period as these events. As they did not, therefore,
suppose that the engagement at Thermopylae would so soon
be decided, they despatched an advance guard. Thus, then,
they intended to do.

The Greeks at Thermopylae, when the Persian came near
the pass, being alarmed, consulted about a retreat; accord-
ingly, it seemed best to the other Peloponnesians to retire to
Peloponnesus, and guard the isthmus ; but Leonidas, per-
ceiving the Phocians and Locrians very indignant at this
proposition, determined to stay there, and to despatch mes-
sengers to the cities, desiring them to come to their assist-
ance, as being too few to repel the army of the Medes. While
they were deliberating on these matters, Xerxes sent a scout
on horseback to see how many they were, and what they were

2o8-2io] THERMOPYLAE 433

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
leaders, that they were Lacedaemonians, and Lepnidas, 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 out-
side, whose arms were piled in front of the wall. At this time
the Lacedaemonians 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 everything 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. When Xerxes heard this, he could not comprehend
the truth that the Grecians were preparing to be slain and to
slay to the utmost <pf their power. But, as they appeared to
behave in a ridiculous manner* he sent for Demaratus, son
of Ariston, who was then in camp; and when he was come
into his presence, Xerxes questioned him as to each particu-
lar, wishing to understand what the Lacedaemonians 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 pres-
ence ; hear it, therefore, once more. These men have come
to fight with us for the pass, and are now preparing them-
selves 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 hands 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."

By saying this he did not convince Xerxes. He therefore
let four days pass, constantly expecting that they would betake
themselves to flight. But on the fifth day, as they had not re-
treated, but appeared to him to stay through arrogance and
28

434 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [210-213

rashness, he being enraged, sent the Medes and Cissians
against them, with orders to take them alive, and bring them
into his presence. When the Medes 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 throughout the day. 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 busi-
ness. But when they engaged with the Grecians, they suc-
ceeded 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 num-
bers. The Lacedaemonians 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 re-
treated in close order: but the barbarians seeing them re-
treat, followed with a shout and clamour; 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 anything
in their attempt on the pass, by attacking in troops and in
every possible manner, they retired. It is said that during
these onsets of the battle the king, who witnessed them, thrice
sprang from 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 marshalled 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 different from
what they had seen on the preceding; day, they retired.

While the king was in doubt what course to take in the
present state of aff^s^Ephialtes, son of Eurydemus, a Malian,
obtained an audience* othinf~'ex0ecting that he should re-
ceive a great reward from the king, and informed him of the
path which leads over the mountain to Thermopylae; and by
1 Literally, "came to speak with him."

213-217] THERMOPYLAE 435

that means caused the destruction of those Greeks who were
stationed there. But afterward, fearing the Lacedaemonians,
he fled to Thessaly; and when he had fled, a price was set
on his head by the Pylagori when the Amphictyons were as-
sembled at Pylse. But some time after, he went down to
Anticyra, and was killed by Athenades, a Trachinian. This
Athenades killed him for another reason, which I shall men-
tion in a subsequent part of my history;1 he was, however,
rewarded none the less by the Lacedaemonians. Another ac-
count 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 circum-
stance, that the Pylagori of the Grecians set a price on the
head not of Onetes and Corydallus, but of Ephialtes the Tra-
chinian, 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 ac-
quainted 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. Xerxes, since he was pleased with what Ephialtes
promised to perform, being exceedingly delighted, immedi-
ately despatched Hydarnes and the troops that Hydarnes com-
manded ; and he started from the camp about the hour of
lamp-lighting. The native Malians 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 at-
tack. From that time it appeared to have been of no service
to the Malians. 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,
Anopaea; and this Anopaea extends along the ridge of the
mountain, and ends near Alpenus, which is the first city of
the Locrians toward the Malians, and by the rock called Me-
lampygus, and by the seats of the Cercopes ; and there the
path is the narrowest. Along this path, thus situated, the
Persians, having crossed the Asopus, marched all night, hav-
ing on their right the mountains of the CEtaeans, and on their
left those of the Trachinians ; morning appeared, and they
were on the summit of the mountain. At this part of the

1 The promised account is nowhere given in any extant writings of the
historian.

436 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [217-220

mountains, 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.
The Phocians discovered them after they had ascended, in
the following manner : for the Persians 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 sprang up and put on their arms, and immediately
the barbarians made their appearance. But when they saw
men clad in armour they were astonished, for, expecting to
find nothing to oppose them, they fell in with an army. There-
upon Hydarnes, fearing lest the Phocians might be Lacedae-
monians, 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.

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 ; cer-
tain 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 from
the heights, as soon as day dawned, brought the same in-
telligence. 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.
It is said that Leonidas himself sent them away, being anx-
ious that they should not perish ; but that he and the Spar-
tans who were there could not honourably 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 dishon-
ourable for himself to depart : on the other hand, by remain-
ing there, great renown would be left for him, and the pros-

220-223] THERMOPYLAE 437

perity of Sparta would not be obliterated. For it had been
announced to the Spartans, by the Pythian, when they con-
sulted the oracle concerning this war, as soon as it began,
that either Lacedaemon must be overthrown by the bar-
barians, or their king perish. This answer she gave in
hexameter verses to this effect : " To you, O inhabitants of
spacious Lacedaemon, either your vast, glorious city shall be
destroyed by men sprung from Perseus, or, if not so, the con-
fines of Lacedaemon mourn a king deceased of the race of
Hercules. For neither shall the strength of bulls nor of lions
withstand him,1 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. The
following in no small degree strengthens my conviction 2 on
this point: for not only did he send away the others, but
it is certain that Leonidas also sent away the augur who fol-
lowed 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. He, however, though dismissed, did not himself de-
part, but sent away his son, who served with him in the ex-
pedition, being his only child. The allies, accordingly, that
were dismissed, departed, and obeyed Leonidas ; but only the
Thespians and the Thebans remained with the Lacedaemo-
nians : 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 re-
mained and died with them. Demophilus, son of Diadromas,
commanded them.

Xerxes, after he had poured out libations at sunrise, hav-
ing waited a short time, began his attack about the time 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 Leon-
idas, marching out as if for certain death, now advanced much
farther than before into the wide part of the defile. For the
fortification of the wall had protected them, and they on the
1 The Persian king. J " Is not the least proof to me."

438 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [223-226

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 tram-
pled 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 valour against the barbarians.
Already were most of their javelins broken, and they had
begun to despatch 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 Hyper-
anthes, born to Darius of Phrataguna, daughter of Artanes ;
but Artanes was brother to King 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.
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 Lacedaemonians, until at last the
Greeks rescued it by their valour, and four times repulsed the
enemy. Thus the contest continued until those with Ephialtes
came up. When the Greeks heard that they were approach-
ing, 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 Thebans : the ris-
ing ground is at the entrance where the stone lion now stands
to the memory of Leonidas. On this spot, while they de-
fended themselves with swords, such as had them still re-
maining, and their hands and teeth, the barbarians over-
whelmed them with missiles, some of them attacking them
in front, and having thrown down the wall; and others sur-
rounding and attacking them on every side.

Though the Lacedaemonians 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 Tra-
chinian say that when the barbarians let fly their arrows they

226-229] THERMOPYLAE 439

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 everything to their advan-
tage, since if the Medes obscured 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 Lace-
daemonian, left as memorials. Next to him, two Lacedae-
monian 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. In honour 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
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 Lacedaemonians ; and for the prophet, the
following : " This is the monument of the illustrious Megis-
tias, whom once the Medes, having passed the river Sperchius,
slew; a prophet, who, at the time well knowing the impend-
ing fate, would not abandon the leaders of Sparta." The
Amphictyons are the persons who honoured them with these
inscriptions and columns, with the exception of the inscrip-
tion to the prophet ; that of the prophet Megistias, Simonides,
son of Leoprepes, caused to be engraved, from personal friend-
ship.

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, hav-
ing heard of the circuit made by the Persians, and having
called for and 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 be-
hind. Now if it had happened that Aristodemus alone, being
sick, had returned to Sparta, or if both had gone home to-
gether, in my opinion the Spartans would not have shown

440 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [229-234

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 Aris-
todemus. Some say that Aristodemus thus got safe to Sparta,
and on such a pretext; but others, that being sent as a mes-
senger 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. 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 called Aristodemus the coward. However,
in the battle of Plataea, he removed all the disgrace that at-
tached to him. It is also said that another of the three hun-
dred, whose name was Pantites, having been sent as a mes-
senger to Thessaly, survived; and that he, on his return to
Sparta, finding himself held in dishonour, hung himself. 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 Leon-
idas were hastening to the hill, having separated from them,
they held out their hands and went near the barbarians, say-
ing 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 Ther-
mopylae 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, be-
ginning with the general Leontiades; whose son, Eury-
machus, some time afterward, the Plataeans slew, when he was
commanding four hundred Thebans, and had got possession
of the citadel of the Plataeans. Thus the Greeks fought at
Thermopylae. And Xerxes, having sent for Demaratus, ques-
tioned 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 an-
swered : " O king, the number of all the Lacedaemonians is

234-236] DEMARATUS ADVISES XERXES 441

great, and their cities are many ; but I shall inform you of that
which you desire to know. In Laconia is Sparta, a city con-
taining about eight thousand men ; all these are equal to those
who have fought here; the rest of the Lacedaemonians, how-
ever, 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 ac-
quainted with the course of their counsels, since you have been
their king."

He replied : " O king, since you ask my advice so ear-
nestly, it is right that I should tell you what is best. You
should, then, despatch 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 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 Lacedaemonians ; and
when they have a war of their own near home, they will no
longer give you cause to fear, lest they should succour the
rest of Greece, while it is being taken by your land forces.
But when the rest of Greece is subdued, the Laconian terri-
tory, 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." After him spoke Achaemenes, 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 pros-
perity, or would betray your cause. For the Greeks are com-
monly 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 wrecked, you 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 un-
able to fight with us at all : moreover, the whole fleet will as-
sist the land forces, and the land forces the fleet, by advancing
together ; but if you separate them, neither will they be useful

442 HERODOTUS— BOOK VII, POLYMNIA [236-239

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 many their numbers are. For they are able
to think about themselves, and we in like manner about our-
selves. But the Lacedaemonians, if they venture a battle
against the Persians, will not cure this one present wound."
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 Demara-
tus is not well disposed to my interests, forming my conclu-
sion 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, how-
ever, 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." Xerxes having spoken thus, passed through
the dead ; and having heard that Leonidas was king and gen-
eral of the Lacedaemonians, 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 Per-
sians, most of all men with whom I am acquainted, are wont
to honour men who are brave in war. They, however, to
whom the order was given to do this did it.

But I return to that part of my narration where I before
left it incomplete. The Lacedaemonians first had information
that the king was preparing to invade Greece; and accord-
ingly they sent to the oracle at Delphi, whereupon the answer
was given them which I lately mentioned. But they obtained
their information in a remarkable manner. For Demaratus,
son of Ariston, being in exile among the Medes, as I con-
jecture, 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
heard of his intention, communicated it to the Lacedaemonians.

239] HOW THE NEWS REACHED GREECE 443

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 in-
tention on the wood of the tablet; and having done this, he
melted the wax again over the writing, in order that the tablet,
being carried with nothing written on it, might occasion him
no trouble from the guards upon the road. When it arrived at
Sparta, the Lacedaemonians were unable to comprehend it;
until, as I am informed, Gorgo, daughter of Cleomenes, and
wife to Leonidas, 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. >*X^ $

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 Plataeans, from a spirit of valour
and zeal, though inexperienced in the sea service, as-
sisted the Athenians in manning the ships. The Corinthians
furnished forty ships ; the Megureans twenty ; the Chalcidians
manned twenty, the Athenians having furnished them with
ships; the iEginetae, 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 Lo-
crians also came to their assistance with seven penteconters.
These, then, were they who were engaged in the war at Arte-
misium, and I have mentioned how each contributed to the
number of the ships. The total 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 Lacedaemonians did not command,
to follow Athenian leaders, but said they would break up the
intended fleet. For from the first there was a talk, even be-
fore they 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 impor-
tance 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 pre-
text the arrogance of Pausanius, and deprived the Lacedae-
monians of the chief command. But these things occurred

444

4-7] WITH THE FLEET 445

afterward. But at that time those Greeks who had arrived
at Artemisium, when they saw a vast number of ships drawn
up at Aphetas, and all parts full of troops, since the affairs
of the barbarians turned out contrary to their expectation, in
great consternation, deliberated about retiring from Arte-
misium to the inner parts of Greece. The Eubceans, knowing
that they were deliberating on this matter, entreated Eury-
biades 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 to 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 Eubcea. 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,
affirming that he would sail away from Artemisium, and not
stay ; to him Themistocles said with an oath : " You shall
not abandon 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 board the ship of Adimantus. They therefore,
being swayed by the present, were gained over, and complied
with the wishes of the Euboeans ; 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.

They accordingly remained in Euboea, and came to an
engagement by sea. It happened in this manner : when the
barbarians arrived at Aphetse, in the afternoon, having been
informed that a few Grecian ships were stationed there, and
then descrying them at Artemisium, they were eager to at-
tack, in the hope of taking them. However, they did not think
it advisable to sail directly upon them, for the following rea-
sons, 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. For this purpose, then, they had re-
course to the following plan: having detached two hundred
ships from the whole fleet, they sent them round, outside Sci-
athus, that they might not be seen by the enemy sailing round
Eubcea, by Caphareus and round Gersestus to the Euripus ;
that so they might surround them, the one party arriving at

446 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [7-10

the place appointed in that way, and intercepting their retreat,
and themselves attacking them in front. Having determined
on this, they despatched 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 Aphetae. 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 Aphetae, he never rose until he reached Arte-
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 imme-
diately informed the commanders of the shipwreck, how it
had occurred, and of the ships that were sent round Euboea.
The Greeks, having heard this, held a conference among
themselves ; and, after much debate, it was resolved that re-
maining 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. 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 way, expecting that they should
easily take them ; and their expectations were very reason-
able 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

io-h] OFF ARTEMISIUM 447

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. 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 began
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 of .Eschreus, an Athenian,
was the first of the Greeks who took a ship from the enemy,
and he received the palm of valour. But night coming on,
separated the combatants, who in this engagement fought with
doubtful success. The Greeks returned to Artemisium, and
the barbarians to Aphetae, 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 serv-
ice who went over to the Grecians ; and on that account the
Athenians presented him with lands in Salamis.

When night came on, and it was now the middle of sum-
mer, heavy rain fell through the whole night, and violent
thunder about Pelion; and the dead bodies and pieces of
wreck were driven to Aphetae, 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 fallen. 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.
But to those who had been appointed to sail round Euboea,
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 Ccela of Eubcea,
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 Eubcea. The barbarians
at Aphetae, when to their great joy day dawned, kept their

448 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [14-18

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 Eubcea had all perished in the late storm ;
therefore having waited to the same hour, they set sail and
attacked the Cilician ships, and having destroyed them, as
soon as it was night they sailed back to Artemisium.

On the third day the commanders of the barbarians, in-
dignant 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
way about the middle of the day. It happened that these
actions by sea and those by land at Thermopylae 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 chan-
nel. When the barbarians, having formed in line, sailed on-
ward, 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; where-
upon the Greeks sailed out to meet them, and engaged. In
this battle they were nearly equal to one 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. Accord-
ingly, 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. 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 sig-
nalized 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.

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

18-22] NEWS FROM THERMOPYLAE 449

consulted about a retreat to the interior of Greece. But The-
mistocles having considered with himself that if the Ionians
and Carians could be detached from the Barbarian, they would
be able to overcome the rest; as the Eubceans 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 Eubcean 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. For the Eubceans, disregarding the oracles of Bacis
as importing nothing, had neither carried out anything to a
place of safety, nor collected stores, as if war was approach-
ing; 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 cast a byblus-yoke
across the sea, remove the bleating goats from Eubcea." As
they paid no attention to these verses, in the calamities then
present and those that were impending, they fell into the
greatest distress. 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 Thermopylae ; and in like manner Abronychus, son of
Lysicles, 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 ar-
riving, 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.

Themistocles, having selected the best sailing ships of the
Athenians, went to the places where there was water fit for
drinking, and engraved upon the stones inscriptions which
the Ionians, upon arriving next day at Artemisium, 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,
29

450 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [22-25

withdraw your forces from the contest, and entreat the Cari-
ans 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, re-
membering that you are descended from us, and that the
enmity of the barbarians against us originally sprang from
you." Themistocles, in my opinion, wrote this with two ob-
jects in view : that either, if the inscriptions escaped the notice
of the king, he might induce the Ionians to change sides and
come over to them; or, if they were reported to him, and
made a subject of accusation before Xerxes, they might make
the Ionians suspected, and cause them to be excluded from
the sea-fights. Themistocles left this inscription, and imme-
diately afterward a certain Histiaean came to the barbarians
in a boat, announcing the flight of the Greeks from Artemisi-
um; but they, through distrust, kept the man who brought
the news under guard, and despatched 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 Histisea, and on their arrival pos-
sessed themselves of the city of the Histiaeans, and ravaged
all the maritime villages of the Ellopian district, in the terri-
tory of Histiaeotis.

While they were on this coast, Xerxes, having made prepa-
rations 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 Thermopylae, and they were
about twenty thousand, of these having left about one thou-
sand, 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 Histiaea, 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 sense-
less men who hoped to overcome the king's power." After
he had made this announcement, nothing was more 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 Lacedae-
monians 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 in-
deed it was ridiculous ; of the one party a thousand dead were

25-28] OLYMPIC GAMES CELEBRATED 451

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 Histiaea, to their ships, and
those with Xerxes set out on their march. Some few deserters
came to them from Arcadia, in want of subsistence, and wished
to be actively employed : taking these men into the king's
presence, the Persians inquired concerning the Greeks, what
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 horse-
races. 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 Tritantsechmes, son of Arta-
banus, 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.

In the meantime, and when the defeat had occurred at
Thermopylae, 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 them-
selves and their allies, having invaded the territories of the
Phocians with all their forces, had been worsted by the Pho-
cians 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 hun-
dred of the bravest Phocians, both the men themselves and
their armour, he attacked the Thessalians by night, having
ordered them to kill every man they should see not covered
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 Abas, and the other at
Delphi. The tenth of the treasures taken in this battle com-
posed those great statues which stand about the tripod in the
front of the temple at Delphi, and others like them were dedi-
cated at Abae. 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 irrup-
tion into their territory ; for in the entrance which is near Hy-

452 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [28-32

ampolis, 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. The Thessalians, bearing a grudge against them for
these two things, sent a herald and made the following an-
nouncement : O 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, how-
ever, though possessing full power, are not mindful of in-
juries ; therefore, let fifty talents of silver be given us by way
of reparation, and we promise you to avert the evils that im-
pend over your country."

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 mes-
sage, they said they would not give money, and that it was
in their power to join the Medes as well as the Thessalians,
if only they chose to do so ; but that they would not willingly
be traitors to Greece. When this answer was brought back,
the Thessalians thereupon, being incensed with the Phocians,
became guides to the barbarians ; and, accordingly, they en-
tered from Trachinia into Doris. For a narrow strip of Doric
territory extends that way, about thirty stades in breadth, and
situated 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. 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 num-
ber of them had conveyed their effects to the Locrian Ozolse,
to the city of Amphissa, which is situated on the Crisaean

32-37] IN PHOCIS AND BOEOTIA 453

plain. But the barbarians overran the whole Phocian terri-
tory. For marching this way along the river Cephissus, they
ravaged the whole country, and burned down the cities of
Drymus, Charadra, Erochus, Tethronium, Amphicaea, Neon,
Pedieae, Triteae, Elatea, Hyampolis, Parapotamii, and Abae ;
where was a rich temple of Apollo, adorned with many treas-
ures 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 inter-
course with them in great numbers. The barbarians having
passed by Parapotamii, arrived at Panopeae, 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 Bceotia, at the terri-
tory of the Orchomenians. But the Bceotians 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 Bceotians favoured the cause of the Medes.
These barbarians, then, took this route.

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
the ^olidae. 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 everything 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 Croesus, son of Alyattes. 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 treas-
ures, whether they should hide them under ground or trans-
port 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 Lo-
crian Amphissa. Thus all the Delphians abandoned the city,
except only sixty men and the prophet. When the barbarians
were advanced near, and saw the temple in the distance, then

454 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [37-40

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 Del-
phians who were at hand. But when the barbarians, hasten-
ing their march, were near the Temple of Minerva Pronae
prodigies still greater than the former succeeded. And this
is indeed a great wonder, that warlike instruments should be
seen, self-moved, lying before the temple, yet the second prodi-
gies, which succeeded after this, are worthy of admiration be-
yond all other portents. For when the barbarians had ad-
vanced near the Temple of Minerva Pronaea, 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 Pronaea. 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 re-
turned, as I am informed, declared that besides these they
saw other miraculous things, for that two heavy armed men,
of more than human stature, followed them, slaying and pur-
suing them. 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 Pronaea; and that of Autonous, near the Cas-
talian spring under the Hyampeian summit. The rocks that
fell from Parnassus were still preserved in my time, lying
in the inclosure of Minerva Pronaea, where they fell when
borne among the barbarians. Such, then, was the retreat of
tjiese men from the temple.
.>V The Grecian fleet from Artemisium, at the request of the
l^y^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 expecta-
tion. For whereas they expected to find the Peloponnesians
with all their forces waiting in Boeotia to receive the barbarians,
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.

40-44] ATHENS ABANDONED 455

Having been informed of this, they therefore entreated them
to direct their course to Salamis. The rest, therefore, held on
to Salamis, but the Athenians to their own country; and
on their arrival they caused proclamations 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 Trcezene, some to iEgina, 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 honour by placing before it its monthly food; the
monthly food consists of a honey-cake: this honey-cake hav-
ing been in former time always consumed, now remained un-
touched. 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 everything had
been deposited in a place of safety, they sailed to the encamp-
ment. 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 Trcezene ; for they had been
ordered to assemble at Pogon, a harbour 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, Eurybi-
ades, 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.

The following joined the fleet: From the Peloponnesus,
the Lacedaemonians, furnishing sixteen ships ; the Corinthi-
ans, furnishing the same number as at Artemisium ; the Sicy-
onians furnished fifteen ships ; the Epidaurians, ten ; the Trce-
zenians, five ; and the Hermionians, three ; all these, except
the Hermionians, being of Doric and Macedonic 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. The
following were from the outer continent: the Athenians, be-
yond all the rest, alone furnished one hundred and eighty
ships ; for at Salamis the Plataeans did not join their forces
to the Athenians, on account of the following circumstance:
when the Greeks retired from Artemisium, and were off Chal-
cis, the Plataeans, having landed on the opposite coast in

456 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [44-48

Boeotia, set about carrying away their families : they, there-
fore, 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 Cecropidse; 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. 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. Of the islanders, the ^ginetae furnished thirty ships ;
they had also other ships ready manned, but with some they
guarded their own country, and with thirty the best sailing
vessels, they fought at Salamis. The ^Eginetse are Dorians,
from Epidaurus, and their island formerly had the name of
CEnone. Next to the ^Eginetae, 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 Nax-
ians furnished 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 citi-
zens, 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 Seriph-
ians, the Siphnians, and the Malians also joined the fleet;
for they only of the islanders refused to give earth and water
to the Barbarian. All these nations, situated 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 Crotoniatae 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 Crotoniatae are Achaeans
by extraction. Now the rest joined the fleet, furnishing tri-
remes; but the Malians, Siphnians, and Seriphians, pente-
conters. The Malians, who are by extraction from Lacedae-
mon, furnished two ; the Siphnians and the Seriphians, who
are Ionians from Athens, one each. So that the whole num-
ber of ships, besides the penteconters, amounted to three hun^
dred and seventy-eight.

49-52] XERXES BURNS ATHENS 457

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. Most of the opin-
ions 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
Salamis, they should be besieged in the island, where no suc-
cour could reach them ; but if at the isthmus, they might
escape to their own cities.

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 lay-
ing waste every part of it. They set fire to Thespia and
Platsea, being informed by the Thebans that they were not
on the side of the Medes. From the passage over the Helles-
pont, 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 with-
drawn to Salamis, partly through want of means, and more-
over 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. The Per-
sians, 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 Pisistratidas proposed them,
would they listen to terms of capitulation ; but still defending
themselves, they both contrived other means of defence, and

458 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [52-56

when the barbarians approached the gates, they hurled down
large round stones ; so that Xerxes was for a long time kept
in perplexity, not being able to capture them. 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 the
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 hav-
ing opened them, put the suppliants to death : and when all
were thrown prostrate, having pillaged the temple, they set
fire to the whole Acropolis.

Xerxes having entire possession of Athens, despatched a
messenger on horseback to Susa, to announce to Artabanus
his present success. And on the second day after the despatch
of the herald, having summoned the exiled Athenians who at-
tended 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 the Athenians performed what was commanded.
Why I have 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 sacri-
fice, when they went up to the temple, saw a shoot from the
stump, sprung up to the height of a cubit. This they affirmed.

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,

THE PARTHENON.

Steel engraving by William G. Jackman.

their

56-60] CONFERENCE AT SALAMIS 459

went on board their ships. Thereupon Mnesiphilus, an Athe-
nian, inquired of Themistocles, on his return to his ship, what
had 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 them-
selves 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 endeavour
to annul the decree, if by any means you can induce Eurybi-
ades to alter his determination, so as to remain here." The
suggestion pleased Themistocles exceedingly ; and without
giving any answer he went to the ship of Eurybiades; 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 Mne-
siphilus, 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. When they were assembled, be-
fore 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 The-
mistocles, 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."

At that time he answered the Corinthian mildly. But to
Eurybiades he said not a word of what he had before men-
tioned, 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 :
" 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 isth-
mus you will fight in the open sea, where it is least advan-
tageous to us, who have heavier ships and fewer in number.
Besides, you will lose Salamis, and Megara, and ^gina, even
if we succeed in other respects : for the land forces will fol-
low close upon their navy ; thus you will yourself lead them
to the Peloponnesus, and expose all Greece to danger. But

460 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [60-63

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. 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." 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 Adiman-
tus 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. Having
intimated this, he transferred his discourse to Eurybiades, say-
ing with greater earnestness : " If you remain here, by re-
maining 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 words."
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 de-
serted them, the rest would no longer be a match for the

63-66] PREPARATIONS AT SALAMIS 461

enemy. He, therefore, adopted this advice, to stay there and
come to a decisive engagement. Thus they at Salamis, hav-
ing 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 .^Eacidae as allies ; and as they had deter-
mined, 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 ./Eacidae. Dicaeus,
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
Iacchus. Demaratus was unacquainted with the mysteries of
Eleusis, and asked Dicaeus what it might be that was uttered ;
but he said : " O Demaratus, 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 super-
natural, proceeding from Eleusis to the assistance of the Athe-
nians and the allies. And if it should rush toward the Pelo-
ponnesus, 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,1 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 : " Be silent, and tell this story to no one else ; for if
these words should be reported to the king, you 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 Dicaeus, son of Theocydes,
gave, calling on Demaratus and others as witnesses.

When the men belonging to the fleet of Xerxes, having
1 Ceres and Proserpine.

462 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [66-68

viewed the Lacedaemonian loss, crossed over from Trachis to
Histiaea, they remained there three days, and then sailed
through the Euripus, and in three days more arrived off Pha-
lerus. 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
Thermopylae. For I set off against those that perished by
the storm, and at Thermopylae, and at the sea-fight at Arte-
misium, the following who at that time did not attend the
king: the Malians, Dorians, Locrians, and Boeotians, who
attended with all their forces, except the Thespians and Platae-
ans ; 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 at-
tended him. 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, how-
ever, the rest arrived at Phalerus, then Xerxes himself went
down to the ships, wishing to mix with them, and to learn
the opinions 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 en-
gagement by sea. 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 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 Eu-
boea, 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 as 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. In what way the affairs of
your enemies will turn out, I will now say. If you should

68-71] PERSIANS APPROACH SALAMIS 463

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 land forces
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. But if you should hasten forthwith to en-
gage, I fear lest the sea forces, being worsted, should at the
same time bring ruin on the land forces. Besides, O 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 Pam-
phylians, who are of no use at all." 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
honoured above all the allies, were delighted with her de-
cision, 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, 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.

When they gave the signal for putting to sea, they got the
ships under way 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 readi-
ness 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 con-
quered, they would be shut up and besieged in the island,
having left their own country defenceless. The land forces
of the barbarians marched that same night against the Pelo-
ponnesus; although every possible expedient had been con-
trived to hinder the barbarians from entering by the main
land. For as soon as the Peloponnesians heard that those

464 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [71-74

with Leonidas at Thermopylae had perished, they flocked to-
gether from the cities and stationed themselves at the isthmus ;
and Cleombrotus, son of Anaxandrides, and brother of Leon-
idas, commanded them. Having stationed themselves, there-
fore, 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 laboured, 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 by day. Those who assisted at the
isthmus with all their forces were the following of the Greeks :
the Lacedaemonians, and all the Arcadians, the Eleans, Cor-
inthians, Sicyonians, Epidaurians, Phliasians, Trcezenians,
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. 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 Pelopon-
nesus, though they did from their own territory, and now occu-
py another. The remaining four nations of the seven are for-
eign, Dorians, vEtolians, Dryopians, and Lemnians. The Dori-
ans have many and celebrated cities ; the yEtolians, only Elis :
the Dryopians, Hermione and Asine, situated near Cardamyle
of Laconia ; the Lemnians have all the Paroreatae. The Cynu-
rians, 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 Orneatae *
and neighbouring inhabitants. Of these seven nations, the
remaining cities, except those I have enumerated, remained
neutral; or, if I may speak freely, by remaining neutral,
favoured the Mede.

Those at the isthmus, 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

1 Baehr takes the word Orneatae to describe people who were trans-
planted from a distance, and made to dwell near Argos. One advantage
in following his interpretation is, that it obviates the necessity of altering.

74-76] BATTLE OF SALAMIS 465

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, ^ginetse, and Megareans,
that they should stay there and defend themselves. There-
upon Themistocles, when he saw his opinion was overruled
by the Peloponnesians, went secretly out of the council; and
having gone out, he despatched a man in a boat to the en-
campment 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, The-
mistocles got made a Thespian, when the Thespians aug-
mented the number of their citizens, and gave him a compe-
tent fortune. He, then, arriving in the boat, spoke as follows
to the generals of the barbarians : " The general of the Athe-
nians has sent me unknown to the rest of the Greeks (for he is
in the interest of the king, and wishes that your affairs may
prosper, rather than those of the Greeks) to inform you that
the Greeks in great consternation are deliberating on flight;
and you have now an opportunity of achieving the most glori-
ous 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. 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 con-
tinent; and, in the next place, when it was midnight, they
got their western wing under way, drawing it in a circle
toward Salamis, and those who were stationed about Ceos
and Cynosura got under way and occupied the whole pas-
sage as far as Munychia, with their ships. And for this reason
they got their ships under way, 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 de-
stroy the other. But these things they did in silence, that
the enemy might not know what was going on. They there-
fore made these preparations by night, without taking any rest.
30

466 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [77-80

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 thinking
to subvert all things. For brass shall engage with brass, and
Mars shall redden the sea with blood. Then the far-thunder-
ing son of Saturn and benign victory shall bring a day of
freedom to Greece." Looking on such occurrences, and re-
garding Bacis, who spoke thus clearly, I neither dare myself
say anything in contradiction to oracles, nor allow others to
do so.

There was great altercation between the generals at Sala-
mis : and they did not yet know that the barbarians had sur-
rounded them with their ships; but they supposed that they
were in the same place as they had seen them stationed in
during the day. While the generals were disputing, Aristides,
son of Lysimachus, crossed over from vEgina ; 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 way 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 coun-
try. I assure you that to say little or much to the Pelo-
ponnesians about sailing 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, there-
fore, and acquaint them with this." 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

80-84] BATTLE OF SALAMIS 467

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 sur-
rounded on all sides." Aristides, going in, gave this ac-
count, saying that he came from ^Egina, and with difficulty
sailed through unperceived by those that 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 defence. And he, having said this, withdrew; a
dispute, however, again arose, for the greater part of the
generals gave no credit to the report. While they were still
in doubt there arrived a trireme of Tenians that had deserted,
which Panaetius, son of Socimenes, 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 barbarians. With this ship
that came over at Salamis, and with the Lemnian before, off
Artemisium, the Grecian fleet was made up to the full num-
ber of three hundred and eighty ships ; for before it wanted
two of that number.

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 fin-
ished his speech, he ordered them to go on board their ships :
they accordingly were going on board, when the trireme from
iEgina, which had gone to fetch the yEacidae, returned. There-
upon the Greeks got all their ships under way. When they
were under way, 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 en-
tangled 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 began ; but
the iEginetae affirm that the ship which went to JEgina to
fetch the vEacidse was the first to begin. This is also said, that
a phantom of a woman appeared to them, and that on her

468 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [84-87

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?"
Opposite the Athenians the Phoenicians were drawn up, for
they occupied the wing toward Eleusis and westward ; oppo-
site the Lacedaemonians, the Ionians occupied the wing to-
ward the east and the Piraeus. Of these some few behaved
ill on purpose, in compliance with the injunctions of The-
mistocles ; 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 Histiaeus, 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 of the king, and a large tract of
land was given him. The benefactors of the king are called
in the Persian language Orosangae. Such was the case with
regard to these men. The greater part of the ships were run
down at Salamis ; some being destroyed by the Athenians,
others by the JEginetae. For as the Greeks fought in good
order, in line, but the barbarians were neither properly formed
nor did anything with judgment, such an event as did happen
was likely to occur. However, they were and proved them-
selves to be far braver on this day than off Eubcea, every one
exerting himself vigorously, and dreading Xerxes; for each
thought that he himself was observed by the king.

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 mo-
ment 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 re-
solved 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 quar-
rel 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 ; how-
ever, she ran it down, and sunk it, and by good fortune gained
a double advantage to herself. For the captain of the Attic
ship, when he saw her bearing down on a ship of the bar-

87-90] BATTLE OF SAL AM IS 469

barians, 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. 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 more in favour with Xerxes. For
it is said that Xerxes, looking still on, observed her ship mak-
ing the attack, and that some near him said, " Sire, do you see
Artemisia, how well she fights, and has sunk one of the ene-
my's ships ? " Whereupon he asked if it was in truth the
exploit of Artemisia : they answered that they knew the en-
sign 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.

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 bar-
barians, not knowing how to swim, perished in the sea. When
the foremost ships were put to flight, then the greatest num-
bers were destroyed ; for those who were stationed behind,
endeavouring 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. 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 cap-
tains were not put to death, but that those 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
ship coming up, sunk the ship of the Samothracians. 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 Ioni-
ans ; 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

470 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [90-93

struck off, that they who had proved themselves cowards
might no more accuse those who were braver. (For when-
ever Xerxes saw any one of his own men performing a gallant
action in the sea-fight, being seated at the foot of the moun-
tain opposite Salamis, which is called ^Egaleos, 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
Ionians, and happened to be present, contributed to the ruin
of the Phoenicians. They accordingly betook themselves to
the Phoenicians.1

The barbarians being turned to flight, and sailing away
toward Phalerus, the ^ginetae 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 iEginetse, 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 ^Eginetge. 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 ^Eginetan, bearing down upon a Sidonian ship,
the same that had taken the ^Eginetan ship, which was keep-
ing 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 valour. The
Sidonian ship that carried him about was taken with the Per-
sians on board, so that Pytheas, by this means, returned safe
to ttgina. But when Polycritus saw the Athenian ship, he
knew it, seeing the admiral's ensign ; and shouting to The-
mistocles, he railed at him, upbraiding him with the charge
of Medism brought against the ^Eginetae. Polycritus, accord-
ingly, as he was attacking the ship, threw out these reproaches
against Themistocles. But the barbarians, whose ships sur-
vived, fled and arrived at Phalerus, under the protection of
the land forces.

In this engagement of the Greeks, the ^ginetae obtained
the greatest renown ; and next, the Athenians — of particular
persons, Polycritus of ^gina, 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 re-
ward of ten thousand drachmas was offered to whoever should

1 That is, " the executioners put them to death."

93-96] BATTLE OF SALAMIS 47 1

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. The Athenians say
that Adimantus, the Corinthian admiral, immediately from
the beginning, 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 the 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 ship, they spoke as fol-
lows : " 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 ready 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 the Athenians; the
Corinthians, however, do not admit its truth, but affirm that
they were among the foremost in the engagement ; and the
rest of Greece bears testimony in their favour. Aristides, son
of Lysimachus, an Athenian, of whom I made mention a little
before as a most upright man, in this confusion that took
place about Salamis, did as follows : taking with him a con-
siderable number of heavy armed men, who were stationed
along the shore of the Salaminian territory, and were Athe-
nians 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.

When the sea-fight was ended, the Greeks, having hauled
on shore at Salamis all the wrecks that still happened to 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 fulfil both
all the other oracles delivered by Bacis and Musaeus concern-
ing 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

472 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [96-99

understood by any of the Greeks, " The Colian women shall
broil their meat with oars." x This was to happen after the
departure of the king.

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 Phoe-
nician 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 deter-
mined 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 despatched a messenger to the Persians to inform
them of the misfortune that had befallen him. There is noth-
ing 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 intervals, a
horse and a man being stationed at each day's journey: nei-
ther snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor night, prevents them from
performing their appointed stage as quickly 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 honour of Vulcan. This mode of trav-
elling by horses the Persians call angareion. The first mes-
sage that reached Susa, with the news that Xerxes was in
possession of Athens, caused so great joy among the Per-
sians 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 consternation that they all rent their
garments, and uttered unbounded shouts and lamentations,
laying the blame on Mardonius. 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.

1 Or, " shall shudder at the oars."

ioo-ioi] AFTER THE BATTLE 473

Mardonius, seeing1 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
Greece, and that it would be better for him to incur the hazard
either of subduing Greece or ending his life gloriously in at-
tempting great achievements: however, the thought of sub-
duing Greece weighed more with him ; having, therefore, con-
sidered these things, he thus addressed the king : " Sire, do
not grieve, nor think you have suffered any great loss in con-
sequence 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 busi-
ness 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 im-
mediately 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-
draw the army, I have then other advice to offer. Do not
you, O king, suffer the Persians to be exposed to the derision
of the Greeks ; for where the Persians fought, your affairs re-
ceived 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, there-
fore, 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 shouki deliver Greece to you reduced
to slavery, having selected three hundred thousand men from
the army." Xerxes, having heard this, was rejoiced and de-
lighted, 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 delib-
erating with his Persian counsellors, he thought fit to send for
Artemisia to the council, because she was evidently the only
person who before understood what ought to have been done.
When Artemisia arrived, Xerxes having ordered his other
counsellors 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

474 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [roi-105

and the land army are not at all to blame for the defeat I have
sustained, and wish to give me proof of it. He, therefore, ad-
vises 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 persuading me from engaging in it, advise me now,
by adopting which measure I shall consult best for my inter-
est." Thus he asked her advice. She answered as follows :
" O 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 Mar-
donius 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 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
retil™ faoggfrg JY~™ac 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 con-
duct his sons to Ephesus; for some of his natural sons had
accompanied him.

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 favour. The Pedasians dwell above Hali-
carnassus; and among these Pedasians the following occur-
rence takes place : when within a certain time any calamity is
about to fall on the different neighbours who dwell round their
city, then the priestess of Minerva has a large beard. This
has already happened twice to them. 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 live-

105-107] RETREAT OF XERXES 475

lihood by most infamous practices. For whenever he pur-
chased 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, there-
fore, had castrated many others, as he made his livelihood
by this means, and among them this man : Hermotimus, how-
ever, 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. 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
possess, and is called Atarneus, he there met with Panionius.
Having recognised him, he addressed many friendly words to
him ; first recounting to him the many advantages he had ac-
quired 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 : so that Panionius, joyfully accept-
ing 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 im-
agine, surely, that thy machinations would pass unnoticed by
the gods ; who following righteous laws, having 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 cas-
trate his own sons, who were four in number ; and being com-
pelled, he did it ; and, after he had finished it, his sons, being
compelled, castrated him. Thus the vengeance of Hermoti-
mus 1 overtook Panionius.

Xerxes, when he had committed his sons to Artemisia to
convey to Ephesus, having sent for Mardonius, bade him
choose what forces he would out of the army, and endeavour
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 Helles-
pont, as quickly as each was able, in order to guard the bridges
for the king to pass over. But when the barbarians were sail-
ing near Zosta, where some small promontories jut out from
1 Literally, " vengeance and Hermotimus."

476 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [107-109

the mainland, 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. 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 them-
selves ; but when they were informed that the ships had de-
parted, they immediately determined to pursue them. How-
ever, they did not get sight of Xerxes's naval force, although
they pursued them as far as Andros : on arriving at Andros,
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 Helles-
pont, and destroy the bridges. But Eurybiades gave a con-
trary 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 Eu-
rope, he would endeavour 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 capitulat-
ing 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.

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 an-
noyed 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, have
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 deliver-
ance, but the gods and the heroes, who were jealous that one

io9-iii] RETREAT OF XERXES 477

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 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 barbarians ; and at the
beginning of the spring let us sail to the Hellespont and
Ionia." This he said, wishing to secure favour with the Per-
sian, that, if any misfortune should overtake him from the
Athenians, he might have a place of refuge ; which eventually
came to pass. 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 per-
suaded, Themistocles presently sent off certain persons in a
boat, who he was confident would, though put to every tor-
ture, keep secret what he had enjoined them to say to the
king; and of these his domestic Sicinnus 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 Athe-
nians, 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 com-
munication, sailed back again.

The Greeks, when they had determined neither to pursue
the ships of the barbarians any farther nor to sail to the Helles-
pont 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 dei-
ties, Persuasion and Necessity, and that therefore they must
give money, they answered to this, saying that the Athe-
nians were with good reason great and prosperous, and were
favoured 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 Impos-
sibility, never forsook their island, but ever loved to dwell
there; therefore that the Andrians, being in possession of

478 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [111-114

these deities, would not give any money; for that the power
of the Athenians would never prove superior to their inabil-
ity. They then, having made this answer, and refused to
give money, were besieged. 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 repu-
tation 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 Carystians did not by these means at all
defer calamity; though the Parians, having conciliated The-
mistocles with money, escaped a visit from the army. The-
mistocles accordingly, setting out from Andros, obtained
money from the islanders unknown to the other generals.

The army with Xerxes having stayed a few days after the
sea-fight, marched back into Bceotia 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, and the Medes, Sacse, Bactrians,
and Indians, both infantry and cavalry, he chose these whole
nations ; but from the rest of the allies he selected a few, choos-
ing 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 nu-
merous than the Persians, but were inferior in strength. Thus
the whole, together with the cavalry, made up the number of
three hundred thousand. 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,

H4-U7] RETREAT OF XERXES 479

the Spartans immediately despatched a herald as quickly as
possible, who when he overtook the whole army still in Thes-
saly, having come into the presence of Xerxes, spoke as fol-
lows : " King of the Medes, the Lacedaemonians and Heracli-
dae 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 Mar-
donius happened to be standing near him, pointed to him, and
said, " This Mardonius, then, shall give them such satisfac-
tion as they deserve." The herald, having accepted the omen,
went away.

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 na-
tion, 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 sprang 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 hap-
pened 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. There the King of the Bisaltae
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 prohibi-
tion, 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 disobedi-
ence ; and they met with this recompense.

The Persians, when in their march from Thrace they ar-
rived 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

480 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [117-121

filled themselves immoderately, and changed their water, a
great part of the army that survived died : the rest with Xerxes
reached Sardis. This different account is also given, that
when Xerxes in his retreat from Athens arrived at E'ion 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 his 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 call-
ing 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 further 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 pre-
sented 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. 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 of 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 into the sea a number of rowers, who
were Phoenicians, 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. 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 scimetar, 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.

Meanwhile the Greeks, finding they were not able to re-

121-125] THEMISTOCLES HONOURED 481

duce 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 in 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. 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
jEginetae ; of them he demanded an offering on account of
their superior valour in the sea-fight at Salamis. The vEgi-
netae, being informed of this, dedicated three golden stars,
which are placed on a brazen mast in the corner, very near
the bowl of Croesus. After the division of the booty, the
Greeks sailed to the isthmus, for the purpose of conferring
the palm of valour 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 ; there-
upon every one gave his vote for himself, each thinking him-
self the most valiant; but with respect to the second place,
the majority concurred in selecting Themistocles. They,
therefore, had but one vote, whereas Themistocles had a great
majority for the second honour. Though the Greeks, out of
envy, would not determine this matter, but returned to their
several countries without coming to a decision ; yet Themisto-
cles was applauded and extolled throughout all Greece as
being by far the wisest man of the Greeks. But because, al-
though victorious, he was not honoured by those who fought
at Salamis, he immediately afterward went to Lacedaemon,
hoping to be honoured there. The Lacedaemonians received
him nobly, and paid him the greatest honours. They gave
the prize of valour 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 de-
parture, 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 es-
corted on his journey.

When he arrived at Athens, from Lacedaemon, thereupon
31

482 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [125-128

Timodemus of Aphidnae, who was one of Themistocles's ene-
mies, though otherwise a man of no distinction, becoming mad
through envy, reproached Themistocles, alleging against him
his journey to Lacedaemon ; and that the honours 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, nei-
ther should I, were I a Belbinite, have been thus honoured by
the Spartans ; nor would you, fellow, were you an Athenian."
So far, then, this occurred.

In the meantime Artabazus, son of Pharnaces, a man even
before of high repute among the Persians, and much more
so after the battle of Plataea, 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 neighbourhood of Pallene ;
but as Mardonius was wintering in Thessaly and Macedonia,
and 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 Potidaeans 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 Persian fleet had
fled from Salamis, openly revolted from the barbarians; as
also did the other inhabitants of Pallene. Artabazus, there-
fore, besieged Potidaea. And as he suspected that the Olyn-
thians intended to revolt from the king, he also besieged their
city. The Bottiaeans then held it, who had been driven from
the bay of Therma by the Macedonians. When he had be-
sieged and taken them, having taken them out to a marsh,
he slaughtered them, and gave the city to Critobulus of Torone
to govern, and to the Chalcidian race: thus the Chalcidians
became possessed of Olynthus. 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 Scionaeans, 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 Arta-
bazus, 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 Potidaea. For Artabazus,
when endeavouring to shoot to the spot agreed upon, missed
the right spot and wounded one of the Potidaeans on the
shoulder; a crowd ran round the wounded man, as is usual

128-130] THE WINTER CAMPAIGN 483

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. After three months had been
spent by Artabazus in the siege, there happened a great ebb
of the sea, which lasted for a long time. The barbarians, see-
ing 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 never was 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 how,
the Potidaeans, 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.

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 gen-
erals came on board, Mardontes, son of Bagaeus, and Artayn-
tes, 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, includ-
ing those of Ionia. Neither did they expect that the Greeks
would come to Ionia, but thought they would be 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 supe-

484 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [130-133

rior. While they were at Samos they at the same time con-
sulted together whether they could do the enemy any damage,
and listened anxiously for news of how the affairs of Mar-
donius would succeed. The approach of spring, and Mar-
donius 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 Leoty chides, son of Menares, son of Agesi-
laus, son of Hippocratides, son of Leotychides, son of Anax-
ilaus, son of Archidamus, son of Anaxandrides, son of Theo-
pompus, son of Nicander, son of Charillus, son of Eunomus,
son of Polydectes, son of Prytanis, son of Euryphon, son of
Procles, son of Aristodemus, son of Aristomachus, son of
Cleodaeus, son of Hyllus, son of Hercules : he was of the second
branch of the royal family. All these, except the two men-
tioned first after Leotychides, were Kings of Sparta. Xan-
thippus, son of Ariphron, commanded the Athenians. When
all these ships were assembled at ^Egina, ambassadors from
the Ionians arrived at the encampment of the Greeks ; who
a short time before had gone to Sparta, and entreated the Lace-
daemonians to liberate Ionia; and among them was Herodo-
tus, 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 de-
tected in their plot, one of the accomplices having given in-
formation of the attempt, thereupon the rest, being six, with-
drew from Chios and went to Sparta, and at the present time
to yEgina, 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 imagina-
tions, was as far distant as the Columns of Hercules. Thus it
fell out that at the same time the barbarians durst 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.

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 everywhere
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 opin-
ion, however, that he sent to inquire about the affairs then

133-136] MYS CONSULTS THE ORACLES 485

depending, and not about any others. This Mys clearly ap-
pears 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 Abse of the
Phocians ; moreover, as soon as he arrived at Thebes, he first
of all consulted the Ismenian Apollo, and it is there the cus-
tom, as in Olympia, to consult the oracle by means of vic-
' tims ; and next, having persuaded some stranger, not a The-
ban, by money, he caused him to sleep in the Temple of Am-
phiaraus. For none of the 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 The-
ban is allowed to sleep there. The following, to me very
strange circumstance, is related by the Theban to have hap-
pened : 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
situated above the lake Copais, at the foot of a mountain, very
near the city of Acraephia: that when this man, called Mys,
arrived at this temple, three citizens, chosen by the public, ac-
companied 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 occa-
sion ; 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.

Mardonius having read the answers of the oracles, after-
ward sent Alexander, son of Amyntas, a Macedonian, as an
ambassador to Athens ; as well because the Persians were re-
lated 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 grand-
father,: 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,

486 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [136-138

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-
haps also the oracles had given him this warning, advising
him to make Athens his ally; accordingly, relying on them,
he sent.

The seventh ancestor of this Alexander was Perdiccas,
who obtained the sovereignty of the Macedonians in the fol-
lowing 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
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 was accustomed 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 husband. It immediately oc-
curred to him, when he heard it, that it was a prodigy, and
boded something of importance. Having, therefore, sum-
moned the hirelings, he commanded them to depart out of his
territories. They answered that they 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. 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,
despatched 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 horesmen were

138-140] ALEXANDER SENT TO ATHENS 487

unable to cross it. They, then, coming to another district of
Macedonia, settled near the gardens that are said to have be-
longed 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 sub-
dued the rest of Macedonia. 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, Argseus, and of him, Perdiccas, who
acquired the sovereignty. Thus, then, was Alexander, son of
Amyntas, descended.

When he arrived at Athens, being sent by Mardonius, he
spoke as follows : " 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 re-
sist 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 equalling yourselves with the
king, but be reconciled to him; and it is in your power to
be reconciled honourably, since the king is so disposed. Be
free, having contracted an alliance with us, without guile or
deceit. 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
Xerxes. For if I had seen this power in you, I would never
have come to you bringing such a proposal. For the power

488 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [140-142

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 favourable 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 continually be the only
people destroyed, since ye possess a territory exposed, as
being between both armies. Be persuaded, then ; for this is
a high honour to you that the great king, forgiving your of-
fences alone among all the Greeks, is willing to become your
friend." Thus spoke Alexander. 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 ambassadors. 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 ambas-
sador had come from the Barbarian to negotiate a treaty, and
that when they did hear of it, they would send ambassadors
with all speed. They therefore designedly so contrived as to
show their intentions to the Lacedaemonians. When Alex-
ander had ceased speaking, the ambassadors 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 barbarians ; for
neither would it be by any means just nor honourable 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
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 per-
suade you, by glossing over the proposal of Mardonius; for
this is what he would naturally do ; for being himself a tyrant,

142-144] ANSWER OF THE ATHENIANS 489

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 ambassadors.
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 that 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 Bar-
barian, for we will not be persuaded. Go, then, and tell Mar-
donius that the Athenians say, so long as the sun shall con-
tinue 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."

To Alexander they gave this answer ; and to the ambassa-
dors 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 Athe-
nians, you appear to entertain an unworthy dread ; for there
is neither so much gold anywhere in the world, nor a coun-
try 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 common ; and our similar customs ; for the Athenians to
become betrayers of these would not be well. Know, there-
fore, if you did not know it before, that so long as one Athe-
nian is left alive we will never make terms with Xerxes. Your
forethought, however, which you manifest toward us, we ad-
mire, in that you provide for us whose property is thus ruined,
so as to be willing to support our families ; and you have ful-
filled 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 pos-

490 HERODOTUS— BOOK VIII, URANIA [144

sible 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 Bceotia." When
the Athenians had given this answer, the ambassadors re-
turned to Sparta.

M

BOOK IX

CALLIOPE

ARDONIUS, 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 Thes-
saly 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. When
the army on its march arrived among the Bceotians, the The-
bans endeavoured 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 continue firmly united, as they had done before,
it would be difficult even for all mankind 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." 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.

While Mardonius was at Athens he sent Murychides, a
Hellespontine, to Salamis, with the same proposals which

491

492 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [4-7

Alexander the Macedonian had already conveyed to the Athe-
nians. 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 Murychides to Salamis.
He, on coming before the council, delivered the message of
Mardonius. And Lycidas, one of the councillors, 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 Mury-
chides the Hellespontine unharmed. A tumult having taken
place at Salamis respecting Lycidas, the Athenian women ob-
tained 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. The Athenians had crossed over to Salamis
under the following circumstances : as long as they 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, they then removed all their
effects, and themselves crossed over to Salamis : they also sent
ambassadors to Lacedaemon, partly to blame the Lacedae-
monians, because they had allowed the barbarian to invade
Attica, and had not gone out with them to meet him in Bce-
otia; 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. At that time
the Lacedaemonians were employed in celebrating a festival,
and it was the Hyacinthia 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 ambassadors from the Athenians arrived at Lace-
daemon, bringing with them ambassadors from Megara and
Plataea, they went before the ephori, and spoke as follows :
" The Athenians have sent us to tell you that the King of the
Medes in the first place offers to restore our country; and,

7-9] DELAY AT SPARTA 493

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 our-
selves 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 interest to come to terms with the Persian than to con-
tinue the war ; still we will never willingly come to terms with
him. 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 as-
sured 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
Bceotia, you have betrayed us, and have allowed the barbarian
to invade Attica. Hitherto the Athenians 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." 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 Pelopon-
nesians using the utmost diligence ; and it was nearly com-
pleted. I can give no reason why, when Alexander the Mace-
donian 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 further 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 Per-
sians.

At length the answer and march 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, O ephori ; if the Athenians are not united with us, but

1 Literally, " the following manner of the answer and march took
place."

494 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [9-12

are allied to the barbarians, although a strong wall has been
carried across the isthmus, wide doors leading into the Pelo-
ponnesus are open to the Persian ; therefore give heed, before
the Athenians come to any other determination which may
bring ruin on Greece." He then gave them this advice ; and
they, taking his remark into consideration, forthwith, without
saying anything to the ambassadors 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 com-
mand 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 Anaxan-
drides, was no longer living, but having led back the army
that had built the wall from the isthmus, he died shortly after-
ward. 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 colleague
Euryanax, son of Dorieus, who was a man of the same family.
These forces, accordingly, marched from Sparta with Pau-
sanias. The ambassadors, 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,
O Lacedaemonians, 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 Persian 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 ambassadors
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 ambassadors
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 neighbouring Lacedae-
monians did the same. They then hastened toward the isth-
mus. 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 prom-
ised Mardonius to prevent the Spartans from going out. He,
when he arrived at Athens, spoke as follows : " Mardonius,

12-15] MARDONIUS RETREATS FROM ATHENS 495

the Argives have sent me to inform you that the youth of
Lacedaemon are marched out, and that the Argives were' un-
able to prevent them from going out. Under these circum-
stances take the best advice you can." He, having spoken
thus, went home again.

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 when he could not persuade them, being informed of the
whole truth, he withdrew, before those with Pausanias reached
the isthmus, 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 inter-
cept them. He determined, therefore, to retire to Thebes, and
to fight near a friendly city, and in a country adapted for
cavalry. Mardonius accordingly retreated ; and while he was
yet on his march, another message came in advance that an-
other army had reached Megara, consisting of a thousand
Lacedaemonians. When he heard this he deliberated, wishing,
if by any means he could, to take these first ; therefore, wheel-
ing 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 sunset, to which the
Persian army reached. After this, news came to Mardonius
that the Greeks were assembled at the isthmus ; he therefore
marched back to Decelea. For the Boeotian chiefs had sent
for the neighbours 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 The-
bans. There he cleared the lands of the Thebans, though they
sided with the Mede, not out of enmity toward them, but con-
strained 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 Hisiae
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.

496 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [15-17

While the barbarians were employed in this task, At-
taginus, son of Phrynon, a Theban, having made great prep-
arations, invited Mardonius himself and fifty of the most
eminent Persians to an entertainment; and they, being in-
vited, came. The feast was held at Thebes. The rest I heard
from Thersander, an Orchomenian, a man of high repute at
Orchomenus. Thersander said that he also was invited by
Attaginus to this feast, and that fifty Thebans were also in-
vited ; 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 feast-
ing 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 Mar-
donius, and to those Persians who are next to him in author-
ity?" 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 per-
sons before the battle was fought at Plataea.

While Mardonius encamped in Bceotia, all the rest fur-
nished 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 at-
tack ; for they took part with the Mede very unwillingly and
by necessity. But not many days after his arrival at Thebes
a thousand of their 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 rumour spread through the Grecian forces,

17-20] ADVANCE OF THE GREEKS 497

who were with the Medes, that they were going to despatch
them with their javelins ; this same rumour also spread among
the Phocians themselves. Whereupon their general Harmo-
cydes encouraged them, addressing them as follows : " O Pho-
cians, 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 himself valiant, for it is better to die
doing something, and defending ourselves, than expose our-
selves 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." Thus he encour-
aged them. But the cavalry, when they had surrounded them
on all sides, rode up as if to destroy them, and brandished
their javelins, as if 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 cavalry 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.

The Lacedaemonians, when they arrived at the isthmus,
there encamped. And the rest of the Peloponnesians, who
favoured 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
Lacedaemonians. Accordingly, the victims having proved
favourable, they all marched out from the isthmus, and ad-
vanced to Eleusis. And having consulted the victims there
also, when they were again favourable, 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 thereupon con-
sulted together, they formed themselves opposite, at the foot
of Mount Cithaeron. Mardonius, when the Greeks did not
33

498 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [20-22

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 Nisaean horse, that had a golden bit, and was
otherwise gorgeously caparisoned. Thereupon, when the cav-
alry rode up to the Greeks, they charged them in squadrons,
and in charging them did them much mischief, and called
them women. By chance the Megarians happened to be sta-
tioned in that part which was most exposed, and there the
cavalry chiefly made their attack. When, therefore, the cav-
alry 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, O 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 con-
stancy and courage, though hard pressed; but now, unless
you will send some others to relieve us, know we must aban-
don our post." He accordingly delivered this message. Pau-
sanias, therefore, made 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 under-
took to do it, and of the Athenians three hundred chosen
men, whom Olympiodorus, son of Lampon, commanded.
These were they who undertook that service, and who were
stationed in front of all the Greeks at Erythrse, 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 Athe-
nians immediately attacked him : accordingly, they seized his
horse and killed Masistius, as he endeavoured to defend him-
self, 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 strik-
ing 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 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, cheer-

22-26] BATTLE OF PLAT^EA 499

ing one another on, pushed their horses to the charge, in
order to recover the body. 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.
When the cavalry arrived at the camp, the whole army, and
Mardonius most of all, mourned the loss of Masistius; cut-
ting 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 Bceotia, as for the loss of a
man who, next to Mardonius, was most esteemed by the Per-
sians and the king. Thus the barbarians, according to their
custom, honoured Masistius when dead.

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 down toward Plataea, 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 sup-
plied with water. To this country, therefore, and to the foun-
tain 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 marched by the foot of Mount Cithseron, near Hysiae,
into the Plataean 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. There in the distribution of the stations a
vehement dispute arose between the Tegeans and the Athe-
nians ; for each claimed a right to occupy the other wing,1
alleging both their recent and former exploits. On the one
hand, the Tegeans spoke thus : " We have ever been thought

1 The Lacedaemonians chose which wing they pleased.

500 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [26-27

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 Hera-
clidae, after the death of Eurystheus, attempted to return to
Peloponnesus. We then obtained this honour on the follow-
ing occasion : when we, in conjunction with the Achaeans
and Ionians, who were then in Peloponnesus, having marched
out to the 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 judged 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 posses-
sions ; but if he should be conquered, the Heraclidae 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 ex-
pedition is undertaken. With you, then, O Lacedaemonians,
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 fought by us with you,
O men of Sparta, and many with others. It is right, there-
fore, that we should have one wing, rather than the Athe-
nians; for such exploits have not been achieved by them as
by us, either in modern or ancient times." Thus they spoke.
To this the Athenians answered as follows : " We are aware
that this assemblage was made for the purpose of fighting
with the barbarians, 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 Heraclidae, whose leader
they affirm they slew at the isthmus ; in the first place, these

27-28] BATTLE OF PLAT^A 501

men formerly, when rejected by all the Greeks to whom they
came, when flying from slavery at the hands of the Mycenae-
ans, 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 Cadmaeans, 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 honour, and more than this ; we who alone
of the Greeks, having fought single-handed 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? But 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 endeavour
to prove ourselves brave. Command us, then, as ready to
obey." Thus they answered ; and the whole army of the
Lacedaemonians snouted 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 at-
tended by thirty-five thousand lightly armed Helots, seven
being assigned to each man. The Spartans chose the Tegeans
to stand next themselves, both for honour and valour; 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 Potidae-
ans, who came from Pallene, to stand : next these stood six
hundred Arcadians of Orchomenus ; next them three thou-
sand Sicyonians; next them were eight hundred Epidau-

502 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [28-31

rians ; and by the side of these were stationed three thousand
of the Troezenians; and next the Troezenians two hundred
Lepreatae; next these four hundred of the Mycenaeans and
Tirynthians ; next them one thousand Phliasians ; and by the
side of them stood three hundred Hermionians ; next the Her-
mionians were stationed six hundred of the Eretrians and
Styrians ; and next them four hundred Chalcidians ; next
them five hundred Ambraciots ; after them stood eight hun-
dred of the Leucadians and Anactorians ; next them two hun-
dred Paleans from Cephallenia; and after them five hundred
of the vEginetae 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.
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 assem-
bled to oppose the barbarians 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 Lacedaemonians and other Greeks, about one to
each man, amounted to thirty-four thousand five hundred.
So that the number of the light-armed fighting men was sixty-
nine thousand five hundred. Thus, then, the whole of the
Grecian army assembled at Plataea, reckoning heavy-armed
and light-armed fighting men, amounting to one hundred and
ten thousand, wanting one thousand eight hundred men : and
with the Thespians who came up, the full number of one hun-
dred and ten thousand was completed; for the survivors of
the Thespians joined the army, to the number of one thou-
sand eight hundred, but they had not heavy armour. These,
then, being drawn up in line, encamped on the Asopus.

The barbarians, with Mardonius, when they had ceased
to mourn for Masistius, having heard that the Greeks were
at Plataea, themselves also marched to the Asopus, which
flows there ; and on their arrival, they were thus drawn up by
Mardonius : opposite the Lacedaemonians 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 se-
lected 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

31-33] BATTLE OF PLATjEA 503

direction of the Thebans. Next the Persians he ranged the
Medes; these fronted the Corinthians, Potidaeans, Orcho-
menians, and Sicyonians. Next the Medes he ranged the
Bactrians ; these fronted the Epidaurians, Trcezenians, Le-
preatae, Tirynthians, Mycenaeans, and Phliasians. Next the
Bactrians he stationed the Indians; these fronted the Her-
mionians, Eretrians, Styrians, and Chalcidians. Next the
Indians he ranged the Sacae; these fronted the Ampraciots,
Anactorians, Leucadians, Paleans, and iEginetae. And next
the Sacae, and opposite to the Athenians, Plataeans, and Me-
garians, he ranged the Boeotians, Locrians, Melians, Thes-
salians, 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.
These, the most considerable of the nations that were ranged
under Mardonius, have been named, and which were the most
distinguished and of most account ; yet there were also mixed
with them men of other nations, Phrygians, Thracians, Mysi-
ans, Paeonians, Ethiopians, and others ; and among them those
of the Ethiopians and Egyptians who are called Hermotybians
and Calasirians, armed with swords ; who are the only Egyp-
tians that are warriors. 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 hun-
dred thousand, as has been already shown; 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 con-
jecture that they were assembled to the number of fifty thou-
sand. These, who were thus arrayed, were infantry ; the cav-
alry were marshalled apart.

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 per-
son 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. He ac-
cordingly, mistaking the answer, applied himself to gymnastic
exercises, as if he were to be victorious in gymnastic contests ;

504 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [33-36

and having practised the pentathlon, he missed winning the
Olympic prize by one wrestling match, having contended with
Hieronymus of Andros. The Lacedaemonians, having learned
that the oracle delivered to Tisamenus referred not to gym-
nastic but to martial contests, endeavoured by offers of money
to persuade Tisamenus to become the leader of their wars, in
conjunction with their Kings of the Heraclidae. But he, see-
ing the Spartans very anxious to make him their friend, hav-
ing 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,
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. 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 mad-
ness, 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. And the Argives not yielding
to his terms, but going away, when many more of their women
became mad, at length submitted to what Melampus de-
manded, 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, there-
fore, being driven to a strait, granted that also. In like man-
ner 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 Spar-
tan, accordingly assisted them by his art of divination in gain-
ing 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 and the first, this at Platsea ;
next, that which took place at Tegea, against the Tegeans
and Argives ; afterward, that at Dipaea, against all the Arcadi-
ans except the Mantineans ; next, that of the Messenians, near
Ithomse; and the last, that which took place at Tanagra,
against the Athenians and Argives : this was the last achieved
of the five victories. This Tisamenus, then, the Spartans
bringing him, officiated as diviner to the Greeks at Plataea:

36-39] BATTLE OF PLAT^A 505

now the sacrifices were favourable to the Greeks, if they stood
on the defensive; but if they crossed the Asopus, and began
the battle, not so.

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 favourable: for he, too, adopted
the Grecian sacrifices, having for his diviner Hegesistratus,
an Elean, and the most renowned of the Telliadae. 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
of 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 con-
trived 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 the foot; and having
done this, as he was guarded by sentinels, he dug a hole
through the wall and escaped to Tegea, travelling 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 Hegesistratus, having escaped from the
Lacedaemonians, 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 bene-
fit 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 Plataea : but at that time, on the
Asopus, being hired by Mardonius for no small sum, he sacri-
ficed and was very zealous, both from hatred to the Lace-
daemonians and from a love of gain.

As the victims were not favourable 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 num-
bers increasing, Timagenides, son of Herpys, a Theban, ad-
vised Mardonius to guard the passes of Mount Cithaeron ;
saying that the Greeks were continually pouring in every day,
and that he would intercept great numbers. Eight days had

506 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [39-41

already elapsed since they had been posted opposite each
other, when he gave this advice to Mardonius. But he, per-
ceiving that the suggestion was good, as soon as it was night,
sent some cavalry to the passes of Cithseron, that lead to
Plataea, 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
hundred 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. 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. How-
ever, the cavalry of Mardonius continually pressed on and
harassed the Greeks: for the Thebans, being entirely in the
interest of the Medes, carried on the war with vigour, and
constantly led on even to actual fighting; but after that the
Persians and Medes, coming up, gave signal proofs of valour.
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 Platsea, and
the Greeks had become much more numerous, and Mardonius
was exceedingly 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 un-
coined, 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, since he had more foresight than the
other. But the opinion of Mardonius was more violent, per-
tinacious, 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

41-44] BATTLE OF PLATyEA 507

more to be assembled than were already assembled ; and that
they should dismiss the victims of Hegesistratus, and not do
violence to them, but, following the usages of the Persians,
to engage. 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 there-
fore summoned the commanders of battalions, and the gen-
erals 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 con-
voked 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 noth-
ing, 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 ac-
count, 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. 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 the 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 Musaeus in reference to the Persians ; but the river Ther-
modon flows between Tanagra and Glisas.

After the inquiry respecting the oracles, and the exhorta-
tion 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 camps, 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 Athe-
nians, desired to confer with their generals. Most of the sen-
tries remained at their post, while some ran to the generals,
and having arrived told them that a man had come on horse-
back from the camp of the Medes, who uttered not a word

508 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [44-46

more, but naming the generals, said he wished to confer with
them. When they heard this they immediately followed to
the outposts ; and on their arrival Alexander addressed them
as follows : " O Athenians, I leave these words with you as
a deposit, entreating you to keep them secret, and not tell
them to any other than Pausanias, lest you should even ruin
me. For I should not utter them were I not extremely con-
cerned 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 favourable to Mardonius and 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 pro-
visions will fail him. And if this war should terminate accord-
ing to your wishes, it is right that you should bear it in mind
to effect my freedom, who on behalf of the Greeks have under-
taken 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.

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 Boeo-
tians and those Grecians who are now drawn up opposite to
you, for this reason : you are acquainted with the Medes, and
their manner of righting, having fought with them at Mara-
thon ; whereas we are inexperienced in and unacquainted with
those men, for no Spartan has ever made trial of the Medes ;
but we have made trial of the Boeotians and Thessalians. It
is therefore right that you should take up your 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 men-
tioned it, the proposal is both agreeable to us, and we are

46-49] BATTLE OF PLATvEA 509

ready to act accordingly." As this pleased both parties, as
soon as morning dawned they changed their stations : the
Boeotians having perceived what was done, gave notice to
Mardonius ; and he, when he had heard it, immediately began
to alter his order of battle, leading the Persians opposite to the
Lacedaemonians. But when Pausanias observed that this was
being done, perceiving that he was discovered, he led the
Spartans back to the right wing ; and Mardonius in like man-
ner toward the left.

When they were stationed in their original positions, Mar-
donius, having sent a herald to the Spartans, spoke as fol-
lows : " O Lacedaemonians, 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, and 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 by no 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 after-
ward ; but if you do not think so, and that we only are suf-
ficient, we will fight it out ; and whichever of us shall obtain
the victory, let them be victorious for the whole army." He
having spoken thus, 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 dis-
turbed and choked up the fountain of Gargaphia, from which
the whole Grecian army obtained water. Near this fountain
the Lacedaemonians only were posted, and the fountain was

5io HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [49-52

farther off from the rest of the Greeks according as they sev-
erally happened to be stationed ; but the Asopus was near.
However, being repulsed from the Asopus, they then had re-
course to the fountain ; for it was impossible for them to get
water from the river, by reason of the cavalry and the arrows.
When this happened the generals of the Greeks, as the
army was deprived of water and harassed by the cavalry, as-
sembled 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 despatched to the Peloponnesus to get provisions,
were shut out by the cavalry, and unable to reach the camp.
On consultation the generals resolved, if the Persians should
defer making the attack on that day, to remove to the island.
This island is ten stades distant from the Asopus and the foun-
tain 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 Mount Cithaeron, having its streams
about three stades separate from each other; and then they
unite 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 cav-
alry might not follow and annoy them. They also resolved
that when they should arrive at this spot which the Asopian
Oeroe encompasses flowing from Cithaeron, they would on
the same night send away one half of their forces to Cithaeron,
in order to bring in the attendants who had gone for pro-
visions ; for they were shut up in Cithaeron. Having taken
these resolutions, during the whole of that day, they suffered
incessant labour 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
Plataeans ; and in their flight they arrived at the Temple of
Juno : it stands before the city of the Plataeans, twenty stades
distant from the fountain of Gargaphia; and having arrived

52-55] BATTLE OF PLATyEA 511

there, they stood to their arms before the sacred precinct.
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 direc-
tion 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 will-
ingly bring disgrace on Sparta ; and he was astonished at see-
ing what was being done, because he had not been present at
the preceding conference. Pausanias and Euryanax consid-
ered it a disgrace that he should not obey them, but still
more disgraceful when he * 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,
Amompharetus himself, being left behind, and those with him
should perish. Considering these things, they kept the Laco-
nian forces unmoved, and endeavoured to persuade him that
it was not right for him to do as he did.

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 un-
moved where they had been stationed, knowing the disposi-
tions of the Lacedaemonians, who purpose one thing and say
another. When, therefore, the army was in motion, they sent
one of their horsemen to see whether the Spartans were be-
ginning to depart, or whether they did not intend to depart
at all ; and to inquire of Pausanias what it was right to do.
When the herald came up to the Lacedaemonians, he saw them
drawn up in the same spot, and their chiefs engaged in dis-
putes. For when Euryanax and Pausanias urged Amom-
pharetus 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, quarrelling, 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 foreign-
ers," 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
1 Amompharetus.

512 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [55-58

come over to them, and act, in relation to the departure, just
as they should. He accordingly went back to the Athenians.
But when morning found them still disputing with one an-
other, Pausanias, having stayed during all that time, and sup-
posing (as indeed happened) that Amompharetus would not
stay behind when the rest of the Lacedaemonians 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 Lacedae-
monians ; 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. But Amompharetus, thinking
that Pausanias would on no account dare to forsake them,
was very earnest that they should remain there and not aban-
don their post; but when those with Pausanias had advanced
some distance, supposing that they were in real earnest de-
serting 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 Amom-
pharetus, halting at the river Moloeis, at a place called Argi-
opius, where stands a temple of Eleusinian Ceres: and they
waited there for this reason, that if Amompharetus and his
band should not leave the post in which they had been sta-
tioned, 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.

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 Eu-
rypilus and Thrasydeius, said : " O sons of Aleuas, what will
you say now, when you see this ground deserted? For you,
their neighbours, 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 distinc-
tion among worthless Greeks. And I readily forgave you;
who are unacquainted with the Persians, when you extolled

58-61] BATTLE OF PLATyEA 513

them by whom you knew something had been done: but I
wondered more at Artabazus, that he should dread the Lace-
daemonians, 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 intend, 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." 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 Lacedaemonians
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 Per-
sians advancing to pursue the Greeks, all immediately took
up their standards, and pursued, each as 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 over-
whelm the Greeks.

Pausanias, when the cavalry pressed on him, having de-
spatched 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 sup-
port 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 succour of that division which is most hardly pressed.
If, however, any inability to assist has befallen you, you will
confer a favour 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." When
the Athenians heard this, they prepared to assist and to de-
fend 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 divi-
sion that pressed upon them harassed them. Thus the Lace-
daemonians and Tegeans being left alone, the former with the
33

514 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [61-64

light-armed men, amounting in number to fifty thousand,
and the Tegeans to three thousand (for these last had never
separated from the Lacedaemonians), performed sacrifices,
purposing to engage with Mardonius and the forces with him.
But as the victims were not favourable 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 unfavourable, Pau-
sanias, looking toward the Temple of Juno of the Plataeans,
invoked the goddess, praying that they might not be disap-
pointed of their hopes.

While he was yet making this invocation, the Tegeans,
starting first, advanced against the barbarians ; and immedi-
ately after the prayer of Pausanias, the victims became favour-
able 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 for-
ward singly, or in tens, or more or fewer in a body, they fell
upon the Spartans and perished. In that part where Mar-
donius 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 them-
selves overthrew many of the Lacedaemonians ; but when Mar-
donius 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 de-
fensive armour; for being light armed, they had to contend
with heavy armed men. 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

64-68] BATTLE OF PLAT^A 515

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 per-
ished and his three hundred. 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 round the precinct in unconsecrated
ground. I am of opinion, if it 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.

Artabazus, son of Pharnaces, from the very first had dis-
approved 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 began, well knowing what the result of the bat-
tle 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 advance 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 Pho-
cians, wishing to reach the Hellespont as soon as he could.
These, then, took that direction. 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 anything considerable. And it is mani-
fest 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 espe-

5i6 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [68-70

cially the Boeotians : they so far assisted the fugitives, keep-
ing constantly close to them against the enemy, and separating
their friends who were flying from the Greeks. The vic-
tors, 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 up about the Heraeum, 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 mountains 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, charging 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.

The Persians and the rest of the throng, when they ar-
rived in their flight at the wooden wall, mounted the towers
before the Lacedaemonians came up, and having mounted it,
defended the wall in the best way they could; so that when
the Lacedaemonians arrived, a vigorous battle took place be-
fore 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 attack-
ing 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 valour 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 valour ; but they were in a state of con-
sternation, 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 thou-
sand men, except the forty thousand with which Artabazus
fled, not three thousand survived. Of Lacedaemonians from

7o-73] BATTLE OF PLAT^A 517

Sparta, all that died in the engagement were ninety-one; of
Tegeans, sixteen; and of Athenians, fifty-two.

Of the barbarians, the infantry of the Persians and the
cavalry of the Sacae most distinguished themselves ; and Mar-
donius is said to have shown himself the bravest man. Of
the Greeks, though the Tegeans and Athenians showed great
bravery, the Lacedaemonians exceeded in valour. 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 Ther-
mopylae, was held in disgrace and dishonour. 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 honoured, but Aristodemus, wishing to
die on account of the before-mentioned guilt, was not hon-
oured. These, then, were they who acquired the greatest re-
nown at Plataea. For Callicrates 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 Arim-
nestus, 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. 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 De-
celus himself, being indignant at the insolence of Theseus,
and alarmed for the whole country of the Athenians, discov-

ji8 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [73-76

ered the whole matter to them, and conducted them to Aphid-
nge, which Titacus, a native of the place, delivered up to the
Tyndaridae. In consequence of that action, the Deceleans in
Sparta continue to enjoy immunity from tribute and prece-
dence 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. 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. There
is also another splendid feat done by Sophanes, for that when
the Athenians invested Mgina. he challenged and slew Eury-
bates 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 Athe-
nians jointly with Leagrus, son of Glaucon, to die at the hands
of the Edoni at Datus, as he was fighting for the gold mines.
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 Pharan-
dates, 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 Lacedae-
monians, who were still employed in slaughter, and when she
observed that Pausanias directed everything, having before
become acquainted with his name and country, since she had
often heard of them, she knew it must be Pausanias, and em-
bracing his knees, spoke as follows : " King of Sparta, de-
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, daugh-
ter to Hegetorides, son of Antagoras. The Persian having
taken me away by force at Cos, kept me." He answered as
follows : " Lady, be of good heart, both as a suppliant, and,

76-79] AFTER THE BATTLE 519

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 ^gina, where she herself wished
to go. 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 Medes 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 Man-
tineans, 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.

In the camp of the yEginetae at Plataea was Lampon, son
of Pytheas, one of the most eminent of the /Eginetae : he hav-
ing 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 splen-
dour ; and God has granted to you, by delivering Greece, to
acquire the greatest renown of all the Greeks 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 hence-
forth every barbarian may beware of attempting to do wicked
deeds against the Greeks. For when Leonidas died at Ther-
mopylae, 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, thinking to gratify
Pausanias. But he answered as follows: "/Eginetan friend,
I admire your good intentions and your foresight; but you
have failed to form a right judgment ; for having highly ex-
tolled me, my country, and my achievement, you have thrown
all down again to nothing by advising me to insult a dead
body, and 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 pleas-
ing; it is sufficient for me to please the Spartans by doing

J

520 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [79-82

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 Thermopylae
have been avenged by the countless deaths of these men.
However, do not you hereafter come to me with such a pro-
posal, nor give such advice ; and be thankful that you escape
unpunished." He having received this answer, went away.

Pausanias, having made proclamation that no one should
touch the booty, 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
scimetars 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 ^Eginetae, and they also produced a great deal,
such of it as they could not conceal : so that the great wealth
of the iEginetae hence had its beginning, for that they pur-
chased gold from the helots as if it had been brass. Having
collected the treasures together, and taken from them a tithe
for the god at Delphi, from which the golden tripod was dedi-
cated, which stands on the three-headed brazen serpent, close
to the altar ; and having taken out a tithe for the god at Olym-
pia, 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, as the
gold, silver, and other treasures, and beasts of burden. Now
what choice presents were given to those who most distin-
guished 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 everything was selected and given him,
women, horses, talents, camels, and all other treasures in like
manner. It is said also that the following occurred : that
Xerxes, flying from Greece, left all his own equipage to Mar-
donius; Pausanias, therefore, seeing Mardonius's equipage
furnished with gold, silver, and various coloured 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 handsomely carved, and gold and silver tables, and
magnificent preparations for the supper, being astonished at

82-85] AFTER THE BATTLE 52 1

the profusion set before him, in derision ordered his own at-
tendants 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. A considerable time
after these events many of the Plataeans 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 teeth and the grinders ; there was likewise discovered
the skeleton of a man five cubits high.

The following day the body of Mardonius had disap-
peared ; 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 Mardonius, I am unable to ascertain with
certainty. However, Dionysiophanes, an Ephesian, is com-
monly reported to have buried Mardonius. Thus, then, he
was buried. But the Greeks, when they had divided the booty
at Plataea, buried their own dead, each nation separately. The
Lacedaemonians made three graves ; there, then, they buried
the young officers,1 among whom were Posidonius, Amom-
pharetus, 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, in a sepa-
rate 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 Plataea,
they, as I am informed, being ashamed of their absence from
the battle, severally threw up empty mounds, for the sake of

1 'Iptvrt were those who had attained their second year from boyhood,
and now held a command. The manuscripts read iptas, "those who held
sacred offices."

522 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [85-89

future generations. For instance, there is a sepulchre there
called that of the ^Eginetans, which, I hear, Cleades, son of
Autodicus, a Plataean, who was their friend, threw up ten years
after these events, at the request of the ^Eginetans.

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 their country, and attacked the walls. 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, they demand us
as a pretence, let us give them money from the public treas-
ury ; 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 Pau-
sanias, expressing their willingness to surrender the men.
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.

In the meantime Artabazus, son of Pharnaces, flying from
Platsea, was already at a considerable distance. And on his
arrival among them, the Thessalians invited him to an enter-
tainment, and asked him news of the rest of the army, know-
ing nothing of what had happened in Plataea. 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 de-

89-91] FLIGHT OF ARTABAZUS 523

struction, 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, O men of Thessaly, as you see, am hastening
to 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. Mardonius himself and his
army may be expected following close on my heels. Enter-
tain 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 Thes-
saly 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 be-
hind, partly cut off by the Thracians on the march, and partly
having to contend with hunger and fatigue. From Byzantium
he crossed over in boats. Thus, then, he returned to Asia.

On the same day on which the defeat at Plataea occurred
another happened to take place at Mycale in Ionia. For while
the Greeks were stationed at Delos, those who had gone there
on shipboard with Leotychides the Lacedaemonian, there came
to them as ambassadors from Samos, Lampon, son of Thrasyc-
leus, Athenagoras, son of Archestratides, and Hegesistratus,
son of Aristagoras, being sent by the Samians, unknown to
the Persians and the tyrant Theomestor, son of Androdamas,
whom the Persians had made tyrant of Samos. When they
came to the generals, Hegesistratus used many and various
arguments, and said 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 barbarians ; 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 host-
ages. 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 Hegesi-
stratus intended to add more, said : " I accept * the Hegesi-
stratus, my Samian friend ; only do you take care that before
1 Hegesistratus means, " leader of an army."

524 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [91-94

you sail away both you yourself and those who are with you
pledge your faith that the Samians will be zealous allies to us."
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.

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 con-
sequence of some oracle. They are folded in a cavern at a
distance from the city. There, then, on a time, Evenius, being
chosen, kept watch, 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 hap-
pened, 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. This answer was delivered to them : and the
Apollonians, having kept it secret, deputed some of their citi-
zens 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 dif-
ferent subjects, till at length they began to commiserate his

94-97] EVENIUS 525

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.
He, not having heard of the oracle, made his choice, saying
if any one would give him the lands of certain citizens, nam-
ing those who he knew had the two best estates in Apollonia ;
and besides these a house, which he knew was the hand-
somest 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 Apol-
lonians 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 he chose ; and immediately after this
he had the gift of divination implanted in him, so "that he be-
came celebrated.

Deiphonus, who was the son of this Evenius, the Corinth-
ians 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 through-
out Greece, though he was not really the son of Evenius.
When, therefore, the sacrifices were favourable to the Greeks,
they got their ships under way 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 way 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 thou-
sand ; 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 defence for
the ships, and a place of refuge for themselves. Having taken
this resolution, they got under way: and having passed by
the Temple of the Eumenides in Mycale, they came to the
Gaeson and Scolopois, where is a temple of Eleusinian Ceres,

526 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [97-99

which Philistus, son of Pasicles, built, who accompanied
Neleus, son of Codrus, for the purpose of founding Miletus:
there they drew their ships on shore, and threw up a rampart
of stone and wood, having cut down the fruit trees, and around
the rampart they drove in sharp stakes. They made prepara-
tions to sustain a siege, and to gain a victory, both one and
the other; for they made their preparations deliberately.

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, there-
fore, 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 fortifica-
tion, 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 of Ionia, as many of you as
hear me, attend to what I say ; for the Persians will under-
stand 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 pro-
ceeding 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 re-
ported to the barbarians, would make them distrustful of the
Greeks. 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 prepar-
ing themselves for action, and knew that they had admon-
ished the Ionians, in the first place suspecting that the Samians
favoured the Greeks, took away their arms ; for when the
Athenian captives, whom, being left in Attica, the forces of
Xerxes had taken, arrived in the ships of the barbarians, hav-
ing ransomed them all, they sent them back to Athens, fur-
nishing them with provisions for the voyage ; on this account
they were under no slight suspicion, having redeemed five
hundred of the enemies of Xerxes. In the next place, the
passes that lead to the heights of Mycale they appointed the
Milesians to guard, because forsooth they were best acquainted
with the country, but they did it for this purpose, that they

99-102] VICTORY AT MYCALE 527

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.

When, therefore, the Greeks were prepared, they advanced
toward the barbarians ; and as they were marching, a rumour
flew through the whole army, and a herald's staff was seen
lying on the beach : the rumour that spread among them was
this, that the Greeks had fought and conquered the army of
Mardonius in Boeotia. Thus the interposition of heaven is
manifest by many plain signs ; since on this same day on
which the defeat at Plataea took place, and when that at Mycale
was just about to happen, a rumour reached the Greeks in this
latter place ; so that the army was inspired with much greater
courage, and was more eager to meet danger. There was also
this other coincidence, namely, that there was a temple of
Eleusinian Ceres near both the engagements. For at Plataea,
as I have already said, the battle took place near the Temple
of Ceres ; and at Mycale it was about to happen in like man-
ner. The rumour that a victory had been obtained by the
Greeks under Pausanias turned out to be correct ; for the bat-
tle 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 rumour 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. Accord-
ingly, the Greeks and the barbarians hastened to the battle,
as both the islands and the Hellespont were held out as the
reward of victory.

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 Lacedaemonians, and those drawn
up near them, along a ravine and some hills. So that while
the Lacedaemonians were making a circuit, those in the 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 encour-
aged one another, in order that the victory might belong to
them, and not to the Lacedaemonians, applied with more vig-
our to the battle, then the face of affairs immediately changed ;

528 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [102-106

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
Trcezenians, 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 detachments,
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. 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. 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 everything 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 revolted a second time
from the Persians. In this battle of the Greeks, the Athenians
most distinguished themselves ; and of the Athenians, Her-
molycus, son of Euthynus, who had practised in the pan-
cratium : 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 Gersestus. After the Athenians, the Corinthians,
Troezenians, and Sicyonians distinguished themselves. When
the Grecians had killed most of the barbarians, some fighting
and others flying, they burned the ships and the whole forti-
fication, having first brought out all the booty on the beach ;
and they found several chests of money, and having burned

106-108] VICTORY AT MYCALE 529

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 ex-
pedient to the men of rank among the Peloponnesians to re-
move the marts of the Grecian nations that had sided with the
Medes, and give their territory to the Ionians 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 op-
posed, 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, bind-
ing 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.

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, 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
had heard a good deal, being exceedingly indignant, drew his
scimetar 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. Xenag-
oras 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 sea-fight.

While he was at Sardis he fell in love with the wife of
34

530 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [108-110

Masistes, who also was 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 circum-
stance 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. In course of time the matter
was discovered in the following manner: Amestris, the wife
of Xerxes, having woven a large, various coloured, and beau-
tiful 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 favours
she had granted him, for that she should have whatever she
asked. Thereupon, for it was fated that misfortune should
befall the whole family by her means, she said to Xerxes,
" Will you give me whatever I shall ask of you ? " He, im-
agining she would ask for anything rather than what she did,
promised and swore; and she, when he had sworn, boldly
asked for the mantle. Xerxes used every expedient, not wish-
ing 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. 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

no-113] XERXES AND ARTAYNTE 531

day, asked Xerxes to give her the wife of Masistes. He con-
sidered 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 re-
quest.

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." Ma-
sistes, astonished at what was said, answered : " Sire, what
mischievous language do you hold to 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 honour to be thought worthy of your daugh-
ter, 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 mar-
riage, nor shall you any longer cohabit with your present
wife ; 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." In the intermediate
time, while Xerxes was in conference with his brother, Ames-
tris, 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, hav-
ing cut out her tongue, she sent her home thus mutilated.
Masistes, who had not yet heard anything of this, but suspect-
ing 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 Bac-
tria, designing to induce the Bactrian district to revolt, and
to do the king all the mischief he could ; which, in my opin-
ion, would have happened if he had been beforehand in going

532 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [113-116

up to the Bactrians and Sacae ; for they were attached to him,
and he was governor of the Bactrians. But Xerxes, being in-
formed 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.

The Greeks having set out from Mycale toward the Hel-
lespont, 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 commander Xan-
thippus 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. 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 neigh-
bouring places, and, among others, CEobazus, a Persian from
Cardia, who had had all the materials of the bridges conveyed
thither. Native iEolians occupied it, and there were with
them Persians, and a great body of other allies. 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 Elaeus the treasures
of Protesilaus, son of Iphiclus. For in Elaeus of the Cher-
sonesus 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 con-
sider that all Asia belongs to them and the reigning monarch.
When, however, the treasures were granted, he carried them
away from Elaeus to Sestos, and sowed part of the precinct,
and pastured it ; and whenever he went to Elaeus 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 ex-

ii6-I2o] FATE OF ARTAYCTES 533

pecting the Greeks ; so that they fell upon him somewhat un-
awares. 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.

In the meanwhile 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 Athe-
nians what had happened and opened the gates; and the
greater part of them went in pursuit, but some took posses-
sion of the city. As CEobazus was fleeing into Thrace, the
Apsinthian Thracians seized him and sacrificed him to Plis-
torus, a god of the country, according to their custom ; but
those who were with him they slaughtered in another man-
ner. Those with Artayctes, who had taken to flight the last,
when they were overtaken a little above iEgos-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. It is related by the
Chersonitae 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 per-
sons 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 Elaeus, 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 repara-
tion, 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 two 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, con-
ducted him to that part of the shore where Xerxes bridged

534 HERODOTUS— BOOK IX, CALLIOPE [120-122

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. Hav-
ing done these things, they sailed back to Greece, taking 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.

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 pre-
pare 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

Abae, city of Phocis, with an ora-
xle of Apollo, 17, 451, 453. 485-

Abantes, 58.

Abaris, a Hyperborean, 223.

Abdera, Abderites, town and
people of Thrace, 66, 332, 333,
400, 403, 404, 480.

Abrocomes, son of Darius, 438.

Abronychus, son of Lysicles, 449.

Abydos, Abydoni, city and people,
of the Asiatic side of the Helles-
pont, 254, 316, 380, 382, 384, 396,
412, 423, 479, 483, 532.

Acanthus, Acanthians, city and
people of Macedonia, 332, 377,
402-404.

Acarnania, Acarnanians, city and
people of Epirus, 23, 88, 404,

437-
Aceratus, a prophet at Delphi,

454-
Aces, river of Asia, 196.
Achaeans, 58, 299, 406, 426, 430,

456, 464, 500.
Achaemenes, ancestor of the Per-
sian royal family, 373.
Achaemenes, son of Darius, 157,

368, 396, 441, 442.
Achaemenidae, royal family of

Persia, 51, 81, 154, 179, 225, 285,

390, 402.
Achaeus, 118.

Achaia, 396, 422, 429, 430, 453.
Achelous, river of JEtolia, 88,

404.

Acheron, river of Epirus, 308, 456.
Achilleium, town near Sigeum,

in the Troad, 309.
Achilles, Course of, district near

the Borysthenes, in Scythia,

229, 235.
Acraephia, city of Boeotia, 485.
Acrisius, father of Danae, 335.
Acrothoon, city on Mount Athos,

377-
Adimantus, father of Aristeas of

Corinth, 408, 445, 471.
Adimantus, son of Ocytus, 459,

460.
Adramyttium, city, 384.
Adrastus, son of Gordius, 14-17.
Adrastus, son of Talaus, 296, 297.
Adriatic Sea, 64, 222, 277.
Adrymachidae, Libyan nation, 264.
.lEa, city of Colchis, 2.
jEaces, son of Syloson, tyrant of

Samos, 168, 205, 254, 322, 323,

325, 326.
^Eacidae, the, 301, 461, 467.
^Eacus, 304, 329, 461.
.Ega, 404
^Egaeae, 59.
^Egaleos, mountain opposite Sala-

mis, 470.
iEge, 58.

^Egean Sea, 118, 123, 239, 381, 388.
yEgest scans, 417.
Mgtus, 68, 258.
.(Egialees, Pelasgian, ancient name

of the Ionians, 396.

535

53$

HERODOTUS

.<Egialeus, Sicyonian tribe, 297.

^Egicores, 296.

.<Egidae, Spartan tribe, 258.

^Egilia, 351, 353-

^Egina, daughter of Asopus, 301,

329.
.<Egina, ^Eginetse, 151, 176, 202,

301-305, 333, 337, 338, 341, 342,
345-349, 4ii, 412, 425, 431, 444,
455, 456, 459, 460, 461, 465-470,
481, 484, 502, 503, 518-520, 522.

JEgiroessa, 59.

^Egium, 58.

^Eglse, the, 190.

^gos-Potami, 533.

JEgyra, 58.

^Enea, 404.

^Enesidemus, son of Pataicus, 415,

419.
vEnianes, 426, 430.
-dSnoe, 299.

iEnos, ^Eolian city, 389.
^Enus, river, 240.
^Enyra, 333-
^Eolia, iEolians, 3, 10, 56, 57, 59,

66, 85, 151, 153, 189, 240, 254, 309,

317, 3i8, 320, 327, 350, 370, 389,

306, 424, 429, 532.
yEolidse, 453.
^Eolus, 430.
Aeropus, son of Philip, 486, 487,

500.
yEsanius, 258.

jEschines, son of Nothon, 351.
^schirionians, Samian tribe, 163.
^Eschrus, 447.

^Eschylus, son of Euphorion, 143.
jElsop, the writer of fables, 134.
^Etolia, ^Etolians, 360, 464.
Agseus, 360.

Agamemnon, 125, 244, 407, 417.
Agarista, daughter of Hippocrates,

wife of Xanthippus and mother

of Pericles, 359-362.
Agasicles, of Halicarnassus, 58.
Agathoergi, the, 25.

Agathyrsis, 216, 243, 244, 248, 250.

Agbalus, an Aridian, 396.

Agenor, 257, 395.

Agesilaus, 432, 484.

Agetus, son of Alcides, 338.

Agis, 338, 432.

Aglauros, daughter of Cecrops,

458.
Aglomachus, 263.
Agora, 388.
Agrianse, the, 279.
Agrianes, 240.
Agrigentines, 419, 421.
Agron, son of Ninus, 4.
Agyllseans, 65.
Aia, of Colchis, 430.
Aimne'stus, 514, 515.
Aiorpata, the Amazons, Scythian

name, 245.
Ajax, 206, 329, 461, 481.
Alabanda, city of Phrygia, 485.
Alabandians, a people of Caria,

429.
Alalia, city of Corsica, 65.
Alarodians, 190, 393.
Alazir, King of Barca, 263, 264.
Alazones, Scythian nation, 218,

219, 228.
Alcaeus, the poet, 309, 310.
Alcseus, son of Hercules, 4,
Alcamenes, son of Telecles, 432.
Alcenor, an Argive, 32.
Alcetes, son of Aeropus, father of

Amyntas, 487.
Alcibiades, father of Clinias, 448.
Alcides, father of Agetus, 338.
Alcimachus, father of Euphorbus,

351-
Alcmseon, father of Megacles, 21.
Alcmaeon, son of Megacles, 359,

360.
Alcmaeonidse, the, 22, 294-296, 298,

305, 356-362.
Alcmena, mother of Hercules, 101,

138.
Alcon, a Mollosian, 360, 361.

INDEX

537

Alean Minerva. See Minerva.
Aleian Plain, 349.
Aleuadae, 368, 406, 422, 512, 513.
Alexander, King of Macedon, 280,

281, 423, 453, 481, 485-493, 507,

508.
Alexander, son of Priam, 2.
Alitta, Alilat. See Venus.
Alos, in Achaia, 429, 430.
Alopecae, village of Attica, 295.
Alpeni, village near Thermopylae,

424, 435, 439-
Alpheus, son of Orisiphantus, 439.
Alpis, river, 228.
Alus, city of Achaia, 422.
Alyattes, son of Sadyattes, King of

Sardis, 3, 6, 7, 9, 28, 29, 38, 171.
Amasis, King of Egypt, 11, 30,

134, 138, 142, 145-154, 159, 168-

171, 200.
Amasis, a Persian general in

Egypt, 264, 273, 274.
Amathus, Amathusians, of Cyprus,

312-316.
Amazons, 245-247, 501.
Ambraciots, 456, 502, 503.
Amestris, daughter of Otanes, wife

of Xerxes, 389, 401, 530-532.
Amiantus, son of Lycurgus, an

Arcadian from Trapezus, 360,

361.
Amilcar, son of Hanno, King of

the Carthaginians, 419, 420.
Aminias, an Athenian captain, 467,

470.
Aminocles, a Magnesian, 428.
Ammon, oracle of Jupiter, in

Libya. See Jupiter.
Ammon, Ammonians, 17, 91, 96,

100, 101, 160, 163, 168.
Amompharetus, son of Poliades,

a Spartan general, 511, 512, 517,

521.
Amorges, a Persian general, 317.
Ampe, city, 324.
Ampelus, Cape of, 403.

Amphiaraus, oracle of, at Thebes,

in Bceotia, 17-19, 38, 485.
Amphiaraus, father of Amphilo-

chus, 189.
Amphicaea, a Phocian city, 453.
Amphicrates, King of Samos, 176.
Amphictyons, seat and council of,

151, 295, 431, 435, 439.
Amphilochus, son of Amphiaraus,

189, 395-
Amphilytus, a prophet of Acar-

nania, 23.
Amphimnestus, son of Epistro-

phus, an Epidamnian, 360, 361.
Amphion, tyrant of Corinth, 306.
Amphissa, city of the Locrians,

452, 453-
Amphitryon, father of Hercules,

101, 102, 139, 294, 335.
Amyntas, King of Macedonia, 279-

281, 309, 423, 485, 487.
Amyntas, son of Bubares, 485.
Amyrgian Scythians. See Sacae.
Amyris, 360.
Amyrtaeus, King of Egypt, 136,

159-
Anacharsis, 227, 235, 236.
Anacreon, of Teos, the poet, 198.
Anactorians, of Epirus, 502, 503.
Anaphes, son of Otanes, leader of

the Cissians, 390.
Anaphlystus, village of Attica, 243.
Anaua, city of Phrygia, 380.
Anaxander, son of Eurycrates, 431.
Anaxandrides, King of Sparta, 25,

208, 287, 288, 333, 353, 354, 431,

432, 494, 514.
Anaxandrides, son of Theopom-

pus, 484.
Anaxilaus, tyrant of Rhegium,

325, 419, 420, 422, 484.
Anchimolius, son of Aster, a

Lacedaemonian, 295.
Andreas, 359.

Androbulus, father of Timon, 410.
Androcrates, 499.

538

HERODOTUS

Androdamas, father of Theomes-
tor, 468.

Androgyni, 232.

Andromeda, daughter of Cepheus,
wife of Perseus, 389, 390, 414.

Androphagi, 219, 243-245, 248, 250.

Andros, Andrians, 284, 462, 476-
478, 481, 504-

Androsphinxes, 150.

Aneristus, father of Sperthies, 407.

Aneristus, son of Sperthies, 408.

Angites, river, 401.

Angrus, river of Illyria, 227.

Anopaea, mountain pass near Ther-
mopylae, 435.

Antacaeus, a fish, 229.

Antagoras, 518.

Antandros, 282.

Anthela, village near Thermopylae,

424, 431-
Anthemus, in Macedonia, 309.
Anthylla, city of Egypt, 118.
Antichares, an Elian, 288.
Anticyra, city of Thessaly, 430, 435,

449-
Antidorus, a Lemnian, deserts

from Xerxes's fleet, 447.
Antiochus, father of Tisamenus,

503-
Antipater, a Thasian, son of Or-

ges, 402.
Antiphemus, founder of Gela, 415.
Antrandus, Pelasgian, 384.
Anysis, King of Egypt, 135, 136,

H7-
Anysus, father of Tetramnestus,

396.
Aparytae, a people of Asia, 190.
Apaturian festival, 59.
Aphetae, port of Magnesia, 429,

445-447-
Aphidnae, town in Attica, 354, 482,

518.
Aphrodisias, island off the coast of

Libya, 265.
Aphthis, district in Egypt, 147.

Aphytis, city of Pallene, 404.
Apia (the Earth), Scythian god-
dess, 230.
Apidanus, river of Thessaly, 405.
Apis, city in Egypt, 91.
Apis (Epaphus), an Egyptian god,

142, 163, 164, 166, 178.
Apollo, 26, 35, 151, 217, 218, 357,

379; Egyptian (Orus), 113, 138,

143, 261; Ptoan, 485; Scythian
(OZtosyrus), 230; Triopian, 58;
Ismenian, temple of, at Thebes,
of Boeotia, 19, 37, 294, 485. See
Abae, Branchidae, Delphi.

Apollonia, city of the Euxine, 240,

241.
Apollonia, city on the Ionian Gulf,

S24, 525.
Apollophanes, father of Bisaltes,

326.
Apoxais, ancestor of the Scythians,

214.
Apries, King of Egypt, 145-148,

153, 154, 261, 262.
Apsynthians, people of Thrace,

328, 329, 533.
Arabia, Arabians, 54, 78, 87-90, 95,

in, 137, 144, 154-156, 188, 191,

193-195, 224, 391, 394, 426.
Arabian Gulf, 119, 144, 224, 225;

mountain, 130.
Aratus, river of Scythia, 227.
Araxes, river, 78-82, 84, 216, 224.
Arcadia, Arcadians, 24, 25, 58, 148,

291, 342, 360, 395, 422, 431, 451,

464, 501, 504.
Arcesilaus, son of Battus, founder

of Cyrene, 261.
Arcesilaus, son of Battus " The

Fortunate," 262.
Arcesilaus, son of Battus " The

Lame," 151, 262-264, 273.
Archander, son of Phthius, 118.
Archandropolis, 118.
Archelai, Sicyonian tribe, 297.
Archelaus, of Sparta^ 432.

INDEX

539

Archestratides, a Samian, 523.

Archias, 174.

Archias, son of Samius, 174.

Archidamus, of Sparta, son of
Zeuxidemus, 341, 484.

Archidice, 134.

Archilochus, a Parian poet, 5.

Arderica, town in Assyria, 71.

Ardericca, town in Cissia, 357.

Ardys, son of Gyges, King of Sar-
dis, 6.

Areopagus, hill at Athens, 457.

Argades, son of Ion, 296.

Argseus, son of Perdiccas, 487.

Arganthonius, King of the Tartes-
sians, 64, 65.

Arge and Opis, Hyperborean vir-
gins, 223.

Argia, daughter of Autesion, wife
of Aristodemus, 334.

Argilus, city, 402.

Argiopius, 512.

Argippaei, the, 220.

Argo, the, 256, 266, 267, 428, 429.

Argonauts, the, 256.

Argos, Argives, 1, 11, 12, 22, 32,
33, 202, 203, 281, 291, 293, 294,
296, 297, 303, 3 IS, 324, 342-345,
348, 349, 360, 4", 413, 4H, 464,
486, 494, 495, 50i, 504, 5i8.

Argus, precinct of, 342-345-

Ariabignes, son of Darius, 396,
469.

Arians, ancient name of the Medes,

390-
Arians, 190, 390.
Ariantas, a Scythian king, 238.
Ariapithes, Scythian king, 235, 236.
Ariaramnes, a Persian, 373, 470.
Aridolus, tyrant of the Albandians,

429.
Arimaspians, people of northern

Europe, 196, 217, 218, 221.
Arimnestus, a Plataean, 517.
Ariomardus, general of the Cas-

pians, brother of Artyphius, 391.

Ariomardus, son of Darius and

Parmys, 393.
Arion, 8, 9.
Ariphron, father of Xanthippus,

362, 363, 380, 384.
Arisba, 6b.

Aristagoras of Cyme, 254, 287.
Aristagoras of Cyzicus, 254.
Aristagoras, son of Molpagoras,

283-287, 290-292, 293, 296, 310-

321, 323, 324, 369-

Aristeas, son of Caystrobius, 217,
218.

Aristeas, son of Adimantus, a Co-
rinthian, 408.

Aristides, an Athenian, son of
Lysimachus, 466, 467, 471, 502.

Aristocrates, father of Casambus,
342.

Aristocyprus, son of Philocyprus,
King of the Solians, 316.

Aristodemus, King of Sparta, 257,
334, 432, 439, 440, 484, 517.

Aristodicus, son of Heraclides,
62, 63.

Aristogiton, 293, 354, 358.

Aristolaides, an Athenian, 21.

Aristomachus, father of Aristode-
mus, 334, 432, 484-

Ariston, King of Sparta, 25, 299,

333, 337-341, 366, 433-
Ariston of Byzantium, 254.
Aristonica, a Pythian priestess,

409.
Aristonymus, of Sicyon, son of

Myron, 359.
Aristophantus, father of Cobon,

339-
Aristophilides, King of the Taren-

tines, 204.
Arizanti, tribe of the Medes, 41.
Arizus, a Persian prince, 393.
Armamithres, son of Datis, 304.
Armenia, Armenians, 27, 70, 76,

190, 291, 292, 392.
Arsamenes, son of Darius, 391.

54Q

HERODOTUS

Arsames, grandfather of Darius,
81, 373, 438.

Arsames, son of Darius and Arty-
stone, 391.

Artabanus, son of Hystaspes, 238,
256, 371-376, 384-387, 390, 392,
393, 458.

Artabates, a Persian, 390.

Artabazanes, eldest son of Darius,
366, 367.

Artabazus, son of Pharnaces, Per-
sian general, 390, 482, 483, 506,
507, 513, SIS, 5i6, 519, 522, 523.

Artace, city of the Propontis, 328.

Artachaees, a Persian general, 402.

Artachaeus, son of Artaeus, 377.

Artachaeus, father of Otaspes, 377-

390.
Artachaeus, father of Artayntes,

483.

Artaeans, ancient name of the Per-
sians, 389.

Artaeus, father of Artachaeus, 377.

Artaeus, father of Azanes, 390.

Artanes, brother of Darius, 438.

Artaphernes, brother of Darius,
son of Hystaspes, 284-286, 299,
310, 311, 318-320, 327, 331.

Artaphernes, son of Artaphernes,

349-357, 369, 37i, 392.
Artaxerxes, son of Xerxes, 350,

399, 414-
Artayctes, son of Cherasmis, 393.
Artayctes, a Persian general, 380,

393, 532, 534-
Artaynte, daughter of Masistes,

530-532.
Artayntes, Persian admiral, son of

Artachaeus, 483, 528, 529.
Artazostra, daughter of Darius,

wife of Mardonius, 331.
Artembares, a Mede, 46, 47.
Artembares, a Persian, 534.
Artemisia, daughter of Lygdamis,

Queen of Halicarnassus, 397,

462, 463, 468-471, 473, 474-

Artemisum, a port of Eubcea, 423-
425, 428, 429, 444-450, 454-456,
462, 465, 467, 475, 526.

Artimpasa. See Venus.

Artiscus, river of Scythia, 241.

Artochmes, son-in-law of Darius,
392.

Artontes, father of Bagaeus, 201.

Artontes, son of Mardonius, 521.

Artybius, 314, 315-

Artyntes, son of Ithamatres, 391,

483.
Artyphius, son of Artabanus, 390,

391.

Artystona, daughter of Cyrus, 188,
39i, 392.

Aryandes, 264, 273.

Aryenis, daughter of Alyattes, 29.

Asbystae, a Libyan nation, 265.

Ascalon, city of Palestine, 42, 43.

Asia, wife of Prometheus, 226.

Asia, geography and naming of,
226.

Asia, surname of Athene, in Col-
chis, 429.

Asian tribe, at Sardis, 226.

Asius, son of Cotys, 226.

Asine, 464.

Asmak. See Automoli.

Asonides, 425.

Asopians, a people of Boeotia, 495.

Asopodorus, a Theban command-
er, 516.

Asopus, river in Boeotia, 301, 354,
430, 431, 435, 495, 497, 502, 505-
507, 5io, 513-

Aspathines, a Persian prince, 181-
188, 396.

Assa, city of Mount Athos, 403.

Assesian Minerva, 7, 8.

Assesus, town of the Milesians, 7.

Assyria, Assyrians, 39, 42, 43, 54,
69, 00, 137, 141, 190, 224, 335,
370, 390.

Astacus, father of Melanippus,

297-

INDEX

541

Aster, father of Achimolius, 295.
Astrabacus, a hero of Sparta, 340.
Astyages, King of the Medes, 17,

28, 29, 43-53, 63, 368, 534-
Asychis, King of Egypt, 134, 135.
Atarantes, Libyan nation, 268,

269.
Atarbechis, city of Egypt, 100.
Atarnes, river of Thrace, 227.
Atarneus, city and territory in

Mysia, 63, 319, 327, 384, 475-
Athamas, son of JEolus, 388, 430.
Athenades, a Trachinian, kills the

traitor Ephialtes, 435.
Athenagoras, son of Archestrati-

des, 523, 524.
Athens, Athenians, passim.
Athos, Mount, 332, 349, 377, 378,

382, 402, 403, 427.
Athres, river of Thrace, 227.
Athribis, district in Egypt, 147.
Atlantes, or Atarantes, people of

Libya, 269.
Atlantic Ocean, 79.
Atlas, river of Mount Haemus, 227.
Atlas, Mount, 269.
Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, 180,

188, 202, 203, 366, 367, 390, 393.
Atridae, expedition of the, against

Ilium, 377.
Attaginus, son of Phrynon, a The-

ban, 496, 522.
Attica, Attic people, 243, 294-296,

299-305, 342, 351, 357, 363, 365,

408, 427, 448, 454, 457, 458, 461,

47i, 477, 490, 492-501.
Atys, King of Sardis, 4, 38, 379,

392.
Atys, son of Croesus, 13-16.
Auchatae, 214.
Augila, Augilae, town and people

of Libya, 265, 268.
Augites, 401.
Auras, river, 227.
Auschisae, Libyan nation, 265.
Auses, Libyan nation, 267, 270.

Autesion, son of Tisamenus, 257,

334-
Automoli, 95, 96.
Autonus, 454.
Auxesia, 302-304.
Axius, river, 404.
Axus, city of Crete, 259.
Azanes, son of Artseus, 390.
Azenian, 360.

Aziris, city in Africa, 261-265.
Azotus, city in Syria, 144.

Babylon, Babylonians, 30, 38, 61,
69-78, 190, 209-213, 272, 390.

Bacchus, Arabian (Orotal), 155;
Egyptian (Osiris), 100, 103, 105,
113, 130, 138, 139, 143, I9i; Ethi-
opian, 95; Grecian, 103, 138, 139,
191, 236, 237, 245, 276, 297, 401;
Temple of, at Byzantium, 239.

Bacchiadae, the, of Corinth, 306,

307.
Bacis, oracles of, 449, 466, 471, 472,

507.

Bactra, 321.

Bactria, Bactrians, 61, 190, 192,
274, 390, 394, 478, 503, 531, 532.

Badres, a Persian admiral, 264,
392.

Bagaeus, son of Artontes, 201.

Bagaeus, father of Mardontes, 483.

Barce, Barcaeans, 157, 189, 262-265,
269, 273, 274.

Basilides, an Ionian, 484.

Bassaces, son of Artabanus, 392.

Battus, son of Polymnestus. found-
er of Cyrene, 151, 258-261.

Battus, " The Fortunate," 261.

Battus, "The Lame," 262.

Battiadae, the, 274

Belbinite, 482.

Belidian Gate, Babylon, 211, 212.

Belus, father of Ninus, 4.

Belus, father of Cepheus, 389.

Belus. See Jupiter.

Bermion, Mount, 487.

542

HERODOTUS

Bessi, priestesses of the oracle of

Bacchus, 401.
Bias, of Priene, 10, 66.
Bias, brother of Melampus, 504.
Bisaltes, son of Apollophanes, 326.
Bisaltia, Bisaltae, 402, 479.
Bisanthe, on the Hellespont, 408.
Bistonians, Thracian nation, 401.
Bistonis, lake, 400.
Bithynia, Bithynians, 10, 392.
Biton, Cleobis and, story of 11,

12.
Bcebeis, a lake in Thessaly, 405.
Bceotia, Boeotians, 37, 104, 293,

294, 297, 299, 300-305, 328, 354,

406, 431, 453, 454, 456, 457, 462,

478, 400-497, 499-522, 527.
Boges, Persian governor of Eion,

400, 401.
Bolbitine mouth of the Nile, 91.
Boreas, 427, 428.
Borysthenes, river of Scythia, 214,

219, 220, 227, 229, 233, 238, 243,

244.
Borysthenitse, 218, 219, 229, 236,

237-
Bosphorus, Thracian, 238-240,
247, 371; Cimmerian, 217, 221,

243.

Bottisea, Bottiseans, 404, 426, 482.

Branchidae, 17, 62, 144, 286.

Branchis, city of the Milesians, 37.

Brauron, town in Attica, 256, 364.

Briantica, 400.

Briges, ancient name of the Phry-
gians, 392.

Brongus, river, 227.

Brundusium, city of Italy, 243.

Brygi, Thracians, 332, 426.

Bubares, son of Megabyzus, 281,

377, 485.
Bubastis, city of Egypt, 106, 107,

109, 142, 144, 147.
Bubastis. See Diana.
Bucolic mouth of the Nile, 91.
Budii, tribe of the Medes, 41.

Budini, the, tribe of the Scythians,

219, 244, 245, 248, 249, 254.
Bulis, son of Nicolaus, a Spartan,

407, 408.
Bura, city of Achaia, 158.
Busse, tribe of the Medes, 41.
Busiris, city of Egypt, 106, 107, 146.
Butacides, father of Philip of Cro-

tona, 290.
Buto, city of Egypt, with an oracle

of Latona, 106, 107, 109, 111, 113,

122, 133, 142, 143, 178.
Bybassus, 68.
Byzantium, Byzantines, 239, 240,

254, 256, 282, 312, 320, 326, 328,

523-

Cabales, Libyan nation, 265.

Cabalian Meionians, 392.

Cabalians, 189.

Cabeiri, 104, 168.

Cadmaeans, 20, 58, 65, 257, 293, 294,

501.
Cadmus, son of Agenor, 104, 138,

257, 293, 294.
Cadmus, son of Scythes, a Coan,

419.
Cadytis, city in Syria, 144, 154, 155.
Caeneus, 306.
Caicus, river of Mysia, 384; plain

of Mysia, 327.
Calami, in Ionia, 525.
Calantians. See Indians.
Calasiries, Egyptian war tribe, 146,

147, 503.
Calchas, 395.
Cale Acte, 325.

Callatebus, city of Lydia, 380.
Callatians, 168.
Calliades, archon at Athens at the

time of the invasion, 457.
Callias of Elis, a diviner, 289.
Callias, son of Hipponicus, 414.
Callias, son of Phcenippus, father

of Hipponicus, 358.
Calibrates, 517, 521.

INDEX

543

Callimachus, 354-356.

Callipidae, 218, 219.

Callipolitae, 4*5-

Callista, island, afterward Thera,

257-
Calyndians, 397, 468, 469.
Camarina, Camarinaeans, 415, 416.
Cambyses, father of Cyrus, 17, 28,

43, 50, 373, 376.
Cambyses, son of Cyrus, 81, 85,

152-168, 170, 176-179, 182, 183,

188, 198-200, 205, 264, 282, 366.
Cameirus, 58.

Camicus, city of Sicily, 421.
Campsa, 404.
Canae, Mount, 384.
Canastraeum, Cape of, 403.
Candaules (Myrsilus), tyrant of

Sardis, 4.
Candaules, father of Damasithy-

mus, 397.
Canopic mouth of the Nile, 91,

123, 151-
Canopus, city of Egypt, 90, 118.
Caphareus, 445.

Cappadocia, 27, 291, 292, 378, 392.
Car, brother of Lydus and Mysus,

67.
Carcinitis, city of Scythia, 229, 243.
Cardamyle, 464.
Cardia, 328-330, 388, 532.
Carenus, father of Evansetus, 423.
Caria, Carians, 10, 57, 66-68, 107,

142, 143, 146, 156, 189, 304, 312,

315-317, 324, 326, 380, 395-397,

429, 449, 450.
Carina, city of Mysia, 384.
Carnean festival, 432, 464.
Carpathius, island near Rhodes,

170.
Carpis, river, 228.
Carthage, Carthaginians, 65, 160,

225, 271, 272, 288, 324, 417, 420.
Caryanda, 226.
Carystus, Carystians, 222, 350, 351,

435, 462, 478, 481, 528.

Casambus, son of Aristocrates, 342.
Casius, Mount, in Arabia, 87, 144,

155.
Casmene, city of Sicily, 416.
Caspatyrus, city of Pactyica, 192,

226.
Caspian Sea, 79, 224.
Caspians, 190, 390, 391, 394.
Caspiri, 394.
Cassadane, daughter of Pharnas-

pes, wife of Cyrus, 85, 154.
Cassiterides Islands, 196.
Castalian Spring, 454.
Casthanaea, city, 425, 427.
Catarractes, river of Asia Minor,

379-
Catiari, Scythian tribe, 214.
Caucasus, Mount, 42, 79, 191, 217,

285.
Caucones, 258.

Caunia, Caunians, 66, 67, 69, 312.
Cayster, river, 311.
Caystrobius, father of Aristeas,

217.
Cecropidae, ancient name of the

Athenians, 456.
Cecrops, King of Athens, 410, 456,

458.
Celaenae, 379.
Celeas, 289.
Celts, the, 97, 228.
Ceos, Ceians, 223, 312, 444, 456,

465-
Cephallenia, 502.
Cephenes, ancient name of the

Persians, 389.
Cepheus, father of Andromeda,

389, 390, 414.
Cephissus, river of Phocis, 453.
Cephisus, father of Thyia, 424.
Ceramic Gulf, 68.
Cercasorus, city in Egypt, 90, 91,

118.
Cercopes, 435.
Ceres, Egyptian (Isis), 129, 130,

143, 144, 148; Grecian, 148, 229,

544

HERODOTUS

294, 348, 362, 363, 410, 431, 461,

512, 514-516, 525-527-
Chalcedon, Chalcedonians, 239,

256, 282, 328.
Chalcis, Chalcidians, of Euboea,

290-301, 305, 311, 351, 357, 425-

427, 444, 445, 456, 482, 502, 503.
Chaldaeans, 70, 71, 210, 390.
Chalestra, 404.
Chalybians, 10.
Charadra, Phocian city, 453.
Charaxus, of Mitylene, brother of

Sappho, 134.
Charilaus, 24 (note), 207-209.
Charillus, son of Eunomus, 484.
Charopinus, a Milesian, brother of

Aristagoras, 311.
Chemmis, floating island, 143, 144.
Chemmis, city in Egypt, 115, 146.
Cheops, King of Egypt, 130-132.
Chephren, King of Egypt, 131,

132.
Cherasmis, 393.
Chersis, 312, 396, 447.
Chersonesus, Chersonitse, 243, 254,

255, 328-330, 352, 365, 377, 380,

388, 483, 532, 533-
Chileus, of Tegea, 493, 494.
Chilon, a Lacedaemonian, 21, 339,

441.
Chios, Chians, 7, 57, 63, 64, 134,

151, 254, 285, 311, 319-321, 323,

326, 327, 475, 484, 529-
Choaspes, river near Susa, 73, 291,

292.
Chcerea, city of Eubcea, 351.
Choereatae, Sicyonian tribe, 297.
Chcerus, 421.

Chorasmians, 190, 196, 390.
Chromius, an Argive, 32.
Chytri, hot baths at Thermopylae,

424.
Cicilians, 317.
Ciconians, Thracian nation, 389,

400, 401.
Cilicia, Cilicians, 10, 27, 90, 97, 189,

291, 292, 320, 331, 349, 392, 395,

396, 448, 463, 473, 529.
Cilix, son of Agenor, a Phoenician,

395-
Cilia, an ^solian city, 59.
Cimmeria, Cimmerians, 3, 6, 42,

213, 216, 217, 221, 226, 240, 371,

377-
Cimmerian Bosphorus, 221, 240,

371.
Cimon, father of Miltiades, 328,

330, 351, 352.
Cimon, son of Miltiades, 363, 400.
Cineas, King of Thessaly, 295.
Cinyps, district of Libya, 272.
Cinyps, river, 266, 288.
Cissia, Cissians, 190, 291, 292, 357,

390, 394, 434-
Cissian Gate, Babylon, 211, 212.
Cithaeron, Mount, 410, 497, 499,

505, 506, 510, 512, 516.
Cius, of Mysia, 317.
Clazomenae, 7, 18, 57, 151, 318.
Cleades, son of Autodicus, a Pla-

taean, 522.
Cleander, a prophet, 345.
Cleander, son of Hippocrates, ty-
rant of Syracuse, 416.
Cleander, son of Pantares, 415.
Cleobis and Biton, story of, 11, 12.
Cleodaeus, 334, 432, 484.
Cleombrotus, son of Anaxan-

drides, 238, 285, 288, 432, 464,

494, 514.
Cleomenes, King of Sparta, 208,

209, 287-300, 305, 310, 333, 337-

345, 353, 413, 432.
Cleonae, city of Mount Athos,377.
Clinias, son of Alcibiades, 448.
Clisthenes, tyrant of Sicyon, 296,

297, 359-362.
Clisthenes, of Athens, 296-299, 361,

362.
Clytiadae, an Elian family, 503.
Cnidus, Cnidians, 58, 68, 151, 205,

263.

INDEX

545

Cncethus, 347.

Cobon, son of Aristophantus, a
Delphian, 339.

Codrus, son of Melanthus, 59, 296,
300, 526.

Coenyra, town in Thasos, 333.

Coes, son of Erxandrus, a Mity-
lenian, 242, 277, 287.

Coela, 352, 447.

Coeli, district of Chios, 326.

Colaeus, a Samian sea captain, 259.

Colaxais, ancestor of the Scyth-
ians, 214, 215.

Colchis, Colchians, 2, 42, 120, 121,
191, 224, 226, 390, 393, 430.

Colias, in Attica, 471, 472.

Colophon, Colophonians, 6, 7, 57,

59-

Colossae, 380.

Combrea, 404.

Compsatus, river, 400.

Conium, city, 295.

Contadesdus, river, 240.

Copais, lake, 485.

Corcyra, Corcyrseans, 171-174, 411,
415, 420, 421.

Coressus, Ephesian city, 311.

Corinth, Corinthians, 6, 8, 9, 18,
147, 171-174, 203, 263, 267, 299,
300, 304, 306-309, 348, 354, 361,
408, 415, 429, 431, 444, 445, 449,
455, 456, 459, 464, 466, 471, 50i,
516, 522, 525, 528.

Corobius, a Cretan purple-dyer,
258, 259.

Coronseans, 301.

Corycian cavern, of Parnassus,

453-

Corydallus, of Antcyra, 435.

Corys, river of Arabia, 156.

Cos, Coans, 58, 397, 419, 518.

Cotys, son of Manes, 226.

Cranai, ancient name of the Athe-
nians, 456.

Cranaspes, son of Mitrobates, 200.

Cranonians, 360.
35

Crastis, river, called " the dry,"

289.
Crathis, river of Achaia, 58.
Cremni, 219, 245, 246.
Crestona, Crestonaeans, 20, 276,

404, 405, 479-
Crete, Cretans, 2, 24, 67, 170, 175,

176, 226, 258, 259, 262, 395, 397,

411, 421, 422.
Cretinus, father of Aminocles, 428.
Crinippus, father of Terillus, 419.
Crisaean plain, of Locri, 452, 453.
Critalla, city in Cappadocia, 378.
Critines, father of Anaxilaus, of

Rhegium, 419.
Critobulus, 151.
Critobulus, of Torone, 482.
Crius, father of Polycritus, 470.
Crius, son of Polycritus, of iEgina,

333, 342.
Crobyzi, river in Thrace, 227.
Crocodiles, city of, in Egypt,

139.
Croesus, King of Lydia, 3, 10, 24,

26-39, 53, 57, 61, 62, 80-82, 158,

166, 167, 171, 286, 329, 359, 380,

453, 481.
Crophi, mountain in Upper Egypt,

94-
Crossaea, district of Macedonia,

404.
Crotona, Crotonians, 199, 201, 202,

204, 205, 289, 290, 324, 456.
Cuphagoras, an Athenian, 357.
Curium, Curians, 315.
Cyanean Islands, in the Euxine,

239, 240.
Cyaxares, King of the Medes, 6,

17, 28, 42, 43.
Cybebe, Temple of, at Sardis, 312.
Cybele, mountain of, 31.
Cyberniscus, son of Sicas, a Ly-

cian, 396.
Cyclades Islands, 284.
Cydippe, daughter of Terillus, wife

of Anaxilaus, 419.

546

HERODOTUS

Cydonia, city in Crete, 170, 175,

176.
Cydrara, city in Phrygia, 380.
Cyllyrii, Sicilian slaves, 416.
Cylon, an Athenian, 298.
Cyme, Cymaeans, 59, 62, 63, 254,

287, 318, 429, 483.
Cynaegeirus, son of Euphorion,

356.
Cynetae, Cynesians, 97, 228.
Cyneus, an Eretrian, 351.
Cyniscus, son of Leuty chides, 341.
Cyno, or Spaco, nurse of Cyrus,

44, 50.
Cynosarges, in Attica, 295, 356.
Cynosura, an island near Salamis,

465, 466.
Cynurians, 464.
Cyprian verses, 125.
Cyprus, Cyprians, 28, 42, 78, 112,

152, 160, 263, 277, 284, 291, 312-

316, 320, 395, 397, 463, 473-
Cypselidae, of Corinth, 361,
Cypselus, son of Eetion, tyrant of

Corinth, 6, 8, 171, 307, 308.
Cypselus, father of Miltiades, 328.
Cyraunis, island near Libya, 271.
Cyrene, Cyrenaeans, 06, 97, 145,

151, 152, 157, 189, 202, 259-265,

269, 272-274, 290.
Cyrnus, island, 65, 66, 419.
Cyrnus, a hero, 65, 66.
Cyrnus, a city of Carystia, 528.
Cyrus, King of Persia, 17, 27-83,

85, 153, 154, 165-167, 180, 183,

188, 189, 198, 212, 292, 366, 368,

369, 376, 386, 534-
Cythera, island off the Pelopon-
nesus, 32, 43, 441.
Cythnus, Cythnians, 395, 456, 462.
Cytissorus, son of Phryxus, 430.
Cyzicus, Cyzicenians, 217, 218, 235,

254, 328.

Dadicae, the, 190, 390.
Daedalus, 421.

Daians, Persian tribe, 51.

Damasithymus, King of the Ca-
lyndians, 468.

Damasthymus, son of Candaules,
397-

Damasus, son of Amyris, of Siris,
called the Wise, 360, 361.

Damia, 302-304.

Danae, mother of Perseus, 115, 335,
389, 414.

Danaus, 115, 118, 148, 152, 396.

Daphnae, Pelusian, of Egypt, 95,
121.

Daphnis, of Abydos, 254.

Dardanians, 73.

Dardanus, 316, 384.

Daritae, 190.

Darius, son of Hystaspes, King of
Persia, 53, 71, 73, 81, 82, 122, 144,
168, 181-215, 224-226, 238-256,
264, 274-286, 313-319, 321-333,
34i, 345, 349-358, 366, 367, 369,
37i, 373, 376, 377, 379, 387, 389,
390-393, 396, 399, 406-408, 429,
438, 469-

Darius, son of Xerxes, 530.

Dascylium, 198, 200, 328.

Dascylus, father of Gyges, 4.

Datis, Persian general at Mara-
thon, 349-357, 369, 371, 392, 394-

Datus, city of the Edonians, 518.

Daulians, 453.

Daurises, son-in-law of Darius,

317-

Decelea, 349, 495, 517, 518.

Decelus, 517.

Deioces, 6, 28, 30-41.

Deiphonus, son of Evenius, a di-
viner, 524, 525.

Delium of the Thebans, 357.

Delos, Delians, 23, 148, 222, 223,
350, 357, 484, 523, 525-

Delphi, Delphians, 6-9, 17-19, 24,
25, 34, 36-38, 65, 68, 134, 151, 175,
218, 258, 260-263, 266, 288, 295,
297, 299, 302, 304, 306, 307, 324,

INDEX

547

326, 328, 329, 334, 339, 341, 342,
347, 359, 363, 365, 401, 406, 409,
410, 413, 419-421, 437, 442, 451,
453, 454, 467, 478, 481, 503, 507,
520, 524.

Delta of the Nile, 89-91, 106, 151.

Demaratus, son of Ariston, King
of Sparta, 299, 300, 333, 337~342,
345, 366, 367, 397-399, 433, 44°-
443, 461.

Demarmenus, 288, 339.

Demeter, 106.

Democedes, a physician of Cro-
tona, 199, 201-205.

Democritus, a Naxian, present at
Salamis, 456.

Demonax, a Mantinean, 262.

Demonous, 429.

Demophilus, son of Diadromas,
Thespian commander at Ther-
mopylae, 437.

Dersaei, Thracian nation, 401.

Derusiaeans, Persian tribe, 51.

Deucalion, 20.

Diactorides, father of Eurydame,

341-
Diactorides, a Cranonian, 360, 361.
Diana, Egyptian (Bubastis), 106,

XI3, 135, 136, 143; Grecian, 10,

139, 172, 223, 239, 276, 364, 423,

466.
Dicaea, city of Thrace, 400.
Dicaeus, 461.
Dictynna, Temple of, at Cydonia,

176.
Didymi, temple at, 324.
Dieneces, a Spartan, 438, 439.
Dion, city, 377.
Diomede, 125.

Dionysiophanes, an Ephesian, 521.
Dionysius, a Phocaean, 321-324.
Dioscuri, the, 101, 104, 360.
Dipaea, 504.
Dithyrambus, son of Harmatides,

439-
Doberes, the, 279, 401.

Dodona, oracle at, 17, 104-106, 222,

524.

Dolonci, Thracian, 328-330.

Dolopes, 406, 426.

Dorians, 3, 10, 20, 56, 58, 67, 148,
151, 297, 299, 300, 304, 335, 370,
395-398, 455, 456, 462, 464.

Dorieus, son of Anaxandrides, 288-
290, 414, 432, 494.

Doris, formerly Dryopis, 452, 455.

Doriscus, 311, 378, 389, 399, 400,
4°3-

Dorus, son of Hellen, King of the
Dorians, 20.

Doryssus, son of Leobotes, 432.

Dotus, son of Megasidrus, a Per-
sian general, 392.

Dropicians, Persian tribe, 51.

Drymus, Phocian city, burned by
Xerxes, 453.

Dryopis, Dryopians, 20, 58, 452,
455, 456, 464-

Dyma, town in Achaia, 58.

Dymanatae, Sicyonian tribe, 297.

Dyras, river of Trachinia, 430.

Dysorum, mountain, 279.

Ecbatana, of Media, 40, 41, 44, 61,

178, 190; in Syria, 177, 178.
Echecrates, 306.
Echemus, son of Aeropus, 500.
Echestratus, 432.
Echidorus, river of Thrace, 404,

405-

Echinades Islands, 88.

Edonia, Edonians, 277, 318, 401,
518.

Eetion, 6, 306, 307.

Egestaeans, 289, 290.

Egypt, Egyptians, 2, 11, 30, 38, 42,
61, 71, 75, 77, 85-164, 168-171,
189, 201, 205, 206, 224-227, 255,
261, 262, 264, 267, 273, 320, 335,
337, 366-368, 376, 378, 380, 300,
391, 395, 396, 448, 463, 473, 503.

Egyptus, 152.

[ERODOTUS

Eion, city on the Strymon, 378,
400, 401, 480. \

Elaeus, city in the Chersonesus,
36s, 377, 380, 532, 533-

Elatea, Phocian city, 453. \

Elbo, island of the blind king
Any sis, 136.

Eleans, 145, 258, 360, 451, 464, 503,

519.
Eleon, 288.
Elephantine, city of Upper Egypt,

88, 91, 94-96, no, 150, 160.
Eleusinian Ceres, 512, 525-527.
Eleusis, 11, 299, 300, 338, 342, 461,

468, 497, 501.
Elis, 202, 222, 289, 341, 464.
Elisycians, 419.
Ellopia, 450.
Elorus, river, 415.
Enarees, 43, 232.
Encheleae, 204, 507.
Enienes, 406.

Enipeus, river of Thessaly, 405.
Eniti, the, 277.

Eordi, a people of Macedonia, 426.
Epaphus, 99, 142, 163, 164.
Ephesus, Ephesians, 10, 37, 57, 59,

88, 121, 139, 293, 311, 312, 323,

345, 474, 475, 521.
Ephialtes, son of Eurydemus, a

Malian, 434~438.
Ephori, the, 209, 287, 288, 338, 339.

344, 492-494-
Epicydes, father of Glaucus, 346.
Epidamnus, on the Ionian Gulf,

360.
Epidanus, river of Thessaly, 429.
Epidaurus, Epidaurians, 58, 172,

174, 302, 303, 397, 444, 455, 456,

464, 501-503.
" Epigoni," the, 222.
Epistrophus, father of Amphim-

nestus, 360.
Epium, 258.

Epizelus, son of Cuphagoras, 357.
Epizephyrian Locrians, 325.

Erasinus, river, 343.
Erectheus, 302, 427, 456, 458.
Eretria, Eretrians, 22, 293, 311,

312, 331, 349-351, 353, 356-358,

360, 444, 456, 502, 503.
Eridanus, river, 195, 196.
Erineum, 455.

Erochus, Phocian city, 453.
Erxandrus, 242, 287.
Erythia, island near Gades, 215.
Erythrse, Erythraeans, 7, 57, 321,

495, 497-499-
Erythrebolus, city of Egypt, 123.
Eryx, in Sicily, 288, 289.
Eryxo, 262.
Etearchus, King of Axus in Crete,

259, 260.
Etearchus, King of the Ammoni-

ans, 96, 97.
Eteocles, 294.
Etesian winds, 92, 365, 421.
Ethiopia, Ethiopians, 94, 95, 119,

120, 122, 135, 136, 139, 145, 160-

163, 190, 191, 268, 272, 391, 395,

503.
Euaenetus, son of Carenus, 423.
Eualcis, an Eretrian general, 312.
Eubcea, Euboeans, 58, 222, 284, 300,

351, 360, 416, 423, 425, 427, 428,

445-449, 462, 463, 468.
Euclides, son of Hippocrates, ty-
rant of Syracuse, 416.
Euelthon, King of Salamis, 263,

312.
Euesperides, islands, 265.
Euesperides, a people of Libya,

272.
Eumenes, an Anagyrasian, 470.
Eumenides, temple of the, at My-

cale, 258, 525.
Eunomus, 484.
Eupalinus, son of Naustropus, a

Megarian architect, 176.
Euphemus, 258.
Euphorbus, son of Alcimachus,

351.

INDEX

549

Euphorion, father of ^Eschylus,

143, 356.
Euphorion, father of Laphanes,

360.
Euphrates, 70, 71, 75, 292.
Euripus, the, 300, 422, 425, 445, 448,

462.
Europa, of Tyre, 2, 67, 102, 226,

257.
Europe, 42, 90, 97, 120, 195, 196,

224, 226, 228, 240, 255, 328, 331,

377, 388, 495-
Europus, 484.
Euryanax, son of Dorieus, 494,

Eurybates, of Argos, 349, 518.

Eurybiades, son of Euryclides,
commander of the fleet, 444, 445,
455, 457, 459, 460, 461, 464, 466,
476, 481.

Eurycrates, son of Polydorus, 431.

Eurycratides, son of Anaxander,

431.

Eurydame, daughter of Diactori-

des, wife of Zeuxidemus, 341.
Eurydemus, 434.
Euryleon, 289, 290.
Eurymachus, father of Leontiades,

432.
Eurymachus, son of Leontiades,

440.
Euryphon, son of Procles, 484.
Eurypilus, one of the Aleuadae, 512.
Eurysthenes, son of Aristodemus,

257, 287, 334, 432.
Eurystheus, King of Argos, 500,

501.
Eurytus, 439.
Euthynus, 528.
Eutychides, father of Sophanes,

517.
Euxine Sea, 3, 28, 29, 44, 90, 97,

224, 226, 239, 240, 328, 381.
Evagoras, a Lacedaemonian, 352.
Evenius, 524, 525.
Exampseus, 228, 238.

Gaeson, river, 525.

Galepsus, city of Macedonia, 403.

Gallaica, 400.

Gamori, tribe of Syracusans, 416.

Gandarians, a people of Asia, 190,

390-
Garamantes, a Libyan nation, 266,

268.
Gargaphia, fountain of, 499, 509,

510.
Gauanes, 486, 487.
Gebeleizis (Zalmoxis), 241.
Gela, Geloans, 325, 415, 416.
Geleon, son of Ion, 296.
Gelon, tyrant of Syracuse, 41 1-420.
Gelonus, city of Scythia, 244, 245,

248, 249, 254.
Gelonus, son of Hercules, 216.
Gephyraeans, 293, 294.
Geraestus, town of Euboea, 445,

528.
Gergis, son of Arizus, 393.
Gergithae, 318, 384.
Germanians, Persian tribe, 51.
Gerrhus, river and region of

Scythia, 219, 227, 229, 233.
Gersis, a Persian commander, 403.
Geryon, 215.

Getae, a people of Thrace, 241, 242.
Gigonus, 404.

Giligammae, Libyan nation, 265.
Gillus, 205.

Gindanes, the, Libyan nation, 266.
Glaucon, 518.
Glaucus, a Chian, inventor of the

art of inlaying iron, 10.
Glaucus, son of Hippolochus, 59.
Glaucus, son of Epicydes, 346,

347-

Glisas, 507.

Gnurus, 236.

Gobryas, a Persian nobleman, fa-
ther of Mardonius, 181-188, 252,
253, 33i, 366, 367, 393-

Gobryas, son of Darius and Arty-
stone, 392.

55o

HERODOTUS

Gonnus, city of Thessaly, 405, 423.
Gordias, father of Midas, 6, 487.
Gordias, son of Midas, 14.
Gorgo, daughter of Cleomenes,

290-292, 443.
Gorgus, King of the Salaminians,

312, 313. 3i6, 396, 447-
Graces, the, 104, 266.
Greeks, passim.
Grinus, King of Thera, 258.
Grynia, an ^Eolian city, 59.
Gygsea, daughter of Amyntas, 281,

485-
Gygean Lake, 38.
Gyges, King of Sardis, 4, 37, 198,

317.
Gymnopaediae, the, public games at

Sparta, 339.
Gyndes, river of Armenia, 73, 74,

79, 292.
Gyzantes, a people of Libya, 271.

Hades, 129.
Haemus, Mount, 227.
Haliacmon, river, 404.
Halicarnassus, city of Asia Minor,

1, 58, 68, 151, 154, 155. 397, 474,

529.
Halys, river of Asia Minor, 3, 10,

27-29, 42, S3, 292, 312, 379.
Hanno, father of Amilcar, 419.
Harmatides, 439.
Harmocydes, a Phocian general,

496, 497.
Harmodius, 293, 354, 358.
Harpagus, a Medic prince, 31-53,

63-66, 68, 69.
Harpagus, Persian general, 327.
Heads of Oak, the, pass of Mount

Cithaeron, 506.
Hebe, 526.

Hebrus, river, 240, 389.
Hecatseus, the historian, 137, 138,

318, 363, 364.
Hector, 126.
Hegesander, 318.

Hegesicles, King of Sparta, 24.
Hegesipyle, daughter of Olorus,

wife of Miltiades, 330.
Hegesistratus, son of Hippias, 309.
Hegesistratus, son of Aristagoras,

523, 524-
Hegesistratus, a diviner, 507.
Hegetorides, 518, 519.
Hegias, brother of Tisamenus, 504.
Helen, wife of Menelaus, 2, 123-

127, 309, 337, 5*7-

Helice, 58.

Heliopolis, 86-88, 106, 107, no.

Hellas, 106.

Helle, daughter of Athamas, 388.

Hellen, father of Dorus, 20.

Hellenium, the, sacred precinct at
Naucratis, 151.

Hellespont, 20, 189, 224, 235, 239-
241, 254, 256, 275, 277, 278, 281,
285, 305, 312, 316, 317, 326, 328,
33i, 349, 365, 368, 369, 371, 380,
381, 384, 387, 388, 400, 408, 412,
416, 419, 427, 457, 475-477, 479,
480, 515, 526, 527, 529, 532.

Helots, of Sparta, 336, 342, 344,
451, 501.

Hephaestra, 365.

Hephaestopolis, father of Iadmon,

134-
Heraclea, in Sicily, 288.
Heraaopolis, 240.
Heraeum, 511, 516.
Heraclidae, 3, 37, 288, 479, 500.
Heraclides, 287, 317.
Hercules, 4, 100-102, 113, 123, 138,

139, 215, 216, 230, 238, 288, 295,

335, 353, 356, 424, 428-430, 432,

433, 437, 455, 484-
Hercules, Pillars of, 97, 215, 225,

259, 268, 269, 272, 484.
Hermione, Hermionians, 175, 368,

455, 464, 502, 503.
Hermippus, an Atarnian, 319, 320.
Hermolycus, son of Euthynus, 528.
Hermophantus, 311.

INDEX

551

Hermopolis, 109.
Hermotimus, 474, 475.
Hermotybies, Egyptian war tribe,

146, 147, S03.
Hermus, river in Asia Minor, 20,

3i. 312.
Herodotus, I.

Herodotus, son of Basilides, 484.
Herophantus, of Parium, 254.
Herpys, 505.
Hesiod, 105, 222.
Hexapolis, 58.

Hiero, brother of Gelon, 416.
Hieronymus, of Andros, 504.
Himera, a city of Sicily, 326, 419.
Hipparchus, son of Pisistratus,

293, 294, 358, 368.

Hippias, son of Pisistratus, 22, 293,

294, 305, 306, 309, 3io, 35i. 353,
355, 358.

Hippobotae, the, 300.
Hippocles, of Lampsacus, 254.
Hippoclides, son of Tisander, 360,

361.
Hippocoon, 294.
Hippocrates, father of Pisistratus,

21, 296, 351.

Hippocrates, tyrant of Gela, 325,

326, 415, 416.
Hippocrates, son of Megacles, 361,

362.
Hippocrates, father of Smindyri-

des, 360.
Hippocratides, 484.
Hippoleon, promontory of, 229.
Hippolochus, 59.
Hippomachus, a Leucadian, 505.
Hipponicus, father of Callias,

414.
Hipponicus, son of Callias, 358.
Histiaea, 450, 451, 462.
Histiaeotis, 20, 423, 450.
Histiaeus, tyrant of Miletus, 254,

255, 277, 281-286, 313, 314, 318-

320, 326, 327. 332, 37i-
Histiaeus, father of Phylacus, 468.

Histiaeus, tyrant of Termera, 287,

397-
Homer, 93, 105, 124, 125, 221, 222,

296, 418.
Hoples, son of Ion, 296.
Hundred Islands, 60.
Hyacinthia, the, 492-494.
Hyampeian Summit, of Mount

Parnassus, 454.
Hyampolis, a Phocian city, 451-

453-
Hyatas, Sicyonian tribe, 297.
Hybla, in Sicily, 416.
Hydarnes, 181-188, 362, 390, 407.
Hydarnes, son of Hydarnes, 393,

434-436, 478, 480.
Hyela, 65.

Hygennians, a people of Asia, 189.
Hylaea, a region of Scythia, 215,

219, 229, 235.
Hylleans, a Sicyonian tribe, 297.
Hyllus, river in Asia Minor, 31.
Hyllus, son of Hercules, 334, 432,

484, 500.
Hymees, son-in-law of Darius,

316-318.
Hymettus, Mount, 363, 364.
Hypachaeans, ancient name of the

Cilicians, 395.
Hypacyris, river of Scythia, 227,

229.
Hypanis, river of Scythia, 219, 227,

228, 238.
Hyperanthes, son of Darius, 438.
Hyperboreans, 217, 222, 223.
Hypernotians, 223.
Hyperoche, a Hyperborean virgin,

222, 223.
Hyrcanians, 196, 390.
Hyrgis, river of Scythia, 230.
Hyria, city of Italy, 421.
Hyrceades, a Mardian, in Cyrus's

army, 33.
Hysiae, 299, 354, 495, 499-
Hystanes, 392.
Hystaspes, governor of Persia, fa-

552

HERODOTUS

ther of Darius, 81, 82, 181, 188,
238, 299, 373-
Hystaspes, son of Darius and
Atossa, 390.

Iacchus, 461.

Iadmon, son of Hephaestopolis,

master of JEsop, 134.
Ialyssus, a Doric city, 58.
Iamidae, 289, 503.
Iapygia (Japygia), Apulia, 205,

243, 421.
Iatragoras, 287.
Ibanolis, 287, 317.
Iberia, 64, 419.
Icarian Sea, 349.
Ichnae, 404.

Ichthyophagi, 160-162, 164.
Ida, Mount, 60, 384.
Idanthyrsus, King of Scythia, 235,

236, 249-251.
Idrias, a region of Caria, 316.
" Iliad," the, 125.
Ilissus, river, 428.
Ilithya, 223.

Ilium, 88, 125, 309, 3*7, 377, 384.
Ulyria, Illyrians, 76, 227, 486, 507.
Imbros, 283, 330, 331, 352.
" Immortals " of the Persian army,

380, 393, 394, 434, 478.
Inachus, King of Argos, 2.
Inarus, King of Libya, 157, 159,

368.
India, Indians, 1^8, 190-193, 224,

226, 275, 37o, 390, 394, 478, 503.
Indus, river, 226.
Ino, 430.
Intaphernes, a Persian prince, 181-

188, 197, 198.
Inycum, city of Sicily, 325, 336.
Io, daughter of Inachus, 2, 100.
Iolcus, town of Magnesia, 309.
Ion, son of Xuthus, ancestor of

the Ionians, 296, 396, 456.
Ionia, Ionians, 3, 7, 10, 30, 37, 56-

59, 66, 67, 85, 90, no, 121, 142,

143, 146, 151, 153, 168, 189, 198,
200, 223, 240, 242, 251-255, 283,
290, 291, 294, 296, 304, 310-328,
331, 346, 349, 350, 370, 37i, 386,
387, 396, 428, 446, 449, 45o, 456,
464, 468-470, 477, 483, 484, Soo,
S23, 525, 528, 529.

Ionian Gulf, 360, 524.

Ionian Sea, 377.

Iphiclus, 532.

Iphigenia, daughter of Agamem-
non, 244.

Ipni, 427.

I rasa, 261.

Is, city of Assyria, 70.

Isagoras, son of Tysander, 296,
298, 299.

Ischenous, 425.

Isis, of the Egyptians, 100, 106,
107, 129, 130, 143, 150, 269.

Island of the Blessed. See Oasis.

Ismaris, lake of Thrace, 400.

Ismenian Apollo. See Apollo.

Issedones, 78, 217, 218, 221, 222.

Ister, river of Scythia, 79, 97, 227-

229, 237, 240-243, 247, 249, 251,
253-255, 277, 371-

Istria, Milesian colony, 97, 236.
Italy, 9, 204, 205, 218, 288, 360.
Itanus, city of Crete, 258.
Ithamatres, 391.
Ithamitres, Persian admiral, 483,

528.
Ithomae, 504.
Iyrcae, the, 219.

Jardanus, 4.

Jason, 266, 267, 428, 429.

Jenysus, city, 155.

Juno, 11, 27, 104, 151, 152, 199,

240, 259, 308, 309, 344, 5io, 511,

514, 525.
Jupiter, Scythian (Papaeus), 214,

230, 251; of the Persians, 54,
313, 383, 479; Babylonian (Be-
lus), 70, 71, 212; Egyptian (Am-

INDEX

553

mon and Theban), 17, ft, 91,
100, 101, 105, 106, in, 113, 162,
268; Ethiopian, 95, 162; Gre-
cian, 16, 67, 87, 139, 151, 199,
200, 206, 207, 267, 274, 290, 291,
296, 317, 335, 340, 388, 389, 410,
430, 493, 520, 534.

Labda, daughter of Amphion,
306, 307.

Labdacus, son of Polydorus, 294.

Labranda, 317.

Labynetus, 29, 30, 73.

Labyrinth of the Twelve Kings,
139, 140.

Lacedaemon, Lacedaemonians, pas-
sim.

Lacmon, Mount, 524.

Lacrines, 60.

Lade, island near Miletus, 320,
321.

Ladice, wife of Amasis, 151, 152.

Laius, 258, 288, 294.

Lampito, daughter of Zeuxide-
mus, 341.

Lampon, son of Pytheus, 519, 520.

Lampon, son of Thrasycleus, 523,

524-
Lamponium, 283.
Lampsacus, Lampsacenians, 254,

3i6, 329, 330.
Laodamas, son of Eteocles, 294.
Laodamas, of Phocsea, 254.
Laodamus, of ^Egina, 259
Laodice, Hyperborean virgin, 222,

223.
Laos, 324.
Laphanes, son of Euphorion, an

Azenian, 360, 361.
Lapithae, 306.
Larissa, 491.
Larissae, 59.
Lasonians, a people of Asia, 189,

392.
Lasus, the Hermionian, 368.
Latona, oracle of, at Buto, in

Egypt, 106, 107, 109, ill, 113,

122, 133, 142, 143, 178.
Laureum, mines at, 411.
Leagrus, son of Glaucon, 518.
Learchus, 262.
Lebaea, 486.
Lebadea, 485.
Lebedus, 57.
Lectis, 532.

Leietum, Achaean Prytaneum, 430.
Leleges, ancient name of the

Carians, 66.
Lemnos, Lemnian, 256, 283, 363-

365, 368, 447, 464, 467-
Leo, King of Sparta, 24.
Leobotas, King of Sparta, 24,

432.
Leocedes, son of Pheidon, an Ar-

give, 360, 361.
Leon, King of Sparta, 425, 431.
Leonidas, King of Sparta, 288,

431-443, 448, 449, 464, 478, 479,

494, 514, 519.
Leontiades, son of Eurymachus,

432, 440.
Leontines, a people of Sicily, 415.
Leoprepes, father of Theasides,

345-
Leoprepes, father of Simonides,

439-
Leotychides, son of Menares,

King of Sparta, 338-342, 345-

347, 484, 523, 526-529, 532.
Leotychides, father of Hippocrati-

des, 484.
Leprium, Lepreatae, 258, 502, 503.
Leros, island near Miletus, 318.
Lesbos, 9, 60, 63, 79, 169, 230, 283,

311, 320, 321, 323, 326, 327, 529.
Leucadians, 456, 502, 503.
Leuce-Acte, 378.
Leucon, in Libya, 262.
Libya, Libyans, 17, 87, 89-97, 105,

106, 126, 157, 160, 189, 191, 195,

221, 224-226, 256, 258-274, 288,

39i, 394, 419, 426.

554

HERODOTUS

Libyan mountain, 118, 130.

Lichas, 25, 26.

Ligyes, a people of Gaul, 277, 419.

Ligyes, a people of Asia, 391, 392.

Limenion, 7.

Lindus, a Doric city, 58, 152, 171,

415-
Linus, a song, 112.
Lipaxus, 404.
Lipoxais, 214.
Lipsydrium, 295.
Lisae, 404.

Lissus, a river of Thrace, 400.
Locrians, 406, 432, 435, 462, 503;

Epizephyrian, 325 ; Opuntian,

431, 444-
Lotophagi, Libyan nation, 266, 268.
Lycaretus, brother of Mseandri-

us, 207, 283.
Lycia, Lycians, 10, 66-69, x54, l&9>

223, 226, 392, 395, 396.
Lycidas, 492.

Lycomedes, son of iEschreus, 447.
Lycopas, 174.
Lycophron, son of Periander, 172-

174.

Lycurgus, son of Aristolaides, 21,
24.

Lycus, river of Scythia, 250.

Lycus, river of Phrygia, 380.

Lycus, son of Spargapithes, 236.

Lycus, son of Pandion, 68, 395.

Lyda, mountain, 69.

Lydia, Lydians, 6, 10, 27-29, 31,
33. 37-39, 42, 56, 57, 61, 62, 67,
147, 189, 200, 226, 278, 290, 292,
311, 312, 328, 359, 380, 384, 392.

Lydias, river, 404.

Lydus, son of Atys, 4, 67, 392.

Lygdamis, of Naxos, 22, 23.

Lygdamis, father of Artemisia, 397.

Lynceus, 115.

Lysagoras, son of Tisias, a Parian,
362.

Lysagoras, father of Histiaeus. 283.

Lysanias, an Eretrian, 360, 361.

Lysimachus, father of Aristides,

502.
Lysistratus, an Athenian augur,

471, 472.

Macae, Libyan nation, 266, 288.

Macednum, 20.

Macedonia, Macedonians, 279-281,

309, 332, 370, 378, 392, 404, 405,

423, 426, 453, 455, 479, 482, 485-

487, 503, 523-
Machlyes, Libyan nation, 266, 267.
Macistius. See Masistius.
Macistus, 258.

Macrobian Ethiopians. See Ethi-
opians.
Macrones, the, 120, 190, 393.
Mactorium, city, 415.
Madyes, King of the Scythians,

son of Protothyas, 42.
Madytus, 380, 534.
Mseander, river of Asia Minor, 7,

63, 88, 94, 198, 316, 317, 379, 380.
Mseandrius, a Samian, 199, 206-

209, 283.
Mselians, 429.
Mseonians, Lydian, 4.
Maeotians, 250.
Maeotis, lake, 42, 214, 219, 226, 229,

239, 243, 244, 249, 250, 252.
Magabazus, son of Megabates,396.
Magacreon of Abdera, 403.
Magdolus, 144.
Magi, tribe of the Medes, 41, 43,

49, 52, 54, 56; slaughter of the,

185.
Magnesia, Magnesians, 63, 189,

198, 199, 423, 425, 426, 428.
Magnetes, 406.
Malca, 32, 266, 421.
Malene, 327.
Males, brother of Titormus, 360,

361.
Maliac Gulf, 222.
Malis, Malians, 430, 431, 434, 435,

452, 455, 456, 462.

INDEX

555

Mandane, mother of Cyrus, 43, 44.
Mandrocles, a Samian architect,

239, 240.
Maneros. See Linus.
Manes, King of Lydia, 38, 226.
Mantinea, Mantineans, 262, 431,

504, 519.

Mantyes, 277.

Mapen, son of Siromus, a Tyrian,
396.

Maraphians, Persian tribe, 51, 264.

Marathon, 22, 351, 353-358, 362,
363, 366» 501, 508.

Mardians, Persian tribe, 33, 51.

Mardonius, son of Gobryas, 331,
332, 349, 367, 370-373, 393, 400,
403, 451, 462, 463, 472-475, 478,
479, 482-494, 502, 505-507, 509,
512-521, 523, 527.

Mardontes, son of Bagaeus, a Per-
sian general, 393, 483, 528.

Marea, a city of Egypt, 91, 95.

Mares, 393.

Mariandynians, 10, 189, 391, 392.

Maris, a river of Scythia, 227.

Maron, son of Orisiphantus, 439.

Maronea, a city of Thrace, 400.

Mars, 106-108, 113, 230, 231, 276,
392, 409, 466.

Marsians, 190.

Marsyas, 379.

Marsyas, river of Phrygia, 316,

317-

Mascames, son of Megadostes,
399, 400.

Masistes, son of Darius and Atos-
sa, 393, 403, 520-532.

Masistius, commander of the Per-
sian cavalry, 408, 499, 502.

Masistius, son of Siromitres, 393.

Maspians, Persian tribe, 51.

Massages, son of Oarizus, 391.

Massagetae, 78-84, 167, 216, 265,
376.

Massilia. 277.

Matienian Mountains, 73, 79.

Matienians, 28, 73, 190, 291, 292,

391, 392.
Mausolus, 317.

Maxyes, Libyan nation, 270, 271.
Mazares, a Mede, 62, 63.
Mecistes, brother of Adrastus,297.
Mecyberna, city of Thrace, 403.
Medea, daughter of the King of

Colchis, 2, 390.
Media, Medes, 6, 19, 27-29, 39-41,

43, 51-53, 71, 72, 179, 190, 213,

214, 217, 224, 390, 394, 396, 426,

434, 439, 478, 483, 503.
Megabates, 285, 286, 396.
Megabyzus, 181-188, 209, 225, 255,

256, 275, 277-279, 281, 282, 310,

377, 39i, 400, 403.
Megabyzus, son of Zopyrus, 212,

393-
Megacles, son of Alcmaeon, 21-24,

359-362.
Megacles, son of Hippocrates, 362.
Megadostes, 399.
Megapanus, 390.
Megara, Megarians, 21, 176, 300,

456, 459, 460, 465, 492, 495, 498,

502, 503, 516, 521.
Megarians of Sicily, 416.
Megasidrus, father of Dotus, 392.
Megistias, an augur, with the

Greeks at Thermopylae, 436, 437,

439-

Megureans, 444.

Meionians, 392.

Melampus, son of Amytheon, a
seer, 103, 104, 437, 504.

Melampygus, rock near the Aso-
pus, 435.

Melanchlaeni.219, 243-245, 248, 250.

Melanippus, of Mitylene, 310.

Melanippus, son of Astacus, 297.

Melanthius, an Athenian com-
mander, 310.

Melanthus, father of Codrus, 59,
296.

Melas, river of Thessaly, 389, 430.

I

556

HERODOTUS

Melas, Gulf of, 330, 389.

Meles, King of Sardis, 33.

Melians, 406, 503.

Melibcea, 427.

Melissa, wife of Periander, 172,

308, 309.
Membliares, son of Paeciles, 257.
Memnon, 121.
Memnonia, 292.
Memnonian Susa, 414.
Memphis, 86-89, 118, 119, 123, 124,

126, 141, 142, 144, ISO, 155, 157-

159, 163, 167, 190, 205.
Menares, father of Leotychides,

338, 484.
Menda, a city of Pallene, 404.
Mendes, Pan (Egyptian), 100, 102.
Mendesian district, in Egypt, 100,

102, 147.
Mendesian mouth of the Nile, 91.
Menelaus, 123-127, 309, 421, 422.
Menelaus, port of, in Libya, 265.
Menes, King of Egypt, 86, 118,

119.
Menius, brother of Eurydame,34l.
Merbalus, son of Agbalus, an

Aridian, 396.
Mercury, 104, 136, 138; Thracian,

276.
Mermnadae, kings of Sardis, 4.
Meroe, city and capital of Ethi-
opia, 95.
Mesambria, city of Thrace, 241,

328, 400.
Messana, city of Sicily, 419.
Messenians of Peloponnesus, 171,

291, 334, S04, 515-
Metapontium, in Italy, 218.
Methymna, Methymnaeans, 8, 60.
Metiochus, son of Miltiades, 330,

331-

Metrodorus of Proconnesus, 254.
Micythus, son of Chcerus, servant

of Anaxilaus, 421, 422.
Midas, son of Gordias, King of

Phrygia, 6, 14, 487.

Miletus, Milesians, 6-8, 57, 66, 144,

151, 169, 236, 254, 277, 282-287,

296, 308-314, 317-327, 346, 347,

526, 528.
Milo, a wrestler, 205.
Miltiades, son of Cypselus, 328-

330, 352.
Miltiades, son of Cimon, tyrant of

Chersonesus, 254, 328-331, 351-

355, 362-365, 400.
Milyas, Milyans, 67, 392.
Milyens, 189.
Minerva, 7, 8, 23, 25, 63, 94, 106,

113, 148-150, 152, 171, 176, 267,

270, 289, 301, 302, 309, 384, 410,

454, 458, 47i, 474, 5i6.
Minoa, 289.

Minos, the Cnossian, 198.
Minos, son of Europa, 66, 67, 421,

422.
Minyae, 256-258.
Minyan-Orchomenians, 58.
Mitra. See Venus.
Mitradates, 44-47.
Mitrobates, a Persian prince, 198-

200.
Mitylene, Mityleneans, 10, 63, 134,

151, 157, 158, 242, 277, 287, 309,

310, 320.
Mnesarchus, father of Pythagoras,

241.
Mnesiphilus, an Athenian, 459.
Moeris, King of Egypt, 89, 119.
Mceris, lake, 89, no, 119, 139-141,

189.
Moloeis, river of Boeotia, 512.
Molossi, a people of Epirus, 58,

360.
Molpagoras, father of Aristagoras,

283.
Momemphis, city of Egypt, 146,

147.
Mophi, mountain in Upper Egypt,

94-

Moschians, a people of Asia, 190,
392, 393-

INDEX

557

Mosynoeci, a people of Asia, 190,

393-
Mouths of the Nile, 91.
Munychia, a port of Attica, 465.
Murychides, a Hellespontine, 491,

492.
Musaeus, oracles of, 368, 471, 472.
Mycale, opposite Samos, 323, 393,

523, 525-529, 532.
Mycenae, Mycenaeans, 431,501-503.
Mycephoris, a district of Egypt,

147.
Mycerinus, King of Egypt, 132,

133-

Mycians, 190, 391.

Myconus, island near Delos, 357.

Mygdonian, a district of Mace-
donia, 404.

Mylasa, town in Caria, 67, 287, 317.

Mylitta. See Venus.

Myndians, 285.

Myrcinus, city of Edonia, 277, 281,
282, 318.

Myriandrian Gulf, 224.

Myrina, 59.

Myrinaeans of Lemnos, 365.

Myris, Lake, 86.

Myrmex, 425.

Myron, father of Aristonymus,
son of Andreas, 359.

Myrsilus. See Candaules.

Myrsus, father of Candaules, 4.

Myrsus, son of Gyges, 198, 317.

Mys, consults the oracles in be-
half of Mardonius, 484, 485.

Mysia, Mysians, 10, 14, 67, 189,
317, 327, 377, 392, 503-

Mysus, 67.

Myus, Myusians, 57, 286, 287, 320.

Naparis, river of Scythia, 227.
Nasamonians, a nation of Libya,

96, 97, 265, 266, 268, 270.
Natho, an island of the Nile, 146.
Naucratis, 118, 134, 151.
Naucrari, the, 298.

Nauplia, 343.

Naustrophus, father of Eupalinus,

176.
Naxos, Naxians, 22, 23, 283, 286,

349, 350, 415, 456.
Neapolis, city of Egypt, 115.
Neapolis, town of Pallene, 404.
Neco, King of Egypt, 141, 144,

224, 225.
Neleidae, 296.

Neleus, son of Codrus, 526.
Neocles, father of Themistocles,

410, 423.
Neon, town of Phocis, 452, 453.
Neon-teichos, ^Eolian town, 59.
Neptune, 59, 101, 104, 230, 267, 270,

402, 405, 406, 428, 458, 481, 483,

520.
Nereids, the, 104, 428.
Nestor, father of Pisistratus, 296.
Nestus, river, 400, 404.
Neuri, a people of Scythia, 219,

228, 243, 244, 248, 250.
Nicander, King of Sparta, 484.
Nicandra, priestess of Jupiter, 105.
Nicodromus, son of Cncethus, 347,

348.
Nicolaus, father of Bulis, 407.
Nicolaus, son of Bulis, 408.
Nile, the river, 87-97, no, 115, 117-

119, 123, 130, 132, 136, 140-142,

144, 151, 156, 224-229.
Nine Springs, the, 364.
Nineveh, 42, 69, 71, 75, 141, 210.
Nine Ways, of the Edonians, 401.
Ninus, son of Belus, 4.
Nisaea, Nisaean, 21, 193, 383, 498.
Nisyrians, 397.
Nitetis, daughter of Apries, 153,

154.
Nitocris, Queen of Babylon, 71-

74, H9.
Nitocris, Queen of Egypt, 119.
Noes, river, 227.
Nonacris, city of Arcadia, 342.
Nothon, father of jEschines, 351.

558

HERODOTUS

Notium, an ^Eolian town, 59.

Nudium, 258.

Nymphodorus, son of Pytheas of

Abdera, 408.
Nypsaei, 241.
Nyssa, 139, 191.

Oarizus, 391.

Oarus, a river of Scythia, 250.

Oasis, city of Libya, 163.

Ocean, the river, 93, 215, 223, 224.

Octamasades, brother of Scylas,

237-

Ocytus, 445.

Odomanti, 279, 401.

Odrysae, 241.

" Odyssey," the, 125, 221.

OZa, 302.

OZbares, groom of Darius, 187,

188.
GEbares, son of Megabasus, 328.
OZdipus, son of Laius, 258, 294.
OZnoe, v, 74.
OEnone, 456.
CEnotria, 65.
OZnyssse Islands, 64, 65.
OZobarus, 238, 391, 532, 533.
Oeroe, daughter of Asopus, 510.
OZta, Mount, 424.
OZtseans, 435.
OEtosyrus (Apollo), Scythian god,

230.
Oiolycus, 258.
Olbiopolitse, 219.
Olen, a Lycian poet, 223.
Olenus, town of Achaia, 58.
Oliatus, son of Ibanolis, tyrant of

Mylassa, 287.
Olophyxus, town of Mount Athos,

377-
Olorus, King of the Thracians, 330.
Olympia, Olympic games, 21, 145,

281, 290, 298, 329, 341, 352, 358-

360, 422, 432, 451, 464, 485, 504,

520.
Olympieni, 392.

Olympiodorus, son of Lampon,
498.

Olympus, Mount, in Thessaly, 405,
422; in Mysia, 14, 20, 392.

Olynthus, Olynthians, 403, 482.

Oneatse, Sicyonian tribe, 297.

Onesilus, son of Chersus, 312-316.

Onetes, son of Phanagoras, a
Carystian, 435.

Onochonus, river of Thessaly, 405,
429.

Onomacritus, an Athenian sooth-
sayer, 368.

Onomastus, son of Agaeus, an
Elean, 360, 361.

Onuphis, 147.

Ophrynium, 384.

Opis, Hyperborean virgin, 223.

Opis, city at the mouth of the
Tigris, 73.

Opoea, wife of Scylas, 236.

Opuntian Locrians, 431, 444.

Oracles, 6, 17, 19, 23-25, 30, 34, 37,
63, 68, 91, 105, 122, 133, 134, 136,
139-142, 144, 149, 175, 209, 218,
258, 260, 261, 263, 297, 299, 301,
306, 307, 316, 324, 328, 343, 347,
350, 363. 409, 4io, 413, 421, 427,
437, 449, 453, 466, 472, 507.

Orbelus, Mount, 279.

Orchomenus, Orchomenians, 58,
431, 453, 496, 501.

Ordessus, river of Scythia, 227.

Orestes, son of Agamemnon, 25, 26.

Oresteum, 494.

Orges, father of Antipater, 402.

Oricus, port of, 524.

Oricus, son of Scylas, 236.

Orisiphantus, 439.

Orithyia, daughter of Erectheus,
427.

Orneatse, 464.

Oroetes, governor of Sardis, 198-
201, 206.

Oromedon, 396.

Oropus, 351.

INDEX

559

" Orosangae," 468.
Orotal (Bacchus), 155.
Orpheus, 113.
Orthian strain, 9.
Orthocorybantes, 190.
Orthosian, epithet of Diana, 239.
Orus (Apollo), son of Osiris, 138,

143-
Osiris (Bacchus), 100, 138, 143.
Ossa, Mount, 20, 405, 422.
Otanes, 179-188, 207-209, 282, 283,

316, 318, 331, 383, 389, 390, 393.
Otaspes, son of Artachaeus, 390.
Othryades, a Lacedaemonian, 32,

33-

Othrys, Mount, 405.
Ozolae, of the Locrians, 452.

Pactolus, river, 312.

Pactya, 329, 394.

Pactyas, a Lydian, 60-63.

Pactyes, 391.

Pactyica, 190, 192, 226.

Padaeans, 192.

Paeaneans, 22.

Paeciles, 257.

Paeon, the, 275.

Paeonia, Paeonians, 223, 227, 275,

277-279, 281, 295, 310, 311, 401,

404, 426, 479, 503.
Paeoplae, 279, 401.
Paeos, 360.
Paesus, 316.

Paeti, a Thracian nation, 401.
Pagasae, 428.
Paleans, 502, 503.
Palestine, 42, 155, 189, 224, 395.
Palladia, the, 270.
Pallas, 301, 410.
Pallene, Pallenians, 404, 467, 482,

483, SOI.
Pallenian Minerva. See Minerva.
Pamisus, a river of Thessaly, 405.
Pammon, a Scyrian, 425.
Pamphylians, a people of Asia

Minor, 10, 189, 395, 463.

Pamphylians, a Sicyonian tribe,

297.
Pan, 100, 102, 138, 139, 352.
Panaetius, son of Socimenes, 467.
Panathenaic festival, 293.
Pandion, 68, 395.
Pangaeus, Mount, 279, 401, 402.
Panionia, 59.

Panionium, 57-59, 66, 320.
Panionius, a Chian, 474, 475.
Panites, a Messenian, 334.
Panopians, 453.
Panormus, 62.
Pantagnatos, 168.
Pantaleon, son of Alyattes, 38.
Pantares, 415.

Panthialaeans, Persian tribe, 51.
Panticapes, river of Scythia, 219,

227, 229.
Pantimathians, 190.
Pantites, 440.
Papaeus (Jupiter), Scythian god,

230.
Paphos, Paphians, 429.
Paphlagonians, a people of Asia

Minor, 3, 10, 28, 189, 391.
Papremis, a city of Egypt, 106,

107, no, 146, 157.
Paraebates, 289.
Paralatae, 215.
Parapotamii, Phocian city burned

by Xerxes, 453.
Parataceni, tribe of the Medes, 41.
Paricanians, 190, 391, 394.
Paris, 123-127.
Parium, 254, 316.
Parmys, daughter of Smerdis, 188,

393-
Parnassus, Mount, 53, 451-454.
Paroreates, 257, 464.
Paros, Parians, 283, 284, 362, 363,

462, 478.
Parthenius, river of Thrace, 120.
Parthenion, Mount, 352.
Parthians, 190. 196. 390.
Pasargadae, Persian tribe, 51.

56o

HERODOTUS

Pasicles, 526.

Pataici, 168.

Pataicus, 415.

Patarae, in Lycia, 71.

Patarbemis, 146.

Patiramphes, son of Otanes, 383.

Patizithes, the Magus, 176, 177,

184.
Patrees, 58.

Patumos, an Arabian city, 144.
Pausanias, son of Cleombrotus,

238, 285, 444, 494, 495. 498, 501,

508-522, 527.
Pausicae, 190.

Pausiris, son of Amyrtaeus, 159.
Pedasus, Pedasians, 68, 69, 317,

324, 474-
Pedieae, town in Phocis, 453.
Pelasgians, 20, 58, 104, 105, 148,

256, 283, 363-365, 396, 456.
Peleus, 428.
Pelion, Mount, 266, 405, 427, 446,

447-

Pella, 404.

Pellene, 58.

Peloponnesus, Peloponnesians, 20,
22, 26, 58, 148, 175, 209, 236, 262,
266, 288, 299, 360, 395, 396, 408,
409, 412, 419, 420, 431, 432, 439,
441, 452, 454, 455, 457, 459, 460,
463-466, 473, 476, 478, 492, 497,
500, 501, 529, 532.

Pelops, a Phrygian, 369, 417.

Pelusiac mouth of the Nile, 91,
142, 156.

Pelusium, 90, 137.

Penelope, 138, 139.

Peneus, a river of Thessaly, 377,
405, 406, 422, 425.

Pentapolis, 58.

Penthylus, son of Demonous, 429.

Percalus, daughter of Chilon, 339.

Percote, 316.

Perdiccas, ancestor of Amyntas,
281, 486, 487-

Pergamus, citadel of Troy, 384.

Pergamus, a fort in Thrace, 401.
Perialla, prophetess at Delphi, cor-
rupted by Cleomenes, 339.
Periander, King of Corinth, 8, g,

171-174, 308-310.
Pericles, 362.
Perilaus, general of the Sicyoni-

ans, 528.
Perinthus, Perinthians, 240, 275,

328, 378.
Perpherees, 223.
Perrhasbi, the, 405, 406, 423, 426.
Perses, son of Perseus and An-
dromeda, 389, 390, 414.
Perseus, son of Danae, 90, 115,

335, 389, 390, 414, 437-
Persians, passim.
Petra, 306, 307.
Phaedyma, daughter of Otanes,

wife of Cambyses, 180, 181, 183.
Phagres, 401.
Phalerus, 295, 302, 303, 356, 462,

470, 471, 475, 476, 503.
Phanagoras, father of Onetes, 435.
Phanazathres, son of Artabates,

390.
Phanes, a Halicarnassian, 154-156.
Pharandates, son of Theaspes, 518.
Pharbaethis, district of Egypt, 147.
Pharees, town of Achaia, 58.
Pharnaces, 390, 482.
Pharnaspes, 85, 154, 179.
Pharnuches, 394, 395.
Phaselis, a Doric town, 151.
Phasis, a river of Colchis, 2, 42,

120, 224, 226, 239, 345.
Phayllus, of Crotona, 456.
Phegeus, 500.
Pheidon, tyrant of the Argives,

360.
Pheneum, town of Arcadia, 342.
Pherendates, son of Megabyzus,

391-
Pherendates, son of Teaspes, 393.
Pheretime, wife of Arcesilaus,

262-264, 273, 274.

INDEX

56l

Pheron, King of Egypt, 122, 123.

Phidippides, 352, 353.

Phigalea, 345.

Philaeus, son of Ajax, 329.

Philaon, son of Chersis, 447.

Philargus, son of Cyneus, 351.

Phileus, 176.

Philip, son of Argseus, 487.

Philippus, of Crotona, son of Bu-

tacides, 290.
Philistius, son of Pasicles, 526.
Philition, a shepherd, 132.
Phillis, 401.
Philocyon, 517.
Philocyprus, 316.
Phla, island in Lake Tritonis, 266.
Phlegra, 404.

Phliasians, 464, 502, 503, 516, 521.
Phlius, 431.
Phocaea, Phocseans, 31, 57, 64, 65,

121, 151, 254, 321-323, 424-
Phocis, Phocians, 58, 328, 431-436,

451-453, 496, 497, 503, 515, 523-
Phoebus, Temple of, at Therapne,

337-

Phoenicia, Phoenicians, 13, 43, 57,
96, 104-106, 112, 120, 123, 125,
154, 155, 160, 168, 189, 104, 195,
204, 224-226, 257, 271, 272, 289,
293, 294, 314, 319, 320, 323, 324,
326-328, 330, 333, 352, 357, 378,
380, 384, 395, 396, 419, 468-470,
473, 48o, 525.

Phoenippus, 358.

Phoenix, river, 424, 431.

Phormus, an Athenian command-
er, 425.

Phraortes, father of Deioces, 28,

39-
Phraortes, son of Deioces, 41, 42.
Phrataguna, daughter of Artanes,

438.
Phriconis. See Cyme.
Phrixas, 258.
Phronima, daughter of Etearchus,

259, 260.

36

Phrygia, Phrygians, 6, 10, 14, 28,

86, 189, 200, 290-292, 310, 379,

380, 392, 485, 503.
Phrynichus, 325.
Phrynon, 496.
Phryxus, 430.
Phthiotis, 20, 406.
Phthius, son of Achseus, 118.
Phya, 22.
Phylacus, 454.
Phylacus, son of Histiaeus, a Sa-

mian, 468.
Phylocion, 521.

Pieria, Pierians, 401, 406, 424, 426.
Pigres, 277.

Pillar of Heaven. See Atlas.
Pillars of Hercules. See Hercules.
Pilorus, town of Mount Athos, 403.
Pindar, the poet, 168.
Pindus, Mount, 405, 455.
Pirseus, 468.
Pirene, 306.
Piromis, 138.
Pirus, river of Achaia, 58.
Pisa, town of Elis, 87.
Pisistratidse, 294-296, 298, 300, 305,

309, 330, 349, 358, 368, 457.
Pisistratus, son of Hippocrates,

21-23, 293, 296, 298, 309, 328, 329,

35i, 352, 358, 368.
Pisistratus, son of Nestor, 296.
Pistyrus, town of Thrace, 401.
Pitane, 59, 174.
Pitanetae, 511.
Pittacus, of Mitylene, 10.
Pixodarus, son of Mausolus, 316,

317.
Placia, 20.
Plataea, Plataeans, 353-356, 406,

423, 440, 444, 455-457, 462, 482,

492, 495, 496, 527; battle of, 409-

522.
Platea, island off Libya, 258, 259,

261, 265.
Pleistarchus, son of Leonidas, 494.
Plistorus, 533.

562

HERODOTUS

Plinthinetic Bay, 87.

Plunus, harbour in Libya, 265.

Pogon, harbour of the Trcezeni-

ans, 455.
Polemarchs, 423.
Poliades, father of Amomphare-

tus, 511.
Polias. See Minerva, 302.
Polichne, of the Chians, 326.
Polichnitae, 421.
Polyas of Anticyra, 449.
Polybus, 297.
Polycrates, son of ^Eaces, tyrant

of Samos, 152, 168-171, 174, 175,

198-202, 205, 206.
Polycritus, son of Crius, an ^Egi-

netan, 333, 470.
Polydamna, 125.
Polylectes, 484.
Polydorus, son of Cadmus, 294,

431.

Polymnestus, father of Battus, 258,

260.
Polynices, father of Thersander,

257, 334, 50i.
Pontus, 215, 216, 220, 226, 238-243,

320, 326, 381, 388, 396, 412.
Porata (Pyretos), river of Scythia,

227.
Poseideium, town of Cilicia, 189.
Posidonians, 65.
Posidonius, a Spartan, 517, 521.
Potidaea, Potidaeans, 404, 482, 483,

501.
Praesians, 421.
Prasias, Lake, 279.
Praxilaus, 529.
Praxinus, 425.
Prexaspes, 164-167, 177-179, 182-

184.
Prexaspes, son of Aspathines, 306.
Priam, King of Troy, 2, 126, 384.
Priene, Prienians, 6, 10, 57, 63,

320.
Prinetades, son of Demarmenus,

288.

Procles, son of Aristodemus, 173,

257, 334, 484.
Procles, tyrant of Epidaurus, 172.
Proconnesus, 217, 218, 254, 328.
Prodigies, 357, 388, 454, 533.
Promenia, priestess of Jupiter, 105.
Prometheus, 226.
Pronaea, Minerva, 37, 454.
Propontis, 239, 317.
Proserpine, 461.
Prosopitis, island of the Nile, 100,

146.
Protesilaus, son of Iphichis, 380,

532, 533.
Proteus, King of Egypt, 123-127.
Protothyas, a Scythian, 42.
Proxeni, Spartan officer, 335.
Prytaneum, the, of the Athenians,

352, 365, 430; of Siphnus, 175.
Prytanis, King of Sparta, 484.
Psammenitus, King of Egypt, son

of Amasis, 156-159.
Psammis, King of Egypt, 144, 145.
Psammitichus, King of Egypt, 42,

85, 86, 94, 95, I4I-I45.
Psylli, Libyan nation, 266.
Psyttalea, a small island near Sala-

mis, 465, 471.
Pteria, city in Cappadocia, 29-31.
Ptoan Apollo, 485.
Pygres, son of Seldomus, 397.
Pylae (Thermopylae), 431, 435.
Pylagori, 435.
Pylians, 296.
Pylus, 420, 504.
Pyramids, Cheops, 130, 131; Che-

phren, 132; Mycerinus, 133; Asy-

chis, 135; Twelve Kings, 140.
Pyrene, 97.
Pyretos. See Porata.
Pyrgus, 258.

Pythagoras, citizen of Miletus, 318.
Pythagoras, son of Mnesarchus,

241.
Pythagoras, tyrant of Selinus, 289.
Pythagoreans, 113.

INDEX

563

Pytheas, 470.

Pytheas, of Abdera, 408.

Pytheas, son of Ischenous, 425.

Pythermus, 60.

Pythian Apollo, oracle of. See

Apollo and Delphi.
Pythian games, 456.
Pythius, a Lydian, 379, 382, 383.
Pythogenes, brother of Scythes, a

Zanclaean, 325.

Red Sea, 1, 70, 73, 79, 87, 88, 119,
144, 156, 165, 190, 224, 225, 324,

395-
Rhaetium, city, 384.
Rhampsinitus, King of Egypt,

127-130.
Rhegium, a town of Italy, 65, 325,

419, 421, 422.
Rhenea, island near Delos, 350.
Rhodes, 68, 151, 415.
Rhodope, Mount, of Thrace, 227,

479-
Rhodopis, 134.
Rhcecus, son of Phileus, a Sami-

an architect, 176.
Rhypes, 58.

Sabacon, King of the Ethiopians,

135, 136, 141.
Sabyllus, citizen of Gela, assassin

of Cleander, 415.
Sacae, 61, 190, 356, 370, 390, 396,

426, 478, 503, 517, 532.
Sadyattes, son of Ardys, 6, 7, 28.
Sagartians, 51, 190, 394.
Sais, city of Egypt, 94, 106, 107,

132, 146-150, 159-
Saitic mouth of the Nile, 91.
Sala, a Samothracian city, 389.
Salamis, 395, 410, 411, 420, 421, 447,

454-474, 481-483, 491, 492, 497-
Salamis, in Cyprus, 263, 312-316.
Salmydessus, 241.
Samos, Samians, 18, 27, 57, 134,

139, 147, 151, 152, 163, 168-176,

198, 202, 205-209, 225, 240, 241,

254, 259, 263, 311, 315, 321-326,

349, 419, 468, 483, 484, 523-529-
Samothrace, Samothracians, 104,

333, 389, 400, 469, 47o.
Sana, town of Mount Athos, 377,

404.
Sandanis, a Lydian, 27.
Sandocles, son of Thaumasius, a

Persian judge, 429.
Sapaei, Thracian nation, 401.
Sappho, the poetess, 134.
Sarangeans, 190, 196, 391.
Sardanapalus, King of Nineveh,

141.
Sardinia, Sardinians, 66, 314, 318,

319, 419-

Sardinian Sea, 65.

Sardis, 4, 11, 26, 28, 30-34, 37, 57,
60-62, J21, 155, 171, 172, 198,
200, 201, 226, 277, 278, 281, 282,
284, 292, 293, 299, 310-320, 327,

33i, 351, 359, 366, 369, 373, 378,
380, 382-384, 388, 394, 411, 412,
475, 480, 491, 529-

Sarpedon, 67, 68.

Sarpedon, Cape, 388.

Sarta, town of Mount Athos, 403.

Saspires, 44, 190, 224, 393.

Sataspes, son of Teaspes, a Per-
sian, 225.

Satrae, Thracian nation, 401.

Sattagydae, the, 190.

Saulius, King of Scythia, 235, 236.

Sauromatae, a Scythian people,
219, 229, 244-251, 254.

Scaeus, a boxer, 294.

Scamander, river of Troas, 206,

384.
Scamandronymus, 134.
Scapte-Hyle, gold mines of, 332,

333-
Sciathus, 423, 425, 445, 470.
Scionaeans, 482, 483.
Scione, 404.
Scios, river of Scythia, 227.

564

HERODOTUS

Scironian, 464.

Sciton, servant of Democedes,

202.
Scolopois, river, 525.
Scoloti, 215.
Scolus, 495.
Scopades, 360.
Scopasis, King of the Scythians,

248, 251.
Scydrus, 324.
Scylace, 20.
Scylas, son of Ariapithes, King of

the Scythians, 235-237.
Scylax of Caryanda, 226.
Scylax, a Myndian captain, 285.
Scyllias, of Scyone, a diver, 446.
Scyone, 446.
Scyrian, 425.
Scyrmiadae, 241.
Scythes, son of Hercules, 216.
Scythes, a Coan tyrant, 419.
Scythes, King of the Zanclseans,

325, 326.
Scythia, Scythians, 6, 28, 42, 43, 78,

83, 92, 120, 122, 147, 203, 213-

256, 282, 330, 331, 345, 371, 376,

377, 387, 389, 390.
Sebennys, district of Egypt, 147.
Sebennytic mouth of the Nile, 91,

143.
Seldomus, father of Pigres, 397.
Selinus, Selinuntians, 289.
Selybrie, 328.
Semele, daughter of Cadmus, 138,

139.
Semiramis, Queen of Babylon, 71,

210.
Sennacherib, King of Assyria, 137.
Sepia, 343.

Sepias, 425, 427-429, 462.
Serbonis, Lake, 87, 155.
Seriphians, 456.

Sermyla, a Greek town of Sitho-
. nia, 403.
Serrhium, a promontory of Thrace,

389.

Sesostris, King of Egypt, 1 19-122,

135.
Sestos, 255, 380, 393, 532-534-
Sethon, King of Egypt, 136, 137,

139-
Sicania, ancient name of Sicily,

421.
Sicas, father of Cyberniscus, 396.
Sicily, Sicilians, 9, 288, 289, 324-

326, 411, 415-421, 432, 444-
Sicinnus, preceptor to the chil-
dren of Themistocles, 465, 477.
Sicyon, Sicyonians, 58, 296, 297,

348, 359-361, 444, 455, 464, 501,

528.
Sidon, Sidonians, 125, 145, 204,

384, 396, 397, 405, 462, 470.
Sigaeum, 224.

Sigeum, 296, 305, 309, 310.
Sigynnae, 277.
Silenus, Marsyas, 379, 487.
Simonides, the poet, 312, 439.
Sindus, 404.
Singus, 403.
Sinope, on the Euxine, 29, 97, 217,

239-
Siphnus, Siphnians, 175, 456.
Siris, town in Italy, 460.
Siris, of Paeonia, 360, 479.
Siromitres, son of GEobazus, 391,

393-

Siromus, son of Euelthon, 312.

Siromus, father of Mapen, 396.

Siropaeonians, 279.

Sisamaces, 317.

Sisamnes, son of Hydarnes, 390.

Sisamnes, father of Otanes, 282.

Sitalces, son of Teres, King of

Thracians, 237, 408.
Sithonia, 403.

Siuph, a city of Egypt, 148.
Smerdis, son of Cyrus, 164, 165,

176-183, 188, 393-
Smerdis, the Magus, 176-184.
Smerdomenes, son of Otanes, 393,

403.

INDEX

565

Smila, 404.

Smindyrides, son of Hippocrates,

a Sybarite, 360, 361.
Smyrna, Smyrneans, 6, 39, 58-60,

121.
Socimenes, 467.
Sogdians, 190, 390.
Soli, Solians, 315, 316.
Solois, western promontory of

Libya, 96, 225.
Solon, 11, 34, 150, 316.
Solymi, 67.

Sophanes of Decelea, 349, 517-518.
Sosicles, the Corinthian, 306-309.
Sostratus, son of Laodamus, of

^Egina, 259.
South Sea, 160.
Spaco, nurse of Cyrus, 44.
Spargapises, son of Tomyris, 82,

83.

Spargapithes, King of the Aga-

thyrsi, 236.
Sparta, Spartans. See Lacedae-

mon.
Sperchius, river of Thessaly, 430,

439-
Sperthies, son of Aneristus, 407,

408.
Sphendale, 495.
Stagirus, city, 402.
Stentoris, a lake of Thrace, 389.
Stenyclerus, 515.
Stesagoras, 328, 351, 352.
Stesagoras, son of Cimon, 330.
Stesenor, tyrant of Curium, 315.
Stesilaus, son of Thrasylus, 356.
Strattis, tyrant of Chios, 254, 484.
Struchates, tribe of the Medes, 41.
Stryme, city of the Thasians, 400.
Strymon, the river, 23, 275, 278,

281, 310, 378, 392, 400, 401, 479,

480.
Strymonians, 392.
Stymphalis, Lake, 343.
Styreans, 353. 444, 456, 502, 503.
Styx, the, 342.

Summer and Winter (statues at
Memphis), 127.

Sunium, promontory of Attica,
243, 347, 348, 356, 481.

Susa, 73, 178, 181, 190, 201, 202,
206, 238, 239, 282, 283, 286, 291-
293, 314, 319, 324, 327, 357, 366-
368, 387, 407, 414, 442, 458, 472,
530.

Syagrus, Lacedaemonian ambassa-
dor to Gelon, in Sicily, 415-419.

Sybaris, Sybarites, 289, 324, 360.

Syene, city in Thebais, 94.

Syennesis, King of the Cilicians,
29, 317, 396.

Syleus, plain of, 402.

Syloson, son of ^aces, brother of
Polycrates, 168, 205-209, 322.

Syme, 68.

Syracuse, Syracusans, 199,415-420.

Syrgis, river, 250.

Syria, Syrians, 3, 27, 30, 42, 89, 92,
95, 120, 125, 144, 155, 189, 224,
291, 390-392, 395, 409-

Syrtis, the, 96, 141, 265, 266.

Tabalus, a Persian governor of

Sardis, 60-63.
Tahiti (Vesta), Scythian goddess,

230.
Tachompso, island in the Nile, 94.
Taenarus, 9, 420.
Talaus, father of Adrastus, 206.
Talthybius, herald of Agamemnon,

hero worshipped at Sparta, 407,

408.
Tamynae, 351.
Tanagra, town of Boeotia, 293, 301,

495, 504.

Tanais, river of Scythia, 219, 226,
227, 229, 243, 247, 249, 250.

Tanis, a district of Egypt, 147.

Tarentum, city of Italy, 9, 204,
205, 421, 422.

Targitaus, ancestor of the Scyth-
ians, 214, 215.

566

HERODOTUS

Tarichaea, city of Pelusium, in
Egypt, 90, 123.

Tartessus, Tartessians, 64, 259, 271.

Tauchira, city of Barcaea, 265.

Taurica, Tauri, 219, 243, 244, 248.

Taurus, Mount, 214.

Taxacis, 249.

Taygetus, Mount, 256, 257.

Teams, river, 240.

Teaspes, 225, 393.

Tegea, Tegeans, 24-26, 341, 352,
422, 431, 481, 494, 499-502, 504,
505, 5", 513, 5H, 5i6, 517, 521.

Teians, 66, 320, 321.

Teispes, 373.

Telamon, 461.

Teleboans, 294.

Telecles, 169.

Teleclus, 432.

Telemachus, 125.

Telesarchus, 207.

Telines, 415.

Telliadas, 505.

Tellias, an Elean prophet, 451.

Tellus, the Athenian, story of, 11.

Telmessus, Telmessians, 30, 33.

Telus, island, 415.

Telys, King of the Sybarites, 289,
290.

Temenidae, 486.

Temenus, ancestor of the Mace-
donian kings, 486.

Temnos, 59.

Tempe, 405, 422.

Tenedos, 60, 327, 330.

Tenos, Tenians, 222, 350, 462, 467.

Teos, 57, 66, 151, 198.

Teres, 408.

Terillus, son of Crinippus, tyrant
of Himera, 419, 420.

Termera, 287.

Termilas, ancient name of the Ly-
cians, 68, 395.

Tereus, 237.

Tethronium, Phocian city burned
by Xerxes, 453.

Tetramnestus, son of Anysus, a
Sidonian, 396.

Teucria, Teucrians, 125, 278, 318,
377, 392.

Teucrians, Gergithae, 384.

Teuthrania, 88.

Thales, a Milesian, 28, 29, 66.

Thamanaeans, 190, 196.

Thamimasadas (Neptune), Scyth-
ian god, 230.

Thannyras, son of Inarus, 159.

Thasos, Thasians, 101, 102, 327,
332, 333, 400, 402.

Thaumasius, 429.

Theasides, son of Leoprepes, 345.

Theaspes, 518.

Thebais, 94. .

Thebe, daughter of Asopus, 301.

Thebes, plain of, in Asia Minor,

384.

Thebes, Thebans, of Bceotia, 18,
22, 37, 294, 297, 301, 304, 347,
353, 354, 357, 406, 431, 432, 437,
438, 440, 485, 49i, 495, 496, 501,
503, 506, 513, 515, 5i6, 522; of
Egypt, 71, 86, 88, 90, 100, 101,
105, 106, no, in, 147, 156, 163,
267, 268.

Themis, 104.

Themiscyra, 239.

Themison, a Theraean merchant,
259, 260.

Themistocles, son of Neocles, 410,
411, 423, 445, 449, 450, 459, 460,
465-470, 476-478, 481, 482, 526.

Theocydes, 461.

Theodorus, a Samian engineer, 18.

Theomestor, son of Androdamas,
a Samian, 468, 523.

Theophanian festival, 18.

Theopompus, 484.

Theoris, 347.

Thera, Theraeans, 257-264, 288.

Therambus, 404.

Therapne, 337.

Theras, son of Autesion, 257, 258.

INDEX

567

Therma, 403-406, 425, 482.
Thermodon, river, 120, 239, 245,

501, 507.
Thermopylae, 423-425, 427, 431-

443, 448-451, 462, 464, 517, 5IQ-
Theron, son of ^Enisidemus, King

of the Agrigentines, 419, 420.
Thersander, son of Polynices, 257,

334-

Thersander, an Orchomenian, 496.

Theseus, 517.

Thesmophoria, 148, 323, 362.

Thespia, Thespians, 301, 406, 431,
437-439, 450, 457, 462, 465, 502.

Thesprotia, Thesprotians, 106, 308,
424, 456.

Thessaliotis, 20.

Thessaly, Thessalians, 191, 295,
309, 341, 342, 360, 368, 400, 405,
406, 422-424, 428, 429, 433, 435,
440, 451, 452, 478, 479, 482, 484,
485, 491, 497, 503, 508, 519, 522,
523-

Thessalus, 289.

Thestes, fountain of, in Libya, 262.

Thetis, 428.

Thmuis, a district of Egypt, 147.

Thoas, King of Lemnos, 364.

Thonis, 124, 125.

Thorax, of Larissa, 491, 512.

Thoricus, in Attica, 243.

Thornax, Mount, in Laconia, 26.

Thrace, Thracians, 10, 66, 120, 134,
147, 189, 223, 227, 237, 240, 241,
243, 244, 247, 255, 275-278, 281,
318, 328, 330, 332, 349, 377, 378,
389, 392, 399-402, 408, 423, 426,
479, 503, 523, 533-

Thrasybulus, tyrant of Miletus, 8,
308.

Thrasycleus, 523.

Thrasydeius, 512.

Thrasylas, 356.

Three Heads, the, pass of Mount
Cithaeron, 506.

Thriasian Plain, in Attica, 461, 493.

Thyia, 424.

Thynians, 10.

Thyrea, an island near Peloponne-
sus, 32, 33, 175, 343.

Thyssagetae, 219, 250.

Thyssus, city, 377.

Tiarantus, a river of Scythia, 227.

Tibarenians, 190, 393.

Tibisis, a river of Scythia, 227.

Tigranes, commander of the Per-
sian forces at Mycale, 390, 525-
528.

Tigris, river, 73, 75, 141, 292, 324.

Timagenides, son of Herpys, 505,
522.

Timagoras, 397.

Timander, 516.

Timarete, priestess of Jupiter, 105.

Timesthius, of Delphi, 299.

Timesius, of Clazomenae, 66.

Timnes, a Scythian, 235.

Timo, a priestess, 362, 363.

Timodemus, of Aphidnae, 481.

Timon, son of Androbulus, a Del-
phian, 410.

Timonax, son of Timagoras, a
Cyprian, 397.

Timoxenus, general of the Sci-
onaeans, 482, 483.

Tiryns, Tirynthians, 343, 345, 408,

503.
Tisamenus, son of Thersander,

257, 334-
Tisamenus, son of Antiochus, a di-
viner with the Greeks at Plataea,

503, 504.
Tisander, 360, 361.
Tisias, a Parian, 362.
Titacus, of Aphidnae, 518.
Tithaeus, son of Datis, 394.
Tithorea, 452.

Titormus, brother of Males, 360.
Tmolus, Mount, near Sardis, 33,

38, 311, 312.
Tomyris, Queen of the Massa-

getae, 80-83.

568

HERODOTUS

Torone, 377, 403, 482.

Trachea, 243.

Trachis, Trachinians, 423, 430, 431,

435, 438, 439, 449, 452, 462.
Trapezus, 360.
Traspies, 214.
Trausi, 276.

Travus, river of Thrace, 400.
Triballic Plain, 227.
Triopium, 58, 224, 415.
Tritaea, town of Achaia, 58.
Tritantaechmes, son of Artabanus,

75, 393, 403, 451.
Triteae, Phocian city, 453.
Triton, river of Libya, 266, 267,

270.
Triton, a divinity, 267, 270.
Tritonis, lake in Libya, 266, 267,

269, 270.
Troezene, Trcezenians, 175, 397,

425, 444, 455, 464, 502, 503,

528.
Troglodytes, 268.
Trophonius, oracle, 17, 485.
Troy, Trojans, 3, 124-126, 138, 270,

278, 377, 395, 4i8, 422, 501.
Twelve kings, Egypt under the,

139-142.
Tydeus, 297.
Tymnes, father of Histiaeus, 287,

397-
Tyndaridse, 256, 300, 517, 518.
Tyndarus, 125.
Typhon, 138, 143, 155.
Tyras (Tyres), river, 217, 227, 228,

238.
Tyre, Tyrians, 101, 123, 145, 396,

462.
Tyritae, 228.
Tyrodiza, 378.
Tyrrhenia, Tyrrhenians, 20, 38, 39,

65, 324, 325.
Tyrrhenian Sea, 64.
Tyrrhenus, 39.

Umbrici, the, 39, 228.
Urania. See Venus.
Utians, 190, 391.

Venetians, of Illyria, 76.

Venus, 152, 232; Assyrian (Mylit-
ta), 54, 78; Arabian (Alitta), 54,
155; Persian (Mitra), 54; Scyth-
ian (Artimpasa), 230: temples
of, at Ascalon, 42; in Egypt, 100,
123.

Vesta, 104; Scythian (Tahiti), 230,
251.

Vulcan, 86, 119, 121-123, 127, 134,
136, 137, 139, 141. 142, 150, 167,
168, 472.

"Winter and Summer (statues at

Memphis), 127.
White Columns, 316.

Xanthippus, son of Ariphon, fa-
ther of Pericles, 361-363, 380,

484, 532-534-
Xanthus, a Samian, 134.
Xanthus, Xanthians, 69.
Xenagoras, son of Praxilaus, a

Halicarnassian, 529.
Xerxes, son of Darius, 71, 225,

350, 366-490, 503, 519, 525, 526,

529-532.
Xuthus, father of Ion, 396.

Zacynthus, Zacynthians, 176, 271,

341, 505.
Zalmoxis, 241, 242.
Zancle, Zanclseans, of Sicily, 325,

326, 415, 419.
Zaveces, 271.
Zeuxidemus, 341.
Zona, a town of Samothracia, 389.
Zopyrus, son of Megabyzus, a

Persian prince, 209-212, 225.
Zopyrus, a Persian deserter, 212.
Zosta, promontory, 475.

THE END

/

'*

RETURN TO the circulation desk of any

University of California Library

or to the

NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
Bldg. 400, Richmond Field Station
University of California
Richmond, CA 94804-4698

ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS
2-month loans may be renewed by calling

(415)642-6233
1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books

to NRLF
Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days

prior to due date

DUE AS STAMPED BELOW

MAR 9 1988

a 3 1989

AUTO. DISC.

MAY 1 7 1989

SEP 0 4 1933

AUlUDKCikC AUG 26*9

U.C. BERKELEY UBR

■**&*** jjJMM

^v>;

asm*-

- . / '

& »* ?'

f

■

' m-

1;

W^-

i^

*A

ff W

r van I "

#

^i

* if

Strait;.

r