1. Aristagoras accordingly, after having caused Ionia to revolt, thus
brought his life to an end; and meanwhile Histiaios the despot of
Miletos, having been let go by Dareios had arrived at Sardis: and when
he came from Susa, Artaphrenes the governor of Sardis asked him for
what reason he supposed the Ionians had revolted; and he said that he
could not tell, and moreover he expressed wonder at that which had
happened, pretending that he knew nothing of the state of affairs.
Then Artaphrenes seeing that he was using dissimulation said, having
knowledge of the truth about the revolt: "Thus it is with thee,
Histiaios, about these matters,--this shoe was stitched by thee, and
put on by Aristagoras." 2. Thus said Artaphrenes with reference to the
revolt; and Histiaios fearing Artaphrenes because he understood the
matter, ran away the next night at nightfall and went to the sea-
coast, having deceived king Dareios, seeing that he had engaged to
subdue Sardinia the largest of islands, and instead of that he was
endeavouring to take upon himself leadership of the Ionians in the war
against Dareios. Then having crossed over to Chios he was put in bonds
by the Chians, being accused by them of working for a change of their
State by suggestion of Dareios. When however the Chians learnt the
whole story and heard that he was an enemy to the king, they released
him. 3. Then Histiaios, being asked by the Ionians for what reason he
had so urgently charged Aristagoras to revolt from the king and had
wrought so great an evil for the Ionians, did not by any means declare
to them that which had been in truth the cause, but reported to them
that king Dareios had resolved to remove the Phenicians from their
land and to settle them in Ionia, and the Ionians in Phenicia; and for
this reason, he said, he had given the charge. Thus he attempted to
alarm the Ionians, although the king had never resolved to do so at
all.
4. After this Histiaios acting through a messenger, namely Hermippos a
man of Atarneus, sent papers to the Persians who were at Sardis,
implying that he had already talked matters over with them about a
revolt: and Hermippos did not deliver them to those to whom he was
sent, but bore the papers and put them into the hands of Artaphrenes.
He then, perceiving all that was being done, bade Hermippos bear the
papers sent by Histiaios and deliver them to those to whom he was sent
to bear them, and to deliver to him the replies sent back by the
Persians to Histiaios. These things having been discovered,
Artaphrenes upon that put to death many of the Persians.
5. As regards Sardis therefore there was confusion of the design; and
when Histiaios had been disappointed of this hope, the Chians
attempted to restore him to Miletos at the request of Histiaios
himself. The Milesians, however, who had been rejoiced before to be
rid of Aristagoras, were by no means eager to receive another despot
into their land, seeing that they had tasted of liberty: and in fact
Histiaios, attempting to return to Miletos by force and under cover of
night, was wounded in the thigh by one of the Milesians. He then,
being repulsed from his own city, returned to Chios; and thence, as he
could not persuade the Chians to give him ships, he crossed over to
Mytilene and endeavoured to persuade the Lesbians to give him ships.
So they manned eight triremes and sailed with Histiaios to Byzantion,
and stationing themselves there they captured the ships which sailed
out of the Pontus, excepting where the crews of them said that they
were ready to do the bidding of Histiaios.
6. While Histiaios and the men of Mytilene were acting thus, a large
army both of sea and land forces was threatening to attack Miletos
itself; for the commanders of the Persians had joined together to form
one single army and were marching upon Miletos, considering the other
towns of less account. Of their naval force the most zealous were the
Phenicians, and with them also served the Cyprians, who had just been
subdued, and the Kilikians and Egyptians. 7. These, I say, were
advancing upon Miletos and the rest of Ionia; and meanwhile the
Ionians being informed of this were sending deputies[1] chosen from
themselves to the Panionion.[2] When these had arrived at that place
and took counsel together, they resolved not to gather a land-army to
oppose the Persians, but that the Milesians should defend their walls
by themselves, and that the Ionians should man their fleet, leaving
out not one of their ships, and having done so should assemble as soon
as possible at Lade, to fight a sea-battle in defence of Miletos. Now
Lade is a small island lying opposite the city of the Milesians. 8.
Then the Ionians manned their ships and came thither, and with them
also those Aiolians who inhabit Lesbos; and they were drawn up in
order thus:--the extremity of the line towards the East was held by
the Milesians themselves, who furnished eighty ships; next to them
were the Prienians with twelve ships and the men of Myus with three;
next to those of Myus were the Teians with seventeen ships, and after
the Teians the Chians with a hundred; after these were stationed the
men of Erythrai and of Phocaia, the former furnishing eight ships and
the latter three; next to the Phocaians were the Lesbians with seventy
ships, and last, holding the extremity of the line towards the West,
were stationed the Samians with sixty ships. Of all these the total
number proved to be three hundred and fifty-three triremes. 9. These
were the ships of the Ionians; and of the Barbarians the number of
ships was six hundred. When these too were come to the Milesian coast
and their whole land-army was also there, then the commanders of the
Persians, being informed of the number of the Ionian ships, were
struck with fear lest they should be unable to overcome them, and thus
on the one hand should not be able to conquer Miletos from not having
command of the sea, and at the same time should run a risk of being
punished by Dareios. Reflecting upon these things they gathered
together the despots of the Ionians who were exiles with the Medes,
having been deposed from their governments by Aristagoras the
Milesian, and who chanced to be then joining in the expedition against
Miletos,--of these men they called together those who were present and
spoke to them as follows: "Ionians, now let each one of you show
himself a benefactor of the king's house, that is to say, let each one
of you endeavour to detach his own countrymen from the body of the
alliance: and make your proposals promising at the same time that they
shall suffer nothing unpleasant on account of the revolt, and neither
their temples nor their private houses shall be burnt, nor shall they
have any worse treatment than they had before this; but if they will
not do so, but will by all means enter into a contest with us,
threaten them and tell them this, which in truth shall happen to them,
namely that if they are worsted in the fight they shall be reduced to
slavery, and we shall make their sons eunuchs, and their maidens we
shall remove to Bactria, and deliver their land to others." 10. They
thus spoke; and the despots of Ionia sent each one by night to his own
people announcing to them this. The Ionians however, that is those to
whom these messages came, continued obstinate and would not accept the
thought of treason to their cause; and each people thought that to
them alone the Persians were sending this message.
11. This happened as soon as the Persians came to Miletos; and after
this the Ionians being gathered together at Lade held meetings; and
others no doubt also made speeches to them, but especially the
Phocaian commander Dionysios, who said as follows: "Seeing that our
affairs are set upon the razor's edge, Ionians, whether we shall be
free or slaves, and slaves too to be dealt with as runaways, now
therefore if ye shall be willing to take upon yourselves hardships, ye
will have labour for the time being, but ye will be able to overcome
the enemy and be free; whereas if ye continue to be self-indulgent and
without discipline, I have no hope for you that ye will not pay the
penalty to the king for your revolt. Nay, but do as I say, and deliver
yourselves over to me; and I engage, if the gods grant equal
conditions, that either the enemy will not fight with us, or that
fighting he shall be greatly discomfited." 12. Hearing this the
Ionians delivered themselves to Dionysios; and he used to bring the
ships out every day in single file,[3] that he might practise the
rowers by making the ships break through one another's line,[4] and
that he might get the fighting-men in the ships under arms; an then
for the rest of the day he would keep the ships at anchor; and thus he
gave the Ionians work to do during the whole day. For seven days then
they submitted and did that which he commanded; but on the day after
these the Ionians, being unaccustomed to such toils and being
exhausted with hard work and hot sun, spoke to one another thus:
"Against which of the deities have we offended, that we thus fill up
the measure of evil? for surely we have delivered ourselves to a
Phocaian, an impostor, who furnishes but three ships: and he has taken
us into his hands and maltreats us with evil dealing from which we can
never recover; and many of us in fact have fallen into sicknesses, and
many others, it may be expected, will suffer the same thing shortly;
and for us it is better to endure anything else in the world rather
than these ills, and to undergo the slavery which will come upon us,
whatever that shall be, rather than to be oppressed by that which we
have now. Come, let us not obey him after this any more." So they
said, and forthwith after this every one refused to obey him, and they
pitched their tents in the island like an army, and kept in the shade,
and would not go on board their ships or practise any exercises.
13. Perceiving this which was being done by the Ionians, the
commanders of the Samians then at length accepted from Aiakes the son
of Syloson those proposals which Aiakes sent before at the bidding of
the Persians, asking them to leave the alliance of the Ionians; the
Samians, I say, accepted these proposals, perceiving that there was
great want of discipline on the part of the Ionians, while at the same
time it was clear to them that it was impossible to overcome the power
of the king; and they well knew also that even if they should overcome
the present naval force of Dareios,[5] another would be upon them five
times as large. Having found an occasion[6] then, so soon as they saw
that the Ionians refused to be serviceable, they counted it gain for
themselves to save their temples and their private property. Now
Aiakes, from whom the Samians accepted the proposals, was the son of
Syloson, the son of Aiakes, and being despot of Samos he had been
deprived of his rule by Aristagoras the Milesian, like the other
despots of Ionia. 14. So when the Phenicians sailed to the attack, the
Ionians also put out their ships from shore against them, sailing in
single file:[3] and when they came near and engaged battle with one
another, as regards what followed I am not able exactly to record
which of the Ionians showed themselves cowards or good men in this
sea-fight, for they throw blame upon one another. The Samians however,
it is said, according to their agreement with Aiakes put up their
sails then and set forth from their place in the line to sail back to
Samos, excepting only eleven ships: of these the captains stayed in
their places and took part in the sea-fight, refusing to obey the
commanders of their division; and the public authority of the Samians
granted them on account of this to have their names written up on a
pillar with their fathers' names also,[6a] as having proved themselves
good men; and this pillar exists still in the market-place. Then the
Lesbians also, when they saw that those next them in order were taking
to flight, did the same things as the Samians had done, and so also
most of the Ionians did the very same thing. 15. Of those which
remained in their places in the sea-fight the Chians suffered very
severely,[7] since they displayed brilliant deeds of valour and
refused to play the coward. These furnished, as was before said, a
hundred ships and in each of them forty picked men of their citizens
served as fighting-men;[8] and when they saw the greater number of
their allies deserting them, they did not think fit to behave like the
cowards among them, but left along with a few only of their allies
they continued to fight and kept breaking through the enemy's line;
until at last, after they had conquered many ships of the enemy, they
lost the greater number of their own. 16. The Chians then with the
remainder of their ships fled away to their own land; but those of the
Chians whose ships were disabled by the damage which they had
received, being pursued fled for refuge to Mycale; and their ships
they ran ashore there and left them behind, while the men proceeded
over the mainland on foot: and when the Chians had entered the
Ephesian territory on their way, then since[8a] they came into it by
night and at a time when a festival of Thesmophoria was being
celebrated by the women of the place, the Ephesians, not having heard
beforehand how it was with the Chians and seeing that an armed body
had entered their land, supposed certainly that they were robbers and
had a design upon the women; so they came out to the rescue in a body
and slew the Chians.
17. Such was the fortune which befell these men: but Dionysios the
Phocaian, when he perceived that the cause of the Ionians was ruined,
after having taken three ships of the enemy sailed away, not to Pocaia
any more, for he knew well that it would be reduced to slavery
together with the rest of Ionia, and he sailed forthwith straight to
Phenicia; and having there sunk merchant ships and taken a great
quantity of goods, he sailed thence to Sicily. Then with that for his
starting-point he became a freebooter, not plundering any Hellenes,
but Carthaginians and Tyrsenians only.
18. The Persians, then, being conquerors of the Ionians in the sea-
fight, besieged Miletos by land and sea, undermining the walls and
bringing against it all manner of engines; and they took it
completely[9] in the sixth year from the revolt of Aristagoras, and
reduced the people to slavery; so that the disaster agreed with the
oracle which had been uttered with reference to Miletos. 19. For when
the Argives were inquiring at Delphi about the safety of their city,
there was given to them an oracle which applied to both, that is to
say, part of it had reference to the Argives themselves, while that
which was added afterwards referred to the Milesians. The part of it
which had reference to the Argives I will record when I reach that
place in the history,[10] but that which the Oracle uttered with
reference to the Milesians, who were not there present, is as follows:
"And at that time, O Miletos, of evil deeds the contriver,
Thou shalt be made for many a glorious gift and a banquet:
Then shall thy wives be compelled to wash the feet of the long-haired,
And in Didyma then my shrine shall be tended by others."
At the time of which I speak these things came upon the Milesians,
since most of the men were killed by the Persians, who are long-
haired, and the women and children were dealt with as slaves; and the
temple at Didyma, with the sacred building and the sanctuary of the
Oracle, was first plundered and then burnt. Of the things in this
temple I have made mention frequently in other parts of the
history.[11] 20. After this the Milesians who had been taken prisoner
were conducted to Susa; and king Dareios did to them no other evil,
but settled them upon the Sea called Erythraian, in the city of Ampe,
by which the Tigris flows when it runs out into the sea. Of the
Milesian land the Persians themselves kept the surroundings of the
city and the plain, but the heights they gave to the Carians of Pedasa
for a possession.
21. When the Milesians suffered this treatment from the Persians, the
men of Sybaris, who were dwelling in Laos and Skidros, being deprived
of their own city, did not repay like with like: for when Sybaris was
taken by the men of Croton, the Milesians all from youth upwards
shaved their heads and put on great mourning: for these cities were
more than all others of which we know bound together by ties of
friendship. Not like the Sybarites were the Athenians; for these made
it clear that they were grieved at the capture of Miletos, both in
many other ways and also by this, that when Phrynichos had composed a
drama called the "Capture of Miletos" and had put it on the stage, the
body of spectators fell to weeping, and the Athenians moreover fined
the poet a thousand drachmas on the ground that he had reminded them
of their own calamities; and they ordered also that no one in future
should represent this drama.
22. Miletos then had been stripped bare of its former inhabitants: but
of the Samians they who had substance were by no means satisfied with
that which had been concerted by the commanders of their fleet with
the Medes; and taking counsel forthwith after the sea-fight it seemed
good to them, before their despot Aiakes arrived in the country, to
sail away and make a colony, and not to stay behind and be slaves of
the Medes and of Aiakes: for just at this time the people of Zancle in
Sicily were sending messengers to Ionia and inviting the Ionians to
come to the "Fair Strand,"[11a] desiring there to found a city of
Ionians. Now this which is called the Fair Strand is in the land of
the Sikelians and on that side of Sicily which lies towards Tyrsenia.
So when these gave the invitation, the Samians alone of all the
Ionians set forth, having with them those of the Milesians who had
escaped: and in the course of this matter it happened as follows:--23.
The Samians as they made their way towards Sicily reached Locroi
Epizephyroi, and at the same time the people of Zancle, both
themselves and their king, whose name was Skythes, were encamped about
a city of the Sikelians, desiring to conquer it. Perceiving these
things, Anaxilaos the despot of Rhegion, being then at variance with
those of Zancle, communicated with the Samians and persuaded them that
they ought to leave the Fair Strand alone, to which they were sailing,
and take possession of Zancle instead, since it was left now without
men to defend it. The Samians accordingly did as he said and took
possession of Zancle; and upon this the men of Zancle, being informed
that their city was possessed by an enemy, set out to rescue it, and
invited Hippocrates the despot of Gela to help them, for he was their
ally. When however Hippocrates also with his army had come up to their
rescue, first he put Skythes the ruler of the Zanclaians in fetters,
on the ground that he had been the cause of the city being lost, and
together with him his brother Pythogenes, and sent them away to the
town of Incyos;[12] then he betrayed the cause of the remaining
Zanclaians by coming to terms with the Samians and exchanging oaths
with them; and in return for this it had been promised by the Samians
that Hippocrates should receive as his share the half of all the
movable goods in the city and of the slaves, and the whole of the
property in the fields round. So the greater number of the Zanclaians
he put in bonds and kept himself as slaves, but the chief men of them,
three hundred in number, he gave to the Samians to put to death; which
however the Samians did not do. 24. Now Skythes the ruler of the
Zanclaians escaped from Incyos to Himera, and thence he came to Asia
and went up to the court of Dareios: and Dareios accounted him the
most righteous of all the men who had come up to him from Hellas; for
he obtained leave of the king and went away to Sicily, and again came
back from Sicily to the king; and at last he brought his life to an
end among the Persians in old age and possessing great wealth. The
Samians then, having got rid of the rule of the Medes, had gained for
themselves without labour the fair city of Zancle.
25. After the sea-battle which was fought for Miletos, the Phenicians
by the command of the Persians restored to Samos Aiakes the son of
Syloson, since he had been to them of much service and had done for
them great things; and the Samians alone of all who revolted from
Dareios, because of the desertion of their ships which were in the
sea-fight,[13] had neither their city nor their temples burnt. Then
after the capture of Miletos the Persians forthwith got possession of
Caria, some of the cities having submitted to their power voluntarily,
while others of them they brought over by force.
26. Thus it came to pass as regards these matters: and meanwhile
Histiaios the Milesian, who was at Byzantion and was seizing the
merchant vessels of the Ionians as they sailed forth out of the
Pontus, received the report of that which had happened about Miletos.
Upon that he entrusted the matters which had to do with the Hellespont
to Bisaltes the son of Apollophanes, a man of Abydos, while he himself
with the Lesbians sailed to Chios; and when a body of the Chians who
were on guard did not allow him to approach, he fought with them at
that spot in the Chian land which is called the "Hollows."[14]
Histiaios then not only slew many of these, but also, taking Polichne
of the Chians as his base, he conquered with the help of the Lesbians
the remainder of the Chians as well, since they had suffered great
loss by the sea-fight. 27. And heaven is wont perhaps to give signs
beforehand whenever great evils are about to happen to a city or a
race of men; for to the Chians also before these events remarkable
signs had come. In the first place when they had sent to Delphi a
chorus of a hundred youths, two only returned home, the remaining
ninety-eight of them having been seized by a plague and carried off;
and then secondly in their city about the same time, that is shortly
before the sea-fight, as some children were being taught[15] in school
the roof fell in upon them, so that of a hundred and twenty children
only one escaped. These signs God showed to them beforehand; and after
this the sea-fight came upon them and brought their State down upon
its knees; and as the Chians had suffered great loss, he without
difficulty effected the conquest of them.
28. Thence Histiaios made an expedition against Thasos, taking with
him a large force of Ionians and Aiolians; and while he was encamped
about the town of Thasos, a report came to him that the Phenicians
were sailing up from Miletos to conquer the rest of Ionia. Being
informed of this he left Thasos unconquered and himself hastened to
Lesbos, taking with him his whole army. Then, as his army was in want
of food,[16] he crossed over from Lesbos to reap the corn in Atarneus
and also that in the plain of the Caïcos, which belonged to the
Mysians. In these parts there chanced to be a Persian named Harpagos
commanding a considerable force; and this man fought a battle with him
after he had landed, and he took Histiaios himself prisoner and
destroyed the greater part of his army. 29. And Histiaios was taken
prisoner in the following manner:--As the Hellenes were fighting with
the Persians at Malene in the district of Atarneus, after they had
been engaged in close combat for a long time, the cavalry at length
charged and fell upon the Hellenes; and the cavalry in fact decided
the battle.[17] So when the Hellenes had been turned to flight,
Histiaios trusting that he would not be put to death by the king on
account of his present fault, conceived a love of life, so that when
he was being caught in his flight by a Persian and was about to be run
through by him in the moment of his capture, he spoke in Persian and
made himself known, saying that he was Histiaios the Milesian. 30. If
then upon being taken prisoner he had been brought to king Dareios, he
would not, as I think, have suffered any harm, but Dareios would have
forgiven the crime with which he was charged; as it was, however, for
this very reason and in order that he might not escape from punishment
and again become powerful with the king, Artaphrenes the governor of
Sardis and Harpagos who had captured him, when he had reached Sardis
on his way to the king, put him to death there and then, and his body
they impaled, but embalmed his head and brought it up to Dareios at
Susa. Dareios having been informed of this, found fault with those who
had done so, because they had not brought him up to his presence
alive; and he bade wash the head of Histiaios and bestow upon it
proper care, and then bury it, as that of one who had been greatly a
benefactor both of the king himself and of the Persians.
31. Thus it happened about Histiaios; and meanwhile the Persian fleet,
after wintering near Miletos, when it put to sea again in the
following year conquered without difficulty the islands lying near the
mainland, Chios, Lesbos, and Tenedos; and whenever they took one of
the islands, the Barbarians, as each was conquered, swept the
inhabitants off it;[18] and this they do in the following manner:--
they extend themselves from the sea on the North to the sea on the
South, each man having hold of the hand of the next, and then they
pass through the whole island hunting the people out of it. They took
also the Ionian cities on the mainland in the same manner, except that
they did not sweep off the inhabitants thus, for it was not possible.
32. Then the commanders of the Persians proved not false to the
threats with which they had threatened the Ionians when these were
encamped opposite to them: for in fact when they conquered the cities,
they chose out the most comely of the boys and castrated them, making
eunuchs of them, and the fairest of the maidens they carried off by
force to the king; and not only this, but they also burnt the cities
together with the temples. Thus for the third time had the Ionians
been reduced to slavery, first by the Lydians and then twice in
succession by the Persians.
33. Departing from Ionia the fleet proceeded to conquer all the places
of the Hellespont on the left as one sails in, for those on the right
had been subdued already by the Persians themselves, approaching them
by land. Now the cities of the Hellespont in Europe are these:--first
comes the Chersonese, in which there are many cities, then Perinthos,
the strongholds of the Thracian border, Selymbria, and Byzantion. The
people of Byzantion and those of Calchedon opposite did not even wait
for the coming of the Persian ships, but had left their own land first
and departed, going within the Euxine; and there they settled in the
city of Mesambria.[19] So the Phenicians, having burnt these places
which have been mentioned, directed their course next to Proconnesos
and Artake; and when they had delivered these also to the flames, they
sailed back to the Chersonese to destroy the remaining cities which
they had not sacked when they touched there before: but against
Kyzicos they did not sail at all; for the men of Kyzicos even before
the time when the Phenicians sailed in had submitted to the king of
their own accord, and had made terms with Oibares the son of
Megabazos, the Persian governor at Daskyleion.[20] 34. In the
Chersonese then the Phenicians made themselves masters of all the
other cities except the city of Cardia. Of these cities up to that
time Miltiades the son of Kimon, the son of Stesagoras, had been
despot, Miltiades the son of Kypselos having obtained this government
in the manner which here follows:--The inhabitants of this Chersonese
were Dolonkian Thracians; and these Dolonkians, being hard pressed in
war by the Apsinthians, sent their kings to Delphi to consult the
Oracle about the war. And the Pythian prophetess answered them that
they must bring into their land as founder of a settlement the man who
should first offer them hospitality as they returned from the temple.
The Dolonkians then passed along the Sacred Road through the land of
the Phokians and of the Bœotians, and as no man invited them, they
turned aside and came to Athens. 35. Now at that time in Athens the
government was held by Peisistratos, but Miltiades also the son of
Kypselos had some power, who belonged to a family which kept four-
horse chariot teams, and who was descended originally from Aiacos and
Egina, though in more recent times his family was Athenian, Philaios
the son of Ajax having been the first of his house who became an
Athenian. This Miltiades was sitting in the entrance of his own
dwelling, and seeing the Dolonkians going by with dress that was not
of the native Athenian fashion and with spears, he shouted to them;
and when they approached, he offered them lodging and hospitality.
They then having accepted and having been entertained by him,
proceeded to declare all the utterances of the Oracle; and having
declared it they asked him to do as the god had said: and Miltiades
when he heard it was at once disposed to agree, because he was vexed
by the rule of Peisistratos and desired to be removed out of the way.
He set out therefore forthwith to Delphi to inquire of the Oracle
whether he should do that which the Dolonkians asked of him: 36, and as
the Pythian prophetess also bade him do so, Miltiades the son of
Kypselos, who had before this been victor at Olympia with a four-horse
chariot, now taking with him of the Athenians everyone who desired to
share in the expedition, sailed with the Dolonkians and took
possession of the land: and they who had invited him to come to them
made him despot over them. First then he made a wall across the
isthmus of the Chersonese from the city of Cardia to Pactye, in order
that the Apsinthians might not be able to invade the land and do them
damage. Now the number of furlongs[21] across the isthmus at this
place is six-and-thirty, and from this isthmus the Chersonese within
is altogether four hundred and twenty furlongs in length. 37. Having
made a wall then across the neck of the Chersonese and having in this
manner repelled the Apsinthians, Miltiades made war upon the people of
Lampsacos first of all others; and the people of Lampsacos laid an
ambush and took him prisoner. Now Miltiades had come to be a
friend[22] of Crœsus the Lydian; and Crœsus accordingly, being
informed of this event, sent and commanded the people of Lampsacos to
let Miltiades go; otherwise he threatened to destroy them utterly like
a pine-tree.[23] Then when the people of Lampsacos were perplexed in
their counsels as to what that saying should mean with which Crœsus
had threatened them, namely that he would destroy them utterly like a
pine-tree, at length one of the elder men with difficulty perceived
the truth, and said that a pine alone of all trees when it has been
cut down does not put forth any further growth but perishes, being
utterly destroyed. The people of Lampsacos therefore fearing Crœsus
loosed Miltiades and let him go. 38. He then escaped by means of
Crœsus, but afterwards he brought his life to an end leaving no son to
succeed him, but passing over his rule and his possessions to
Stesagoras, who was the son of Kimon, his brother on the mother's
side:[24] and the people of the Chersonese still offer sacrifices to
him after his death as it is usual to do to a founder, and hold in his
honour a contest of horse-races and athletic exercises, in which none
of the men of Lampsacos are allowed to contend. After this there was
war with those of Lampsacos; and it happened to Stesagoras also that
he died without leaving a son, having been struck on the head with an
axe in the City Hall by a man who pretended to be a deserter, but who
proved himself to be in fact an enemy and a rather hot one moreover.
39. Then after Stesagoras also had ended his life in this manner,
Miltiades son of Kimon and brother of that Stesagoras who was dead,
was sent in a trireme to the Chersonese to take possession of the
government by the sons of Peisistratos, who had dealt well with him at
Athens also, pretending that they had had no share in the death of his
father Kimon, of which in another part of the history I will set forth
how it came to pass.[25] Now Miltiades, when he came to the
Chersonese, kept himself within his house, paying honours in all
appearance[26] to the memory of his brother Stesagoras; and the chief
men of the inhabitants of the Chersonese in every place, being
informed of this, gathered themselves together from all the cities and
came in a body to condole with him, and when they had come they were
laid in bonds by him. Miltiades then was in possession of the
Chersonese, supporting a body of five hundred mercenary troops; and he
married the daughter of Oloros the king of the Thracians, who was
named Hegesipyle.
40. Now this Miltiades son of Kimon had at the time of which we speak
but lately returned[27] to the Chersonese; and after he had returned,
there befell him other misfortunes worse than those which had befallen
him already; for two years before this he had been a fugitive out of
the land from the Scythians, since the nomad Scythians provoked by
king Dareios had joined all in a body and marched as far as this
Chersonese, and Miltiades had not awaited their attack but had become
a fugitive from the Chersonese, until at last the Scythians departed
and the Dolonkians brought him back again. These things happened two
years before the calamities which now oppressed him: 41, and now,
being informed that the Phenicians were at Tenedos, he filled five
triremes with the property which he had at hand and sailed away for
Athens. And having set out from the city of Cardia he was sailing
through the gulf of Melas; and as he passed along by the shore of the
Chersonese, the Phenicians fell in with his ships, and while Miltiades
himself with four of his ships escaped to Imbros, the fifth of his
ships was captured in the pursuit by the Phenicians. Of this ship it
chanced that Metiochos the eldest of the sons of Miltiades was in
command, not born of the daughter of Oloros the Thracian, but of
another woman. Him the Phenicians captured together with his ship; and
being informed about him, that he was the son of Miltiades, they
brought him up to the king, supposing that they would lay up for
themselves a great obligation; because it was Miltiades who had
declared as his opinion to the Ionians that they should do as the
Scythians said, at that time when the Scythians requested them to
break up the bridge of boats and sail away to their own land. Dareios
however, when the Phenicians brought up to him Metiochos the son of
Miltiades, did Metiochos no harm but on the contrary very much good;
for he gave him a house and possessions and a Persian wife, by whom he
had children born who have been ranked as Persians. Miltiades
meanwhile came from Imbros to Athens.
42. In the course of this year there was done by the Persians nothing
more which tended to strife with the Ionians, but these things which
follow were done in this year very much to their advantage.--
Artaphrenes the governor of Sardis sent for envoys from all the cities
and compelled the Ionians to make agreements among themselves, so that
they might give satisfaction for wrongs and not plunder one another's
land. This he compelled them to do, and also he measured their
territories by parasangs,--that is the name which the Persians give to
the length of thirty furlongs,[28]--he measured, I say, by these, and
appointed a certain amount of tribute for each people, which continues
still unaltered from that time even to my own days, as it was
appointed by Artaphrenes; and the tribute was appointed to be nearly
of the same amount for each as it had been before. 43. These were
things which tended to peace for the Ionians; but at the beginning of
the spring, the other commanders having all been removed by the king,
Mardonios the son of Gobryas came down to the sea, bringing with him a
very large land-army and a very large naval force, being a young man
and lately married to Artozostra daughter of king Dareios. When
Mardonios leading this army came to Kilikia, he embarked on board a
ship himself and proceeded together with the other ships, while other
leaders led the land-army to the Hellespont. Mardonios however sailing
along the coast of Asia came to Ionia: and here I shall relate a thing
which will be a great marvel to those of the Hellenes who do not
believe that to the seven men of the Persians Otanes declared as his
opinion that the Persians ought to have popular rule;[29] for
Mardonios deposed all the despots of the Ionians and established
popular governments in the cities. Having so done he hastened on to
the Hellespont; and when there was collected a vast number of ships
and a large land-army, they crossed over the Hellespont in the ships
and began to make their way through Europe, and their way was directed
against Eretria and Athens. 44. These, I say, furnished them the
pretence for the expedition, but they had it in their minds to subdue
as many as they could of the Hellenic cities; and in the first place
they subdued with their ships the Thasians, who did not even raise a
hand to defend themselves: then with the land-army they gained the
Macedonians to be their servants in addition to those whom they had
already; for all the nations on the East of the Macedonians[30] had
become subject to them already before this. Crossing over then from
Thasos to the opposite coast, they proceeded on their way near the
land as far as Acanthos, and then starting from Acanthos they
attempted to get round Mount Athos; but as they sailed round, there
fell upon them a violent North Wind, against which they could do
nothing, and handled them very roughly, casting away very many of
their ships on Mount Athos. It is said indeed that the number of the
ships destroyed was three hundred,[30a], and more than twenty thousand
men; for as this sea which is about Athos is very full of sea
monsters, some were seized by these and so perished, while others were
dashed against the rocks; and some of them did not know how to swim
and perished for that cause, others again by reason of cold. 45. Thus
fared the fleet; and meanwhile Mardonios and the land-army while
encamping in Macedonia were attacked in the night by the Brygian
Thracians, and many of them were slain by the Brygians and Mardonios
himself was wounded. However not even these escaped being enslaved by
the Persians, for Mardonios did not depart from that region until he
had made them subject. But when he had subdued these, he proceeded to
lead his army back, since he had suffered great loss with his land-
army in fighting against the Brygians and with his fleet in going
round Athos. So this expedition departed back to Asia having gained no
honour by its contests.
46. In the next year after this Dareios first sent a messenger to the
men of Thasos, who had been accused by their neighbours of planning
revolt, and bade them take away the wall around their town and bring
their ships to Abdera. The Thasians in fact, as they had been besieged
by Histiaios the Milesian and at the same time had large revenues
coming in, were using their money in building ships of war and in
surrounding their city with a stronger wall. Now the revenues came to
them from the mainland and from the mines: from the gold-mines in
Scapte Hyle[31] there came in generally eighty talents a year, and
from those in Thasos itself a smaller amount than this but so much
that in general the Thasians, without taxes upon the produce of their
soil, had a revenue from the mainland and from the mines amounting
yearly to two hundred talents, and when the amount was highest, to
three hundred. 47. I myself saw these mines, and by much the most
marvellous of them were those which the Phenicians discovered, who
made the first settlement in this island in company with Thasos; and
the island had the name which it now has from this Thasos the
Phenician. These Phenician mines are in that part of Thasos which is
between the places called Ainyra and Koinyra and opposite Samothrake,
where there is a great mountain which has been all turned up in the
search for metal. Thus it is with this matter: and the Thasians on the
command of the king both razed their walls and brought all their ships
to Abdera.
48. After this Dareios began to make trial of the Hellenes, what they
meant to do, whether to make war with him or to deliver themselves up.
He sent abroad heralds therefore, and appointed them to go some to one
place and others to another throughout Hellas, bidding them demand
earth and water for the king. These, I say, he sent to Hellas; and
meanwhile he was sending abroad other heralds to his own tributary
cities which lay upon the sea-coast, and he bade them have ships of
war built and also vessels to carry horses. 49. They then were engaged
in preparing these things; and meanwhile when the heralds had come to
Hellas, many of those who dwelt upon the mainland gave that for which
the Persian made demand,[32] and all those who dwelt in the islands
did so, to whomsoever they came to make their demand. The islanders, I
say, gave earth and water to Dareios, and among them also those of
Egina, and when these had done so, the Athenians went forthwith urgent
against them, supposing that the Eginetans had given with hostile
purpose against themselves, in order to make an expedition against
them in combination with the Persians; and also they were glad to get
hold of an occasion against them. Accordingly they went backward and
forwards to Sparta and accused the Eginetans of that which they had
done, as having proved themselves traitors to Hellas. 50. In
consequence of this accusation Cleomenes the son of Anaxandrides, king
of the Spartans, crossed over to Egina meaning to seize those of the
Eginetans who were the most guilty; but as he was attempting to seize
them, certain of the Eginetans opposed him, and among them especially
Crios the son of Polycritos, who said that he should not with impunity
carry off a single Eginetan, for he was doing this (said he) without
authority from the Spartan State, having been persuaded to it by the
Athenians with money; otherwise he would have come and seized them in
company with the other king: and this he said by reason of a message
received from Demaratos. Cleomenes then as he departed from Egina,
asked Crios[33] what was his name, and he told him the truth; and
Cleomenes said to him: "Surely now, O Ram, thou must cover over thy
horns with bronze for thou wilt shortly have a great trouble to
contend with."
51. Meanwhile Demaratos the son of Ariston was staying behind in
Sparta and bringing charges against Cleomenes, he also being king of
the Spartans but of the inferior house; which however is inferior in
no other way (for it is descended from the same ancestor), but the
house of Eurysthenes has always been honoured more, apparently because
he was the elder brother. 52. For the Lacedemonians, who herein agree
with none of the poets, say that Aristodemos the son of Aristomachos,
the son of Cleodaios, the son of Hyllos, being their king, led them
himself (and not the sons of Aristodemos) to this land which they now
possess. Then after no long time the wife of Aristodemos, whose name
was Argeia,--she was the daughter, they say, of Autesion, the son of
Tisamenes, the son of Thersander, the son of Polyneikes,--she, it is
said, brought forth twins; and Aristodemos lived but to see his
children and then ended his life by sickness. So the Lacedemonians of
that time resolved according to established custom to make the elder
of the children their king; but they did not know which of them they
should take, because they were like one another and of equal size; and
when they were not able to make out, or even before this, they
inquired of their mother; and she said that even she herself did not
know one from the other. She said this, although she knew in truth
very well, because she desired that by some means both might be made
kings. The Lacedemonians then were in a strait; and being in a strait
they sent to Delphi to inquire what they should do in the matter. And
the Pythian prophetess bade them regard both children as their kings,
but honour most the first in age.[34] The prophetess, they say, thus
gave answer to them; and when the Lacedemonians were at a loss none
the less how to find out the elder of them, a Messenian whose name was
Panites made a suggestion to them: this Panites, I say, suggested to
the Lacedemonians that they should watch the mother and see which of
the children she washed and fed before the other; and if she was seen
to do this always in the same order, then they would have all that
they were seeking and desiring to find out, but if she too was
uncertain and did it in a different order at different times, it would
be plain to them that even she had no more knowledge than any other,
and they must turn to some other way. Then the Spartans following the
suggestion of the Messenian watched the mother of the sons of
Aristodemos and found that she gave honour thus to the first-born both
in feeding and in washing; for she did not know with that design she
was being watched. They took therefore the child which was honoured by
its mother and brought it up as the first-born in the public hall,[35]
and to it was given the name of Eurysthenes, while the other was
called Procles. These, when they had grown up, both themselves were at
variance, they say, with one another, though they were brothers,
throughout the whole time of their lives, and their descendants also
continued after the same manner.
53. This is the report given by the Lacedemonians alone of all the
Hellenes; but this which follows I write in accordance with that which
is reported by the Hellenes generally,--I mean that the names of these
kings of the Dorians are rightly enumerated by the Hellenes up to
Perseus the son of Danae (leaving the god out of account),[36] and
proved to be of Hellenic race; for even from that time they were
reckoned as Hellenes. I said "up to Perseus" and did not take the
descent from a yet higher point, because there is no name mentioned of
a mortal father for Perseus, as Amphitryon is for Heracles. Therefore
with reason, as is evident, I have said "rightly up to Perseus"; but
if one enumerates their ancestors in succession going back from Danae
the daughter of Acrisios, the rulers of the Dorians will prove to be
Egyptians by direct descent. 54. Thus I have traced the descent
according to the account given by the Hellenes; but as the story is
reported which the Persians tell, Perseus himself was an Assyrian and
became a Hellene, whereas the ancestors of Perseus were not Hellenes;
and as for the ancestors of Acrisios, who (according to this account)
belonged not to Perseus in any way by kinship, they say that these
were, as the Hellenes report, Egyptians. 55. Let it suffice to have
said so much about these matters; and as to the question how and by
what exploits being Egyptians they received the sceptres of royalty
over the Dorians, we will omit these things, since others have told
about them; but the things with which other narrators have not dealt,
of these I will make mention.
56. These are the royal rights which have been given by the Spartans
to their kings, namely, two priesthoods, of Zeus Lakedaimon and Zeus
Uranios;[37] and the right of making war against whatsoever land they
please, and that no man of the Spartans shall hinder this right, or if
he do, he shall be subject to the curse; and that when they go on
expeditions the kings shall go out first and return last; that a
hundred picked men shall be their guard upon expeditions; and that
they shall use in their goings forth to war as many cattle as they
desire, and take both the hides and the backs of all that are
sacrificed. 57. These are their privileges in war; and in peace
moreover things have been assigned to them as follows:--if any
sacrifice is performed at the public charge, it is the privilege of
the kings to sit down at the feast before all others, and that the
attendants shall begin with them first, and serve to each of them a
portion of everything double of that which is given to the other
guests, and that they shall have the first pouring of libations and
the hides of the animals slain in sacrifice; that on every new moon
and seventh day of the month there shall be delivered at the public
charge to each one of these a full-grown victim in the temple of
Apollo, and a measure[38] of barley-groats and a Laconian
"quarter"[39] of wine; and that at all the games they shall have seats
of honour specially set apart for them: moreover it is their privilege
to appoint as protectors of strangers[40] whomsoever they will of the
citizens, and to choose each two "Pythians:" now the Pythians are men
sent to consult the god at Delphi, and they eat with the kings at the
public charge. And if the kings do not come to the dinner, it is the
rule that there shall be sent out for them to their houses two
quarts[41] of barley-groats for each one and half a pint[42] of wine;
but if they are present, double shares of everything shall be given
them, and moreover they shall be honoured in this same manner when
they have been invited to dinner by private persons. The kings also,
it is ordained, shall have charge of the oracles which are given, but
the Pythians also shall have knowledge of them. It is the rule
moreover that the kings alone give decision on the following cases
only, that is to say, about the maiden who inherits her father's
property, namely who ought to have her, if her father have not
betrothed her to any one, and about public ways; also if any man
desires to adopt a son, he must do it in presence of the kings: and it
is ordained that they shall sit in council with the Senators, who are
in number eight-and-twenty, and if they do not come, those of the
Senators who are most closely related to them shall have the
privileges of the kings and give two votes besides their own, making
three in all.[42a] 58. These rights have been assigned to the kings
for their lifetime by the Spartan State; and after they are dead these
which follow:--horsemen go round and announce that which has happened
throughout the whole of the Laconian land, and in the city women go
about and strike upon a copper kettle. Whenever this happens so, two
free persons of each household must go into mourning, a man and a
woman, and for those who fail to do this great penalties are
appointed. Now the custom of the Lacedemonians about the deaths of
their kings is the same as that of the Barbarians who dwell in Asia,
for most of the Barbarians practise the same customs as regards the
death of their kings. Whensoever a king of the Lacedemonians is dead,
then from the whole territory of Lacedemon, not reckoning the
Spartans, a certain fixed number of the "dwellers round"[43] are
compelled to go to the funeral ceremony: and when there have been
gathered together of these and of the Helots and of the Spartans
themselves many thousands in the same place, with their women
intermingled, they beat their foreheads with a good will and make
lamentation without stint, saying that this one who has died last of
their kings was the best of all: and whenever any of their kings has
been killed in war, they prepare an image to represent him, laid upon
a couch with fair coverings, and carry it out to be buried. Then after
they have buried him, no assembly is held among them for ten days, nor
is there any meeting for choice of magistrates, but they have mourning
during these days. In another respect too these resemble the Persians;
that is to say, when the king is dead and another is appointed king,
this king who is newly coming in sets free any man of the Spartans who
was a debtor to the king or to the State; while among the Persians the
king who comes to the throne remits to all the cities the arrears of
tribute which are due. 60. In the following point also the
Lacedemonians resemble the Egyptians; that is to say, their heralds
and fluteplayers and cooks inherit the crafts of their fathers, and a
fluteplayer is the son of a fluteplayer, a cook of a cook, and a
herald of a herald; other men do not lay hands upon the office because
they have loud and clear voices, and so shut them out of it, but they
practise their craft by inheritance from their fathers.
61. Thus are these things done: and at this time of which we
speak,[44] while Cleomenes was in Egina doing deeds[45] which were for
the common service of Hellas, Demaratos brought charges against him,
not so much because he cared for the Eginetans as because he felt envy
and jealousy of him. Then Cleomenes, after he returned from Egina,
planned to depose Demaratos from being king, making an attempt upon
him on account of this matter which follows:--Ariston being king in
Sparta and having married two wives, yet had no children born to him;
and since he did not acknowledge that he himself was the cause of
this, he married a third wife; and he married her thus:--he had a
friend, a man of the Spartans, to whom of all the citizens Ariston was
most inclined; and it chanced that this man had a wife who was of all
the women in Sparta the fairest by far, and one too who had become the
fairest from having been the foulest. For as she was mean in her
aspect, her nurse, considering that she was the daughter of wealthy
persons and was of uncomely aspect, and seeing moreover that her
parents were troubled by it,--perceiving I say these things, her nurse
devised as follows:--every day she bore her to the temple of Helen,
which is in the place called Therapne, lying above the temple of
Phoebus; and whenever the nurse bore her thither, she placed her
before the image and prayed the goddess to deliver the child from her
unshapeliness. And once as the nurse was going away out of the temple,
it is said that a woman appeared to her, and having appeared asked her
what she was bearing in her arms; and she told her that she was
bearing a child; upon which the other bade her show the child to her,
but she refused, for it had been forbidden to her by the parents to
show it to any one: but the woman continued to urge her by all means
to show it to her. So then perceiving that the woman earnestly desired
to see it, the nurse showed her the child. Then the woman stroking the
head of the child said that she should be the fairest of all the women
in Sparta; and from that day her aspect was changed. Afterwards when
she came to the age for marriage, she was married to Agetos the son of
Alkeides, this friend of Ariston of whom we spoke. 62. Now Ariston it
seems was ever stung by the desire of this woman, and accordingly he
contrived as follows:--he made an engagement himself with his comrade,
whose wife this woman was, that he would give him as a gift one thing
of his own possessions, whatsoever he should choose, and he bade his
comrade make return to him in similar fashion. He therefore, fearing
nothing for his wife, because he saw that Ariston also had a wife,
agreed to this; and on these terms they imposed oaths on one another.
After this Ariston on his part gave that which Agetos had chosen from
the treasures of Ariston, whatever the thing was; and he himself,
seeking to obtain from him the like return, endeavoured then to take
away the wife of his comrade from him: and he said that he consented
to give anything else except this one thing only, but at length being
compelled by the oath and by the treacherous deception,[46] he allowed
her to be taken away from him. 63. Thus had Ariston brought into his
house the third wife, having dismissed the second: and this wife, not
having fulfilled the ten months[47] but in a shorter period of time,
bore him that Demaratos of whom we were speaking; and one of his
servants reported to him as he was sitting in council[48] with the
Ephors, that a son had been born to him. He then, knowing the time
when he took to him his wife, and reckoning the months upon his
fingers, said, denying with an oath, "The child would not be mine."
This the Ephors heard, but they thought it a matter of no importance
at the moment; and the child grew up and Ariston repented of that
which he had said, for he thought Demaratos was certainly his own son;
and he gave him the name "Demaratos" for this reason, namely because
before these things took place the Spartan people all in a body[49]
had made a vow[50] praying that a son might be born to Ariston, as one
who was pre-eminent in renown over all the kings who had ever arisen
in Sparta. 64. For this reason the name Demaratos[51] was given to
him. And as time went on Ariston died, and Demaratos obtained the
kingdom: but it was fated apparently that these things should become
known and should cause Demaratos to be deposed from the kingdom; and
therefore[52] Demaratos came to be at variance greatly with Cleomenes
both at the former time when he withdrew his army from Eleusis, and
also now especially, when Cleomenes had crossed over to take those of
the Eginetans who had gone over to the Medes. 65. Cleomenes then,
being anxious to take vengeance on him, concerted matters with
Leotychides the son of Menares, the son of Agis, who was of the same
house as Demaratos, under condition that if he should set him up as
king instead of Demaratos, he would go with him against the Eginetans.
Now Leotychides had become a bitter foe of Demaratos on account of
this matter which follows:--Leotychides had betrothed himself to
Percalos the daughter of Chilon son of Demarmenos; and Demaratos
plotted against him and deprived Leotychides of his marriage, carrying
off Percalos himself beforehand, and getting her for his wife. Thus
had arisen the enmity of Leotychides against Demaratos; and now by the
instigation of Cleomenes Leotychides deposed against Demaratos, saying
that he was not rightfully reigning over the Spartans, not being a son
of Ariston: and after this deposition he prosecuted a suit against
him, recalling the old saying which Ariston uttered at the time when
his servant reported to him that a son was born to him, and he
reckoning up the months denied with an oath, saying that it was not
his. Taking his stand upon this utterance, Leotychides proceeded to
prove that Demaratos was not born of Ariston nor was rightfully
reigning over Sparta; and he produced as witnesses those Ephors who
chanced then to have been sitting with Ariston in council and to have
heard him say this. 66. At last, as there was contention about those
matters, the Spartans resolved to ask the Oracle at Delphi whether
Demaratos was the son of Ariston. The question then having been
referred by the arrangement of Cleomenes to the Pythian prophetess,
thereupon Cleomenes gained over to his side Cobon the son of
Aristophantos, who had most power among the Delphians, and Cobin
persuaded Perialla the prophetess of the Oracle[53] to say that which
Cleomenes desired to have said. Thus the Pythian prophetess, when
those who were sent to consult the god asked her their question, gave
decision that Demaratos was not the son of Ariston. Afterwards however
these things became known, and both Cobon went into exile from Delphi
and Perialla the prophetess of the Oracle was removed from her office.
67. With regard to the deposing of Demaratos from the kingdom it
happened thus: but Demaratos became an exile from Sparta to the Medes
on account of a reproach which here follows:--After he had been
deposed from the kingdom Demaratos was holding a public office to
which he had been elected. Now it was the time of the Gymnopaidiai;
and as Demaratos was a spectator of them, Leotychides, who had now
become king himself instead of Demaratos, sent his attendant and asked
Demaratos in mockery and insult what kind of a thing it was to be a
magistrate after having been king; and he vexed at the question made
answer and said that he himself had now had experience of both, but
Leotychides had not; this question however, he said, would be the
beginning either of countless evil or countless good fortune for the
Lacedemonians. Having thus said, he veiled his head and went forth out
of the theatre to his own house; and forthwith he made preparations
and sacrificed an ox to Zeus, and after having sacrificed he called
his mother. 68. Then when his mother had come, he put into her hands
some of the inner parts[54] of the victim, and besought her, saying as
follows: "Mother, I beseech thee, appealing to the other gods and
above all to this Zeus the guardian of the household,[55] to tell me
the truth, who is really and truly my father. For Leotychides spoke in
his contention with me, saying that thou didst come to Ariston with
child by thy former husband; and others besides, reporting that which
is doubtless an idle tale,[56] say that thou didst go in to one of the
servants, namely the keeper of the asses, and that I am his son. I
therefore entreat thee by the gods to tell me the truth; for if thou
hast done any of these things which are reported, thou hast not done
them alone, but with many other women; and the report is commonly
believed in Sparta that there was not in Ariston seed which should
beget children; for if so, then his former wives also would have borne
children." 69. Thus he spoke, and she made answer as follows: "My son,
since thou dost beseech me with entreaties to speak the truth, the
whole truth shall be told to thee. When Ariston had brought me into
his house, on the third night[57] there came to me an apparition in
the likeness of Ariston, and having lain with me it put upon me the
garlands which it had on; and the apparition straitway departed, and
after this Ariston came; and when he saw me with garlands, he asked
who it was who had given me them; and I said that he had given them,
but he did not admit it; and I began to take oath of it, saying that
he did not well to deny it, for he had come (I said) a short time
before and had lain with me and given me the garlands. Then Ariston,
seeing that I made oath of it, perceived that the matter was of the
gods; and first the garlands were found to be from the hero-temple
which stands by the outer door of the house, which they call the
temple of Astrabacos,[58] and secondly the diviners gave answer that
it was this same hero. Thus, my son, thou hast all, as much as thou
desirest to learn; for either thou art begotten of this hero and the
hero Astrabacos is thy father, or Ariston is thy father, for on that
night I conceived thee: but as to that wherein thy foes most take hold
of thee, saying that Ariston himself, when thy birth was announced to
him, in the hearing of many declared that thou wert not his son,
because the time, the ten months namely, had not yet been fulfilled,
in ignorance of such matters he cast forth that saying; for women
bring forth children both at the ninth month and also at the seventh,
and not all after they have completed ten months; and I bore thee, my
son, at the seventh month: and Ariston himself also perceived after no
long time that he had uttered this saying in folly. Do not thou then
accept any other reports about thy begetting, for thou hast heard in
all the full truth; but to Leotychides and to those who report these
things may their wives bear children by keepers of asses!" 70. Thus
she spoke; and he, having learnt that which he desired to learn, took
supplies for travelling and set forth to go to Elis, pretending that
he was going to Delphi to consult the Oracle: but the Lacedemonians,
suspecting that he was attempting to escape, pursued after him; and it
chanced that before they came Demaratos had passed over to Zakynthos
from Elis; and the Lacedemonians crossing over after him laid hands on
his person and carried away his attendants from him. Afterwards
however, since those of Zakynthos refused to give him up, he passed
over from thence to Asia, to the presence of king Dareios; and Dareios
both received him with great honour as a guest, and also gave him land
and cities. Thus Demaratos had come to Asia, and such was the fortune
which he had had, having been distinguished in the estimation of the
Lacedemonians[59] in many other ways both by deeds and by counsels,
and especially having gained for them an Olympic victory with the
four-horse chariot, being the only one who achieved this of all the
kings who ever arose in Sparta.
71. Demaratos being deposed, Leotychides the son of Menares succeeded
to the kingdom; and he had born to him a son Zeuxidemos, whom some of
the Spartans called Kyniscos. This Zeuxidemos did not become king of
Sparta, for he died before Leotychides, leaving a son Archidemos: and
Leotychides having lost Zeuxidemos married a second wife Eurydame, the
sister of Menios and daughter of Diactorides, by whom he had no male
issue, but a daughter Lampito, whom Archidemos the son of Zeuxidemos
took in marriage, she being given to him by Leotychides. 72.
Leotychides however did not himself[60] live to old age in Sparta, but
paid a retribution for Demaratos as follows:--he went as commander of
the Lacedemonians to invade Thessaly, and when he might have reduced
all to subjection, he accepted gifts of money amounting to a large
sum; and being taken in the act there in the camp, as he was sitting
upon a glove full of money, he was brought to trial and banished from
Sparta, and his house was razed to the ground. So he went into exile
to Tegea and ended his life there. 73. These things happened later;
but at this time, when Cleomenes had brought to a successful issue the
affair which concerned Demaratos, forthwith he took with him
Leotychides and went against the Eginetans, being very greatly enraged
with them because of their insults towards him. So the Eginetans on
their part, since both the kings had come against them, thought fit no
longer to resist; and the Spartans selected ten men who were the most
considerable among the Eginetans both by wealth and by birth, and took
them away as prisoners, and among others also Crios[61] the son of
Polycritos and Casambos the son of Aristocrates, who had the greatest
power among them; and having taken these away to the land of Attica,
they deposited them as a charge with the Athenians, who were the
bitterest enemies of the Eginetans.
74. After this Cleomenes, since it had become known that he had
devised evil against Demaratos, was seized by fear of the Spartans and
retired to Thessaly. Thence he came to Arcadia, and began to make
mischief[62] and to combine the Arcadians against Sparta; and besides
other oaths with which he caused them to swear that they would
assuredly follow him whithersoever he should lead them, he was very
desirous also to bring the chiefs of the Arcadians to the city of
Nonacris and cause them to swear by the water of Styx; for near this
city it is said by the Arcadians[63] that there is the water of Styx,
and there is in fact something of this kind: a small stream of water
is seen to trickle down from a rock into a hollow ravine, and round
the ravine runs a wall of rough stones. Now Nonacris, where it happens
that this spring is situated, is a city of Arcadia near Pheneos. 75.
The Lacedemonians, hearing that Cleomenes was acting thus, were
afraid, and proceeded to bring him back to Sparta to rule on the same
terms as before: but when he had come back, forthwith a disease of
madness seized him (who had been even before this somewhat
insane[64]), and whenever he met any of the Spartans, he dashed his
staff against the man's face. And as he continued to do this and had
gone quite out of his senses, his kinsmen bound him in stocks. Then
being so bound, and seeing his warder left alone by the rest, he asked
him for a knife; and the warder not being at first willing to give it,
he threatened him with that which he would do to him afterwards if he
did not; until at last the warder fearing the threats, for he was one
of the Helots, gave him a knife. Then Cleomenes, when he had received
the steel, began to maltreat himself from the legs upwards: for he
went on cutting his flesh lengthways from the legs to the thighs and
from the thighs to the loins and flanks, until at last he came to the
belly; and cutting this into strips he died in that manner. And this
happened, as most of the Hellenes report, because he persuaded the
Pythian prophetess to advise that which was done about Demaratos; but
as the Athenians alone report, it was because when he invaded Eleusis
he laid waste the sacred enclosure of the goddesses;[65] and according
to the report of the Argives, because from their sanctuary dedicated
to Argos he caused to come down those of the Argives who had fled for
refuge from the battle and slew them, and also set fire to the grove
itself, holding it in no regard. 76. For when Cleomenes was consulting
the Oracle at Delphi, the answer was given him that he should conquer
Argos; so he led the Spartans and came to the river Erasinos, which is
said to flow from the Stymphalian lake; for this lake, they say,
running out into a viewless chasm, appears again above ground in the
land of Argos; and from thence onwards this water is called by the
Argives Erasinos: having come, I say, to this river, Cleomenes did
sacrifice to it; and since the sacrifices were not at all favourable
for him to cross over, he said that he admired the Erasinos for not
betraying the men of its country, but the Argives should not even so
escape. After this he retired back from thence and led his army down
to Thyrea; and having done sacrifice to the Sea by slaying a bull, he
brought them in ships to the land of Tiryns and Nauplia. 77. Being
informed of this, the Argives came to the rescue towards the sea; and
when they had got near Tiryns and were at the place which is called
Hesipeia,[66] they encamped opposite to the Lacedemonians leaving no
very wide space between the armies. There the Argives were not afraid
of the open fighting, but only lest they should be conquered by craft;
for to this they thought referred the oracle which the Pythian
prophetess gave in common to these and to the Milesians,[67] saying as
follows:
"But when the female at length shall conquer the male in the battle,
Conquer and drive him forth, and glory shall gain among Argives,
Then many wives of the Argives shall tear both cheeks in their mourning;
So that a man shall say some time, of the men that came after,
'Quelled by the spear it perished, the three-coiled terrible serpent,'
The conjunction of all these things caused fear to the Argives, and
with a view to this they resolved to make use of the enemy's herald;
and having so resolved they proceeded to do as follows:--whenever the
Spartan herald proclaimed anything to the Lacedemonians, the Argives
also did that same thing. 78. So Cleomenes, perceiving that the
Argives were doing whatever the herald of the Lacedemonians
proclaimed, passed the word to the Lacedemonians that when the herald
should proclaim that they were to get breakfast, then they should take
up their arms and go to attack the Argives. This was carried out even
so by the Lacedemonians; for as the Argives were getting breakfast
according to the herald's proclamation, they attacked them; and many
of them they slew, but many more yet took refuge in the sacred grove
of Argos, and upon these they kept watch, sitting round about the
place. Then Cleomenes did this which follows:--79. He had with him
deserters, and getting information by inquiring of these, he sent a
herald and summoned forth those of the Argives who were shut up in the
sanctuary, mentioning each by name; and he summoned them forth saying
that he had received their ransom. Now among the Peloponnesians ransom
is two pounds weight of silver[68] appointed to be paid for each
prisoner. So Cleomenes summoned forth about fifty of the Argives one
by one and slew them; and it chanced that the rest who were in the
enclosure did not perceive that this was being done; for since the
grove was thick, those within did not see how it fared with those who
were without, at least until one of them climbed up a tree and saw
from above that which was being done. Accordingly they then no longer
came forth when they were called. 80. So Cleomenes thereupon ordered
all the Helots to pile up brushwood round the sacred grove; and they
obeying, he set fire to the grove. And when it was now burning, he
asked one of the deserters to what god the grove was sacred, and the
man replied that it was sacred to Argos. When he heard that, he
groaned aloud and said, "Apollo who utterest oracles, surely thou hast
greatly deceived me, saying that I should conquer Argos: I conjecture
that the oracle has had its fulfilment for me already." 81. After this
Cleomenes sent away the greater part of his army to go back to Sparta,
but he himself took a thousand of the best men and went to the temple
of Hera to sacrifice: and when he wished to sacrifice upon the altar,
the priest forbade him, saying that it was not permitted by religious
rule for a stranger to sacrifice in that place. Cleomenes however bade
the Helots take away the priest from the altar and scourge him, and he
himself offered the sacrifice. Having so done he returned back to
Sparta; 82, and after his return his opponents brought him up before
the Ephors, saying that he had received gifts and therefore had not
conquered Argos, when he might easily have conquered it. He said to
them,--but whether he was speaking falsely or whether truly I am not
able with certainty to say,--however that may be, he spoke and said
that when he had conquered the sanctuary of Argos, it seemed to him
that the oracle of the god had had its fulfilment for him; therefore
he did not think it right to make an attempt on the city, at least
until he should have had recourse to sacrifice, and should have learnt
whether the deity[69] permitted him or whether she stood opposed to
him: and as he was sacrificing for augury[70] in the temple of Hera, a
flame of fire blazed forth from the breasts of the image; and thus he
knew the certainty of the matter, namely that he would not conquer
Argos: for if fire had blazed forth from the head of the image, he
would have been conqueror of the city from top to bottom,[71] but
since it blazed from the breasts, everything had been accomplished for
him which the god desired should come to pass. Thus speaking he seemed
to the Spartans to speak credibly and reasonably, and he easily
escaped his pursuers.[72]
83. Argos however was so bereft of men that their slaves took
possession of all the State, ruling and managing it until the sons of
those who had perished grew to be men. Then these, endeavouring to
gain Argos back to themselves, cast them out; and the slaves being
driven forth gained possession of Tiryns by fighting. Now for a time
these two parties had friendly relations with one another; but
afterwards there came to the slaves a prophet named Cleander, by race
a Phigalian from Arcadia: this man persuaded the slaves to attack
their masters, and in consequence of this there was war between them
for a long time, until at last with difficulty the Argives overcame
them.
84. The Argives then say that this was the reason why Cleomenes went
mad and had an evil end: but the Spartans themselves say that
Cleomenes was not driven mad by any divine power, but that he had
become a drinker of unmixed wine from having associated with
Scythians, and that he went mad in consequence of this: for the nomad
Scythians, they say, when Dareios had made invasion of their land,
desired eagerly after this to take vengeance upon him; and they sent
to Sparta and tried to make an alliance, and to arrange that while the
Scythians themselves attempted an invasion of Media by the way of the
river Phasis, the Spartans should set forth from Ephesos and go up
inland, and then that they should meet in one place: and they say that
Cleomenes when the Scythians had come for this purpose, associated
with them largely, and that thus associating more than was fit, he
learnt the practice of drinking wine unmixed with water; and for this
cause (as the Spartans think) he went mad. Thenceforth, as they say
themselves, when they desire to drink stronger wine, they say "Fill up
in Scythian fashion."[73] Thus the Spartans report about Cleomenes;
but to me it seems that this was a retribution which Cleomenes paid
for Demaratos.
85. Now when the Eginetans heard that Cleomenes had met his end, they
sent messengers to Sparta to denounce Leotychides for the matter of
the hostages which were being kept at Athens: and the Lacedemonians
caused a court to assemble and judged that the Eginetans had been
dealt with outrageously by Leotychides; and they condemned him to be
taken to Egina and delivered up in place of the men who were being
kept at Athens. Then when the Eginetans were about to take
Leotychides, Theasides the son of Leoprepes, a man of repute in
Sparta, said to them: "What are ye proposing[74] to do, men of Egina?
Do ye mean to take away the king of the Spartans, thus delivered up to
you by his fellow-citizens? If the Spartans now being in anger have
decided so, beware lest at some future time, if ye do this, they bring
an evil upon your land which may destroy it." Hearing this the
Eginetans abstained from taking him; but they came to an agreement
that Leotychides should accompany them to Athens and restore the men
to the Eginetans.
86. When however Leotychides came to Athens and asked for the deposit
back, the Athenians, not being willing to give up the hostages,
produced pretexts for refusing, and alleged that two kings had
deposited them and they did not think it right to give them back to
the one without the other: so since the Athenians said that they would
not give them back, Leotychides spoke to them as follows:
(a) "Athenians, do whichever thing ye yourselves desire; for ye know
that if ye give them up, ye do that which religion commands, and if ye
refuse to give them up, ye do the opposite of this: but I desire to
tell you what kind of a thing came to pass once in Sparta about a
deposit. We Spartans report that there was in Lacedemon about two
generations before my time on Glaucos the son of Epikydes. This man we
say attained the highest merit in all things besides, and especially
he was well reported of by all who at that time dwelt in Lacedemon for
his uprightness: and we relate that in due time[75] it happened to him
thus:--a man of Miletos came to Sparta and desired to have speech with
him, alleging the reasons which follow: 'I am a Milesian,' he said,
'and I am come hither desiring to have benefit from thy uprightness,
Glaucos; for as there was much report of thy uprightness throughout
all the rest of Hellas and also in Ionia, I considered with myself
that Ionia is ever in danger, whereas Peloponnesus is safely
established, and also that we never see wealth continue in the
possession of the same persons long;--reflecting, I say, on these
things and taking counsel with myself, I resolved to turn into money
the half of my possessions, and to place it with thee, being well
assured that if it were placed with thee I should have it safe. Do
thou therefore, I pray thee, receive the money, and take and keep
these tallies; and whosoever shall ask for the money back having the
tokens answering to these, to him do thou restore it.' (b) The
stranger who had come from Miletos said so much; and Glaucos accepted
the deposit on the terms proposed. Then after a long time had gone by,
there came to Sparta the sons of him who had deposited the money with
Glaucos; and they came to speech with Glaucos, and producing the
tokens asked for the money to be given back: but he repulsed them
answering them again thus: 'I do not remember the matter, nor does my
mind bring back to me any knowledge of those things whereof ye speak;
but I desire to recollect and do all that is just; for if I received
it, I desire to restore it honestly; and if on the other hand I did
not receive it at all, I will act towards you in accordance with the
customs of the Hellenes:[76] therefore I defer the settling of the
matter with you for three months from now.' (c) The Milesians
accordingly went away grieved, for they supposed that they had been
robbed of the money; but Glaucos set forth to Delphi to consult the
Oracle: and when he inquired of the Oracle whether he should rob them
of the money by an oath, the Pythian prophetess rebuked him with these
lines:
"'Glaucos, thou, Epikydes' son, yea, this for the moment,
This, to conquer their word by an oath and to rob, is more gainful.
Swear, since the lot of death waits also for him who swears truly.
But know thou that Oath has a son, one nameless and handless and footless,
Yet without feet he pursues, without hands he seizes, and wholly
He shall destroy the race and the house of the man who offendeth.
But for the man who swears truly his race is the better hereafter.'
Having heard this Glaucos entreated that the god would pardon him for
that which he had said, but the prophetess said that to make trial of
the god and to do the deed were things equivalent. (d) Glaucos then,
having sent for the Milesians, gave back to them the money: but the
reason for which, O Athenians, I set forth to relate to you this
story, shall now be told. At the present time there is no descendant
of Glaucos existing, nor any hearth which is esteemed to be that of
Glaucos, but he has been utterly destroyed and rooted up out of
Sparta. Thus it is good not even to entertain a thought about a
deposit other than that of restoring it, when they who made it ask for
it again."
87. When Leotychides had thus spoken, since not even so were the
Athenians willing to listen to him, he departed back; and the
Eginetans, before paying the penalty for their former wrongs wherein
they did outrage to the Athenians to please the Thebans,[77] acted as
follows:--complaining of the conduct of the Athenians and thinking
that they were being wronged, they made preparations to avenge
themselves upon the Athenians; and since the Athenians were
celebrating a four-yearly festival[78] at Sunion, they lay in wait for
the sacred ship which was sent to it and took it, the vessel being
full of men who were the first among the Athenians; and having taken
it they laid the men in bonds. 88. The Athenians after they had
suffered this wrong from the Eginetans no longer delayed to contrive
all things possible to their hurt. And there was[79] in Egina a man of
repute, one Nicodromos the son of Cnithos:[80] this man had cause of
complaint against the Eginetans for having before this driven him
forth out of the island; and hearing now that the Athenians had
resolved to do mischief to the Eginetans, he agreed with the Athenians
to deliver up Egina to them, telling them on what day he would make
his attempt and by what day it would be necessary for them to come to
his assistance. 89. After this Nicodromos, according as he had agreed
with the Athenians, seized that which is called the old city, but the
Athenians did not come to his support at the proper time; for, as it
chanced, they had not ships sufficient to fight with the Eginetans; so
while they were asking the Corinthians to lend them ships, during this
time their cause went to ruin. The Corinthians however, being at this
time exceedingly friendly with them, gave the Athenians twenty ships
at their request; and these they gave by selling them at five drachmas
apiece, for by the law it was not permitted to give them as a free
gift. Having taken these ships of which I speak and also their own,
the Athenians with seventy ships manned in all sailed to Egina, and
they were later by one day than the time agreed. 90. Nicodromos
meanwhile, as the Athenians did not come to his support at the proper
time, embarked in a ship and escaped from Egina, and with him also
went others of the Eginetans; and the Athenians gave them Sunion to
dwell in, starting from whence these men continued to plunder the
Eginetans who were in the island. 91. This happened afterwards: but at
the time of which we speak the well-to-do class among the Eginetans
prevailed over the men of the people, who had risen against them in
combination with Nicodromos, and then having got them into their power
they were bringing their prisoners forth to execution. From this there
came upon them a curse which they were not able to expiate by
sacrifice, though they devised against it all they could; but they
were driven forth from the island before the goddess became propitious
to them. For they had taken as prisoners seven hundred of the men of
the people and were bringing them forth to execution, when one of them
escaped from his bonds and fled for refuge to the entrance of the
temple of Demeter the Giver of Laws,[81] and he took hold of the latch
of the door and clung to it; and when they found that they could not
drag him from it by pulling him away, they cut off his hands and so
carried him off, and those hands remained clinging to the latch of the
door. 92. Thus did the Eginetans to one another: and when the
Athenians came, they fought against them with seventy ships, and being
worsted in the sea-fight they called to their assistance the same whom
they had summoned before, namely the Argives. These would no longer
come to their help, having cause of complaint because the ships of
Egina compelled by Cleomenes had put in to the land of Argos and their
crews had landed with the Lacedemonians; with whom also had landed men
from ships of Sikyon in this same invasion: and as a penalty for this
there was laid upon them by the Argives a fine of a thousand talents,
five hundred for each State. The Sikyonians accordingly, acknowledging
that they had committed a wrong, had made an agreement to pay a
hundred talents and be free from the penalty; the Eginetans however
did not acknowledge their wrong, but were more stubborn. For this
reason then, when they made request, none of the Argives now came to
their help at the charge of the State, but volunteers came to the
number of a thousand; and their leader was a commander named
Eurybates, a man who had practised the five contests.[82] Of these men
the greater number never returned back, but were slain by the
Athenians in Egina; and the commander himself, Eurybates, fighting in
single combat[83] killed in this manner three men and was himself
slain by the fourth, Sophanes namely of Dekeleia. 93. The Eginetans
however engaged in contest with the Athenians in ships, when these
were in disorder, and defeated them; and they took of them four ships
together with their crews.
94. So the Athenians were at war with the Eginetans; and meanwhile the
Persian was carrying forward his design, since he was put in mind ever
by his servant to remember the Athenians, and also because of the sons
of Peisistratos were near at hand and brought charges continually
against the Athenians, while at the same time Dareios himself wished
to take hold of this pretext and subdue those nations of Hellas which
had not given him earth and water. Mardonios then, since he had fared
miserably in his expedition, he removed from his command; and
appointing other generals to command he despatched them against
Eretria and Athens, namely Datis, who was a Mede by race, and
Artaphrenes the son of Artaphrenes, a nephew of the king: and he sent
them forth with the charge to reduce Athens and Eretria to slavery and
to bring the slaves back into his presence. 95. When these who had
been appointed to command came in their march from the king to the
Aleïan plain in Kilikia, taking with them a large and well-equipped
land-army, then while they were encamping there, the whole naval
armament came up, which had been appointed for several nations to
furnish; and there came to them also the ships for carrying horses,
which in the year before Dareios had ordered his tributaries to make
ready. In these they placed their horses, and having embarked the
land-army in the ships they sailed for Ionia with six hundred
triremes. After this they did not keep their ships coasting along the
mainland towards the Hellespont and Thrace, but they started from
Samos and made their voyage by the Icarian Sea[84] and between the
islands; because, as I think, they feared more than all else the
voyage round Athos, seeing that in the former year[85] while making
the passage by this way they had come to great disaster. Moreover also
Naxos compelled them, since it had not been conquered at the former
time.[86] 96. And when they had arrived at Naxos, coming against it
from the Icarian Sea (for it was against Naxos first that the Persians
intended to make expedition, remembering the former events), the
Naxians departed forthwith fleeing to the mountains, and did not await
their attack; but the Persians made slaves of those of them whom they
caught and set fire to both the temples and the town. Having so done
they put out to sea to attack the other islands.
97. While these were doing thus, the Delians also had left Delos and
fled away to Tenos; and when the armament was sailing in thither,
Datis sailed on before and did not allow the ships to anchor at the
island of Delos, but at Rhenaia on the other side of the channel; and
he himself, having found out by inquiry where the men of Delos were,
sent a herald and addressed them thus: "Holy men, why are ye fled away
and departed, having judged of me that which is not convenient? for
even I of myself have wisdom at least so far, and moreover it has been
thus commanded me by the king, not to harm at all that land in which
the two divinities were born, neither the land itself nor the
inhabitants of it. Now therefore return to your own possessions and
dwell in your island." Thus he proclaimed by a herald to the Delians;
and after this he piled up and burned upon the altar three hundred
talents' weight of frankincense. 98. Datis having done these things
sailed away with his army to fight against Eretria first, taking with
him both Ionians and Aiolians; and after he had put out to sea from
thence, Delos was moved, not having been shaken (as the Delians
reported to me) either before that time or since that down to my own
time; and this no doubt the god[86a] manifested as a portent to men of
the evils that were about to be; for in the time of Dareios the son of
Hystaspes and Xerxes the son of Dareios and Artoxerxes the son of
Xerxes, three generations following upon one another, there happened
more evils to Hellas than during the twenty other generations which
came before Dareios, some of the evils coming to it from the Persians,
and others from the leaders themselves of Hellas warring together for
supremacy. Thus it was not unreasonable that Delos should be moved,
which was before unmoved. [And in an oracle it was thus written about
it:
"Delos too will I move, unmoved though it hath been aforetime."][87]
Now in the Hellenic tongue the names which have been mentioned have
this meaning--Dareios means "compeller,"[88] Xerxes "warrior,"[89]
Artoxerxes "great warrior."[90] Thus then might the Hellenes rightly
call these kings in their own tongue.
99. The Barbarians then, when they had departed from Delos, touched at
the islands as they went, and from them received additional forces and
took sons of the islanders as hostages: and when in sailing round
about the islands they put in also to Carystos, seeing that the
Carystians would neither give them hostages nor consent to join in an
expedition against cities that were their neighbours, meaning Eretria
and Athens, they began to besiege them and to ravage their land; until
at last the Carystians also came over to the will of the Persians.
100. The Eretrians meanwhile being informed that the armament of the
Persians was sailing to attack them, requested the Athenians to help
them; and the Athenians did not refuse their support, but gave as
helpers those four thousand to whom had been allotted the land of the
wealthy[91] Chalkidians. The Eretrians however, as it turned out, had
no sound plan of action, for while they sent for the Athenians, they
had in their minds two different designs: some of them, that is,
proposed to leave the city and go to the heights of Eubœa; while
others of them, expecting to win gain for themselves from the Persian,
were preparing to surrender the place. Having got knowledge of how
things were as regards both these plans, Aischines the son of Nothon,
one of the leaders of the Eretrians, told the whole condition of their
affairs to those of the Athenians who had come, and entreated them to
depart and go to their own land, that they might not also perish. So
the Athenians did according to this counsel given to them by
Aischines. 101. And while these passed over to Oropos and saved
themselves, the Persians sailed on and brought their ships to land
about Temenos and Chioreai and Aigilea in the Eretrian territory; and
having taken possession of these places,[91a] forthwith they began to
disembark their horses and prepared to advance against the enemy. The
Eretrians however did not intend to come forth against them and fight;
but their endeavour was if possible to hold out by defending their
walls, since the counsel prevailed not to leave the city. Then a
violent assault was made upon the wall, and for six days there fell
many on both sides; but on the seventh day Euphorbos the son of
Alkimachos and Philagros the son of Kyneos, men of repute among the
citizens, gave up the city to the Persians. These having entered the
city plundered and set fire to the temples in retribution for the
temples which were burned at Sardis, and also reduced the people to
slavery according to the commands of Dareios.
102. Having got Eretria into their power, they stayed a few days and
then sailed for the land of Attica, pressing on[92] hard and supposing
that the Athenians would do the same as the Eretrians had done. And
since Marathon was the most convenient place in Attica for horsemen to
act and was also very near to Eretria, therefore Hippias the son of
Peisistratos was guiding them thither. 103. When the Athenians had
information of this, they too went to Marathon to the rescue of their
land; and they were led by ten generals, of whom the tenth was
Miltiades, whose father Kimon of Stesagoras had been compelled to go
into exile from Athens because of Peisistratos the son of Hippocrates:
and while he was in exile it was his fortune to win a victory at the
Olympic games with a four-horse chariot, wherein, as it happened, he
did the same thing as his half-brother Miltiades[93] had done, who had
the same mother as he. Then afterwards in the next succeeding Olympic
games he gained a victory with the same mares and allowed Peisistratos
to be proclaimed as victor; and having resigned to him the victory he
returned to his own native land under an agreement for peace. Then
after he had won with the same mares at another Olympic festival, it
was his hap to be slain by the sons of Peisistratos, Peisistratos
himself being no longer alive. These killed him near the City Hall,
having set men to lie in wait for him by night; and the burial-place
of Kimon is in the outskirts of the city, on the other side of the
road which is called the way through Coile, and just opposite him
those mares are buried which won in three Olympic games. This same
thing was done also by the mares belonging to Euagoras the Laconian,
but besides these by none others. Now the elder of the sons of Kimon,
Stesagoras, was at that time being brought up in the house of his
father's brother Miltiades in the Chersonese, while the younger son
was being brought up at Athens with Kimon himself, having been named
Miltiades after Miltiades the settler of the Chersonese. 104. This
Miltiades then at the time of which we speak had come from the
Chersonese and was a general of the Athenians, after escaping death in
two forms; for not only did the Phenicians, who had pursued after him
as far as Imbros, endeavour earnestly to take him and bring him up to
the presence of the king, but also after this, when he had escaped
from these and had come to his own native land and seemed to be in
safety from that time forth, his opponents, who had laid wait for him
there, brought him up before a court and prosecuted him for his
despotism in the Chersonese. Having escaped these also, he had then
been appointed a general of the Athenians, being elected by the
people.
105. First of all, while they were still in the city, the generals
sent off to Sparta a herald, namely Pheidippides[94] an Athenian and
for the rest a runner of long day-courses and one who practised this
as his profession. With this man, as Pheidippides himself said and as
he made report to the Athenians, Pan chanced to meet by mount
Parthenion, which is above Tegea; and calling aloud the name of
Pheidippides, Pan bade him report to the Athenians and ask for what
reason they had no care of him, though he was well disposed to the
Athenians and had been serviceable to them on many occasions before
that time, and would be so also yet again. Believing that this tale
was true, the Athenians, when their affairs had been now prosperously
settled, established under the Acropolis a temple of Pan; and in
consequence of this message they propitiate him with sacrifice offered
every year and with a torch-race. 106. However at that time, the time
namely when he said that Pan appeared to him, this Pheidippides having
been sent by the generals was in Sparta on the next day after that on
which he left the city of the Athenians; and when he had come to the
magistrates he said: "Lacedemonians, the Athenians make request of you
to come to their help and not to allow a city most anciently
established among the Hellenes to fall into slavery by the means of
Barbarians; for even now Eretria has been enslaved, and Hellas has
become the weaker by a city of renown." He, as I say, reported to them
that with which he had been charged, and it pleased them well to come
to help the Athenians; but it was impossible for them to do so at
once, since they did not desire to break their law; for it was the
ninth day of the month, and on the ninth day they said they would not
go forth, nor until the circle of the moon should be full.[95]
107. These men were waiting for the full moon: and meanwhile Hippias
the son of Peisistratos was guiding the Barbarians in to Marathon,
after having seen on the night that was just past a vision in his
sleep of this kind,--it seemed to Hippias that he lay with his own
mother. He conjectured then from the dream that he should return to
Athens and recover his rule, and then bring his life to an end in old
age in his own land. From the dream, I say, he conjectured this; and
after this, as he guided them in, first he disembarked the slaves from
Eretria on the island belonging to the Styrians, called Aigleia;[96]
and then, as the ships came in to shore at Marathon, he moored them
there, and after the Barbarians had come from their ships to land, he
was engaged in disposing them in their places. While he was ordering
these things, it came upon him to sneeze and cough more violently than
was his wont. Then since he was advanced in years, most of his teeth
were shaken thereby, and one of these teeth he cast forth by the
violence of the cough:[97] and the tooth having fallen from him upon
the sand, he was very desirous to find it; since however the tooth was
not to be found when he searched, he groaned aloud and said to those
who were by him: "This land is not ours, nor shall we be able to make
it subject to us; but so much part in it as belonged to me the tooth
possesses."
108. Hippias then conjectured that his vision had been thus fulfilled:
and meanwhile, after the Athenians had been drawn up in the sacred
enclosure of Heracles, there joined them the Plataians coming to their
help in a body: for the Plataians had given themselves to the
Athenians, and the Athenians before this time undertook many toils on
behalf of them; and this was the manner in which they gave themselves:
--Being oppressed by the Thebans, the Plataians at first desired to
give themselves to Cleomenes the son of Anaxandrides and to the
Lacedemonians, who chanced to come thither; but these did not accept
them, and said to them as follows: "We dwell too far off, and such
support as ours would be to you but cold comfort; for ye might many
times be reduced to slavery before any of us had information of it:
but we counsel you rather to give yourselves to the Athenians, who are
both neighbours and also not bad helpers." Thus the Lacedemonians
counselled, not so much on account of their goodwill to the Plataians
as because they desired that the Athenians should have trouble by
being involved in a conflict with the Bœtians. The Lacedemonians, I
say, thus counselled the men of Plataia; and they did not fail to
follow their counsel, but when the Athenians were doing sacrifice to
the twelve gods, they sat down as suppliants at the altar and so gave
themselves. Then the Thebans having been informed of these things
marched against the Plataians, and the Athenians came to their
assistance: and as they were about to join battle, the Corinthians did
not permit them to do so, but being by chance there, they reconciled
their strife; and both parties having put the matter into their hands,
they laid down boundaries for the land, with the condition that the
Thebans should leave those of the Bœotians alone who did not desire to
be reckoned with the other Bœotians. The Corinthians having given this
decision departed; but as the Athenians were going back, the Bœotians
attacked them, and having attacked them they were worsted in the
fight. Upon that the Athenians passed beyond the boundaries which the
Corinthians had set to be for the Plataians, and they made the river
Asopos itself to be the boundary of the Thebans towards the land of
Plataia and towards the district of Hysiai. The Plataians then had
given themselves to the Athenians in the manner which has been said,
and at this time they came to Marathon to bring them help.
109. Now the opinions of the generals of the Athenians were divided,
and the one party urged that they should not fight a battle, seeing
that they were too few to fight with the army of the Medes, while the
others, and among them Miltiades, advised that they should do so: and
when they were divided and the worse opinion was like to prevail,
then, since he who had been chosen by lot[98] to be polemarch of the
Athenians had a vote in addition to the ten (for in old times the
Athenians gave the polemarch an equal vote with the generals) and at
that time the polemarch was Callimachos of the deme of Aphidnai, to
him came Miltiades and said as follows: "With thee now it rests,
Callimachos, either to bring Athens under slavery, or by making her
free to leave behind thee for all the time that men shall live a
memorial such as not even Harmodios and Aristogeiton have left. For
now the Athenians have come to a danger the greatest to which they
have ever come since they were a people; and on the one hand, if they
submit to the Medes, it is determined what they shall suffer, being
delivered over to Hippias, while on the other hand, if this city shall
gain the victory, it may become the first of the cities of Hellas. How
this may happen and how it comes to thee of all men[99] to have the
decision of these matters, I am now about to tell. Of us the generals,
who are ten in number, the opinions are divided, the one party urging
that we fight a battle and the others that we do not fight. Now if we
do not, I expect that some great spirit of discord will fall upon the
minds of the Athenians and so shake them that they shall go over to
the Medes; but if we fight a battle before any unsoundness appear in
any part of the Athenian people, then we are able to gain the victory
in the fight, if the gods grant equal conditions. These things then
all belong to thee and depend on thee; for if thou attach thyself to
my opinions, thou hast both a fatherland which is free and a native
city which shall be the first among the cities of Hellas; but if thou
choose the opinion of those who are earnest against fighting, thou
shalt have the opposite of those good things of which I told thee."
110. Thus speaking Miltiades gained Callimachos to his side; and the
opinion of the polemarch being added, it was thus determined to fight
a battle. After this, those generals whose opinion was in favour of
fighting, as the turn of each one of them to command for the day[100]
came round, gave over their command to Miltiades; and he, accepting
it, would not however yet bring about a battle, until his own turn to
command had come. 111. And when it came round to him, then the
Athenians were drawn up for battle in the order which here follows:--
On the right wing the polemarch Callimachos was leader (for the custom
of the Athenians then was this, that the polemarch should have the
right wing); and he leading, next after him came the tribes in order
as they were numbered one after another, and last were drawn up the
Plataians occupying the left wing: for[101] ever since this battle,
when the Athenians offer sacrifices in the solemn assemblies[102]
which are made at the four-yearly festivals,[103] the herald of the
Athenians prays thus, "that blessings[104] may come to the Athenians
and to the Plataians both." On this occasion however, when the
Athenians were being drawn up at Marathon something of this kind was
done:--their army being made equal in length of front to that of the
Medes, came to drawn up in the middle with a depth of but few ranks,
and here their army was weakest, while each wing was strengthened with
numbers. 112. And when they had been arranged in their places and the
sacrifices proved favourable, then the Athenians were let go, and they
set forth at a run to attack the Barbarians. Now the space between the
armies was not less than eight furlongs:[105] and the Persians seeing
them advancing to the attack at a run, made preparations to receive
them; and in their minds they charged the Athenians with madness which
must be fatal, seeing that they were few and yet were pressing
forwards at a run, having neither cavalry nor archers.[106] Such was
the thought of the Barbarians; but the Athenians when all in a body
they had joined in combat with the Barbarians, fought in a memorable
fashion: for they were the first of all the Hellenes about whom we
know who went to attack the enemy at a run, and they were the first
also who endured to face the Median garments and the men who wore
them, whereas up to this time the very name of the Medes was to the
Hellenes a terror to hear. 113. Now while they fought in Marathon,
much time passed by; and in the centre of the army, where the Persians
themselves and the Sacans were drawn up, the Barbarians were winning,
--here, I say, the Barbarians had broken the ranks of their opponents
and were pursuing them inland, but on both wings the Athenians and the
Plataians severally were winning the victory; and being victorious
they left that part of the Barbarians which had been routed to fly
without molestation, and bringing together the two wings they fought
with those who had broken their centre, and the Athenians were
victorious. So they followed after the Persians as they fled,
slaughtering them, until they came to the sea; and then they called
for fire and began to take hold of the ships. 114. In this part of the
work was slain the polemarch Callimachos after having proved himself a
good man, and also one of the generals, Stesilaos the son of
Thrasylaos, was killed; and besides this Kynegeiros the son of
Euphorion while taking hold[107] there of the ornament at the stern of
a ship had his hand cut off with an axe and fell; and many others also
of the Athenians who were men of note were killed. 115. Seven of the
ships the Athenians got possession of in this manner, but with the
rest the Barbarians pushed off from land, and after taking the
captives from Eretria off the island where they had left them, they
sailed round Sunion, purposing to arrive at the city before the
Athenians. And an accusation became current among the Athenians to the
effect that they formed this design by contrivance of the
Alcmaionidai; for these, it was said, having concerted matters with
the Persians, displayed to them a shield when they had now embarked in
their ships. 116. These then, I say, were sailing round Sunion; and
meanwhile the Athenians came to the rescue back to the city as
speedily as they could, and they arrived there before the Barbarians
came; and having arrived from the temple of Heracles at Marathon they
encamped at another temple of Heracles, namely that which is in
Kynosarges. The Barbarians however came and lay with their ships in
the sea which is off Phaleron, (for this was then the seaport of the
Athenians), they anchored their ships, I say, off this place, and then
proceeded to sail back to Asia.
117. In this fight at Marathon there were slain of the Barbarians
about six thousand four hundred men, and of the Athenians a hundred
and ninety and two. Such was the number which fell on both sides; and
it happened also that a marvel occurred there of this kind:--an
Athenian, Epizelos the son of Cuphagoras, while fighting in the close
combat and proving himself a good man, was deprived of the sight of
his eyes, neither having received a blow in any part of his body nor
having been hit with a missile, and for the rest of his life from this
time he continued to be blind: and I was informed that he used to tell
about that which had happened to him a tale of this kind, namely that
it seemed to him that a tall man in full armour stood against him,
whose beard overshadowed his whole shield; and this apparition passed
him by, but killed his comrade who stood next to him. Thus, as I was
informed, Epizelos told the tale.
118. Datis, however, as he was going with his army to Asia, when he
had come to Myconos saw a vision in his sleep; and of what nature the
vision was it is not reported, but as soon as day dawned he caused a
search to be made of the ships, and finding in a Phenician ship an
image of Apollo overlaid with gold, he inquired from whence it had
been carried off. Then having been informed from what temple it came,
he sailed in his own ship to Delos: and finding that the Delians had
returned then to the island, he deposited the image in the temple and
charged the men of Delos to convey it back to Delion in the territory
of the Thebans, which is situated by the sea-coast just opposite
Chalkis. Datis having given this charge sailed away: the Delians
however did not convey the statue back, but after an interval of
twenty years the Thebans themselves brought it to Delion by reason of
an oracle. 119. Now as to those Eretrians who had been reduced to
slavery, Datis and Artaphrenes, when they reached Asia in their
voyage, brought them up to Susa; and king Dareios, though he had great
anger against the Eretrians before they were made captive, because the
Eretrians had done wrong to him unprovoked, yet when he saw that they
had been brought up to him and were in his power, he did them no more
evil, but established them as settlers in the Kissian land upon one of
his own domains, of which the name is Ardericca: and this is distant
two hundred and ten furlongs from Susa and forty from the well which
produces things of three different kinds; for they draw from it
asphalt, salt and oil, in the manner which here follows:--the liquid
is drawn with a swipe, to which there is fastened half a skin instead
of a bucket, and a man strikes this down into it and draws up, and
then pours it into a cistern, from which it runs through into another
vessel, taking three separate ways. The asphalt and the salt become
solid at once, and the oil[108] which is called by the Persians
/rhadinake/, is black and gives out a disagreeable smell. Here king
Dareios established the Eretrians as settlers; and even to my time
they continued to occupy this land, keeping still their former
language. Thus it happened with regard to the Eretrians.
120. Of the Lacedemonians there came to Athens two thousand after the
full moon, making great haste to be in time, so that they arrived in
Attica on the third day after leaving Sparta: and though they had come
too late for the battle, yet they desired to behold the Medes; and
accordingly they went out to Marathon and looked at the bodies of the
slain: then afterwards they departed home, commending the Athenians
and the work which they had done.
121. Now it is a cause of wonder to me, and I do not accept the
report, that the Alcmaionidai could ever have displayed to the
Persians a shield by a previous understanding, with the desire that
the Athenians should be under the Barbarians and under Hippias; seeing
that they are evidently proved to have been haters of despots as much
or more than Callias the son of Phainippos and father of Hipponicos,
while Callias for his part was the only man of all the Athenians who
dared, when Peisistratos was driven out of Athens, to buy his goods
offered for sale by the State, and in other ways also he contrived
against him everything that was most hostile: [122. Of this Callias it
is fitting that every one should have remembrance for many reasons:
first because of that which has been before said, namely that he was a
man of excellence in freeing his country; and then also for that which
he did at the Olympic games, wherein he gained a victory in the horse-
race and was second in the chariot-race, and he had before this been a
victor at the Pythian games, so that he was distinguished in the sight
of all Hellenes by the sums which he expended; and finally because he
showed himself a man of such liberality towards his daughters, who
were three in number; for when they came to be of ripe age for
marriage, he gave them a most magnificent dowry and also indulged
their inclinations; for whomsoever of all the Athenians each one of
them desired to choose as a husband for herself, to that man he gave
her.][109] 123, and similarly,[110] the Alcmaionidai were haters of
despots equally or more[111] than he. Therefore this is a cause of
wonder to me, and I do not admit the accusation that these they were
who displayed the shield; seeing that they were in exile from the
despots during their whole time, and that by their contrivance the
sons of Peisistratos gave up their rule. Thus it follows that they
were the men who set Athens free much more than Harmodios and
Aristogeiton, as I judge: for these my slaying Hipparchos exasperated
the rest of the family of Peisistratos, and did not at all cause the
others to cease from their despotism; but the Alcmaionidai did
evidently set Athens free, at least if these were in truth the men who
persuaded the Pythian prophetess to signify to the Lacedemonians that
they should set Athens free, as I have set forth before. 124. It may
be said however that they had some cause of complaint against the
people of the Athenians, and therefore endeavoured to betray their
native city. But on the contrary there were no men in greater repute
than they, among the Athenians at least, nor who had been more highly
honoured. Thus it is not reasonable to suppose that by them a shield
should have been displayed for any such purpose. A shield was
displayed, however; that cannot be denied, for it was done: but as to
who it was who displayed it, I am not able to say more than this.
125. Now the family of Alcmaionidai was distinguished in Athens in the
earliest times also, and from the time of Alcmaion and of Megacles
after him they became very greatly distinguished. For first Alcmaion
the son of Megacles showed himself a helper of the Lydians from Sardis
who came from Crœsus to the Oracle at Delphi, and assisted them with
zeal; and Crœsus having heard from the Lydians who went to the Oracle
that this man did him service, sent for him to Sardis; and when he
came, he offered to give him a gift of as much gold as he could carry
away at once upon his own person. With a view to this gift, its nature
being such, Alcmaion made preparations and used appliances as follows:
--he put on a large tunic leaving a deep fold in the tunic to hang
down in front, and he draw on his feet the widest boots which he could
find, and so went to the treasury to which they conducted him. Then he
fell upon a heap of gold-dust, and first he packed in by the side of
his legs so much of the gold as his boots would contain, and then he
filled the whole fold of the tunic with the gold and sprinkled some of
the gold dust on the hair of his head and took some into his mouth,
and having so done he came forth out of the treasury, with difficulty
dragging along his boots and resembling anything in the world rather
than a man; for his mouth was stuffed full, and every part of him was
swelled out: and upon Crœsus came laughter when he saw him, and he not
only gave him all that, but also presented him in addition with more
not inferior in value to that. Thus this house became exceedingly
wealthy, and thus the Alcmaion of whom I speak became a breeder of
chariot-horses and won a victory at Olympia. 126. Then in the next
generation after this, Cleisthenes the despot of Sikyon exalted the
family, so that it became of much more note among the Hellenes than it
had been formerly. For Cleisthenes the son of Arisonymos, the son of
Myron, the son of Andreas, had a daughter whose name was Agariste; and
as to her he formed a desire to find out the best man of all the
Hellenes and to assign her to him in marriage. So when the Olympic
games were being held and Cleisthenes was victor in them with a four-
horse chariot, he caused a proclamation to be made, that whosoever of
the Hellenes thought himself worthy to be the son-in-law of
Cleisthenes should come on the sixtieth day, or before that if he
would, to Sikyon; for Cleisthenes intended to conclude the marriage
within a year, reckoning from the sixtieth day. Then all those of the
Hellenes who had pride either in themselves or in their high
descent,[112] came as wooers, and for them Cleisthenes had a running-
course and a wrestling-place made and kept them expressly for their
use. 127. From Italy came Smindyrides the son of Hippocrates of
Sybaris, who of all men on earth reached the highest point of luxury
(now Sybaris at this time was in the height of its prosperity), and
Damasos of Siris, the son of that Amyris who was called the Wise;
these came from Italy: from the Ionian gulf came Amphimnestos the son
of Epistrophos of Epidamnos, this man from the Ionian gulf: from
Aitolia came Males, the brother of that Titormos who surpassed all the
Hellenes in strength and who fled from the presence of men to the
furthest extremities of the Aitolian land: from Peloponnesus, Leokedes
the son of Pheidon the despot of the Argives, that Pheidon who
established for the Peloponnesians the measures which they use, and
who went beyond all other Hellenes in wanton insolence, since he
removed from their place the presidents of the games appointed by the
Eleians and himself presided over the games at Olympia,--his son, I
say, and Amiantos the son of Lycurgos an Arcadian from Trapezus, and
Laphanes an Azanian from the city of Paios, son of that Euphorion who
(according to the story told in Arcadia) received the Dioscuroi as
guests in his house and from thenceforth was wont to entertain all men
who came, and Onomastos the son of Agaios of Elis; these, I say, came
from Peloponnesus itself: from Athens came Megacles the son of that
Alcmaion who went to Crœsus, and besides him Hippocleides the son of
Tisander, one who surpassed the other Athenians in wealth and in
comeliness of form: from Eretria, which at that time was flourishing,
came Lysanias, he alone from Eubœa: from Thessalia came Diactorides of
Crannon, one of the family of the Scopadai: and from the Molossians,
Alcon. 128. So many in number did the wooers prove to be: and when
these had come by the appointed day, Cleisthenes first inquired of
their native countries and of the descent of each one, and then
keeping them for a year he made trial continually both of their manly
virtue and of their disposition, training and temper, associating both
with each one separately and with the whole number together: and he
made trial of them both by bringing out to bodily exercises those of
them who were younger, and also especially in the common feast: for
during all the time that he kept them he did everything that could be
done, and at the same time he entertained them magnificently. Now it
chanced that those of the wooers pleased him most who had come from
Athens, and of these Hippocleides the son of Tisander was rather
preferred, both by reason of manly virtues and also because he was
connected by descent with the family of Kypselos at Corinth. 129. Then
when the appointed day came for the marriage banquet and for
Cleisthenes himself to declare whom he selected from the whole number,
Cleisthenes sacrificed a hundred oxen and feasted both the wooers
themselves and all the people of Sikyon; and when the dinner was over,
the wooers began to vie with one another both in music and in speeches
for the entertainment of the company;[113] and as the drinking went
forward and Hippocleides was very much holding the attention of the
others,[114] he bade the flute-player play for him a dance-measure;
and when the flute-player did so, he danced: and it so befell that he
pleased himself in his dancing, but Cleisthenes looked on at the whole
matter with suspicion. Then Hippocleides after a certain time bade one
bring in a table; and when the table came in, first he danced upon it
Laconian figures, and then also Attic, and thirdly he planted his head
upon the table and gesticulated with his legs. Cleisthenes meanwhile,
when he was dancing the first and the second time, though he abhorred
the thought that Hippocleides should now become his son-in-law,
because of his dancing and his shamelessness, yet restrained himself,
not desiring to break out in anger against him; but when he saw that
he thus gesticulated with his legs, he was no longer able to restrain
himself, but said: "Thou hast danced away thy marriage however,[115]
son of Tisander!" and Hippocleides answered and said: "Hippocleides
cares not!" 130, and hence comes this saying. Then Cleisthenes caused
silence to be made, and spoke to the company as follows: "Men who are
wooers of my daughter, I commend you all, and if it were possible I
would gratify you all, neither selecting one of you to be preferred,
nor rejecting the remainder. Since however it is not possible, as I am
deliberating about one maiden only, to act so as to please all,
therefore to those of you who are rejected from this marriage I give
as a gift a talent of silver to each one for the worthy estimation ye
had of me, in that ye desired to marry from my house, and for the time
of absence from your homes; and to the son of Alcmaion, Megacles, I
offer my daughter Agariste in betrothal according to the customs of
the Athenians." Thereupon Megacles said that he accepted the
betrothal, and so the marriage was determined by Cleisthenes.
131. Thus it happened as regards the judgment of the wooers, and thus
the Alcmaionidai got renown over all Hellas. And these having been
married, there was born to them that Cleisthenes who established the
tribes and the democracy for the Athenians, he being called after the
Sikyonian Cleisthenes, his mother's father; this son, I say, was born
to Megacles, and also Hippocrates: and of Hippocrates came another
Megacles and another Agariste, called after Agariste, the daughter of
Cleisthenes, who having been married to Xanthippos the son of Ariphron
and being with child, saw a vision in her sleep, and it seemed to her
that she had brought forth a lion: then after a few days she bore to
Xanthippos Pericles.
132. After the defeat at Marathon, Miltiades, who even before was well
reputed with the Athenians, came then to be in much higher estimation:
and when he asked the Athenians for seventy ships and an army with
supplies of money, not declaring to them against what land he was
intending to make an expedition, but saying that he would enrich them
greatly if they would go with him, for he would lead them to a land of
such a kind that they would easily get from it gold in abundance,--
thus saying he asked for the ships; and the Athenians, elated by these
words, delivered them over to him. 133. Then Miltiades, when he had
received the army, proceeded to sail to Paris with the pretence that
the Parians had first attacked Athens by making expedition with
triremes to Marathon in company with the Persian: this was the pretext
which he put forward, but he had also a grudge against the Parians on
account of Lysagoras the son of Tisias, who was by race of Paros, for
having accused him to Hydarnes the Persian. So when Miltiades had
arrived at the place to which he was sailing, he began to besiege the
Parians with his army, first having shut them up within their wall;
and sending in to them a herald he asked for a hundred talents, saying
that if they refused to give them, his army should not return
back[116] until it had conquered them completely. The Parians however
had no design of giving any money to Miltiades, but contrived only how
they might defend their city, devising various things besides and also
this,--wherever at any time the wall proved to be open to attack, that
point was raised when night came on to double its former height. 134.
So much of the story is reported by all the Hellenes, but as to what
followed the Parians alone report, and they say that it happened thus:
--When Miltiades was at a loss, it is said, there came a woman to
speech with him, who had been taken prisoner, a Parian by race whose
name was Timo, an under-priestess[117] of the Earth goddesses;[118]
she, they say, came into the presence of Miltiades and counselled him
that if he considered it a matter of much moment to conquer Paros, he
could do that which she should suggest to him; and upon that she told
him her meaning. He accordingly passed through to the hill which is
before the city and leapt over the fence of the temple of Demeter
Giver of Laws,[119] not being able to open the door; and then having
leapt over he went on towards the sanctuary[120] with the design of
doing something within, whether it were that he meant to lay hands on
some of the things which should not be touched, or whatever else he
intended to do; and when he had reached the door, forthwith a
shuddering fear came over him and he set off to go back the same way
as he came, and as he leapt down from the wall of rough stones his
thigh was dislocated, or, as others say, he struck his knee against
the wall. 135. Miltiades accordingly, being in a wretched case, set
forth to sail homewards, neither bringing wealth to the Athenians nor
having added to them the possession of Paros, but having besieged the
city for six-and-twenty days and laid waste the island: and the
Parians being informed that Timo the under-priestess of the goddesses
had acted as a guide to Miltiades, desired to take vengeance upon her
for this, and they sent messengers to Delphi to consult the god, so
soon as they had leisure from the siege; and these messengers they
sent to ask whether they should put to death the under-priestess of
the goddesses, who had been a guide to their enemies for the capture
of her native city and had revealed to Miltiades the mysteries which
might not be uttered to a male person. The Pythian prophetess however
forbade them, saying that Timo was not the true author of these
things, but since it was destined that Miltiades should end his life
not well, she had appeared to guide him to his evil fate. 136. Thus
the Pythian prophetess replied to the Parians: and the Athenians, when
Miltiades had returned back from Paros, began to talk of him, and
among the rest especially Xanthippos the son of Ariphron, who brought
Miltiades up before the people claiming the penalty of death and
prosecuted him for his deception of the Athenians: and Miltiades did
not himself make his own defence, although he was present, for he was
unable to do so because his thigh was mortifying; but he lay in public
view upon a bed, while his friends made a defence for him, making
mention much both of the battle which had been fought at Marathon and
of the conquest of Lemnos, namely how he had conquered Lemnos and
taken vengeance on the Pelasgians, and had delivered it over to the
Athenians: and the people came over to his part as regards the
acquittal from the penalty of death, but they imposed a fine of fifty
talents for the wrong committed: and after this Miltiades died, his
thigh having gangrened and mortified, and the fifty talents were paid
by his son Kimon.
137. Now Miltiades son of Kimon had thus taken possession of the
Lemnos:--After the Pelasgians had been cast out of Attica by the
Athenians, whether justly or unjustly,--for about this I cannot tell
except the things reported, which are these:--Hecataois on the one
hand, the son of Hegesander, said in his history that it was done
unjustly; for he said that when the Athenians saw the land which
extends below Hymettos, which they had themselves given them[121] to
dwell in, as payment for the wall built round the Acropolis in former
times, when the Athenians, I say, saw that this land was made good by
cultivation, which before was bad and worthless, they were seized with
jealousy and with longing to possess the land, and so drove them out,
not alleging any other pretext: but according to the report of the
Athenians themselves they drove them out justly; for the Pelasgians
being settled under Hymettos made this a starting-point and committed
wrong against them as follows:--the daughters and sons of the
Athenians were wont ever to go for water to the spring of Enneacrunos;
for at that time neither they nor the other Hellenes as yet had
household servants; and when these girls came, the Pelasgians in
wantonness and contempt of the Athenians would offer them violence;
and it was not enough for them even to do this, but at last they were
found in the act of plotting an attack upon the city: and the
narrators say that they herein proved themselves better men than the
Pelasgians, inasmuch as when they might have slain the Pelasgians, who
had been caught plotting against them, they did not choose to do so,
but ordered them merely to depart out of the land: and thus having
departed out of the land, the Pelasgians took possession of several
older places and especially of Lemnos. The former story is that which
was reported by Hecataios, while the latter is that which is told by
the Athenians. 138. These Pelasgians then, dwelling after that in
Lemnos, desired to take vengeance on the Athenians; and having full
knowledge also of the festivals of the Athenians, they got[122] fifty-
oared galleys and laid wait for the women of the Athenians when they
were keeping festival to Artemis in Brauron; and having carried off a
number of them from thence, they departed and sailed away home, and
taking the women to Lemnos they kept them as concubines. Now when
these women had children gradually more and more, they made it their
practice to teach their sons both the Attic tongue and the manners of
the Athenians. And these were not willing to associate with the sons
of the Pelasgian women, and moreover if any of them were struck by any
one of those, they all in a body came to the rescue and helped one
another. Moreover the boys claimed to have authority over the other
boys and got the better of them easily. Perceiving these things the
Pelasgians considered the matter; and when they took counsel together,
a fear came over them and they thought, if the boys were indeed
resolved now to help one another against the sons of the legitimate
wives, and were endeavouring already from the first to have authority
over them, what would they do when they were grown up to be men? Then
they determined to put to death the sons of the Athenian women, and
this they actually did; and in addition to them they slew their
mothers also. From this deed and from that which was done before this,
which the women did when they killed Thoas and the rest, who were
their own husbands, it has become a custom in Hellas that all deeds of
great cruelty should be called "Lemnian deeds." 139. After the
Pelasgians had killed their own sons and wives, the earth did not bear
fruit for them, nor did their women or their cattle bring forth young
as they did before; and being hard pressed by famine and by
childlessness, they sent to Delphi to ask for a release from the evils
which were upon them; and the Pythian prophetess bade them pay such
penalty to the Athenians as the Athenians themselves should appoint.
The Pelasgians came accordingly to Athens and professed that they were
willing to pay the penalty for all the wrong which they had done: and
the Athenians laid a couch in the fairest possible manner in the City
Hall, and having set by it a table covered with all good things, they
bade the Pelasgians deliver up to them their land in that condition.
Then the Pelasgians answered and said: "When with a North Wind in one
single day a ship shall accomplish the voyage from your land to ours,
then we will deliver it up," feeling assured that it was impossible
for this to happen, since Attica lies far away to the South of Lemnos.
140. Such were the events which happened then: and very many years
later, after the Chersonese which is by the Hellespont had come to be
under the Athenians, Miltiades the son of Kimon, when the Etesian
Winds blew steadily, accomplished the voyage in a ship from Elaius in
the Chersonese to Lemnos, and proclaimed to the Pelasgians that they
should depart out of the island, reminding them of the oracle, which
the Pelasgians had never expected would be accomplished for them. The
men of Hephaistia accordingly obeyed; but those of Myrina, not
admitting that the Chersonese was Attica, suffered a siege, until at
last these also submitted. Thus it was that the Athenians and
Miltiades took possession of Lemnos.
----------
NOTES TO BOOK VI
1. {proboulous}.
2. See i. 148.
3. {epi keras}.
4. {diekploon poieumenos tesi neusi di alleleon}.
5. {tou Dareiou}: a conjecture based upon Valla's translation. The
MSS. have {ton Dareion}.
6. {prophasios epilabomenoi}.
6a. {en stele anagraphenai patrothen}.
7. "were very roughly handled."
8. {epibateuontas}.
8a. {nuktos te gar}: so Stein for {nuktos te}.
9. {kat akres}, lit. "from the top downwards," i.e. town and citadel both.
10. See ch. 77.
11. See i. 92 and v. 36.
11a. {Kalen akten}.
12. Possibly the reading should be {Inuka}, "Inyx."
13. {ton en te naumakhie}: perhaps we should read {ten en te
naumakhin}, "which took place in the sea-fight."
14. {en Koiloisi kaleomenoisi}.
15. {grammata didaskomenoisi}.
16. {limainouses}: a conjectural reading for {deimainouses}.
17. Lit. "and it became in fact the work of the cavalry."
18. {esagenouon}.
19. Or (according to some good MSS.) "Thelymbria."
20. Cp. iii. 120.
21. {stadioi}: the distances here mentioned are equal to a little more
than four and a little less than fifty miles respectively.
22. {en gnome gegonos}.
23. {pituos tropon}: the old name of the town was Pityussa.
24. That is to say, Kimon was his half-brother, and Stesagoras and the
younger Miltiades his nephews.
25. See ch. 103.
26. {delade}.
27. {eleluthee}, but the meaning must be this, and it is explained by
the clause, {trito men gar etei k.t.l.}
28. {stadia}: see v. 52, note 40.
29. See iii. 80.
30. {entos Makedonon}, "on their side of the Macedonians."
30a. Or (according to some MSS.) "about three hundred."
31. Or "Scaptesyle." (The Medicean MS. however has {skaptes ules}, not
{skaptesules}, as reported by Stein.)
32. {ta proiskheto aiteon}, "that which he put forward demanding it."
33. i.e. "ram."
34. {ton geraiteron}.
35. {en to demosio}.
36. This is commonly understood to mean, leaving out of account the
god who was father of Perseus; but the reason for stopping short
at Perseus is given afterwards, and the expression {tou theou
apeontos} refers perhaps rather to the case of Heracles, the
legend of whose birth is rejected by Herodotus (see ii. 43), and
rejected also by this genealogy, which passes through Amphitryon
up to Perseus. I take it that {tou theou apeontos} means
"reckoning Heracles" (who is mentioned by name just below in this
connexion) "as the son of Amphitryon and not of Zeus."
37. i.e. "of heaven."
38. {medimnon}, the Lacedemonian {medimnos} being equal to rather more
than two bushels.
39. {tetarten Lakomiken}, quantity uncertain.
40. {proxeinous}.
41. {khoinikas}. There were 48 {khoinikes} in the {medimnos}.
42. {kotulen}.
42a. The loose manner in which this is expressed, leaving it uncertain
whether each king was supposed by the writer to have two votes
given for him (cp. Thuc. i. 20), or whether the double vote was
one for each king, must of course be reproduced in the
translation.
43. {perioikon}.
44. See ch. 51.
45. {proergazomenon}: a conjectural emendation of {prosergazomenon}.
46. {tes apates te paragoge}, "by the misleading of the deception."
47. i.e. lunar months.
48. {en thoko katemeno}.
49. {pandemei}.
50. {aren}.
51. i.e. "prayed for by the people."
52. {di a}: a conjectural emendation of {dia ta}. Some Editors suppose
that other words have dropped out.
53. {promantin}: cp. vii. III.
54. {ton splagkhnon}.
55. {tou erkeiou}.
56. {ton mataioteron logon legontes}.
57. Lit. "on the third night after the first," but the meaning is as
given.
58. Most of the MSS. have "Astrobacos," which may be right.
59. Or "to the honour of the Lacedemonians."
60. i.e. any more than his predecessor.
61. See ch. 50.
62. {neotera epresse pregmata}.
63. {up Arkadon}: several good MSS. have {ton Arkadon}, which is
adopted by some Editors. The meaning would be "near this city it
is said that there is the Styx water of the Arcadians."
64. {upomargoteron}.
65. Demeter and Core.
66. The MSS. give also "Sepeia" and "Sipeia." The place is not
elsewhere mentioned.
67. See ch. 19.
68. {duo mneai}: cp. v. 77.
69. {o theos}, i.e. Hera: cp. i. 105.
70. {kalliereumeno}.
71. {kat akres}: cp. ch. 18.
72. i.e. was acquitted of the charge brought against him.
73. {episkuthison}.
74. {bouleuesthe}: some MSS. and editions have {boulesthe},
"desiring."
75. {en khrono ikneumeno}.
76. i.e. take an oath to that effect.
77. See v. 80.
78. {penteteris}. The reading {penteres}, which is given by most of
the MSS. and by several Editors, can hardly be defended.
79. {kai en gar}, "and since there was."
80. {Knoithou kaleomenos}: cp. vii. 143.
81. {thesmophorou}.
82. {pentaethlon epaskesas}.
83. {mounomakhien epaskeon}, "practising single combat," as if
training for the games.
84. {para te Ikarion}: the use of {para} and the absence of the
article may justify the conjecture {para te Ikarion} (or {Ikaron})
"by Icaria" (or "Icaros"), the island from which the Icarian Sea
had its name.
85. This perhaps should be emended, for the event referred to occurred
two years before, cp. ch. 46 and 48. The reading {trito proteron
etei} has been proposed.
86. See v. 33 ff.
86a. i.e. Apollo: or perhaps more generally, "God," as in ch. 27.
87. This in brackets is probably an interpolation. It is omitted by
some of the best MSS. Some Editors suspect the genuineness of the
next four lines also, on internal grounds.
88. {erxies}, perhaps meaning "worker."
89. {areios}.
90. {megas areios}.
91. {ippoboteon}, lit. "horse-breeding": see v. 77.
91a. Or (according to some MSS.), "having come to shore at these
places."
92. {katergontes}: the word is not elsewhere found intransitive, yet
it is rather difficult to supply {tous Athenaious}. Some
alterations have been proposed, but none probable.
93. Lit. "and it happened that in winning this victory he won the same
victory as his half-brother Miltiades." See ch. 36.
94. Or, according to some authorities, "Philippides."
95. Lit. "except the circle were full."
96. Or "Aigileia."
97. Lit. "by violence, having coughed."
98. "by the bean."
99. {es se toi}, a conjectural emendation of {es se ti}.
100. {prutaneie tes emeres}.
101. Some Editors propose to omit {gar} or alter it. If it be allowed
to stand, the meaning must be that the importance of the place is
testified by the commemoration mentioned.
102. {es tas panegurias}, some MSS. have {kai panegurias}, "hold
sacrifices and solemn assemblies."
103. {penteterisi}.
104. Lit. "the good things."
105. {stadioi}: the distance would be rather over 1600 yards.
106. Whether this is thrown in here by the historian as an explanation
of the rapid advance, or as an additional source of wonder on the
part of the Persians at the boldness of the Athenians, is not
clear.
107. Or (according to some MSS.) "having taken hold."
108. The account of how the oil was dealt with has perhaps dropt out:
one MS. and the Aldine edition have "the oil they collect in
vessels, and this," etc.
109. This chapter is omitted by several of the best MSS., and is
almost certainly an interpolation. (In the Medicean MS. it has
been added in the margin by a later hand.)
110. Answering to "Callias for his part" at the end of ch. 121, the
connexion being broken by the interpolated passage.
111. {ouden esson}.
112. {patre}, "family," or possibly "country," as in ch. 128.
113. {to legomeno es to meson}: perhaps only "general conversation."
114. {katekhon pollon tous allous}.
115. i.e. "though the dancing may be good."
116. {aponostesein}: some MSS. have {apanastesein}, "he would not take
away his army thence."
117. {upozakoron}.
118. {ton khthonion theon}, i.e. Demeter and Persephone: cp. vii. 153.
119. {thesmophorou}.
120. {to megaron}.
121. {sphi autoi}: a conjectural rendering of {sphisi autoisi}, which
can only be taken with {eousan}, meaning "belonging to them" i.e.
the Athenians, and involves the insertion of {Pelasgoisi} or
something equivalent with {edosan}.
122. {ktesamenoi}: some MSS. and editions have {stesamenoi}, "set
fifty-oared galleys in place."
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