Beginningfrom Egypt the Adrymachidæ are the first of the Libyans we meet with: they for the most part observe the usages of Egypt, but they wear the same dress as the other Libyans. The women wear a chain of bronze on each leg, and allow their hair to grow long. Next to these are the Giligammæ, who occupy the country westward, as far as the island Aphrodisias. Midway on this coast the island of Platea is situated, which the Cyrenæans colonized. The Asbystæ adjoin the Giligammæ westward; they inhabit the country above Cyrene, but do not reach to the sea; for the Cyrenæans occupy the sea-coast. They drive four-horsed chariots, more than any of the Libyans, and endeavor to imitate most of the customs of the Cyrenæans. The Nasamones, a very numerous people, live to the westward. In summer they leave their cattle on the coast, and go up to the region of Augila, in order to gather the fruit of the palm-trees, which grow in great numbers to a large size, and are all productive. They catch locusts, dry them in the sun, reduce them to powder, and sprinkling them in milk, drink them. In their oaths and divinations they swear, laying their hands on the sepulchres of those who are generally esteemed to have been the most just and excellent persons among them; and they divine, going to the tombs of their ancestors, and after having prayed, they lie down to sleep, and whatever dream they have, they avail themselves of. In pledging their faith, each party gives the other to drink out of his hand, and drinks in turn from the other's hand; and if they have no liquid, they take up some dust from the ground and lick it.
Above these to the north, in a country abounding with wildbeasts, live the Garamantes, who avoid all men and the society of any others; they do not possess any warlike weapon, nor do they know how to defend themselves. The Macæ adjoin them on the sea-coast, westward; these shave their heads so as to leave a tuft, and allowing the middle hair to grow, keep both sides shaved close to the skin; in war they wear the skins of ostriches for defensive armor. The river Cinyps, flowing through their country from a hill called the Graces, discharges itself into the sea. This hill of the Graces is thickly covered with trees, though all the rest of Libya is bare. From the sea to this hill is a distance of two hundred stades. The Lotophagi occupy the coast that projects to the sea in front; they subsist only on the fruit of the lotus, which is equal in size to the mastic berry, and in sweetness resembles the fruit of the palm-tree. The Lotophagi make wine also from this fruit.
The Machlyes, who also use the lotus, but in a less degree than those before mentioned, adjoin the Lotophagi on the sea-coast. They extend as far as a large river called Triton, which discharges itself into the great lake Tritonis; and in it is an island named Phla. They say that the Lacedæmonians were commanded by an oracle to colonize this island. The following story is also told: that Jason, when the building of the Argo was finished at the foot of Mount Pelion, having put a hecatomb on board, and a bronze tripod, sailed round the Peloponnesus, purposing to go to Delphi; and as he was sailing off Malea, a north wind caught him and drove him to Libya; and before he could descern the land, he found himself in the shallows of the lake Tritonis; and as he was in doubt how to extricate his ship, the story goes that a Triton appeared to him, and bade Jason give him the tripod, promising that he would show them the passage, and conduct them away in safety. Jason consented, and the Triton showed them the passage out of the shallows, and placed the tripod in his own temple; then pronouncing an oracle from the tripod, he declared to Jason and his companions all that should happen,—that "when one of the descendants of those who sailed with him in the Argo should carry awaythe tripod, then it was fated that a hundred Grecian cities should be built about the lake Tritonis." The neighboring nations of the Libyans, when they heard this, concealed the tripods. The Auses adjoin these Machlyes; they, as well as the Machlyes, dwell round the lake Tritonis, and the Triton forms the boundary between them. The Machlyes let the hair grow on the back of the head, and the Auses on the front. At the annual festival of Minerva, their virgins, dividing themselves into two companies, fight together with stones and staves, affirming that they perform the ancient rites to their native goddess, whom we call Minerva; and those of the virgins who die from their wounds they call false virgins. But before they leave off fighting, they, with one consent, deck the maiden that excels in beauty, with a Corinthian helmet, and a suit of Grecian armor, and placing her in a chariot conduct her round the lake. In what way they formerly decorated the maidens before the Greeks settled in their neighborhood, I am unable to say; but I conjecture that they were decked in Egyptian armor, for I am of opinion that the shield and helmet were brought from Egypt into Greece.
Above these nomadic tribes, inland, Libya abounds in wild beasts; beyond the wild-beast tract is a ridge of sand, stretching from the Egyptian Thebes to the columns of Hercules. At intervals of a ten days' journey in this ridge, there are pieces of salt in large lumps on hills; and at the top of each hill, from the midst of the salt, cool, sweet water gushes up. The first people you come to after a ten days' journey from Thebes, are the Ammonians, who have a temple resembling that of Theban Jupiter. For the image of Jupiter at Thebes has the head of a ram. They have also another kind of spring water which in the morning is tepid, becomes colder about the time of full forum, and at midday is very cold; at that time they water their gardens. As the day declines it generally loses its coldness, till the sun sets, then the water becomes tepid again, and continuing to increase in heat till midnight, it then boils and bubbles up; when midnight is passed, it gets cooler until morning. This fountain is called after the sun.Next to the Ammonians, along the ridge of sand, at the end of another ten days' journey, there is a hill of salt, like that of the Ammonians, and water, and men live round it; the name of this region is Augila; and thither the Nasamonians go to gather dates. From the Augilæ, at the end of another ten days' journey, is another hill of salt and water, and many fruit-bearing palm-trees, as also in other places; and men inhabit it who are called Garamantes, a very powerful nation; they lay earth upon the salt, and then sow their ground. From these to the Lotophagi the shortest route is a journey of thirty days; amongst them cattle that feed backwards are met with, having horns that are so bent forward, that they are unable to feed forwards, because their horns would stick in the ground. They differ from other kine in no other respect, except that their hide is thicker and harder. These Garamantes hunt the Ethiopian Troglodytes in four-horse chariots; these Ethiopian Troglodytes are the swiftest of foot of all men of whom we have heard any account given. The Troglodytes feed upon serpents and lizards, and such kinds of reptiles; they speak a language like no other, but screech like bats.
At the distance of another ten days' journey from the Garamantes is another hill of salt and water, around which a people live who are called Atarantes; they are the only race we know of who have not personal names. For the name Atarantes belongs to them collectively, and to each one of them no name is given. They curse the sun as he passes over their heads, and moreover utter against him the foulest invectives, because he consumes by his scorching heat, the men themselves and their country. Afterward, at the end of still another ten days' journey, there is one more hill of salt and water, and men live round it, near a mountain called Atlas; it is narrow and circular on all sides, and is said to be so lofty that its top can never be seen; it is never free from clouds, either in summer or winter. The inhabitants say that it is the Pillar of Heaven. From this mountain the men derive their appellation, for they are called Atlantes. They are said neither to eat the flesh of any animal, nor to see visions. As far,then, as these Atlantes, I am able to mention the names of the nations that inhabit this ridge, but not beyond them. This ridge, however, extends as far as the pillars of Hercules, and even beyond; and there is a mine of salt in it at intervals of ten days' journey, and men dwelling there. The houses of them all are built of blocks of salt, for in these parts of Libya no rain falls; walls being of salt could not of course stand long if rain did fall. The salt dug out there is white and purple in appearance. Above this ridge, to the south and interior of Libya, the country is a desert, without water, without animals, without rain, and without wood; and there is no kind of moisture in it.
Westward of lake Tritonis, the Libyans are no longer nomads, nor do they follow the same customs, with respect to their children, as the nomads are accustomed to do; for the nomadic Libyans, whether all I am unable to say with certainty, but many of them, when their children are four years old, burn the veins on the crown of their heads, with uncleaned sheep's wool; and some of them do so on the veins in the temples; to the end that humors flowing down from the head may not injure them as long as they live: and, for this reason, they say they are so very healthy, for the Libyans are in truth the most healthy of all men with whom we are acquainted. But I simply repeat what the Libyans themselves say. From the Libyan women the Greeks derived the attire and ægis of Minerva's statues; for, except that the dress of the Libyan women is leather, and the fringes that hang from the ægis are not serpents, but made of thongs, they are otherwise equipped in the same way; and, moreover, the very name proves that the garb of the Palladia comes from Libya; for the Libyan women throw over their dress, goats' skins without the hair, fringed and dyed with red. From these goats' skins the Greeks have borrowed the name of Ægis. And the howlings in the temples were, I think, first derived from there; for the Libyan women practise the same custom, and do it well. The Greeks also learnt from the Libyans to yoke four horses abreast. All the nomads, except the Nasamonians, inter their dead in the samemanner as the Greeks; these bury them in a sitting posture, watching when one is about to expire, that they may set him up, and he may not die supine. Their dwellings are compacted of the asphodel shrub, interwoven with rushes, and are portable.
To the west of the river Triton, Libyans who are husbandmen next adjoin the Auses; they are accustomed to live in houses, and are called Maxyes. They let the hair grow on the right side of the head, and shave the left; and bedaub the body with vermilion: they say that they are descended from men who came from Troy. This region, and all the rest of Libya westward, is much more infested by wild beasts and more thickly wooded than the country of the nomads; for the eastern country of Libya, which the nomads inhabit, is low and sandy, as far as the river Triton; but the country westward of this, which is occupied by agriculturists, is very mountainous, woody, and abounds with wild beasts. For amongst them there are enormous serpents, and lions, elephants, bears, asps, asses with horns, and monsters with dogs' heads and without heads, who have eyes in their breasts, at least as the Libyans say, together with wild men and wild women. None of these things are found among the nomads, but others of the following kind: pygargi, antelopes, buffaloes, and asses, not such as have horns, but others that never drink; and oryes, from the horns of which are made the elbows of the Phœnician citherns; in size this beast is equal to an ox; and foxes, hyænas, porcupines, wild rams, dictyes, thoes, panthers, boryes, and land crocodiles about three cubits long, very much like lizards; ostriches, and small serpents, each with one horn. These, then, are the wild animals in that country, besides such as are met with elsewhere, except the stag and the wild boar; but the stag and the wild boar are never seen in Libya. They have three sorts of mice there; some called dipodes, or two-footed; others, zegeries, this name is Libyan, and means the same as the word signifying hillocks in Greek; and hedgehogs. There are also weasels produced in the silphium, like those at Tartessus.
The Zaveces adjoin the Maxyan Libyans; their women drivetheir chariots in war. The Gyzantes adjoin them; amongst them bees make a great quantity of honey, and it is said that confectioners make much more. All these paint themselves with vermilion, and eat monkeys, which abound in their mountains. Near them, the Carthaginians say, lies an island called Cyraunis, two hundred stades in length, inconsiderable in breadth, easy of access from the continent, and abounding in olive trees and vines. In it is a lake, from the mud of which the girls of the country draw up gold dust by means of feathers daubed with pitch. Whether this is true I know not, but I write what is related; it may be so, however, for I have myself seen pitch drawn up out of a lake and from water in Zacynthus; and there are several lakes there, the largest of them is seventy feet every way, and two orgyæ in depth; into this they let down a pole with a myrtle branch fastened to the end, and then draw up pitch adhering to the myrtle; it has the smell of asphalt, but is in other respects better than the pitch of Pieria. They pour it into a cistern dug near the lake, and when they have collected a sufficient quantity, draw it off from the cistern into jars. All that falls into the lake passes under ground, and appears again upon the surface of the sea, which is about four stades distant from the lake. This account given of the island may probably be true. The Carthaginians further say, that beyond the pillars of Hercules there is an inhabited region of Libya; when they arrive among these people and have unloaded their merchandise, they set it in order on the shore, go on board their ships, and make a great smoke; the inhabitants, seeing the smoke, come down to the sea, deposit gold in exchange for the merchandise, and withdraw to some distance from the merchandise; the Carthaginians then, going ashore, examine the gold, and if the quantity seems sufficient for the merchandise they take it up and sail away; but if it is not sufficient, they go on board their ships again and wait; the natives then approach and deposit more gold, until they have satisfied them; neither party ever wrongs the other; for they do not touch the gold before it is made adequate to the value of the merchandise, nor do the natives touch the merchandise before the other party has taken the gold.
OLIVE TREES.
OLIVE TREES.
OLIVE TREES.
No part of Libya appears to me so good in fertility as to be compared with Asia or Europe, except only the district of Cinyps; for the land bears the same name as the river, and is equal to the best land for the production of corn; nor is it at all like the rest of Libya; for the soil is black, and well watered with springs, and it is neither affected at all by drought, nor is it injured by imbibing too much rain, which falls in this part of Libya. The proportion of the produce of this land equals that of Babylon. The land also which the Euesperides occupy is good; for when it yields its best, it produces a hundred-fold; but that in Cinyps three hundred-fold. The district of Cyrene, which is the highest of that part of Libya which the nomads occupy, has three seasons, a circumstance worthy of admiration; for the first fruits near the sea swell so as to be ready for the harvest and vintage; when these are gathered in, the fruits of the middle region, away from the sea, swell so as to be gathered in, these they call uplands; and just as this middle harvest has been gathered in, that in the highest part becomes ripe and swells. So that when the first crop has been drunk and eaten, the last comes in. Thus harvest occupies the Cyrenæans during eight months. This maybe sufficient to say concerning these things.
The Persians once upon a time, sent against the city of Barce, laid siege to it for nine months, digging passages under ground that reached to the walls, and making vigorous assaults. Now these excavations were discovered by a worker of bronze, carrying a bronze shield round within the wall, and applying it to theground within the city: in other places to which he applied it, it made no noise, but at the parts that were excavated, the metal of the shield sounded. The Barcæans, therefore, countermining them in that part, slew the Persians who were employed in the excavation. When much time had been spent, and many had fallen on both sides, and not the fewest on the side of the Persians, Amasis, general of the land forces, had recourse to the following stratagem: Finding that the Barcæans could not be taken by force, but might be by artifice, he dug a wide pit by night, laid weak planks of wood over it, and on the surface over the planks he spread a heap of earth, making it level with the rest of the ground. At daybreak he invited the Barcæans to a conference; they gladly assented, thinking that at last they were pleased to come to terms: and they made an agreement of the following nature, concluding the treaty over the concealed pit: "That as long as this earth shall remain as it is, the treaty should continue in force; and that the Barcæans should pay a reasonable tribute to the king, and that the Persians should form no new designs against the Barcæans." After the treaty the Barcæans, confiding in the Persians, went freely out of the city, and allowed any one of the Persians who chose to pass within the wall, throwing open all the gates. But the Persians, having broken down the concealed bridge, rushed within the wall: having not fully kept their oath. The Persians reduced the Barcæans to slavery and took their departure. But king Darius gave them a village in the district of Bactria, to dwell in, and the name of Barce was given to this village, which was still inhabited in my time, in the Bactrian territory.
[20]Herodotus means that south of the equator the sun was in the north.
[20]Herodotus means that south of the equator the sun was in the north.
ThePersians, left in Europe by Darius under the command of Megabazus, subdued the Perinthians first of the Hellespontines, who were unwilling to submit to Darius, and had been before roughly handled by the Pæonians. For an oracle had admonished the Pæonians to invade the Perinthians, and if the Perinthians, when encamped against them, should challenge them, shouting to them by name, then to attack, but if they should not shout out to them, not to attack. A threefold single combat took place between them according to a challenge; for they matched a man with a man, a horse with a horse, and a dog with a dog. The Perinthians, victorious in two of these combats, through excess of joy sang the Pæon, whereupon the Pæonians conjectured that this was the meaning of the oracle, and said among themselves: "Now surely the oracle must be accomplished; now it is our part to act." The Pæonians attacked the Perinthians as they were singing the Pæon, gained a complete victory, and left but few of them alive.
The nation of the Thracians is the greatest of all among men, except the Indians; and if they were governed by one man, or acted in concert, they would, in my opinion, be invincible, and by far the most powerful of all nations. But as this is impracticable, and it is impossible that they should ever be united, they are weak.
Beyond the Ister appears to be an interminable desert, and the only men that I am able to hear of as dwelling there are those calledSigynnæ, who wear the Medic dress; their horses are shaggy all over the body, to five fingers in depth of hair; they are small, flat-nosed, and unable to carry men; but when yoked to chariots are very fleet. They say that these people are a colony of Medes. How they can have been a colony of Medes I cannot comprehend; but any thing may happen in the course of time.
There is a curious people who inhabit Lake Prasias itself, who were not at all subdued by Megabazus;—they live upon the lake in dwellings erected upon planks fitted on lofty piles, which are driven in the middle of the lake, with a narrow entrance from the main land by a single bridge. These piles that support the planks all the citizens anciently placed there at the common charge; but afterward they established a law to the following effect: Whenever a man marries, for each wife he sinks three piles, bringing wood from a mountain called Orbelus: but every man has several wives. Each one has a hut on the planks, in which he dwells, with a trap-door closely fitted in the planks, and leading down to the lake. They tie the young children with a cord around the foot, for fear they should fall into the lake beneath. To their horses and beasts of burden they give fish for fodder; of which there is such an abundance, that you have simply to open your trap-door, let down an empty basket by a cord into the lake, when, after waiting a short time, you draw it up full of fish.
HEAD-DRESS OF A RIDING HORSE.
HEAD-DRESS OF A RIDING HORSE.
HEAD-DRESS OF A RIDING HORSE.
Megabazus, after conquering the Pæonians, arrived at the Hellespont, crossed over, and came to Sardis. In the meantime, Histiæus the Milesian was building a wall around the place, which, at his own request, he had received from Darius as a reward for his services in preserving the bridge: this place was near the river Strymon, and its name Myrcinus. Megabazus, upon learning what was being done by Histiæus, as soon as he reached Sardis said to Darius: "O king, what have you done, in allowing a crafty and subtle Greek to possess a city in Thrace, where there is an abundance of timber fit for building ships and plenty of wood for oars, and silver mines? A great multitude of Greeks and barbarians dwell around, who, when they have obtained him as aleader, will do whatever he may command, both by day and by night. Put a stop therefore to the proceedings of this man, that you may not be harassed by a domestic war; send for him in a gentle manner, and stop him: and when you have him in your power, take care that he never returns to the Greeks." Megabazus easily persuaded Darius, since he wisely foresaw what was to happen. So Darius sent a messenger to Myrcinus, who spoke as follows: "Histiæus, King Darius says thus: I find on consideration that there is no man better affected to me and my affairs than thyself; and this I have learnt, not by words, but actions; now, since I have great designs to put in execution, come to me by all means, that I may communicate them to thee." Histiæus, giving credit to these words, and at the time considering it a great honor to become a counsellor of the king, went to Sardis: when he arrived, Darius said, "Histiæus, I have sent for you on this occasion. As soon as I returned from Scythia, and you were out of my sight, I have wished for nothing so much as to see you and converse with you again; being persuaded that a friend who is both intelligent and well affected, is the most valuable of all possessions; both of which I am able to testify from my own knowledge concur in you, as regards my affairs. You have done well in coming, and I make you this offer: Think no more of Miletus, nor of the new-founded city in Thrace; but follow me to Susa, have the same that I have, and be the partner of my table and counsels." And Darius appointed Artaphernes, his brother by the same father, to be governor of Sardis, and departed for Susa, taking Histiæus with him. He first nominated Otanes to be general of the forces on the coast, whose father, Sisamnes, one of the royal judges, King Cambyses had put to death and flayed, because he had given an unjust judgment for a sum of money. He had his skin torn off, and cut into thongs, and extended it on thebench on which he used to sit, when he pronounced judgment; then Cambyses appointed as judge in the room of Sisamnes, whom he had slain and flayed, the son of Sisamnes, admonishing him to remember on what seat he sat to administer justice. This very Otanes, then, being now appointed successor to Megabazus in the command of the army, subdued the Byzantians and Chalcedonians, and took Antandros, which belongs to the territory of Troas, and Lamponium; and obtaining ships from the Lesbians, he took Lemnos and Imbrus, both of which were then inhabited by Pelasgians. The Lemnians fought valiantly, and defended themselves for some time, but were at length overcome; and over those who survived, the Persians set up Lycaretus as governor, the brother of Mæandrius, who had reigned in Samos. Otanes enslaved and subdued them all for various alleged reasons: some he charged with desertion to the Scythians; others he accused of having harassed Darius' army in their return home from the Scythians.
Afterward, for the intermission from misfortune was not of long duration, evils arose a second time to the Ionians from Naxos and Miletus. For, on the one hand, Naxos surpassed all the islands in opulence; and on the other, Miletus, at the same time, had attained the summit of its prosperity, and was accounted the ornament of Ionia. Some of the opulent men, exiled from Naxos by the people, went to Miletus: the governor of Miletus happened to be Aristagoras, son of Molpagoras, son-in-law and cousin of Histiæus, whom Darius detained at Susa. These Naxians arrived at Miletus, entreated Aristagoras, if he could, by any means, to give them some assistance so that they might return to their own country. He, perceiving that if by his means they should return to their city, he might get the dominion of Naxos, used the friendship of Histiæus as a pretence, and addressed the following discourse to them: "I am not able of myself to furnish you with a force sufficient to reinstate you against the wishes of the Naxians, who are in possession of the city, for I hear that the Naxians have eight thousand heavy-armed men, and a considerable number of ships of war. Yet I will contrive some way, and use my best endeavors;my scheme is this: Artaphernes happens to be my friend; he is son of Hystaspes and brother of king Darius, and commands all the maritime parts of Asia, and has a large army and navy. This man, I am persuaded, will do whatever we desire." The Naxians urged Aristagoras to go about it in the best way he could, and bade him promise presents, and their expenses to the army, for they would repay it; having great expectation that when they should appear at Naxos the Naxians would do whatever they should order, as also would the other islanders; for of these Cyclades islands not one was as yet subject to Darius.
Accordingly Aristagoras journeyed to Sardis, and told Artaphernes, that Naxos was an island of no great extent, to be sure, but beautiful and fertile, and near Ionia, and in it was much wealth and many slaves. "Do send an army against this country, to reinstate those who have been banished; and if you do this, I have, in the first place, a large sum of money ready, in addition to the expenses of the expedition, for it is just that we who lead you on should supply that; and in the next, you will acquire for the king Naxos itself, and the islands dependent upon it, Paros, Andros, and the rest that are called Cyclades. Setting out from there you will easily attack Eubœa, a large and wealthy island, not less than Cyprus, and very easy to be taken. A hundred ships are sufficient to subdue them all." The reply was quickly given: "You propose things advantageous to the king's house, and advise every thing well, except the number of ships; instead of one hundred, two hundred shall be ready at the commencement of the spring. But it is necessary that the king himself should approve of the design." Aristagoras, wild with delight, went back to Miletus. And Artaphernes, finding that Darius himself approved of the plan, made ready two hundred triremes, and a very numerous body of Persians and other allies: and he appointed Megabates general, a Persian of the family of the Archimenidæ, his own and Darius' nephew, whose daughter, if the report be true, was afterward betrothed to Pausanias, son of Cleombrotus the Lacedæmonian, who aspired to become tyrant of Greece. Artaphernes, having appointedMegabates general, sent forward the army to Aristagoras.
Megabates, with Aristagoras, the Ionian forces, and the Naxians, sailed professedly for the Hellespont; but when he arrived at Chios, anchored at Caucasa, that he might cross over from there to Naxos by a north wind. However, it was fated that the Naxians were not to perish by this armament, as the following event occurred: As Megabates was going round the watches on board the ships, he found no one on guard on board a Myndian ship; indignant at this, he ordered his body-guards to find the captain of this ship, whose name was Scylax, and to bind him with his body half-way through the lower row-lock of the vessel, so that his head should be on the outside of the vessel, and his legs within. Some one told Aristagoras that Megabates had bound and disgraced his Myndian friend. He went therefore and interceded for him with the Persian, but, when he found he could obtain nothing, went himself and released him. Megabates, hearing of this, was very indignant, and enraged at Aristagoras, and told him so; "but," said Aristagoras, "what have you to do with these matters? Did not Artaphernes send you to obey me, and to sail wheresoever I should command?" Megabates, still more exasperated at this, as soon as night arrived, dispatched men in a ship to Naxos, to inform the Naxians of the impending danger. The Naxians, who had not a suspicion that this armament was coming against them, immediately carried every thing from the fields into the town, and, with plenty of food and drink, prepared to undergo a siege, so the Persians had to attack men well fortified, and after besieging them four months, consumed all the supplies they had brought with them, together with large sums furnished by Aristagoras, and wanting still more to carry on the siege, they were forced to build a fortress for the Naxian exiles, and retire to the continent unsuccessful.
Aristagoras was thus unable to fulfil his promise to Artaphernes; while at the same time the expenses of the expedition pressed heavily on him on account of the ill success of the army; and having incurred the ill will of Megabates to such an extent thathe feared that he should be deprived of the government of Miletus, he meditated a revolt. It happened at the same time that a messenger with his head tattooed came from Susa from Histiæus, urging Aristagoras to revolt from the king. For Histiæus, being desirous to communicate to Aristagoras his wish for him to revolt, had no other means of signifying it with safety, because the roads were guarded; therefore, having shaved the head of the most trustworthy of his slaves, he marked it with a sharp iron, and waited till the hair had grown again, then sent him to Miletus without other instructions except that when he arrived at Miletus he should desire Aristagoras to shave off his hair and look upon his head: the punctures, as I have said before, signified a wish for him to revolt. Histiæus did this because he looked upon his detention at Susa as a great misfortune; while if a revolt should take place he had great hopes that he should be sent down to the coast; but if Miletus made no new attempt, he thought that he should never go there again. It was resolved to revolt, and messengers were sent to the force that had returned from Naxos, and which was at Myus, to seize the captains on board the ships. Aristagoras thus openly revolted, devising every thing he could against Darius. And first, in pretence, having laid aside the sovereignty, he established an equality in Miletus, in order that the Milesians might more readily join with him in the revolt. Afterward he effected the same throughout the rest of Ionia, expelling some of the tyrants; and he delivered up those whom he had taken from on board the ships that had sailed with him against Naxos, to the cities, in order to gratify the people, giving them up to the respective cities, from whence each came. The Mityleneans, as soon as they received Coes, led him out, and stoned him to death; but the Cymeans let their tyrant go; and in like manner most of the others let theirs go. Accordingly there was a suppression of tyrants throughout the cities. But Aristagoras enjoined them all to appoint magistrates in each of the cities, and went himself in a trireme as ambassador to Sparta, for it was necessary for him to procure some powerful alliance.
Aristagoras arrived at Sparta, when Cleomenes held the government; and he went to confer with him, as the Lacedæmonians say, carrying a bronze tablet, on which was engraved the circumference of the whole earth, the whole sea, and all rivers. "Wonder not, Cleomenes," said Aristagoras, "at my eagerness in coming here, for it is a great sorrow to us that the children of Ionians should be slaves instead of free, and above all others it is a disgrace to you, inasmuch as you are at the head of Greece. I adjure you by the Grecian gods, rescue the Ionians, who are of your own blood, from servitude. It is easy for you to effect this, for the barbarians are not valiant; whereas you, in matters relating to war, have attained to the utmost height of glory; their mode of fighting is, with bows and short spears, and they engage in battle wearing loose trousers, and turbans on their heads, so that they are easy to be overcome. Besides, there are treasures belonging to those who inhabit that continent, such as are not possessed by all other nations together; gold, silver, bronze, variegated garments, beasts of burden, and slaves; all these you may have if you will. They live adjoining one another as I will show you. Next to these Ionians are the Lydians, who inhabit a fertile country, and abound in silver." As he said this he showed the map of the earth, which he had brought with him, engraved on a tablet. "Next to the Lydians," proceeded Aristagoras, "are these Phrygians to the eastward, who are the richest in cattle and in corn of all with whom I am acquainted. Next to the Phrygians are the Cappadocians, whom we call Syrians; and bordering on them, the Cilicians, extending to this sea in which the island of Cyprus is situated; they pay an annual tribute of five hundred talents to the king. Next to the Cilicians are these Armenians, who also abound in cattle; and next to the Armenians are the Metienians, who occupy this country; and next them this territory of Cissia, in which Susa is situated, on this river Choaspes, and here the great king resides, and here are his treasures of wealth. If you take this city, you may boldly contend with Jupiter in wealth. As it is, you carry on war for a country of small extent, and not very fertile,and of narrow limits, with the Messenians, who are your equals in valor, and with the Arcadians and Argives, who have nothing akin to gold or silver, the desire of which induces men to hazard their lives in battle. But when an opportunity is offered to conquer all Asia with ease, will you prefer any thing else?" "Milesian friend," said Cleomenes, "I defer to give you an answer until the third day." They met at the appointed time and place, and Cleomenes asked Aristagoras, how many days' journey it was from the sea of the Ionians to the king. Aristagoras, though he was cunning in other things, and had deceived him with much address, made a slip in this; for he should not have told the real fact, if he wished to draw the Spartans into Asia; whereas he told him frankly that it was a three months' journey up there. Cutting short the rest of the description which Aristagoras was proceeding to give of the journey, Cleomenes said: "My friend, from Miletus, depart from Sparta before sunset; for you speak no agreeable language to the Lacedæmonians, in wishing to lead them a three months' journey from the sea;" and Cleomenes went home. Aristagoras, nothing daunted, taking an olive-branch in his hand, went to the house of Cleomenes, entered in, as a suppliant, and besought Cleomenes to listen to him. The latter's little child, a daughter, whose name was Gorgo, stood by him; she happened to be his only child, and was about eight or nine years of age. Cleomenes bade him say what he wished, and not mind the presence of the little girl. Thereupon Aristagoras promised him ten talents, if he would do as he desired; and as Cleomenes refused, Aristagoras went on increasing his offers, until he promised fifty talents, when little Gorgo cried out, "Papa, this stranger will corrupt you, if you don't quickly depart." Cleomenes, pleased with the advice of the child, retired to another apartment; and Aristagoras was forced to leave Sparta altogether, without ever getting another opportunity to give further particulars of the route to the city of the great king.
With respect to this road, the case is as follows: There are royal stations all along, and excellent inns, and the whole road is through an inhabited and safe country. There are twenty stationsextending through Lydia and Phrygia, and the distance is ninety-four parasangs and a half. After Phrygia, the river Halys is met with, at which there are gates, which it is absolutely necessary to pass through, and thus to cross the river; there is also a considerable fort on it. When you cross over into Cappadocia, and traverse that country to the borders of Cilicia, there are eight and twenty stations, and one hundred and four parasangs; and on the borders of these people, you go through two gates, and pass by two forts. When you have gone through these and made the journey through Cilicia, there are three stations, and fifteen parasangs and a half. The boundary of Cilicia and Armenia is a river that is crossed in boats, called the Euphrates. In Armenia there are fifteen stations for resting-places, and fifty-six parasangs and a half; there is also a fort at the stations. Four rivers that are crossed in boats flow through this country, which it is absolutely necessary to ferry over. First, the Tigris; then the second and third have the same name, though they are not the same river, nor flow from the same source. For the first mentioned of these flows from the Armenians, and the latter from the Matienians. The fourth river is called the Gyndes, which Cyrus once distributed into three hundred and sixty channels. As you enter from Armenia into the country of Matiene, there are four stations; and from thence as you proceed to the Cissian territory there are eleven stations, and forty-two parasangs and a half, to the river Choaspes, which also must be crossed in boats; on this Susa is built. All these stations amount to one hundred and eleven,[21]as you go up from Sardis to Susa. Now if the royal road has been correctly measured in parasangs, and if the parasang is equal to thirty stades, as indeed it is, from Sardis to the royal palace, called Memnonia, is a distance of thirteen thousand five hundred stades, the parasangs being four hundred and fifty; and by those who travel one hundred and fifty stades every day, just ninety days are spent on the journey. So Aristagoras spoke correctly when he stated the distance to Susa.
Aristagorasthe Milesian, having been expelled from Sparta by Cleomenes the Lacedæmonian, repaired to Athens; for this city was much more powerful than the rest. Presenting himself before the people, he said the same that he had done at Sparta, respecting the wealth of Asia and the Persian mode of warfare, how they used neither shield nor spear, and could be easily conquered. He said also that the Milesians were a colony of the Athenians, and it was but reasonable that they, having such great power, should rescue them. And as there was nothing he did not promise, being very much in earnest, at length he persuaded them. It appears to be more easy to impose upon a multitude than one man; this schemer, you see, was not able to impose upon Cleomenes the Lacedæmonian singly, but did upon thirty thousand Athenians. Twenty ships were sent to succor the Ionians, and Melanthius commander over them, a citizen who was universally esteemed. These ships proved the source of calamities both to Greeks and barbarians. Aristagoras sailed first, arrived at Miletus, and had recourse to a project from which no advantage could result to the Ionians; nor did he employ it for that purpose, but that he might vex king Darius. He sent a man into Phrygia, to the Pæonians, who had been carried away captive by Megabazus, from the river Strymon, and occupied a tract in Phrygia, and a village by themselves. Arrived among the Pæonians, the messenger spoke as follows: "Men of Pæonia, Aristagoras, tyrant of Miletus, has sent me to suggest to you a mode of deliverance, if you will take his advice. For all Ionia has revolted from the king, and offers you an opportunity of returning safe to your own country;as far as to the coast take care of yourselves, and we will provide for the rest." When the Pæonians heard these words, they considered it a very joyful event, and taking with them their children and wives, fled to the coast; though some of them, through fear, remained where they were. When the Pæonians reached the coast, they crossed over to Chios, when a large body of Persian cavalry came on their heels, and sent orders to Chios to the Pæonians, commanding them to return. The Pæonians did not listen to the proposal; but the Chians conveyed them to Lesbos, and the Lesbians forwarded them to Doriscus; thence proceeding on foot they reached Pæonia.
The Athenians arrived with twenty ships, bringing with them five triremes of the Eretrians, who engaged in this expedition out of good-will to the Milesians, in order to repay a former obligation; for the Milesians had formerly joined the Eretrians in the war against the Chalcidians. When these had arrived, and the rest of the allies had come up, Aristagoras resolved to make an expedition to Sardis. He himself did not march with the army, but remained at Miletus, and appointed as generals of the Milesians, his own brother Charopinus, and of the other citizens Hermophantus. The Ionians arrived at Ephesus with this force, left their ships at Coressus, in the Ephesian territory, and advanced with a numerous army, taking Ephesians for their guides; and marching by the side of the river Cayster, they crossed Mount Tmolus, and reached and took Sardis without opposition; all except the citadel, for Artaphernes with a strong garrison defended the citadel. The following accident prevented them, after they had taken the city, from plundering it. Most of the houses in Sardis were built with reeds; and such of them as were built with brick, had roof of reeds. A soldier happened to set fire to one of these, and immediately the flame spread from house to house, and consumed the whole city. While the city was burning, the Lydians, and as many of the Persians as were in the city, being enclosed on every side, and having no means of escaping from the city, rushed together to the market-place, and to the river Pactolus,which, bringing down grains of gold from Mount Tmolus, flows through the middle of the market-place, and then discharges itself into the river Hermus, and that into the sea. The Lydians and Persians, being assembled on this Pactolus and at the market-place, were constrained to defend themselves: and the Ionians, seeing some of the enemy standing on their defence, and others coming up in great numbers, retired through fear to the mountain called Tmolus, and thence under favor of the night retreated to their ships. Thus Sardis was burnt, and in it the temple of the native goddess Cybebe; the Persians, making a pretext of this, afterwards burnt in retaliation the temples of Greece. As soon as the Persians who had settlements on this side the river Halys were informed of these things, they drew together and marched to assist the Lydians; the Ionians were no longer at Sardis; but following on their track they overtook them at Ephesus, where the Ionians drew out in battle-array against them, and coming to an engagement, were sorely beaten; and the Persians slew many of them, among other persons of distinction, Eualcis, general of the Eretrians, who had gained the prize in the contests for the crown, and had been much celebrated by Simonides the Cean. Those who escaped from the battle were dispersed throughout the cities.
Such was the result of the encounter. Afterward, the Athenians, totally abandoning the Ionians, though Aristagoras urgently solicited them by ambassadors, refused to send them any assistance. The Ionians, deprived of the alliance of the Athenians, (for they had conducted themselves in such a manner toward Darius from the first,) nevertheless prepared for war with the king. And sailing to the Hellespont, they reduced Byzantium and all the other cities in that quarter to their obedience. They then sailed out of the Hellespont, and gained over to their alliance the greater part of Caria; for the city of Caunus, which before would not join their alliance, when they had burnt Sardis, came over to their side.
When it was told king Darius, that Sardis had been taken and burnt by the Athenians and Ionians, and that Aristagoras the Milesian was the chief of the confederacy and the contriver ofthat enterprise, it is related that he took no account of the Ionians, well knowing that they would not escape unpunished for their rebellion, but inquired where the Athenians were; then having been informed, he called for a bow, put an arrow into it, let it fly toward heaven, and as he shot it into the air, exclaimed: "O Jupiter, grant that I may revenge myself on the Athenians!" Then he commanded one of his attendants, every time dinner was set before him, to say thrice: "Sire, remember the Athenians." Summoning to his presence Histiæus the Milesian, whom he had already detained a long time, Darius said: "I am informed, Histiæus, that your lieutenant, to whom you intrusted Miletus, has attempted innovations against me; for he has brought men from the other continent, and with them Ionians, who shall give me satisfaction for what they have done; and has deprived me of Sardis. Now, can it appear to you that this is right? Could such a thing have been done without your advice? Beware lest hereafter you expose yourself to blame." To this Histiæus answered: "O king, what have you said? That I should advise a thing from which any grief, great or little, should ensue to you! With what object should I do so? What am I in want of? I, who have all things the same as you, and am deemed worthy to share all your counsels? But if my lieutenant has done any such thing as you mention, be assured he has done it of his own contrivance. But I do not believe the account, that the Milesians and my lieutenant have attempted any innovations against your authority. Yet if you have heard the truth, consider, O king, what mischief you have done in withdrawing me from the coast. For the Ionians seem, when I was out of their sight, to have done what they long ago desired to do; and had I been in Ionia not one city would have stirred. Suffer me therefore to go with all speed to Ionia, that I may restore all things there to their former condition, and deliver into your hands this lieutenant of Miletus, who has plotted the whole. When I have done this according to your mind, I swear by the royal gods, not to put off the garments which I shall wear when I go down to Ionia, before I have made the great island Sardinia tributary toyou." His speaking thus deceived the king; Darius was persuaded, and let him go, charging him to return to Susa, as soon as he should have accomplished what he had promised.
While the news concerning Sardis was going up to the king, tidings were brought to Onesilus the Salaminian, as he was besieging the Amathusians, that Artybius, a Persian, leading a large Persian force on shipboard, was to be expected in Cyprus. Onesilus accordingly sent heralds to the different parts of Ionia, inviting them to assist him; and the Ionians, without any protracted deliberation, arrived at Cyprus with a large armament. The Persians crossed over in ships from Cilicia, and marched by land against Salamis.
Then the kings of the Cyprians drew up their forces in line, and stationed the best of the Salaminians and Solians against the Persians. Onesilus voluntarily took up his position directly against Artybius, the general of the Persians. Artybius used to ride on a horse, that had been taught to rear up against an armed enemy. Onesilus had a shield-bearer, a Carian, well skilled in matters of war, and otherwise full of courage, to whom he said: "I am informed that the horse of Artybius rears up, and with his feet and mouth attacks whomsoever he is made to engage with; tell me which you will watch and strike, whether the horse or Artybius himself." His attendant answered: "I am ready to do both, or either of them, but a king and a general ought, I think, to engage with a king and a general. If you vanquish one who is a general, your glory is great; while if he should vanquish you, which may the gods avert, to fall by a noble hand is but half the calamity. We servants should engage with other servants, and also against a horse, whose tricks you need not fear at all; for I promise you he shall never again rear up against any man." Forthwith the forces joined battle by land and sea. Now, the Ionians fought valiantly on that day, when the armies met in close combat; and when Artybius, seated on his horse, bore down upon Onesilus. Onesilus, as he had concerted with his shield-bearer, struck Artybius himself; and as the horse was throwing his feet against the shield ofOnesilus, the Carian with a scythe cut off the horse's feet. So that Artybius, the general of the Persians, fell together with his horse on the spot. While the rest were fighting, Stesenor, of Curium, deserted with no inconsiderable body of men, and the chariots of war belonging to the Salaminians did the same as the Curians. Consequently the Persians became superior to the Cyprians. The army was put to flight, many fell, and amongst them Onesilus, and the king of the Solians, Aristocyprus, son of the Philocyprus whom Solon the Athenian, when he visited Cyprus, celebrated in his verses above all tyrants. The Amathusians cut off the head of Onesilus, because he had besieged them, took it to Amathus, and suspended it over the gates; and when the head had become hollow, a swarm of bees entered it, and filled it with honey-comb. An answer was given to the Amathusians, who consulted the oracle respecting it, "that they should take down the head and bury it, and sacrifice annually to Onesilus, as to a hero, and that it would turn out better for them."
Afterward, the Persians crossed the Mæander and engaged the Carians on the banks of the river Marsyas. They fought an obstinate battle, and at last overpowered them. Of the Persians there fell about two thousand, and of the Carians ten thousand. The Carians, however, afterward recovered from this wound, and renewed the contest. For hearing that the Persians designed to invade their cities, they placed an ambuscade on the way to Pedasus, into which the Persians, falling by night, were cut in pieces, with their generals Daurises, Amorges, and Sisamaces.
Hymees, who was one of those who pursued the Ionians that had attacked Sardis, bending his march toward the Propontis, took Cius of Mysia. When he heard that Daurises had quitted the Hellespont, and was marching against Caria, he abandoned the Propontis, and led his army on the Hellespont. He subdued all the Æolians who inhabited the territory of Ilium, and subdued the Gergithæ, the remaining descendants of the ancient Teucrians. Just then, however, he died of disease in the Troad. But Artaphernes, governor of Sardis, and Otanes, who were appointed toinvade Ionia and the neighboring territory of Æolia, took Clazomenæ and Cyme.
Aristagoras the Milesian, for he was not, as it proved, a man of strong courage, after he had thus thrown Ionia into confusion, and raised great disturbances, thought of flight, when he saw these results. Besides, it appeared to him impossible to overcome King Darius; so calling his partisans together, he suggested "that it would be better for them to have some sure place of refuge, in case they should be expelled from Miletus." He asked, therefore, whether he should lead them to Sardinia, to found a colony, or to Myrcinus of the Edonians, which Histiæus had begun to fortify, having received it as a gift from Darius. However, the opinion of Hecatæus the historian, son of Hegesander, was, that they should set out for neither of these places, but should build a fortress in the island of Leros, and remain quiet, if they were compelled to quit Miletus. But Aristagoras himself was decidedly in favor of proceeding to Myrcinus; he therefore intrusted Miletus to Pythagoras, a citizen of distinction, and, taking with him all who were willing, sailed to Thrace, and took possession of the region to which he was bound. But both Aristagoras himself and all his army perished while he was laying siege to a city in Thrace.