2. Herodotus, Histories, 1.8, 1.12, 1.21, 1.26-1.56, 1.59, 1.65-1.66, 1.69-1.91, 1.107-1.108, 1.153, 1.159, 1.181-1.183, 1.187, 1.199, 1.204, 1.206-1.214, 2.12, 2.38-2.39, 2.45, 2.53, 2.64, 2.83-2.84, 2.91, 2.102-2.105, 2.111-2.117, 2.122-2.123, 2.129, 2.133, 2.137, 2.139, 2.141, 2.150, 2.152, 2.155-2.156, 2.161-2.163, 2.169, 3.1, 3.3-3.4, 3.8-3.9, 3.14, 3.16-3.25, 3.27-3.43, 3.61-3.66, 3.82, 3.108, 3.114, 3.124-3.125, 3.133, 3.139, 3.149, 4.26, 4.39, 4.44, 4.76-4.77, 4.79-4.80, 4.127, 4.146-4.148, 5.9, 5.49, 5.62, 6.61-6.64, 6.75-6.76, 6.78-6.82, 6.84, 6.86, 6.107, 6.118, 6.134-6.136, 7.12-7.18, 7.27-7.29, 7.35, 7.39, 7.69, 7.114, 7.117, 7.136, 8.51-8.55, 8.99, 8.109, 8.115, 8.143 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Cambyses • Cambyses II • Cambyses of Persia, dreams of • Cambyses of Persia, impieties of • Cambyses of Persia, oracles to • Cambyses, • Cambyses, Persian king, attacks the Apis bull
Found in books: Bianchetti et al (2015) 11, 164; Bosak-Schroeder (2020) 84, 89, 90, 91, 92, 208; Gera (2014) 59, 63, 64, 128, 162; Giusti (2018) 111, 115; Gygax (2016) 30; Hau (2017) 180, 182, 188; Jouanna (2012) 10; Kingsley Monti and Rood (2022) 131, 140, 141, 145, 148, 167; Lipka (2021) 152, 153; Manolaraki (2012) 204; Mikalson (2003) 82, 141, 142, 143, 147, 154, 158, 159, 160, 164, 200, 207, 208, 227, 230; Morrison (2020) 61, 115, 169, 172, 190, 191, 196, 200, 201; Torok (2014) 24, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 43, 44, 46, 49, 50, 51, 77, 93, 94, 96, 97, 105, 106, 107, 108, 110, 111, 115, 131, 132, 133; Wolfsdorf (2020) 508, 510
1.8. οὗτος δὴ ὦν ὁ Κανδαύλης ἠράσθη τῆς ἑωυτοῦ γυναικός, ἐρασθεὶς δὲ ἐνόμιζέ οἱ εἶναι γυναῖκα πολλὸν πασέων καλλίστην. ὥστε δὲ ταῦτα νομίζων, ἦν γάρ οἱ τῶν αἰχμοφόρων Γύγης ὁ Δασκύλου ἀρεσκόμενος μάλιστα, τούτῳ τῷ Γύγῃ καὶ τὰ σπουδαιέστερα τῶν πρηγμάτων ὑπερετίθετο ὁ Κανδαύλης καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸ εἶδος τῆς γυναικὸς ὑπερεπαινέων. χρόνου δὲ οὐ πολλοῦ διελθόντος ʽχρῆν γὰρ Κανδαύλῃ γενέσθαι κακῶσ̓ ἔλεγε πρὸς τὸν Γύγην τοιάδε. “Γύγη, οὐ γὰρ σε δοκέω πείθεσθαι μοι λέγοντι περὶ τοῦ εἴδεος τῆς γυναικός ʽὦτα γὰρ τυγχάνει ἀνθρώποισι ἐόντα ἀπιστότερα ὀφθαλμῶν̓, ποίεε ὅκως ἐκείνην θεήσεαι γυμνήν.” ὃ δʼ ἀμβώσας εἶπε “δέσποτα, τίνα λέγεις λόγον οὐκ ὑγιέα, κελεύων με δέσποιναν τὴν ἐμὴν θεήσασθαι γυμνήν; ἅμα δὲ κιθῶνι ἐκδυομένῳ συνεκδύεται καὶ τὴν αἰδῶ γυνή. πάλαι δὲ τὰ καλὰ ἀνθρώποισι ἐξεύρηται, ἐκ τῶν μανθάνειν δεῖ· ἐν τοῖσι ἓν τόδε ἐστί, σκοπέειν τινὰ τὰ ἑωυτοῦ. ἐγὼ δὲ πείθομαι ἐκείνην εἶναι πασέων γυναικῶν καλλίστην, καὶ σέο δέομαι μὴ δέεσθαι ἀνόμων.”
1.12. ὡς δὲ ἤρτυσαν τὴν ἐπιβουλήν, νυκτὸς γενομένης ʽοὐ γὰρ ἐμετίετο ὁ Γύγης, οὐδέ οἱ ἦν ἀπαλλαγὴ οὐδεμία, ἀλλʼ ἔδεε ἤ αὐτὸν ἀπολωλέναι ἢ Κανδαύλεἀ εἵπετο ἐς τὸν θάλαμον τῇ γυναικί, καί μιν ἐκείνη, ἐγχειρίδιον δοῦσα, κατακρύπτει ὑπὸ τὴν αὐτὴν θύρην. καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἀναπαυομένου Κανδαύλεω ὑπεκδύς τε καὶ ἀποκτείνας αὐτὸν ἔσχε καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα καὶ τὴν βασιληίην Γύγης τοῦ καὶ Ἀρχίλοχος ὁ Πάριος κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον γενόμενος ἐν ἰάμβῳ τριμέτρῳ ἐπεμνήσθη. 1
1.21. Μιλήσιοι μέν νυν οὕτω λέγουσι γενέσθαι. Ἀλυάττης δέ, ὡς οἱ ταῦτα ἐξαγγέλθη, αὐτίκα ἔπεμπε κήρυκα ἐς Μίλητον βουλόμενος σπονδὰς ποιήσασθαι Θρασυβούλῳ τε καὶ Μιλησίοισι χρόνον ὅσον ἂν τὸν νηὸν οἰκοδομέῃ. ὃ μὲν δὴ ἀπόστολος ἐς τὴν Μίλητον ἦν, Θρασύβουλος δὲ σαφέως προπεπυσμένος πάντα λόγον, καὶ εἰδὼς τὰ Ἀλυάττης μέλλοι ποιήσειν, μηχανᾶται τοιάδε· ὅσος ἦν ἐν τῷ ἄστεϊ σῖτος καὶ ἑωυτοῦ καὶ ἰδιωτικός, τοῦτον πάντα συγκομίσας ἐς τὴν ἀγορὴν προεῖπε Μιλησίοισι, ἐπεὰν αὐτὸς σημήνῃ, τότε πίνειν τε πάντας καὶ κώμῳ χρᾶσθαι ἐς ἀλλήλους.
1.26. τελευτήσαντος δὲ Ἀλυάττεω ἐξεδέξατο τὴν βασιληίην Κροῖσος ὁ Ἀλυάττεω, ἐτέων ἐὼν ἡλικίην πέντε καὶ τριήκοντα· ὃς δὴ Ἑλλήνων πρώτοισι ἐπεθήκατο Ἐφεσίοισι. ἔνθα δὴ οἱ Ἐφέσιοι πολιορκεόμενοι ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ἀνέθεσαν τὴν πόλιν τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι, ἐξάψαντες ἐκ τοῦ νηοῦ σχοινίον ἐς τὸ τεῖχος. ἔστι δὲ μεταξὺ τῆς τε παλαιῆς πόλιος, ἣ τότε ἐπολιορκέετο, καὶ τοῦ νηοῦ ἑπτὰ στάδιοι. πρώτοισι μὲν δὴ τούτοισι ἐπεχείρησε ὁ Κροῖσος, μετὰ δὲ ἐν μέρεϊ ἑκάστοισι Ἰώνων τε καὶ Αἰολέων, ἄλλοισι ἄλλας αἰτίας ἐπιφέρων, τῶν μὲν ἐδύνατο μέζονας παρευρίσκειν, μέζονα ἐπαιτιώμενος, τοῖσι δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ φαῦλα ἐπιφέρων. 1.27. ὡς δὲ ἄρα οἱ ἐν τῇ Ἀσίῃ Ἕλληνες κατεστράφατο ἐς φόρου ἀπαγωγήν, τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν ἐπενόεε νέας ποιησάμενος ἐπιχειρέειν τοῖσι νησιώτῃσι. ἐόντων δέ οἱ πάντων ἑτοίμων ἐς τὴν ναυπηγίην, οἳ μὲν Βίαντα λέγουσι τὸν Πριηνέα ἀπικόμενον ἐς Σάρδις, οἳ δὲ Πιττακὸν τὸν Μυτιληναῖον, εἰρομένου Κροίσου εἴ τι εἴη νεώτερον περὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα, εἰπόντα τάδε καταπαῦσαι τὴν ναυπηγίην· “ὦ βασιλεῦ, νησιῶται ἵππον συνωνέονται μυρίην, ἐς Σάρδις τε καὶ ἐπὶ σὲ ἐν νόῳ ἔχοντες στρατεύεσθαι.” Κροῖσον δὲ ἐλπίσαντα λέγειν ἐκεῖνον ἀληθέα εἰπεῖν “αἲ γὰρ τοῦτο θεοὶ ποιήσειαν ἐπὶ νόον νησιώτῃσι, ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ Λυδῶν παῖδας σὺν ἵπποισι.” τὸν δὲ ὑπολαβόντα φάναι “ὦ βασιλεῦ, προθύμως μοι φαίνεαι εὔξασθαι νησιώτας ἱππευομένους λαβεῖν ἐν ἠπείρῳ, οἰκότα ἐλπίζων. νησιώτας δὲ τί δοκέεις εὔχεσθαι ἄλλο ἤ, ἐπείτε τάχιστα ἐπύθοντό σε μέλλοντα ἐπὶ σφίσι ναυπηγέεσθαι νέας, λαβεῖν ἀρώμενοι Λυδούς ἐν θαλάσσῃ, ἵνα ὓπερ τῶν ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ οἰκημένων Ἑλλήνων τίσωνταί σε, τοὺς σὺ δουλώσας ἔχεις;” κάρτα τε ἡσθῆναι Κροῖσον τῷ ἐπιλόγῳ καί οἱ, προσφυέως γὰρ δόξαι λέγειν, πειθόμενον παύσασθαι τῆς ναυπηγίης. καὶ οὕτω τοῖσι τὰς νήσους οἰκημένοισι Ἴωσι ξεινίην συνεθήκατο. 1.28. χρόνου δὲ ἐπιγινομένου καὶ κατεστραμμένων σχεδὸν πάντων τῶν ἐντὸς Ἅλυος ποταμοῦ οἰκημένων· πλὴν γὰρ Κιλίκων καὶ Λυκίων τοὺς ἄλλους πάντας ὑπʼ ἑωυτῷ εἶχε καταστρεψάμενος ὁ Κροῖσος. εἰσὶ δὲ οἵδε, Λυδοί, Φρύγες, Μυσοί, Μαριανδυνοί, Χάλυβες, Παφλαγόνες, Θρήικες οἱ Θυνοί τε καὶ Βιθυνοί, Κᾶρες, Ἴωνες, Δωριέες, Αἰολέες, Πάμφυλοι 1 κατεστραμμένων δὲ τούτων καὶ προσεπικτωμένου Κροίσου Λυδοῖσι, 1.29. ἀπικνέονται ἐς Σάρδις ἀκμαζούσας πλούτῳ ἄλλοι τε οἱ πάντες ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος σοφισταί, οἳ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἐτύγχανον ἐόντες, ὡς ἕκαστος αὐτῶν ἀπικνέοιτο, καὶ δὴ καὶ Σόλων ἀνὴρ Ἀθηναῖος, ὃς Ἀθηναίοισι νόμους κελεύσασι ποιήσας ἀπεδήμησε ἔτεα δέκα κατά θεωρίης πρόφασιν ἐκπλώσας,ἵνα δὴ μή τινα τῶν νόμων ἀναγκασθῇ, λῦσαι τῶν ἔθετο. αὐτοὶ γὰρ οὐκ οἷοί τε ἦσαν αὐτὸ ποιῆσαι Ἀθηναῖοι· ὁρκίοισι γὰρ μεγάλοισι κατείχοντο δέκα ἔτεα χρήσεσθαι νόμοισι τοὺς ἄν σφι Σόλων θῆται. 1.30. αὐτῶν δὴ ὦν τούτων καὶ τῆς θεωρίης ἐκδημήσας ὁ Σόλων εἵνεκεν ἐς Αἴγυπτον ἀπίκετο παρὰ Ἄμασιν καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐς Σάρδις παρὰ Κροῖσον. ἀπικόμενος δὲ ἐξεινίζετο ἐν τοῖσι βασιληίοισι ὑπὸ τοῦ Κροίσου· μετὰ δὲ ἡμέρῃ τρίτῃ ἢ τετάρτῃ κελεύσαντος Κροίσου τὸν Σόλωνα θεράποντες περιῆγον κατὰ τοὺς θησαυρούς, καὶ ἐπεδείκνυσαν πάντα ἐόντα μεγάλα τε καὶ ὄλβια. θεησάμενον δέ μιν τὰ πάντα καὶ σκεψάμενον ὥς οἱ κατὰ καιρὸν ἦν, εἴρετο ὁ Κροῖσος τάδε. “ξεῖνε Ἀθηναῖε, παρʼ ἡμέας γὰρ περὶ σέο λόγος ἀπῖκται πολλὸς καὶ σοφίης εἵνεκεν 1 τῆς σῆς καὶ πλάνης, ὡς φιλοσοφέων γῆν πολλὴν θεωρίης εἵνεκεν ἐπελήλυθας· νῦν ὦν ἐπειρέσθαι με ἵμερος ἐπῆλθέ σε εἴ τινα ἤδη πάντων εἶδες ὀλβιώτατον.” ὃ μὲν ἐλπίζων εἶναι ἀνθρώπων ὀλβιώτατος ταῦτα ἐπειρώτα· Σόλων δὲ οὐδὲν ὑποθωπεύσας ἀλλὰ τῷ ἐόντι χρησάμενος λέγει “ὦ βασιλεῦ, Τέλλον Ἀθηναῖον.” ἀποθωμάσας δὲ Κροῖσος τὸ λεχθὲν εἴρετο ἐπιστρεφέως· “κοίῃ δὴ κρίνεις Τέλλον εἶναι ὀλβιώτατον;” ὁ δὲ εἶπε “Τέλλῳ τοῦτο μὲν τῆς πόλιος εὖ ἡκούσης παῖδες ἦσαν καλοί τε κἀγαθοί, καί σφι εἶδε ἅπασι τέκνα ἐκγενόμενα καὶ πάντα παραμείναντα· τοῦτο δὲ τοῦ βίου εὖ ἥκοντι, ὡς τὰ παρʼ ἡμῖν, τελευτὴ τοῦ βίου λαμπροτάτη ἐπεγένετο· γενομένης γὰρ Ἀθηναίοισι μάχης πρὸς τοὺς ἀστυγείτονας ἐν Ἐλευσῖνι, βοηθήσας καὶ τροπὴν ποιήσας τῶν πολεμίων ἀπέθανε κάλλιστα, καί μιν Ἀθηναῖοι δημοσίῃ τε ἔθαψαν αὐτοῦ τῇ περ ἔπεσε καὶ ἐτίμησαν μεγάλως.” 1.31. ὣς δὲ τὰ κατὰ τὸν Τέλλον προετρέψατο ὁ Σόλων τὸν Κροῖσον εἴπας πολλά τε καὶ ὀλβία, ἐπειρώτα τίνα δεύτερον μετʼ ἐκεῖνον ἴδοι, δοκέων πάγχυ δευτερεῖα γῶν οἴσεσθαι. ὃ δʼ εἶπε “Κλέοβίν τε καὶ Βίτωνα. τούτοισι γὰρ ἐοῦσι γένος Ἀργείοισι βίος τε ἀρκέων ὑπῆν, καὶ πρὸς τούτῳ ῥώμη σώματος τοιήδε· ἀεθλοφόροι τε ἀμφότεροι ὁμοίως ἦσαν, καὶ δὴ καὶ λέγεται ὅδε ὁ λόγος. ἐούσης ὁρτῆς τῇ Ἥρῃ τοῖσι Ἀργείοισι ἔδεε πάντως τὴν μητέρα αὐτῶν ζεύγεϊ κομισθῆναι ἐς τὸ ἱρόν, οἱ δέ σφι βόες ἐκ τοῦ ἀγροῦ οὐ παρεγίνοντο ἐν ὥρῃ· ἐκκληιόμενοι δὲ τῇ ὥρῃ οἱ νεηνίαι ὑποδύντες αὐτοὶ ὑπὸ τὴν ζεύγλην εἷλκον τὴν ἅμαξαν, ἐπὶ τῆς ἁμάξης δέ σφι ὠχέετο ἡ μήτηρ· σταδίους δὲ πέντε καὶ τεσσεράκοντα διακομίσαντες ἀπίκοντο ἐς τὸ ἱρόν. ταῦτα δέ σφι ποιήσασι καὶ ὀφθεῖσι ὑπὸ τῆς πανηγύριος τελευτὴ τοῦ βίου ἀρίστη ἐπεγένετο, διέδεξέ τε ἐν τούτοισι ὁ θεὸς ὡς ἄμεινον εἴη ἀνθρώπῳ τεθνάναι μᾶλλον ἢ ζώειν. Ἀργεῖοι μὲν γὰρ περιστάντες ἐμακάριζον τῶν νεηνιέων τὴν ῥώμην, αἱ δὲ Ἀργεῖαι τὴν μητέρα αὐτῶν, οἵων τέκνων ἐκύρησε· ἡ δὲ μήτηρ περιχαρής ἐοῦσα τῷ τε ἔργῳ καὶ τῇ φήμῃ, στᾶσα ἀντίον τοῦ ἀγάλματος εὔχετο Κλεόβι τε καὶ Βίτωνι τοῖσι ἑωυτῆς τέκνοισι, οἵ μιν ἐτίμησαν μεγάλως, τὴν θεὸν δοῦναι τὸ ἀνθρώπῳ τυχεῖν ἄριστον ἐστί. μετὰ ταύτην δὲ τὴν εὐχὴν ὡς ἔθυσάν τε καὶ εὐωχήθησαν, κατακοιμηθέντες ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ ἱρῷ οἱ νεηνίαι οὐκέτι ἀνέστησαν ἀλλʼ ἐν τέλεϊ τούτῳ ἔσχοντο. Ἀργεῖοι δὲ σφέων εἰκόνας ποιησάμενοι ἀνέθεσαν ἐς Δελφοὺς ὡς ἀριστῶν γενομένων.” 1.32. Σόλων μὲν δὴ εὐδαιμονίης δευτερεῖα ἔνεμε τούτοισι, Κροῖσος δὲ σπερχθεὶς εἶπε “ὦ ξεῖνε Ἀθηναῖε, ἡ δʼ ἡμετέρη εὐδαιμονίη οὕτω τοι ἀπέρριπται ἐς τὸ μηδὲν ὥστε οὐδὲ ἰδιωτέων ἀνδρῶν ἀξίους ἡμέας ἐποίησας;” ὁ δὲ εἶπε “ὦ Κροῖσε, ἐπιστάμενόν με τὸ θεῖον πᾶν ἐὸν φθονερόν τε καὶ ταραχῶδες ἐπειρωτᾷς ἀνθρωπηίων πρηγμάτων πέρι. ἐν γὰρ τῷ μακρῷ χρόνῳ πολλὰ μὲν ἐστὶ ἰδεῖν τὰ μή τις ἐθέλει, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ παθεῖν. ἐς γὰρ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτεα οὖρον τῆς ζόης ἀνθρώπῳ προτίθημι. οὗτοι ἐόντες ἐνιαυτοὶ ἑβδομήκοντα παρέχονται ἡμέρας διηκοσίας καὶ πεντακισχιλίας καὶ δισμυρίας, ἐμβολίμου μηνὸς μὴ γινομένου· εἰ δὲ δὴ ἐθελήσει τοὔτερον τῶν ἐτέων μηνὶ μακρότερον γίνεσθαι, ἵνα δὴ αἱ ὧραι συμβαίνωσι παραγινόμεναι ἐς τὸ δέον, μῆνες μὲν παρὰ τὰ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτεα οἱ ἐμβόλιμοι γίνονται τριήκοντα πέντε, ἡμέραι δὲ ἐκ τῶν μηνῶν τούτων χίλιαι πεντήκοντα. τουτέων τῶν ἁπασέων ἡμερέων τῶν ἐς τὰ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτεα, ἐουσέων πεντήκοντα καὶ διηκοσιέων καὶ ἑξακισχιλιέων καὶ δισμυριέων, ἡ ἑτέρη αὐτέων τῇ ἑτέρῃ ἡμέρῃ τὸ παράπαν οὐδὲν ὅμοιον προσάγει πρῆγμα. οὕτω ὦν Κροῖσε πᾶν ἐστὶ ἄνθρωπος συμφορή. ἐμοὶ δὲ σὺ καὶ πλουτέειν μέγα φαίνεαι καὶ βασιλεὺς πολλῶν εἶναι ἀνθρώπων· ἐκεῖνο δὲ τὸ εἴρεό με, οὔκω σε ἐγὼ λέγω, πρὶν τελευτήσαντα καλῶς τὸν αἰῶνα πύθωμαι. οὐ γάρ τι ὁ μέγα πλούσιος μᾶλλον τοῦ ἐπʼ ἡμέρην ἔχοντος ὀλβιώτερος ἐστί, εἰ μή οἱ τύχη ἐπίσποιτο πάντα καλὰ ἔχοντα εὖ τελευτῆσαὶ τὸν βίον. πολλοὶ μὲν γὰρ ζάπλουτοι ἀνθρώπων ἀνόλβιοι εἰσί, πολλοὶ δὲ μετρίως ἔχοντες βίου εὐτυχέες. ὁ μὲν δὴ μέγα πλούσιος ἀνόλβιος δὲ δυοῖσι προέχει τοῦ εὐτυχέος μοῦνον, οὗτος δὲ τοῦ πλουσίου καὶ ἀνόλβου πολλοῖσι· ὃ μὲν ἐπιθυμίην ἐκτελέσαι καί ἄτην μεγάλην προσπεσοῦσαν ἐνεῖκαι δυνατώτερος, ὁ δὲ τοῖσιδε προέχει ἐκείνου· ἄτην μὲν καὶ ἐπιθυμίην οὐκ ὁμοίως δυνατὸς ἐκείνῳ ἐνεῖκαι, ταῦτα δὲ ἡ εὐτυχίη οἱ ἀπερύκει, ἄπηρος δὲ ἐστί, ἄνουσος, ἀπαθὴς κακῶν, εὔπαις, εὐειδής. εἰ δὲ πρὸς τούτοισι ἔτι τελευτήσῃ τὸν βίον εὖ, οὗτος ἐκεῖνος τὸν σὺ ζητέεις, ὁ ὄλβιος κεκλῆσθαι ἄξιος ἐστί· πρὶν δʼ ἂν τελευτήσῃ, ἐπισχεῖν, μηδὲ καλέειν κω ὄλβιον ἀλλʼ εὐτυχέα. τὰ πάντα μέν νυν ταῦτα συλλαβεῖν ἄνθρωπον ἐόντα ἀδύνατον ἐστί, ὥσπερ χωρῇ οὐδεμία καταρκέει πάντα ἑωυτῇ παρέχουσα, ἀλλὰ ἄλλο μὲν ἔχει ἑτέρου δὲ ἐπιδέεται· ἣ δὲ ἂν τὰ πλεῖστα ἔχῃ, αὕτη ἀρίστη. ὣς δὲ καὶ ἀνθρώπου σῶμα ἓν οὐδὲν αὔταρκες ἐστί· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἔχει, ἄλλου δὲ ἐνδεές ἐστι· ὃς δʼ ἂν αὐτῶν πλεῖστα ἔχων διατελέῃ καὶ ἔπειτα τελευτήσῃ εὐχαρίστως τὸν βίον, οὗτος παρʼ ἐμοὶ τὸ οὔνομα τοῦτο ὦ βασιλεῦ δίκαιος ἐστὶ φέρεσθαι. σκοπέειν δὲ χρὴ παντὸς χρήματος τὴν τελευτήν, κῇ ἀποβήσεται· πολλοῖσι γὰρ δὴ ὑποδέξας ὄλβον ὁ θεὸς προρρίζους ἀνέτρεψε.” 1.33. ταῦτα λέγων τῷ Κροίσῳ οὔ κως οὔτε ἐχαρίζετο, οὔτε λόγου μιν ποιησάμενος οὐδενὸς ἀποπέμπεται, κάρτα δόξας ἀμαθέα εἶναι, ὃς τὰ παρεόντα ἀγαθὰ μετεὶς τὴν τελευτὴν παντὸς χρήματος ὁρᾶν ἐκέλευε. 1.34. μετὰ δὲ Σόλωνα οἰχόμενον ἔλαβέ ἐκ θεοῦ νέμεσις μεγάλη Κροῖσον, ὡς εἰκάσαι, ὅτι ἐνόμισε ἑωυτὸν εἶναι ἀνθρώπων ἁπάντων ὀλβιώτατον. αὐτίκα δέ οἱ εὕδοντι ἐπέστη ὄνειρος, ὅς οἱ τὴν ἀληθείην ἔφαινε τῶν μελλόντων γενέσθαι κακῶν κατὰ τὸν παῖδα. ἦσαν δὲ τῷ Κροίσῳ δύο παῖδες, τῶν οὕτερος μὲν διέφθαρτο, ἦν γὰρ δὴ κωφός, ὁ δὲ ἕτερος τῶν ἡλίκων μακρῷ τὰ πάντα πρῶτος· οὔνομα δέ οἱ ἦν Ἄτυς. τοῦτον δὴ ὦν τὸν Ἄτυν σημαίνει τῷ Κροίσῳ ὁ ὄνειρος, ὡς ἀπολέει μιν αἰχμῇ σιδηρέῃ βληθέντα. ὃ δʼ ἐπείτε ἐξηγέρθη καὶ ἑωυτῷ λόγον ἔδωκε, καταρρωδήσας τὸν ὄνειρον ἄγεται μὲν τῷ παιδὶ γυναῖκα, ἐωθότα δὲ στρατηγέειν μιν τῶν Λυδῶν οὐδαμῇ ἔτι ἐπὶ τοιοῦτο πρῆγμα ἐξέπεμπε· ἀκόντια δὲ καὶ δοράτια καὶ τά τοιαῦτα πάντα τοῖσι χρέωνται ἐς πόλεμον ἄνθρωποι, ἐκ τῶν ἀνδρεώνων ἐκκομίσας ἐς τοὺς θαλάμους συνένησε, μή τί οἱ κρεμάμενον τῷ παιδὶ ἐμπέσῃ. 1.35. ἔχοντι 1 δέ οἱ ἐν χερσὶ τοῦ παιδὸς τὸν γάμον, ἀπικνέεται ἐς τὰς Σάρδις ἀνὴρ συμφορῇ ἐχόμενος καὶ οὐ καθαρὸς χεῖρας, ἐὼν Φρὺξ μὲν γενεῇ, γένεος δὲ τοῦ βασιληίου. παρελθὼν δὲ οὗτος ἐς τὰ Κροίσου οἰκία κατὰ νόμους τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους καθαρσίου ἐδέετο κυρῆσαι, Κροῖσος δέ μιν ἐκάθηρε. ἔστι δὲ παραπλησίη ἡ κάθαρσις τοῖσι Λυδοῖσι καὶ τοῖσι Ἕλλησι. ἐπείτε δὲ τὰ νομιζόμενα ἐποίησε ὁ Κροῖσος, ἐπυνθάνετο ὁκόθεν τε καὶ τίς εἴη, λέγων τάδε· “ὤνθρωπε, τίς τε ἐὼν καὶ κόθεν τῆς Φρυγίης ἥκων ἐπίστιός μοι ἐγένεο; τίνα τε ἀνδρῶν ἢ γυναικῶν ἐφόνευσας;” ὁ δὲ ἀμείβετο “ὦ βασιλεῦ, Γορδίεω μὲν τοῦ Μίδεω εἰμὶ παῖς, ὀνομάζομαι δὲ Ἄδρηστος, φονεύσας δὲ ἀδελφεὸν ἐμεωυτοῦ ἀέκων πάρειμι ἐξεληλαμένος τε ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ ἐστερημένος πάντων.” Κροῖσος δέ μιν ἀμείβετο τοῖσιδε· “ἀνδρῶν τε φίλων τυγχάνεις ἔκγονος ἐὼν καὶ ἐλήλυθας ἐς φίλους, ἔνθα ἀμηχανήσεις χρήματος οὐδενὸς μένων ἐν ἡμετέρου, συμφορήν τε ταύτην ὡς κουφότατα φέρων κερδανέεις πλεῖστον.” 1.36. ὃ μὲν δὴ δίαιταν εἶχε ἐν Κροίσου. ἐν δὲ τῷ αὐτῷ χρόνῳ τούτῳ ἐν τῷ Μυσίῳ Ὀλύμπῳ ὑὸς χρῆμα γίνεται μέγα· ὁρμώμενος δὲ οὗτος ἐκ τοῦ ὄρεος τούτου τὰ τῶν Μυσῶν ἔργα διαφθείρεσκε. πολλάκις δὲ οἱ Μυσοὶ ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἐξελθόντες ποιέεσκον μὲν κακὸν οὐδέν, ἔπασχον δὲ πρὸς αὐτοῦ. τέλος δὲ ἀπικόμενοι παρὰ τὸν Κροῖσον τῶν Μυσῶν ἄγγελοι ἔλεγον τάδε. “ὦ βασιλεῦ, ὑὸς χρῆμα μέγιστον ἀνεφάνη ἡμῖν ἐν τῇ χώρῃ, ὃς τὰ ἔργα διαφθείρει. τοῦτον προθυμεόμενοι ἑλεῖν οὐ δυνάμεθα. νῦν ὦν προσδεόμεθά σευ τὸν παῖδα καὶ λογάδας νεηνίας καὶ κύνας συμπέμψαι ἡμῖν, ὡς ἄν μιν ἐξέλωμεν ἐκ τῆς χώρης.” οἳ μὲν δὴ τούτων ἐδέοντο, Κροῖσος δὲ μνημονεύων τοῦ ὀνείρου τὰ ἔπεα ἔλεγέ σφι τάδε. “παιδὸς μὲν πέρι τοῦ ἐμοῦ μὴ μνησθῆτε ἔτι· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ὑμῖν συμπέμψαιμι· νεόγαμός τε γὰρ ἐστὶ καὶ ταῦτά οἱ νῦν μέλει. Λυδῶν μέντοι λογάδας καὶ τὸ κυνηγέσιον πᾶν συμπέμψω, καὶ διακελεύσομαι τοῖσι ἰοῦσι εἶναι ὡς προθυμοτάτοισι συνεξελεῖν ὑμῖν τὸ θηρίον ἐκ τῆς χώρης.” 1.37. ταῦτα ἀμείψατο· ἀποχρεωμένων δὲ τούτοισι τῶν Μυσῶν, ἐπεσέρχεται ὁ τοῦ Κροίσου παῖς ἀκηκοὼς τῶν ἐδέοντο οἱ Μυσοί. οὐ φαμένου δὲ τοῦ Κροίσου τόν γε παῖδά σφι συμπέμψειν, λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ νεηνίης τάδε. “ὦ πάτερ, τὰ κάλλιστα πρότερον κοτὲ καὶ γενναιότατα ἡμῖν ἦν ἔς τε πολέμους καὶ ἐς ἄγρας φοιτέοντας εὐδοκιμέειν· νῦν δὲ ἀμφοτέρων με τούτων ἀποκληίσας ἔχεις, οὔτε τινὰ δειλίην μοι παριδὼν οὔτε ἀθυμίην νῦν τε τέοισί με χρὴ ὄμμασι ἔς τε ἀγορὴν καὶ ἐξ ἀγορῆς φοιτέοντα φαίνεσθαι; κοῖος μέν τις τοῖσι πολιήτῃσι δόξω εἶναι, κοῖος δέ τις τῇ νεογάμῳ γυναικί; κοίῳ δὲ ἐκείνη δόξει ἀνδρὶ συνοικέειν; ἐμὲ ὦν σὺ ἢ μέτες ἰέναι ἐπὶ τὴν θήρην, ἢ λόγῳ ἀνάπεισον ὅκως μοι ἀμείνω ἐστὶ ταῦτα οὕτω ποιεόμενα.” 1.38. ἀμείβεται Κροῖσος τοῖσιδε. “ὦ παῖ, οὔτε δειλίην οὔτε ἄλλο οὐδὲν ἄχαρι παριδών, τοι ποιέω ταῦτα, ἀλλά μοι ὄψις ὀνείρου ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ ἐπιστᾶσα ἔφη σε ὀλιγοχρόνιον ἔσεσθαι· ὑπὸ γὰρ αἰχμῆς σιδηρέης ἀπολέεσθαι. πρὸς ὧν τὴν ὄψιν ταύτην τόν τε γάμον τοι τοῦτον ἔσπευσα καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ παραλαμβανόμενα οὐκ ἀποπέμπω, φυλακὴν ἔχων, εἴ κως δυναίμην ἐπὶ τῆς ἐμῆς σε ζόης διακλέψαι. εἷς γὰρ μοι μοῦνος τυγχάνεις ἐὼν παῖς· τὸν γὰρ δὴ ἕτερον διεφθαρμένον τὴν ἀκοὴν οὐκ εἶναί μοι λογίζομαι.” 1.39. ἀμείβεται ὁ νεηνίης τοῖσιδε. “συγγνώμη μὲν ὦ πάτερ τοι, ἰδόντι γε ὄψιν τοιαύτην, περὶ ἐμὲ φυλακὴν ἔχειν· τὸ δὲ οὐ μανθάνεις ἀλλὰ λέληθέ σε τὸ ὄνειρον, ἐμέ τοί δίκαιον ἐστί φράζειν. φής τοι τὸ ὄνειρον ὑπὸ αἰχμῆς σιδηρέης φάναι ἐμὲ τελευτήσειν. ὑὸς δὲ κοῖαι μὲν εἰσὶ χεῖρες, κοίη δὲ αἰχμὴ σιδηρέη τὴν σὺ φοβέαι; εἰ μὲν γὰρ ὑπὸ ὀδόντος τοι εἶπε τελευτήσειν με, ἢ ἄλλου τευ ὅ τι τούτῳ ἔοικε, χρῆν δή σε ποιέειν τὰ ποιέεις· νῦν δὲ ὑπὸ αἰχμῆς. ἐπείτε ὦν οὐ πρὸς ἄνδρας ἡμῖν γίνεται ἡ μάχη, μέτες με.” 1.40. ἀμείβεται Κροῖσος “ὦ παῖ, ἔστι τῇ με νικᾷς γνώμην ἀποφαίνων περὶ τοῦ ἐνυπνίου. ὡς ὦν νενικημένος ὑπὸ σέο μεταγινώσκω, μετίημί τε σὲ ἰέναι ἐπὶ τὴν ἄγρην.” 1.41. εἴπας δὲ ταῦτα ὁ Κροῖσος μεταπέμπεται τὸν Φρύγα Ἄδρηστον, ἀπικομένῳ δέ οἱ λέγει τάδε. “Ἄδρηστε, ἐγώ σε συμφορῇ, πεπληγμένον ἀχάρι, τήν τοι οὐκ ὀνειδίζω, ἐκάθηρα καὶ οἰκίοισι ὑποδεξάμενος ἔχω, παρέχων πᾶσαν δαπάνην. νῦν ὤν ʽὀφείλεις γὰρ ἐμοῦ προποιήσαντος χρηστὰ ἐς σὲ χρηστοῖσί με ἀμείβεσθαἰ φύλακα παιδός σε τοῦ ἐμοῦ χρηίζω γενέσθαι ἐς ἄγρην ὁρμωμένου, μή τινες κατʼ ὁδὸν κλῶπες κακοῦργοι ἐπὶ δηλήσι φανέωσι ὑμῖν. πρὸς δὲ τούτῳ καὶ σέ τοι χρεόν ἐστι ἰέναι ἔνθα ἀπολαμπρυνέαι τοῖσι χρεόν πατρώιόν τε γάρ τοι ἐστὶ καὶ προσέτι ῥώμη ὑπάρχει.” 1.42. ἀμείβεται ὁ Ἄδρηστος “ὦ βασιλεῦ, ἄλλως μὲν ἔγωγε ἂν οὐκ ἤια ἐς ἄεθλον τοιόνδε· οὔτε γὰρ συμφορῇ τοιῇδε κεχρημένον οἰκός ἐστι ἐς ὁμήλικας εὖ πρήσσοντας ἰέναι, οὔτε τὸ βούλεσθαι πάρα, πολλαχῇ τε ἂν ἶσχον ἐμεωυτόν. νῦν δέ, ἐπείτε σὺ σπεύδεις καὶ δεῖ τοί χαρίζεσθαι, ὀφείλω γάρ σε ἀμείβεσθαι χρηστοῖσἰ, ποιέειν εἰμὶ ἕτοιμος ταῦτα, παῖδα τε σόν, τὸν διακελεύεαι φυλάσσειν, ἀπήμονα τοῦ φυλάσσοντος εἵνεκεν προσδόκα τοι ἀπονοστήσειν.” 1.43. τοιούτοισι ἐπείτε οὗτος ἀμείψατο Κροῖσον, ἤισαν μετὰ ταῦτα ἐξηρτυμένοι λογάσι τε νεηνίῃσι καὶ κυσί. ἀπικόμενοι δὲ ἐς τὸν Ὄλυμπον τὸ ὄρος ἐζήτεον τὸ θηρίον, εὑρόντες δὲ καὶ περιστάντες αὐτὸ κύκλῳ ἐσηκόντιζον. ἔνθα δὴ ὁ ξεῖνος, οὗτος δὴ ὁ καθαρθεὶς τὸν φόνον, καλεόμενος δὲ Ἄδρηστος, ἀκοντίζων τὸν ὗν τοῦ μὲν ἁμαρτάνει, τυγχάνει δὲ τοῦ Κροίσου παιδός. ὃ μὲν δὴ βληθεὶς τῇ αἰχμῇ ἐξέπλησε τοῦ ὀνείρου τὴν φήμην, ἔθεε δέ τις ἀγγελέων τῷ Κροίσῳ τὸ γεγονός, ἀπικόμενος δὲ ἐς τὰς Σάρδις τὴν τε μάχην καὶ τὸν τοῦ παιδὸς μόρον ἐσήμηνέ οἱ. 1.44. ὁ δὲ Κροῖσος τῳ θανάτῳ τοῦ παιδὸς συντεταραγμένος μᾶλλον τι ἐδεινολογέετο ὅτι μιν ἀπέκτεινε τὸν αὐτὸς φόνου ἐκάθηρε· περιημεκτέων δὲ τῇ συμφορῇ δεινῶς ἐκάλεε μὲν Δία καθάρσιον μαρτυρόμενος τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ ξείνου πεπονθὼς εἴη ἐκάλεε δὲ ἐπίστιόν τε καὶ ἑταιρήιον, τὸν αὐτὸν τοῦτον ὀνομάζων θεόν, τὸν μὲν ἐπίστιον καλέων, διότι δὴ οἰκίοισι ὑποδεξάμενος τὸν ξεῖνον φονέα τοῦ παιδὸς ἐλάνθανε βόσκων, τὸν δὲ ἑταιρήιον, ὡς φύλακα συμπέμψας αὐτὸν εὑρήκοι πολεμιώτατον. 1.45. παρῆσαν δὲ μετὰ τοῦτο οἱ Λυδοὶ φέροντες τὸν νεκρόν, ὄπισθε δὲ εἵπετό οἱ ὁ φονεύς. στὰς δὲ οὗτος πρὸ τοῦ νεκροῦ παρεδίδου ἑωυτὸν Κροίσῳ προτείνων τὰς χεῖρας, ἐπικατασφάξαι μιν κελεύων τῷ νεκρῷ, λέγων τήν τε προτέρην ἑωυτοῦ συμφορήν, καὶ ὡς ἐπʼ ἐκείνῃ τὸν καθήραντα ἀπολωλεκὼς εἴη, οὐδέ οἱ εἴη βιώσιμον. Κροῖσος δὲ τούτων ἀκούσας τόν τε Ἄδρηστον κατοικτείρει, καίπερ ἐὼν ἐν κακῷ οἰκηίῳ τοσούτῳ καὶ λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν “ἔχω ὦ ξεῖνε παρὰ σεῦ πᾶσαν τὴν δίκην, ἐπειδὴ σεωυτοῦ καταδικάζεις θάνατον. εἶς δὲ οὐ σύ μοι τοῦδε τοῦ κακοῦ αἴτιος, εἰ μὴ ὅσον ἀέκων ἐξεργάσαο, ἀλλὰ θεῶν κού τις, ὅς μοι καὶ πάλαι προεσήμαινε τὰ μέλλοντα ἔσεσθαι.” Κροῖσος μέν νυν ἔθαψε ὡς οἰκὸς ἦν τὸν ἑωυτοῦ παῖδα· Ἄδρηστος δὲ ὁ Γορδίεω τοῦ Μίδεω, οὗτος δὴ ὁ φονεὺς μὲν τοῦ ἑωυτοῦ ἀδελφεοῦ γενόμενος φονεὺς δὲ τοῦ καθήραντος, ἐπείτε ἡσυχίη τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐγένετο περὶ τὸ σῆμα, συγγινωσκόμενος ἀνθρώπων εἶναι τῶν αὐτὸς ᾔδεε βαρυσυμφορώτατος, ἐπικατασφάζει τῷ τύμβῳ ἑωυτόν. 1.46. Κροῖσος δὲ ἐπὶ δύο ἔτεα ἐν πένθεϊ μεγάλῳ κατῆστο τοῦ παιδὸς ἐστερημένος. μετὰ δὲ ἡ Ἀστυάγεος τοῦ Κυαξάρεω ἡγεμονίη καταιρεθεῖσα ὑπὸ Κύρου τοῦ Καμβύσεω καὶ τὰ τῶν Περσέων πρήγματα αὐξανόμενα πένθεος μὲν Κροῖσον ἀπέπαυσε, ἐνέβησε δὲ ἐς φροντίδα, εἴ κως δύναιτο, πρὶν μεγάλους γενέσθαι τοὺς Πέρσας, καταλαβεῖν αὐτῶν αὐξανομένην τὴν δύναμιν. μετὰ ὦν τὴν διάνοιαν ταύτην αὐτίκα ἀπεπειρᾶτο τῶν μαντείων τῶν τε ἐν Ἕλλησι καὶ τοῦ ἐν Λιβύῃ, διαπέμψας ἄλλους ἄλλῃ, τοὺς μὲν ἐς Δελφοὺς ἰέναι, τοὺς δὲ ἐς Ἄβας τὰς Φωκέων, τοὺς δὲ ἐς Δωδώνην· οἳ δὲ τινὲς ἐπέμποντο παρὰ τε Ἀμφιάρεων καὶ παρὰ Τροφώνιον, οἳ δὲ τῆς Μιλησίης ἐς Βραγχίδας. ταῦτα μέν νυν τὰ Ἑλληνικὰ μαντήια ἐς τὰ ἀπέπεμψε μαντευσόμενος Κροῖσος· Λιβύης δὲ παρὰ Ἄμμωνα ἀπέστελλε ἄλλους χρησομένους. διέπεμπε δὲ πειρώμενος τῶν μαντηίων ὅ τι φρονέοιεν, ὡς εἰ φρονέοντα τὴν ἀληθείην εὑρεθείη, ἐπείρηται σφέα δεύτερα πέμπων εἰ ἐπιχειρέοι ἐπὶ Πέρσας στρατεύεσθαι. 1.47. ἐντειλάμενος δὲ τοῖσι Λυδοῖσι τάδε ἀπέπεμπε ἐς τὴν διάπειραν τῶν χρηστηρίων, ἀπʼ ἧς ἂν ἡμέρης ὁρμηθέωσι ἐκ Σαρδίων, ἀπὸ ταύτης ἡμερολογέοντας τὸν λοιπὸν χρόνον ἑκατοστῇ ἡμέρῃ χρᾶσθαι τοῖσι χρηστηρίοισι, ἐπειρωτῶντας ὅ τι ποιέων τυγχάνοι ὁ Λυδῶν βασιλεὺς Κροῖσος ὁ Ἀλυάττεω· ἅσσα δʼ ἂν ἕκαστα τῶν χρηστηρίων θεσπίσῃ, συγγραψαμένους ἀναφέρειν παρʼ ἑωυτόν. ὅ τι μέν νυν τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν χρηστηρίων ἐθέσπισε, οὐ λέγεται πρὸς οὐδαμῶν· ἐν δὲ Δελφοῖσι ὡς ἐσῆλθον τάχιστα ἐς τὸ μέγαρον οἱ Λυδοὶ χρησόμενοι τῷ θεῷ καὶ ἐπειρώτων τὸ ἐντεταλμένον, ἡ Πυθίη ἐν ἑξαμέτρῳ τόνῳ λέγει τάδε. οἶδα δʼ ἐγὼ ψάμμου τʼ ἀριθμὸν καὶ μέτρα θαλάσσης, καὶ κωφοῦ συνίημι, καὶ οὐ φωνεῦντος ἀκούω. ὀδμή μʼ ἐς φρένας ἦλθε κραταιρίνοιο χελώνης ἑψομένης ἐν χαλκῷ ἅμʼ ἀρνείοισι κρέεσσιν, ᾗ χαλκὸς μὲν ὑπέστρωται, χαλκὸν δʼ ἐπιέσται. 1.48. ταῦτα οἱ Λυδοὶ θεσπισάσης τῆς Πυθίης συγγραψάμενοι οἴχοντο ἀπιόντες ἐς τὰς Σάρδις. ὡς δὲ καὶ ὧλλοι οἱ περιπεμφθέντες παρῆσαν φέροντες τοὺς χρησμούς, ἐνθαῦτα ὁ Κροῖσος ἕκαστα ἀναπτύσσων ἐπώρα τῶν συγγραμμάτων, τῶν μὲν δὴ οὐδὲν προσίετό μιν· ὁ δὲ ὡς τὸ ἐκ Δελφῶν ἤκουσε, αὐτίκα προσεύχετό τε καὶ προσεδέξατο, νομίσας μοῦνον εἶναι μαντήιον τὸ ἐν Δελφοῖσι, ὅτι οἱ ἐξευρήκεε τὰ αὐτὸς ἐποίησε. ἐπείτε γὰρ δὴ διέπεμψε παρὰ τὰ χρηστήρια τοὺς θεοπρόπους, φυλάξας τὴν κυρίην τῶν ἡμερέων ἐμηχανᾶτο τοιάδε· ἐπινοήσας τὰ ἦν ἀμήχανον ἐξευρεῖν τε καὶ ἐπιφράσασθαι, χελώνην καὶ ἄρνα κατακόψας ὁμοῦ ἧψε αὐτὸς ἐν λέβητι χαλκέῳ, χάλκεον ἐπίθημα ἐπιθείς. 1.49. τὰ μὲν δὴ ἐκ Δελφῶν οὕτω τῷ, Κροίσῳ ἐχρήσθη· κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ἀμφιάρεω τοῦ μαντηίου ὑπόκρισιν, οὐκ ἔχω εἰπεῖν ὅ τι τοῖσι Λυδοῖσι ἔχρησε ποιήσασι περὶ τὸ ἱρὸν τὰ νομιζόμενα ʽοὐ γὰρ ὦν οὐδὲ τοῦτο λέγεταἰ, ἄλλο γε ἢ ὅτι καὶ τοῦτο ἐνόμισε μαντήιον ἀψευδὲς ἐκτῆσθαι. 1.50. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα θυσίῃσι μεγάλῃσι τὸν ἐν Δελφοῖσι θεὸν ἱλάσκετο· κτήνεά τε γὰρ τὰ θύσιμα πάντα τρισχίλια ἔθυσε, κλίνας τε ἐπιχρύσους καὶ ἐπαργύρους καὶ φιάλας χρυσέας καὶ εἵματα πορφύρεα καὶ κιθῶνας, νήσας πυρὴν μεγάλην, κατέκαιε, ἐλπίζων τὸν θεὸν μᾶλλον τι τούτοισι ἀνακτήσεσθαι· Λυδοῖσι τε πᾶσι προεῖπε θύειν πάντα τινὰ αὐτῶν τούτῳ ὅ τι ἔχοι ἕκαστος. ὡς δὲ ἐκ τῆς θυσίης ἐγένετο, καταχεάμενος χρυσὸν ἄπλετον ἡμιπλίνθια ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐξήλαυνε, ἐπὶ μὰν τὰ μακρότερα ποιέων ἑξαπάλαιστα, ἐπὶ δὲ τὰ βραχύτερα τριπάλαιστα, ὕψος δὲ παλαιστιαῖα. ἀριθμὸν δὲ ἑπτακαίδεκα καὶ ἑκατόν, καὶ τούτων ἀπέφθου χρυσοῦ τέσσερα, τρίτον ἡμιτάλαντον ἕκαστον ἕλκοντα, τὰ δὲ ἄλλα ἡμιπλίνθια λευκοῦ χρυσοῦ, σταθμὸν διτάλαντα. ἐποιέετο δὲ καὶ λέοντος εἰκόνα χρυσοῦ ἀπέφθου ἕλκουσαν σταθμὸν τάλαντα δέκα. οὗτος ὁ λέων, ἐπείτε κατεκαίετο ὁ ἐν Δελφοῖσι νηός, κατέπεσε ἀπὸ τῶν ἡμιπλινθίων ʽἐπὶ γὰρ τούτοισι ἵδρυτὀ, καὶ νῦν κεῖται ἐν τῷ Κορινθίων θησαυρῷ, ἕλκων σταθμὸν ἕβδομον ἡμιτάλαντον· ἀπετάκη γὰρ αὐτοῦ τέταρτον ἡμιτάλαντον. 1.51. ἐπιτελέσας δὲ ὁ Κροῖσος ταῦτα ἀπέπεμπε ἐς Δελφούς, καὶ τάδε ἄλλα ἅμα τοῖσι, κρητῆρας δύο μεγάθεϊ μεγάλους, χρύσεον καὶ ἀργύρεον, τῶν ὁ μὲν χρύσεος ἔκειτο ἐπὶ δεξιὰ ἐσιόντι ἐς τὸν νηόν, ὁ δὲ ἀργύρεος ἐπʼ ἀριστερά. μετεκινήθησαν δὲ καὶ οὗτοι ὑπὸ τὸν νηὸν κατακαέντα καὶ ὁ μὲν χρύσεος κεῖται ἐν τῷ Κλαζομενίων θησαυρῷ, ἕλκων σταθμὸν εἴνατον ἡμιτάλαντον καὶ ἔτι δυώδεκα μνέας, ὁ δὲ ἀργύρεος ἐπὶ τοῦ προνηίου τῆς γωνίης, χωρέων ἀμφορέας ἑξακοσίους· ἐπικίρναται γὰρ ὑπὸ Δελφῶν Θεοφανίοισι. φασὶ δὲ μιν Δελφοὶ Θεοδώρου τοῦ Σαμίου ἔργον εἶναι, καὶ ἐγὼ δοκέω· οὐ γὰρ τὸ συντυχὸν φαίνεταί μοι ἔργον εἶναι. καὶ πίθους τε ἀργυρέους τέσσερας ἀπέπεμψε, οἳ ἐν τῷ Κορινθίων θησαυρῷ ἑστᾶσι, καὶ περιρραντήρια δύο ἀνέθηκε, χρύσεόν τε καὶ ἀργύρεον, τῶν τῷ χρυσέῳ ἐπιγέγραπται Λακεδαιμονίων φαμένων εἶναι ἀνάθημα, οὐκ ὀρθῶς λέγοντες· ἔστι γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο Κροίσου, ἐπέγραψε δὲ τῶν τις Δελφῶν Λακεδαιμονίοισι βουλόμενος χαρίζεσθαι, τοῦ ἐπιστάμενος τὸ οὔνομα οὐκ ἐπιμνήσομαι. ἀλλʼ ὁ μὲν παῖς, διʼ οὗ τῆς χειρὸς ῥέει τὸ ὕδωρ, Λακεδαιμονίων ἐστί, οὐ μέντοι τῶν γε περιρραντηρίων οὐδέτερον. ἄλλα τε ἀναθήματα οὐκ ἐπίσημα πολλὰ ἀπέπεμψε ἅμα τούτοισι ὁ Κροῖσος, καὶ χεύματα ἀργύρεα κυκλοτερέα, καὶ δὴ καὶ γυναικὸς εἴδωλον χρύσεον τρίπηχυ, τὸ Δελφοὶ τῆς ἀρτοκόπου τῆς Κροίσου εἰκόνα λέγουσι εἶναι. πρὸς δὲ καὶ τῆς ἑωυτοῦ γυναικὸς τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς δειρῆς ἀνέθηκε ὁ Κροῖσος καὶ τὰς ζώνας. 1.52. ταῦτα μὲν ἐς Δελφοὺς ἀπέπεμψε, τῷ δὲ Ἀμφιάρεῳ, πυθόμενος αὐτοῦ τήν τε ἀρετὴν καὶ τὴν πάθην, ἀνέθηκε σάκος τε χρύσεον πᾶν ὁμοίως καὶ αἰχμὴν στερεὴν πᾶσαν χρυσέην, τὸ ξυστὸν τῇσι λόγχῃσι ἐὸν ὁμοίως χρύσεον· τὰ ἔτι καὶ ἀμφότερα ἐς ἐμὲ ἦν κείμενα ἐν Θήβῃσι καὶ Θηβέων ἐν τῳ νηῷ τοῦ Ἰσμηνίου Ἀπόλλωνος. 1.53. τοῖσι δὲ ἄγειν μέλλουσι τῶν Λυδῶν ταῦτα τὰ δῶρα ἐς τὰ ἱρὰ ἐνετέλλετο ὁ Κροῖσος ἐπειρωτᾶν τὰ χρηστήρια εἰ στρατεύηται ἐπὶ Πέρσας Κροῖσος καὶ εἴ τινα στρατὸν ἀνδρῶν προσθέοιτο φίλον, ὡς δὲ ἀπικόμενοι ἐς τὰ ἀπεπέμφθησαν, οἱ Λυδοὶ ἀνέθεσαν τὰ ἀναθήματα, ἐχρέωντο τοῖσι χρηστηρίοισι λέγοντες “Κροῖσος ὁ Λυδῶν τε καὶ ἄλλων ἐθνέων βασιλεύς, νομίσας τάδε μαντήια εἶναι μοῦνα ἐν ἀνθρώποισι, ὑμῖν τε ἄξια δῶρα ἔδωκε τῶν ἐξευρημάτων, καὶ νῦν ὑμέας ἐπειρωτᾷ εἰ στρατεύηται ἐπὶ Πέρσας καὶ εἴ τινα στρατὸν ἀνδρῶν προσθέοιτο σύμμαχον.” οἳ μὲν ταῦτα ἐπειρώτων, τῶν δὲ μαντηίων ἀμφοτέρων ἐς τὠυτὸ αἱ γνῶμαι συνέδραμον, προλέγουσαι Κροίσῳ, ἢν στρατεύηται ἐπὶ Πέρσας, μεγάλην ἀρχὴν μιν καταλύσειν· τοὺς δὲ Ἑλλήνων δυνατωτάτους συνεβούλευόν οἱ ἐξευρόντα φίλους προσθέσθαι. 1.54. ἐπείτε δὲ ἀνενειχθέντα τὰ θεοπρόπια ἐπύθετο ὁ Κροῖσος, ὑπερήσθη τε τοῖσι χρηστηρίοισι, πάγχυ τε ἐλπίσας καταλύσειν τὴν Κύρου βασιληίην, πέμψας αὖτις ἐς Πυθὼ Δελφοὺς δωρέεται, πυθόμενος αὐτῶν τὸ πλῆθος, κατʼ ἄνδρα δύο στατῆρσι ἕκαστον χρυσοῦ. Δελφοὶ δὲ ἀντὶ τούτων ἔδοσαν Κροίσῳ καὶ Λυδοῖσι προμαντηίην καὶ ἀτελείην καὶ προεδρίην, καὶ ἐξεῖναι τῷ βουλομένῳ αὐτῶν γίνεσθαι Δελφὸν ἐς τὸν αἰεὶ χρόνον. 1.55. δωρησάμενος δὲ τοὺς Δελφοὺς ὁ Κροῖσος ἐχρηστηριάζετο τὸ τρίτον· ἐπείτε γὰρ δὴ παρέλαβε τοῦ μαντείου ἀληθείην, ἐνεφορέετο αὐτοῦ. ἐπειρώτα δὲ τάδε χρηστηριαζόμενος, εἴ οἱ πολυχρόνιος ἔσται ἡ μουναρχίη. ἡ δὲ Πυθίη οἱ χρᾷ τάδε. ἀλλʼ ὅταν ἡμίονος βασιλεὺς Μήδοισι γένηται, καὶ τότε, Λυδὲ ποδαβρέ, πολυψήφιδα παρʼ Ἕρμον φεύγειν μηδὲ μένειν μηδʼ αἰδεῖσθαι κακός εἶναι. 1.56. τούτοισι ἐλθοῦσι τοῖσι ἔπεσι ὁ Κροῖσος πολλόν τι μάλιστα πάντων ἥσθη, ἐλπίζων ἡμίονον οὐδαμὰ ἀντʼ ἀνδρὸς βασιλεύσειν Μήδων, οὐδʼ ὦν αὐτὸς οὐδὲ οἱ ἐξ αὐτοῦ παύσεσθαι κοτὲ τῆς ἀρχῆς. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐφρόντιζε ἱστορέων τοὺς ἂν Ἑλλήνων δυνατωτάτους ἐόντας προσκτήσαιτο φίλους, ἱστορέων δὲ εὕρισκε Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ Ἀθηναίους προέχοντας τοὺς μὲν τοῦ Δωρικοῦ γένεος τοὺς δὲ τοῦ Ἰωνικοῦ. ταῦτα γὰρ ἦν τὰ προκεκριμένα, ἐόντα τὸ ἀρχαῖον τὸ μὲν Πελασγικὸν τὸ δὲ Ἑλληνικὸν ἔθνος. καὶ τὸ μὲν οὐδαμῇ κω ἐξεχώρησε, τὸ δὲ πολυπλάνητον κάρτα. ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ Δευκαλίωνος βασιλέος οἴκεε γῆν τὴν Φθιῶτιν, ἐπὶ δὲ Δώρου τοῦ Ἕλληνος τὴν ὑπὸ τὴν Ὄσσαν τε καὶ τὸν Ὄλυμπον χώρην, καλεομένην δὲ Ἱστιαιῶτιν· ἐκ δὲ τῆς Ἱστιαιώτιδος ὡς ἐξανέστη ὑπὸ Καδμείων, οἴκεε ἐν Πίνδῳ Μακεδνὸν καλεόμενον· ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ αὖτις ἐς τὴν Δρυοπίδα μετέβη καὶ ἐκ τῆς Δρυοπίδος οὕτω ἐς Πελοπόννησον ἐλθὸν Δωρικὸν ἐκλήθη.
1.59. τούτων δὴ ὦν τῶν ἐθνέων τὸ μὲν Ἀττικὸν κατεχόμενόν τε καὶ διεσπασμένον ἐπυνθάνετο ὁ Κροῖσος ὑπὸ Πεισιστράτου τοῦ Ἱπποκράτεος τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον τυραννεύοντος Ἀθηναίων. Ἱπποκράτεϊ γὰρ ἐόντι ἰδιώτῃ καὶ θεωρέοντι τὰ Ὀλύμπια τέρας ἐγένετο μέγα· θύσαντος γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὰ ἱρὰ οἱ λέβητες ἐπεστεῶτες καὶ κρεῶν τε ἐόντες ἔμπλεοι καὶ ὕδατος ἄνευ πυρὸς ἔζεσαν καὶ ὑπερέβαλον. Χίλων δὲ ὁ Λακεδαιμόνιος παρατυχὼν καὶ θεησάμενος τὸ τέρας συνεβούλευε Ἱπποκράτεϊ πρῶτα μὲν γυναῖκα μὴ ἄγεσθαι τεκνοποιὸν ἐς τὰ οἰκία, εἰ δὲ τυγχάνει ἔχων, δευτέρα τὴν γυναῖκα ἐκπέμπειν, καὶ εἴ τίς οἱ τυγχάνει ἐὼν παῖς, τοῦτον ἀπείπασθαι. οὔκων ταῦτα παραινέσαντος Χίλωνος πείθεσθαι θέλειν τὸν Ἱπποκράτεα· γενέσθαι οἱ μετὰ ταῦτα τὸν Πεισίστρατον τοῦτον, ὃς στασιαζόντων τῶν παράλων καὶ τῶν ἐκ τοῦ πεδίου Ἀθηναίων, καὶ τῶν μὲν προεστεῶτος Μεγακλέος τοῦ Ἀλκμέωνος, τῶν δὲ ἐκ τοῦ πεδίου Λυκούργου Ἀριστολαΐδεω, καταφρονήσας τὴν τυραννίδα ἤγειρε τρίτην στάσιν· συλλέξας δὲ στασιώτας καὶ τῷ λόγῳ τῶν ὑπερακρίων προστὰς μηχανᾶται τοιάδε. τρωματίσας ἑωυτόν τε καὶ ἡμιόνους ἤλασε ἐς τὴν ἀγορὴν τὸ ζεῦγος ὡς ἐκπεφευγὼς τοὺς ἐχθρούς, οἵ μιν ἐλαύνοντα ἐς ἀγρὸν ἠθέλησαν ἀπολέσαι δῆθεν, ἐδέετό τε τοῦ δήμου φυλακῆς τινος πρὸς αὐτοῦ κυρῆσαι, πρότερον εὐδοκιμήσας ἐν τῇ πρὸς Μεγαρέας γενομένῃ στρατηγίῃ, Νίσαιάν τε ἑλὼν καὶ ἄλλα ἀποδεξάμενος μεγάλα ἔργα. ὁ δὲ δῆμος ὁ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἐξαπατηθεὶς ἔδωκέ οἱ τῶν ἀστῶν καταλέξας ἄνδρας τούτους οἳ δορυφόροι μὲν οὐκ ἐγένοντο Πεισιστράτου, κορυνηφόροι δέ· ξύλων γὰρ κορύνας ἔχοντες εἵποντό οἱ ὄπισθε. συνεπαναστάντες δὲ οὗτοι ἅμα Πεισιστράτῳ ἔσχον τὴν ἀκρόπολιν. ἔνθα δὴ ὁ Πεισίστρατος ἦρχε Ἀθηναίων, οὔτε τιμὰς τὰς ἐούσας συνταράξας οὔτε θέσμια μεταλλάξας, ἐπί τε τοῖσι κατεστεῶσι ἔνεμε τὴν πόλιν κοσμέων καλῶς τε καὶ εὖ.
1.65. τοὺς μέν νυν Ἀθηναίους τοιαῦτα τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον ἐπυνθάνετο ὁ Κροῖσος κατέχοντα, τοὺς δὲ Λακεδαιμονίους ἐκ κακῶν τε μεγάλων πεφευγότας καὶ ἐόντας ἤδη τῷ πολέμῳ κατυπερτέρους Τεγεητέων. ἐπὶ γὰρ Λέοντος βασιλεύοντος καὶ Ἡγησικλέος ἐν Σπάρτῃ τοὺς ἄλλους πολέμους εὐτυχέοντες οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι πρὸς Τεγεήτας μούνους προσέπταιον. τὸ δὲ ἔτι πρότερον τούτων καί κακονομώτατοι ἦσαν σχεδὸν πάντων Ἑλλήνων κατά τε σφέας αὐτοὺς καὶ ξείνοισι ἀπρόσμικτοι· μετέβαλον δὲ ὧδε ἐς εὐνομίην. Λυκούργου τῶν Σπαρτιητέων δοκίμου ἀνδρὸς ἐλθόντος ἐς Δελφοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ χρηστήριον, ὡς ἐσήιε ἐς τὸ μέγαρον, εὐθὺς ἡ Πυθίη λέγει τάδε. ἥκεις ὦ Λυκόοργε ἐμὸν ποτὶ πίονα νηόν Ζηνὶ φίλος καὶ πᾶσιν Ὀλύμπια δώματʼ ἔχουσι. δίζω ἤ σε θεὸν μαντεύσομαι ἢ ἄνθρωπον. ἀλλʼ ἔτι καὶ μᾶλλον θεὸν ἔλπομαι, ὦ Λυκόοργε. οἳ μὲν δή τινες πρὸς τούτοισι λέγουσι καὶ φράσαι αὐτῷ τὴν Πυθίην τὸν νῦν κατεστεῶτα κόσμον Σπαρτιήτῃσι. ὡς δʼ αὐτοὶ Λακεδαιμόνιοι λέγουσι, Λυκοῦργον ἐπιτροπεύσαντα Λεωβώτεω, ἀδελφιδέου μὲν ἑωυτοῦ βασιλεύοντος δὲ Σπαρτιητέων, ἐκ Κρήτης ἀγαγέσθαι ταῦτα. ὡς γὰρ ἐπετρόπευσε τάχιστα, μετέστησε τὰ νόμιμα πάντα, καὶ ἐφύλαξε ταῦτα μὴ παραβαίνειν· μετὰ δὲ τὰ ἐς πόλεμον ἔχοντα, ἐνωμοτίας καὶ τριηκάδας καὶ συσσίτια, πρός τε τούτοισι τοὺς ἐφόρους καὶ γέροντας ἔστησε Λυκοῦργος. 1.66. οὕτω μὲν μεταβαλόντες εὐνομήθησαν, τῷ δὲ Λυκούργῳ τελευτήσαντι ἱρὸν εἱσάμενοι σέβονται μεγάλως. οἷα δὲ ἐν τε χώρῃ ἀγαθῇ καὶ πλήθεϊ οὐκ ὀλίγων ἀνδρῶν, ἀνά τε ἔδραμον αὐτίκα καὶ εὐθηνήθησαν, καὶ δή σφι οὐκέτι ἀπέχρα ἡσυχίην ἄγειν, ἀλλὰ καταφρονήσαντες Ἀρκάδων κρέσσονες εἶναι ἐχρηστηριάζοντο ἐν Δελφοῖσι ἐπὶ πάσῃ τῇ Ἀρκάδων χωρῇ. ἡ δὲ Πυθίη σφι χρᾷ τάδε. Ἀρκαδίην μʼ αἰτεῖς· μέγα μʼ αἰτεῖς· οὐ τοι δώσω. πολλοὶ ἐν Ἀρκαδίῃ βαλανηφάγοι ἄνδρες ἔασιν, οἵ σʼ ἀποκωλύσουσιν. ἐγὼ δὲ τοι οὔτι μεγαίρω· δώσω τοί Τεγέην ποσσίκροτον ὀρχήσασθαι καὶ καλὸν πεδίον σχοίνῳ διαμετρήσασθαι. ταῦτα ὡς ἀπενειχθέντα ἤκουσαν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι,Ἀρκάδων μὲν τῶν ἄλλων ἀπείχοντο, οἳ δὲ πέδας φερόμενοι ἐπὶ Τεγεήτας ἐστρατεύοντο, χρησμῷ κιβδήλῳ πίσυνοι, ὡς δὴ ἐξανδραποδιούμενοι τοὺς Τεγεήτας. ἑσσωθέντες δὲ τῇ συμβολῇ, ὅσοι αὐτῶν ἐζωγρήθησαν, πέδας τε ἔχοντες τὰς ἐφέροντο αὐτοὶ καὶ σχοίνῳ διαμετρησάμενοι τὸ πεδίον τὸ Τεγεητέων ἐργάζοντο. αἱ δὲ πέδαι αὗται ἐν τῇσι ἐδεδέατο ἔτι καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἦσαν σόαι ἐν Τεγέῃ περὶ τὸν νηὸν τῆς Ἀλέης Ἀθηναίης κρεμάμεναι.
1.69. ταῦτα δὴ ὦν πάντα πυνθανόμενος ὁ Κροῖσος ἔπεμπε ἐς Σπάρτην ἀγγέλους δῶρά τε φέροντας καὶ δεησομένους συμμαχίης, ἐντειλάμενός τε τὰ λέγειν χρῆν. οἳ δὲ ἐλθόντες ἔλεγον “ἔπεμψε ἡμέας Κροῖσος ὁ Λυδῶν τε καὶ ἄλλων ἐθνέων βασιλεύς, λέγων τάδε. ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, χρήσαντος τοῦ θεοῦ τὸν Ἕλληνα φίλον προσθέσθαι, ὑμέας γὰρ πυνθάνομαι προεστάναι τῆς Ἑλλάδος, ὑμέας ὦν κατὰ τὸ χρηστήριον προσκαλέομαι φίλος τε θέλων γενέσθαι καὶ σύμμαχος ἄνευ τε δόλου καὶ ἀπάτης.” Κροῖσος μὲν δὴ ταῦτα διʼ ἀγγέλων ἐπεκηρυκεύετο, Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ ἀκηκοότες καὶ αὐτοὶ τὸ θεοπρόπιον τὸ Κροίσῳ γενόμενον ἥσθησάν τε τῇ ἀπίξι τῶν Λυδῶν καὶ ἐποιήσαντο ὅρκια ξεινίης πέρι καὶ συμμαχίης· καὶ γὰρ τινὲς αὐτοὺς εὐεργεσίαι εἶχον ἐκ Κροίσου πρότερον ἔτι γεγονυῖαι. πέμψαντες γὰρ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἐς Σάρδις χρυσὸν ὠνέοντο, ἐς ἄγαλμα βουλόμενοι χρήσασθαι τοῦτο τὸ νῦν τῆς Λακωνικῆς ἐν Θόρνακι ἵδρυται Ἀπόλλωνος· Κροῖσος δέ σφι ὠνεομένοισι ἔδωκε δωτίνην. 1.70. τούτων τε ὦν εἵνεκεν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τὴν συμμαχίην ἐδέξαντο, καὶ ὅτι ἐκ πάντων σφέας προκρίνας Ἑλλήνων αἱρέετο φίλους. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν αὐτοὶ ἦσαν ἕτοιμοι ἐπαγγείλαντι, τοῦτο δὲ ποιησάμενοι κρητῆρα χάλκεον ζῳδίων τε ἔξωθεν πλήσαντες περὶ τὸ χεῖλος καὶ μεγάθεϊ τριηκοσίους ἀμφορέας χωρέοντα ἦγον, δῶρον βουλόμενοι ἀντιδοῦναι Κροίσῳ. οὗτος ὁ κρητὴρ οὐκ ἀπίκετο ἐς Σάρδις διʼ αἰτίας διφασίας λεγομένας τάσδε· οἱ μὲν Λακεδαιμόνιοι λέγουσι ὡς ἐπείτε ἀγόμενος ἐς τὰς Σάρδις ὁ κρητὴρ ἐγίνετο κατὰ τὴν Σαμίην, πυθόμενοι Σάμιοι ἀπελοίατο αὐτὸν νηυσὶ μακρῇσι ἐπιπλώσαντες· αὐτοὶ δὲ Σάμιοι λέγουσι ὡς ἐπείτε ὑστέρησαν οἱ ἄγοντες τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων τὸν κρητῆρα, ἐπυνθάνοντο δὲ Σάρδις τε καὶ Κροῖσον ἡλωκέναι, ἀπέδοντο τὸν κρητῆρα ἐν Σάμῳ, ἰδιώτας δὲ ἄνδρας πριαμένους ἀναθεῖναί μιν ἐς τὸ Ἥραιον. τάχα δὲ ἂν καὶ οἱ ἀποδόμενοι λέγοιεν ἀπικόμενοι ἐς Σπάρτην ὡς ἀπαιρεθείησαν ὑπὸ Σαμίων. κατὰ μέν νυν τὸν κρητῆρα οὕτω ἔσχε. 1.71. Κροῖσος δὲ ἁμαρτὼν τοῦ χρησμοῦ ἐποιέετο στρατηίην ἐς Καππαδοκίην, ἐλπίσας καταιρήσειν Κῦρόν τε καὶ τὴν Περσέων δύναμιν. παρασκευαζομένου δὲ Κροίσου στρατεύεσθαι ἐπὶ Πέρσας, τῶν τις Λυδῶν νομιζόμενος καὶ πρόσθε εἶναι σοφός, ἀπὸ δὲ ταύτης τῆς γνώμης καὶ τὸ κάρτα οὔνομα ἐν Λυδοῖσι ἔχων, συνεβούλευσε Κροίσῳ τάδε· οὔνομά οἱ ἦν Σάνδανις. “ὦ βασιλεῦ, ἐπʼ ἄνδρας τοιούτους στρατεύεσθαι παρασκευάζεαι, οἳ σκυτίνας μὲν ἀναξυρίδας σκυτίνην δὲ τὴν ἄλλην ἐσθῆτα φορέουσι, σιτέονται δὲ οὐκ ὅσα ἐθέλουσι ἀλλʼ ὅσα ἔχουσι, χώρην ἔχοντες τρηχέαν. πρὸς δὲ οὐκ οἴνῳ διαχρέωνται ἀλλὰ ὑδροποτέουσι, οὐ σῦκα δὲ ἔχουσι τρώγειν, οὐκ ἄλλο ἀγαθὸν οὐδέν. τοῦτο μὲν δή, εἰ νικήσεις, τί σφέας ἀπαιρήσεαι, τοῖσί γε μὴ ἔστι μηδέν; τοῦτο δέ, ἢν νικηθῇς, μάθε ὅσα ἀγαθὰ ἀποβαλέεις· γευσάμενοι γὰρ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀγαθῶν περιέξονται οὐδὲ ἀπωστοὶ ἔσονται. ἐγὼ μέν νυν θεοῖσι ἔχω χάριν, οἳ οὐκ ἐπὶ νόον ποιέουσι Πέρσῃσι στρατεύεσθαι ἐπὶ Λυδούς.” ταῦτα λέγων οὐκ ἔπειθε τὸν Κροῖσον. Πέρσῃσι γάρ, πρὶν Λυδοὺς καταστρέψασθαι, ἦν οὔτε ἁβρὸν οὔτε ἀγαθὸν οὐδέν. 1.72. οἱ δὲ Καππαδόκαι ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων Σύριοι ὀνομάζονται· ἦσαν δὲ οἱ Σύριοι οὗτοι τὸ μὲν πρότερον ἢ Πέρσας ἄρξαι Μήδων κατήκοοι, τότε δὲ Κύρου. ὁ γὰρ οὖρος ἦν τῆς τε Μηδικῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ τῆς Λυδικῆς ὁ Ἅλυς ποταμός, ὃς ῥέει ἐξ Ἀρμενίου ὄρεος διὰ Κιλίκων, μετὰ δὲ Ματιηνοὺς μὲν ἐν δεξιῇ ἔχει ῥέων, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ ἑτέρου Φρύγας· παραμειβόμενος δὲ τούτους καὶ ῥέων ἄνω πρὸς βορέην ἄνεμον ἔνθεν μὲν Συρίους Καππαδόκας ἀπέργει, ἐξ εὐωνύμου δὲ Παφλαγόνας. οὕτω ὁ Ἅλυς ποταμὸς ἀποτάμνει σχεδὸν πάντα τῆς Ἀσίης τὰ κάτω ἐκ θαλάσσης τῆς ἀντίον Κύπρου ἐς τὸν Εὔξεινον πόντον. ἔστι δὲ αὐχὴν οὗτος τῆς χώρης ταύτης ἁπάσης· μῆκος ὁδοῦ εὐζώνῳ ἀνδρὶ πέντε ἡμέραι ἀναισιμοῦνται. 1.73. ἐστρατεύετο δὲ ὁ Κροῖσος ἐπὶ τὴν Καππαδοκίην τῶνδε εἵνεκα, καὶ γῆς ἱμέρῳ προσκτήσασθαι πρὸς τὴν ἑωυτοῦ μοῖραν βουλόμενος, καὶ μάλιστα τῷ χρηστηρίῳ πίσυνος ἐὼν καὶ τίσασθαι θέλων ὑπὲρ Ἀστυάγεος Κῦρον. Ἀστυάγεα γὰρ τὸν Κυαξάρεω, ἐόντα Κροίσου μὲν γαμβρὸν Μήδων δὲ βασιλέα, Κῦρος ὁ Καμβύσεω καταστρεψάμενος εἶχε, γενόμενον γαμβρὸν Κροίσῳ ὧδε. Σκυθέων τῶν νομάδων εἴλῃ ἀνδρῶν στασιάσασα ὑπεξῆλθε ἐς γῆν τὴν Μηδικήν· ἐτυράννευε δὲ τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον Μήδων Κυαξάρης ὁ Φραόρτεω τοῦ Δηιόκεω, ὃς τοὺς Σκύθας τούτους τὸ μὲν πρῶτον περιεῖπε εὖ ὡς ἐόντας ἱκέτας· ὥστε δὲ περὶ πολλοῦ ποιεόμενος αὐτούς, παῖδάς σφι παρέδωκε τὴν γλῶσσάν τε ἐκμαθεῖν καὶ τὴν τέχνην τῶν τόξων. χρόνου δὲ γενομένου, καὶ αἰεὶ φοιτεόντων τῶν Σκυθέων ἐπʼ ἄγρην καὶ αἰεί τι φερόντων, καὶ κοτε συνήνεικε ἑλεῖν σφεας μηδέν· νοστήσαντας δὲ αὐτοὺς κεινῇσι χερσὶ ὁ Κυαξάρης ʽἦν γάρ, ὡς διέδεξε, ὀργὴν ἄκροσ̓ τρηχέως κάρτα περιέσπε ἀεικείῃ. οἳ δὲ ταῦτα πρὸς Κυαξάρεω παθόντες, ὥστε ἀνάξια σφέων αὐτῶν πεπονθότες, ἐβούλευσαν τῶν παρὰ σφίσι διδασκομένων παίδων ἕνα κατακόψαι, σκευάσαντες δὲ αὐτὸν ὥσπερ ἐώθεσαν καὶ τὰ θηρία σκευάζειν, Κυαξάρῃ δοῦναι φέροντες ὡς ἄγρην δῆθεν, δόντες δὲ τὴν ταχίστην κομίζεσθαι παρὰ Ἀλυάττεα τὸν Σαδυάττεω ἐς Σάρδις. ταῦτα καὶ ἐγένετο. καὶ γὰρ Κυαξάρης καὶ οἱ παρεόντες δαιτυμόνες τῶν κρεῶν τούτων ἐπάσαντο, καὶ οἱ Σκύθαι ταῦτα ποιήσαντες Ἀλυάττεω ἱκέται ἐγένοντο. 1.74. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα, οὐ γὰρ δὴ ὁ Ἀλυάττης ἐξεδίδου τοὺς Σκύθας ἐξαιτέοντι Κυαξάρῃ, πόλεμος τοῖσι Λυδοῖσι καὶ τοῖσι Μήδοισι ἐγεγόνεε ἐπʼ ἔτεα πέντε, ἐν τοῖσι πολλάκις μὲν οἱ Μῆδοι τοὺς Λυδοὺς ἐνίκησαν, πολλάκις δὲ οἱ Λυδοὶ τοὺς Μήδους, ἐν δὲ καὶ νυκτομαχίην τινὰ ἐποιήσαντο· διαφέρουσι δέ σφι ἐπὶ ἴσης τὸν πόλεμον τῷ ἕκτῳ ἔτεϊ συμβολῆς γενομένης συνήνεικε ὥστε τῆς μάχης συνεστεώσης τὴν ἡμέρην ἐξαπίνης νύκτα γενέσθαι. τὴν δὲ μεταλλαγὴν ταύτην τῇ ἡμέρης Θαλῆς ὁ Μιλήσιος τοῖσι Ἴωσι προηγόρευσε ἔσεσθαι, οὖρον προθέμενος ἐνιαυτὸν τοῦτον ἐν τῷ δὴ καὶ ἐγένετο ἡ μεταβολή. οἱ δὲ Λυδοί τε καὶ οἱ Μῆδοι ἐπείτε εἶδον νύκτα ἀντὶ ἡμέρης γενομένην, τῆς μάχης τε ἐπαύσαντο καὶ μᾶλλόν τι ἔσπευσαν καὶ ἀμφότεροι εἰρήνην ἑωυτοῖσι γενέσθαι. οἱ δὲ συμβιβάσαντες αὐτοὺς ἦσαν οἵδε, Συέννεσίς τε ὁ Κίλιξ καὶ Λαβύνητος ὁ Βαβυλώνιος. οὗτοί σφι καὶ τὸ ὅρκιον οἱ σπεύσαντες γενέσθαι ἦσαν καὶ γάμων ἐπαλλαγὴν ἐποίησαν· Ἀλυάττεα γὰρ ἔγνωσαν δοῦναι τὴν θυγατέρα Ἀρύηνιν Ἀστυάγεϊ τῷ Κυαξάρεω παιδί· ἄνευ γὰρ ἀναγκαίης ἰσχυρῆς συμβάσιες ἰσχυραὶ οὐκ ἐθέλουσι συμμένειν. ὅρκια δὲ ποιέεται ταῦτα τὰ ἔθνεα τὰ πέρ τε Ἕλληνες, καὶ πρὸς τούτοισι, ἐπεὰν τοὺς βραχίονας ἐπιτάμωνται ἐς τὴν ὁμοχροίην, τὸ αἷμα ἀναλείχουσι ἀλλήλων. 1.75. τοῦτον δὴ ὦν τὸν Ἀστυάγεα Κῦρος ἐόντα ἑωυτοῦ μητροπάτορα καταστρεψάμενος ἔσχε διʼ αἰτίην τὴν ἐγὼ ἐν τοῖσι ὀπίσω λόγοισι σημανέω· τὰ Κροῖσος ἐπιμεμφόμενος τῷ Κύρῳ ἔς τε τὰ χρηστήρια ἔπεμπε εἰ στρατεύηται ἐπὶ Πέρσας, καὶ δὴ καὶ ἀπικομένου χρησμοῦ κιβδήλου, ἐλπίσας πρὸς ἑωυτοῦ τὸν χρησμὸν εἶναι, ἐστρατεύετο ἐς τὴν Περσέων μοῖραν. ὡς δὲ ἀπίκετο ἐπὶ τὸν Ἅλυν ποταμὸν ὁ Κροῖσος, τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν, ὡς μὲν ἐγὼ λέγω, κατὰ τὰς ἐούσας γεφύρας διεβίβασε τὸν στρατόν, ὡς δὲ ὁ πολλὸς λόγος Ἑλλήνων, Θαλῆς οἱ ὁ Μιλήσιος διεβίβασε. ἀπορέοντος γὰρ Κροίσου ὅκως οἱ διαβήσεται τὸν ποταμὸν ὁ στρατός ʽοὐ γὰρ δὴ εἶναι κω τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον τὰς γεφύρας ταύτασ̓ λέγεται παρεόντα τὸν Θαλῆν ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ ποιῆσαι αὐτῷ τὸν ποταμὸν ἐξ ἀριστερῆς χειρὸς ῥέοντα τοῦ στρατοῦ καὶ ἐκ δεξιῆς ῥέειν, ποιῆσαι δὲ ὧδε· ἄνωθεν τοῦ στρατοπέδου ἀρξάμενον διώρυχα βαθέαν ὀρύσσειν, ἄγοντα μηνοειδέα, ὅκως ἂν τὸ στρατόπεδον ἱδρυμένον κατὰ νώτου λάβοι, ταύτῃ κατὰ τὴν διώρυχα ἐκτραπόμενος ἐκ τῶν ἀρχαίων ῥεέθρων, καὶ αὖτις παραμειβόμενος τὸ στρατόπεδον ἐς τὰ ἀρχαῖα ἐσβάλλοι· ὥστε ἐπείτε καὶ ἐσχίσθη τάχιστα ὁ ποταμός, ἀμφοτέρῃ διαβατὸς ἐγένετο, οἳ δὲ καὶ τὸ παράπαν λέγουσι καὶ τὸ ἀρχαῖον ῥέεθρον ἀποξηρανθῆναι. ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν οὐ προσίεμαι· κῶς γὰρ ὀπίσω πορευόμενοι διέβησαν αὐτόν; 1.76. Κροῖσος δὲ ἐπείτε διαβὰς σὺν τῷ στρατῷ ἀπίκετο τῆς Καππαδοκίης ἐς τὴν Πτερίην καλεομένην ʽἡ δὲ Πτερίη ἐστὶ τῆς χώρης ταύτης τὸ 1 ἰσχυρότατον, κατὰ Σινώπην πόλιν τὴν ἐν Εὐξείνῳ πόντῳ μάλιστά κῃ κειμένἠ, ἐνθαῦτα ἐστρατοπεδεύετο φθείρων τῶν Συρίων τοὺς κλήρους· καὶ εἷλε μὲν τῶν Πτερίων τὴν πόλιν καὶ ἠνδραποδίσατο, εἷλε δὲ τὰς περιοικίδας αὐτῆς πάσας, Συρίους τε οὐδὲν ἐόντας αἰτίους ἀναστάτους ἐποίησε. Κῦρος δὲ ἀγείρας τὸν ἑωυτοῦ στρατὸν καὶ παραλαβὼν τοὺς μεταξὺ οἰκέοντας πάντας ἠντιοῦτο Κροίσῳ. πρὶν δὲ ἐξελαύνειν ὁρμῆσαι τὸν στρατόν, πέμψας κήρυκας ἐς τοὺς Ἴωνας ἐπειρᾶτο σφέας ἀπὸ Κροίσου ἀπιστάναι. Ἴωνες μέν νυν οὐκ ἐπείθοντο. Κῦρος δὲ ὡς ἀπίκετο καὶ ἀντεστρατοπεδεύσατο Κροίσῳ, ἐνθαῦτα ἐν τῇ Πτερίῃ χωρῇ ἐπειρῶντο κατὰ τὸ ἰσχυρὸν ἀλλήλων. μάχης δὲ καρτερῆς γενομένης καὶ πεσόντων ἀμφοτέρων πολλῶν, τέλος οὐδέτεροι νικήσαντες διέστησαν νυκτὸς ἐπελθούσης. καὶ τὰ μὲν στρατόπεδα ἀμφότερα οὕτω ἠγωνίσατο. 1.77. Κροῖσος δὲ μεμφθεὶς κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τὸ ἑωυτοῦ στράτευμα ʽἦν γάρ οἱ ὁ συμβαλὼν στρατὸς πολλὸν ἐλάσσων ἢ ὁ Κύροὐ, τοῦτο μεμφθείς, ὡς τῇ ὑστεραίῃ οὐκ ἐπειρᾶτο ἐπιὼν ὁ Κῦρος, ἀπήλαυνε ἐς τὰς Σάρδις ἐν νόῳ ἔχων παρακαλέσας μὲν Αἰγυπτίους κατὰ τὸ ὅρκιον ʽἐποιήσατο γὰρ καὶ πρὸς Ἄμασιν βασιλεύοντα Αἰγύπτου συμμαχίην πρότερον ἤ περ πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίουσ̓, μεταπεμψάμενος δὲ καὶ Βαβυλωνίους ʽκαὶ γὰρ πρὸς τούτους αὐτῷ ἐπεποίητο συμμαχίη, ἐτυράννευε δὲ τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον τῶν Βαβυλωνίων Λαβύνητοσ̓, ἐπαγγείλας δὲ καὶ Λακεδαιμονίοισι παρεῖναι ἐς χρόνον ῥητόν ἁλίσας τε δὴ τούτους καὶ τὴν ἑωυτοῦ συλλέξας στρατιὴν ἐνένωτο τὸν χειμῶνα παρείς, ἅμα τῷ ἔαρι στρατεύειν ἐπὶ τοὺς Πέρσας. καὶ ὃ μὲν ταῦτα φρονέων, ὡς ἀπίκετο ἐς τὰς Σάρδις, ἔπεμπε κήρυκας κατὰ τὰς συμμαχίας προερέοντας ἐς πέμπτον μῆνα συλλέγεσθαι ἐς Σάρδις· τὸν δὲ παρεόντα καὶ μαχεσάμενον στρατὸν Πέρσῃσι, ὃς ἦν αὐτοῦ ξεινικός, πάντα ἀπεὶς διεσκέδασε οὐδαμὰ ἐλπίσας μὴ κοτε ἄρα ἀγωνισάμενος οὕτω παραπλησίως Κῦρος ἐλάσῃ ἐπὶ Σάρδις. 1.78. ταῦτα ἐπιλεγομένῳ Κροίσῳ τὸ προάστειον πᾶν ὀφίων ἐνεπλήσθη· φανέντων δὲ αὐτῶν οἱ ἵπποι μετιέντες τὰς νομὰς νέμεσθαι φοιτέοντες κατήσθιον. ἰδόντι δὲ τοῦτο Κροίσῳ, ὥσπερ καὶ ἦν ἔδοξε τέρας εἶναι· αὐτίκα δὲ ἔπεμπε θεοπρόπους ἐς τῶν ἐξηγητέων Τελμησσέων. ἀπικομένοισι δὲ τοῖσι θεοπρόποισι καὶ μαθοῦσι πρὸς Τελμησσέων τὸ θέλει σημαίνειν τὸ τέρας, οὐκ ἐξεγένετο Κροίσῳ ἀπαγγεῖλαι· πρὶν γὰρ ἢ ὀπίσω σφέας ἀναπλῶσαι ἐς τὰς Σάρδις ἥλω ὁ Κροῖσος. Τελμησσέες μέντοι τάδε ἔγνωσαν, στρατὸν ἀλλόθροον προσδόκιμον εἶναι Κροίσῳ ἐπὶ τὴν χώρην, ἀπικόμενον δὲ τοῦτον καταστρέψεσθαι τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους, λέγοντες ὄφιν εἶναι γῆς παῖδα, ἵππον δὲ πολέμιόν τε καὶ ἐπήλυδα. Τελμησσέες μέν νυν ταῦτα ὑπεκρίναντο Κροίσῳ ἤδη ἡλωκότι, οὐδὲν κω εἰδότες τῶν ἦν περὶ Σάρδις τε καὶ αὐτὸν Κροῖσον. 1.79. Κῦρος δὲ αὐτίκα ἀπελαύνοντος Κροίσου μετὰ τὴν μάχην τὴν γενομένην ἐν τῇ Πτερίῃ, μαθὼν ὡς ἀπελάσας μέλλοι Κροῖσος διασκεδᾶν τὸν στρατόν, βουλευόμενος εὕρισκε πρῆγμά οἷ εἶναι ἐλαύνειν ὡς δύναιτο τάχιστα ἐπὶ τὰς Σάρδις, πρὶν ἢ τὸ δεύτερον ἁλισθῆναι τῶν Λυδῶν τὴν δύναμιν. ὡς δέ οἱ ταῦτα ἔδοξε, καὶ ἐποίεε κατὰ τάχος· ἐλάσας γὰρ τὸν στρατὸν ἐς τὴν Λυδίην αὐτὸς ἄγγελος Κροίσῳ ἐληλύθεε. ἐνθαῦτα Κροῖσος ἐς ἀπορίην πολλὴν ἀπιγμένος, ὥς οἱ παρὰ δόξαν ἔσχε τὰ πρήγματα ἢ ὡς αὐτὸς κατεδόκεε, ὅμως τοὺς Λυδοὺς ἐξῆγε ἐς μάχην. ἦν δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἔθνος οὐδὲν ἐν τῇ Ἀσίῃ οὔτε ἀνδρηιότερον οὔτε ἀλκιμώτερον τοῦ Λυδίου. ἡ δὲ μάχη σφέων ἦν ἀπʼ ἵππων, δόρατά τε ἐφόρεον μεγάλα, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἦσαν ἱππεύεσθαι ἀγαθοί.
1.80. ἐς τὸ πεδίον δὲ συνελθόντων τοῦτο τὸ πρὸ τοῦ ἄστεος ἐστὶ τοῦ Σαρδιηνοῦ, ἐὸν μέγα τε καὶ ψιλὸν ʽδιὰ δὲ αὐτοῦ ποταμοὶ ῥέοντες καὶ ἄλλοι καὶ Ὕλλος συρρηγνῦσι ἐς τὸν μέγιστον, καλεόμενον δὲ Ἕρμον, ὃς ἐξ ὄρεος ἱροῦ μητρὸς Δινδυμήνης ῥέων ἐκδιδοῖ ἐς θάλασσαν κατὰ Φωκαίην πόλιν̓, ἐνθαῦτα ὁ Κῦρος ὡς εἶδε τοὺς Λυδοὺς ἐς μάχην τασσομένους, καταρρωδήσας τὴν ἵππον ἐποίησε Ἁρπάγου ὑποθεμένου ἀνδρὸς Μήδου τοιόνδε· ὅσαι τῷ στρατῷ τῷ ἑωυτοῦ εἵποντο σιτοφόροι τε καὶ σκευοφόροι κάμηλοι, ταύτας πάσας ἁλίσας καὶ ἀπελὼν τὰ ἄχθεα ἄνδρας ἐπʼ αὐτὰς ἀνέβησε ἱππάδα στολὴν ἐνεσταλμένους, σκευάσας δὲ αὐτοὺς προσέταξε τῆς ἄλλης στρατιῆς προϊέναι πρὸς τὴν Κροίσου ἵππον, τῇ δὲ καμήλῳ ἕπεσθαι τὸν πεζὸν στρατὸν ἐκέλευσε, ὄπισθε δὲ τοῦ πεζοῦ ἐπέταξε τὴν πᾶσαν ἵππον. ὡς δέ οἱ πάντες διετετάχατο, παραίνεσε τῶν μὲν ἄλλων Λυδῶν μὴ φειδομένους κτείνειν πάντα τὸν ἐμποδὼν γινόμενον, Κροῖσον δὲ αὐτὸν μὴ κτείνειν, μηδὲ ἢν συλλαμβανόμενος ἀμύνηται. ταῦτα μὲν παραίνεσε, τὰς δὲ καμήλους ἔταξε ἀντία τῆς ἵππου τῶνδε εἵνεκεν· κάμηλον ἵππος φοβέεται, καὶ οὐκ ἀνέχεται οὔτε τὴν ἰδέην αὐτοῦ ὁρέων οὔτε τὴν ὀδμὴν ὀσφραινόμενος. αὐτοῦ δὴ ὦν τούτου εἵνεκεν ἐσεσόφιστο, ἵνα τῷ Κροίσῳ ἄχρηστον ᾖ τὸ ἱππικόν, τῷ δή τι καὶ ἐπεῖχε ἐλλάμψεσθαι ὁ Λυδός. ὡς δὲ καὶ συνήισαν ἐς τὴν μάχην, ἐνθαῦτα ὡς ὤσφροντο τάχιστα τῶν καμήλων οἱ ἵπποι καὶ εἶδον αὐτάς, ὀπίσω ἀνέστρεφον, διέφθαρτό τε τῷ Κροίσῳ ἡ ἐλπίς. οὐ μέντοι οἵ γε Λυδοὶ τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν δειλοὶ ἦσαν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἔμαθον τὸ γινόμενον, ἀποθορόντες ἀπὸ τῶν ἵππων πεζοὶ τοῖσι Πέρσῃσι συνέβαλλον. χρόνῳ δὲ πεσόντων ἀμφοτέρων πολλῶν ἐτράποντο οἱ Λυδοί, κατειληθέντες δὲ ἐς τὸ τεῖχος ἐπολιορκέοντο ὑπὸ τῶν Περσέων.
1.81. τοῖσι μὲν δὴ κατεστήκεε πολιορκίη. Κροῖσος δὲ δοκέων οἱ χρόνον ἐπὶ μακρὸν ἔσεσθαι τὴν πολιορκίην ἔπεμπε ἐκ τοῦ τείχεος ἄλλους ἀγγέλους ἐς τὰς συμμαχίας. οἱ μὲν γὰρ πρότεροι διεπέμποντο ἐς πέμπτον μῆνα προερέοντες συλλέγεσθαι ἐς Σάρδις, τούτους δὲ ἐξέπεμπε τὴν ταχίστην δέεσθαι βοηθέειν ὡς πολιορκεομένου Κροίσου.
1.82. ἔς τε δὴ ὦν τὰς ἄλλας ἔπεμπε συμμαχίας καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐς Λακεδαίμονα. τοῖσι δὲ καὶ αὐτοῖσι τοῖσι Σπαρτιήτῃσι κατʼ αὐτὸν τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον συνεπεπτώκεε ἔρις ἐοῦσα πρὸς Ἀργείους περὶ χώρου καλεομένου Θυρέης· τὰς γὰρ Θυρέας ταύτας ἐούσας τῆς Ἀργολίδος μοίρης ἀποταμόμενοι ἔσχον οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι. ἦν δὲ καὶ ἡ μέχρι Μαλέων ἡ πρὸς ἑσπέρην Ἀργείων, ἥ τε ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ χώρῇ καὶ ἡ Κυθηρίη νῆσος καὶ αἱ λοιπαὶ τῶν νήσων. βοηθησάντων δὲ Ἀργείων τῇ σφετέρῃ ἀποταμνομένῃ, ἐνθαῦτα συνέβησαν ἐς λόγους συνελθόντες ὥστε τριηκοσίους ἑκατέρων μαχέσασθαι, ὁκότεροι δʼ ἂν περιγένωνται, τούτων εἶναι τὸν χῶρον· τὸ δὲ πλῆθος τοῦ στρατοῦ ἀπαλλάσσεσθαι ἑκάτερον ἐς τὴν ἑωυτοῦ μηδὲ παραμένειν ἀγωνιζομένων, τῶνδε εἵνεκεν ἵνα μὴ παρεόντων τῶν στρατοπέδων ὁρῶντες οἱ ἕτεροι ἑσσουμένους τοὺς σφετέρους ἀπαμύνοιεν. συνθέμενοι ταῦτα ἀπαλλάσσοντο, λογάδες δὲ ἑκατέρων ὑπολειφθέντες συνέβαλον. μαχομένων δὲ σφέων καὶ γινομένων ἰσοπαλέων ὑπελείποντο ἐξ ἀνδρῶν ἑξακοσίων τρεῖς, Ἀργείων μὲν Ἀλκήνωρ τε καὶ Χρομίος, Λακεδαιμονίων δὲ Ὀθρυάδης· ὑπελείφθησαν δὲ οὗτοι νυκτὸς ἐπελθούσης. οἱ μὲν δὴ δύο τῶν Ἀργείων ὡς νενικηκότες ἔθεον ἐς τὸ Ἄργος, ὁ δὲ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων Ὀθρυάδης σκυλεύσας τοὺς Ἀργείων νεκροὺς καὶ προσφορήσας τὰ ὅπλα πρὸς τὸ ἑωυτοῦ στρατόπεδον ἐν τῇ τάξι εἶχε ἑωυτόν. ἡμέρῃ δὲ δευτέρῃ παρῆσαν πυνθανόμενοι ἀμφότεροι. τέως μὲν δὴ αὐτοὶ ἑκάτεροι ἔφασαν νικᾶν, λέγοντες οἳ μὲν ὡς ἑωυτῶν πλεῦνες περιγεγόνασι, οἳ δὲ τοὺς μὲν ἀποφαίνοντες πεφευγότας, τὸν δὲ σφέτερον παραμείναντα καὶ σκυλεύσαντα τοὺς ἐκείνων νεκρούς· τέλος δὲ ἐκ τῆς ἔριδος συμπεσόντες ἐμάχοντο, πεσόντων δὲ καὶ ἀμφοτέρων πολλῶν ἐνίκων Λακεδαιμόνιοι. Ἀργεῖοι μέν νυν ἀπὸ τούτου τοῦ χρόνου κατακειράμενοι τὰς κεφαλάς, πρότερον ἐπάναγκες κομῶντες, ἐποιήσαντο νόμον τε καὶ κατάρην μὴ πρότερον θρέψειν κόμην Ἀργείων μηδένα, μηδὲ τὰς γυναῖκάς σφι χρυσοφορήσειν, πρὶν Θυρέας ἀνασώσωνται. Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ τὰ ἐναντία τούτων ἔθεντο νόμον· οὐ γὰρ κομῶντες πρὸ τούτου ἀπὸ τούτου κομᾶν. τὸν δὲ ἕνα λέγουσι τὸν περιλειφθέντα τῶν τριηκοσίων Ὀθρυάδην, αἰσχυνόμενον ἀπονοστέειν ἐς Σπάρτην τῶν οἱ συλλοχιτέων διεφθαρμένων, αὐτοῦ μιν ἐν τῇσι Θυρέῃσι καταχρήσασθαι ἑωυτόν.
1.83. τοιούτων δὲ τοῖσι Σπαρτιήτῃσι ἐνεστεώτων πρηγμάτων ἧκε ὁ Σαρδιηνὸς κῆρυξ δεόμενος Κροίσῳ βοηθέειν πολιορκεομένῳ. οἳ δὲ ὅμως, ἐπείτε ἐπύθοντο τοῦ κήρυκος, ὁρμέατο βοηθέειν. καί σφι ἤδη παρεσκευασμένοισι καὶ νεῶν ἐουσέων ἑτοίμων ἦλθε ἄλλη ἀγγελίη, ὡς ἡλώκοι τὸ τεῖχος τῶν Λυδῶν καὶ ἔχοιτο Κροῖσος ζωγρηθείς. οὕτω δὴ οὗτοι μὲν συμφορὴν ποιησάμενοι μεγάλην ἐπέπαυντο.
1.84. Σάρδιες δὲ ἥλωσαν ὧδε. ἐπειδὴ τεσσερεσκαιδεκάτη ἐγένετο ἡμέρη πολιορκεομένῳ Κροίσῳ, Κῦρος τῇ στρατιῇ τῇ ἑωυτοῦ διαπέμψας ἱππέας προεῖπε τῷ πρώτῳ ἐπιβάντι τοῦ τείχεος δῶρα δώσειν. μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο πειρησαμένης τῆς στρατιῆς ὡς οὐ προεχώρεε, ἐνθαῦτα τῶν ἄλλων πεπαυμένων ἀνὴρ Μάρδος ἐπειρᾶτο προσβαίνων, τῷ οὔνομα ἦν Ὑροιάδης, κατὰ τοῦτο τῆς ἀκροπόλιος τῇ οὐδεὶς ἐτέτακτο φύλακος· οὐ γὰρ ἦν δεινὸν κατὰ τοῦτο μὴ ἁλῷ κοτέ. ἀπότομός τε γὰρ ἐστὶ ταύτῃ ἡ ἀκρόπολις καὶ ἄμαχος· τῇ οὐδὲ Μήλης ὁ πρότερον βασιλεὺς Σαρδίων μούνῃ οὐ περιήνεικε τὸν λέοντα τὸν οἱ ἡ παλλακὴ ἔτεκε, Τελμησσέων δικασάντων ὡς περιενειχθέντος τοῦ λέοντος τὸ τεῖχος ἔσονται Σάρδιες ἀνάλωτοι. ὁ δὲ Μήλης κατὰ τὸ ἄλλο τεῖχος περιενείκας, τῇ ἦν ἐπίμαχον τὸ χωρίον 1 τῆς ἀκροπόλιος, κατηλόγησε τοῦτο ὡς ἐὸν ἄμαχόν τε καὶ ἀπότομον· ἔστι δὲ πρὸς τοῦ Τμώλου τετραμμένον τῆς πόλιος. ὁ ὦν δὴ Ὑροιάδης οὗτος ὁ Μάρδος ἰδὼν τῇ προτεραίῃ τῶν τινα Λυδῶν κατὰ τοῦτο τῆς ἀκροπόλιος καταβάντα ἐπὶ κυνέην ἄνωθεν κατακυλισθεῖσαν καὶ ἀνελόμενον, ἐφράσθη καὶ ἐς θυμὸν ἐβάλετο· τότε δὲ δὴ αὐτός τε ἀναβεβήκεε καὶ κατʼ αὐτὸν ἄλλοι Περσέων ἀνέβαινον· προσβάντων δὲ συχνῶν οὕτω δὴ Σάρδιές τε ἡλώκεσαν καὶ πᾶν τὸ ἄστυ ἐπορθέετο.
1.85. κατʼ αὐτὸν δὲ Κροῖσον τάδε ἐγίνετο. ἦν οἱ παῖς, τοῦ καὶ πρότερον ἐπεμνήσθην, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ἐπιεικής, ἄφωνος δέ. ἐν τῇ ὦν παρελθούσῃ εὐεστοῖ ὁ Κροῖσος τὸ πᾶν ἐς αὐτὸν ἐπεποιήκεε, ἄλλα τε ἐπιφραζόμενος, καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐς Δελφοὺς περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπεπόμφεε χρησομένους. ἡ δὲ Πυθίη οἱ εἶπε τάδε. Λυδὲ γένος, πολλῶν βασιλεῦ, μέγα νήπιε Κροῖσε, μὴ βούλου πολύευκτον ἰὴν ἀνὰ δώματʼ ἀκούειν παιδὸς φθεγγομένου. τὸ δέ σοι πολὺ λώιον ἀμφὶς ἔμμεναι· αὐδήσει γὰρ ἐν ἤματι πρῶτον ἀνόλβῳ. ἁλισκομένου δὴ τοῦ τείχεος, ἤιε γὰρ τῶν τις Περσέων ἀλλογνώσας Κροῖσον ὡς ἀποκτενέων, Κροῖσος μέν νυν ὁρέων ἐπιόντα ὑπὸ τῆς παρεούσης συμφορῆς παρημελήκεε, οὐδὲ τί οἱ διέφερε πληγέντι ἀποθανεῖν· ὁ δὲ παῖς οὗτος ὁ ἄφωνος ὡς εἶδε ἐπιόντα τὸν Πέρσην, ὑπὸ δέους τε καὶ κακοῦ ἔρρηξε φωνήν, εἶπε δὲ “ὤνθρώπε, μὴ κτεῖνε Κροῖσον.” οὗτος μὲν δὴ τοῦτο πρῶτον ἐφθέγξατο, μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο ἤδη ἐφώνεε τὸν πάντα χρόνον τῆς ζόης.
1.86. οἱ δὲ Πέρσαι τάς τε δὴ Σάρδις ἔσχον καὶ αὐτὸν Κροῖσον ἐζώγρησαν, ἄρξαντα ἔτεα τεσσερεσκαίδεκα καὶ τεσσερεσκαίδεκα ἡμέρας πολιορκηθέντα, κατὰ τὸ χρηστήριόν τε καταπαύσαντα τὴν ἑωυτοῦ μεγάλην ἀρχήν. λαβόντες δὲ αὐτὸν οἱ Πέρσαι ἤγαγον παρὰ Κῦρον. ὁ δὲ συννήσας πυρὴν μεγάλην ἀνεβίβασε ἐπʼ αὐτὴν τὸν Κροῖσόν τε ἐν πέδῃσι δεδεμένον καὶ δὶς ἑπτὰ Λυδῶν παρʼ αὐτὸν παῖδας, ἐν νόῳ ἔχων εἴτε δὴ ἀκροθίνια ταῦτα καταγιεῖν θεῶν ὅτεῳ δή, εἴτε καὶ εὐχὴν ἐπιτελέσαι θέλων, εἴτε καὶ πυθόμενος τὸν Κροῖσον εἶναι θεοσεβέα τοῦδε εἵνεκεν ἀνεβίβασε ἐπὶ τὴν πυρήν, βουλόμενος εἰδέναι εἴ τίς μιν δαιμόνων ῥύσεται τοῦ μὴ ζῶντα κατακαυθῆναι. τὸν μὲν δὴ ποιέειν ταῦτα· τῷ δὲ Κροίσῳ ἑστεῶτι ἐπὶ τῆς πυρῆς ἐσελθεῖν, καίπερ ἐν κακῷ ἐόντι τοσούτῳ, τὸ τοῦ Σόλωνος ὥς οἱ εἴη σὺν θεῷ εἰρημένον, τὸ μηδένα εἶναι τῶν ζωόντων ὄλβιον. ὡς δὲ ἄρα μιν προσστῆναι τοῦτο, ἀνενεικάμενόν τε καὶ ἀναστενάξαντα ἐκ πολλῆς ἡσυχίης ἐς τρὶς ὀνομάσαι “Σόλων.” καὶ τὸν Κῦρον ἀκούσαντα κελεῦσαι τοὺς ἑρμηνέας ἐπειρέσθαι τὸν Κροῖσον τίνα τοῦτον ἐπικαλέοιτο, καὶ τοὺς προσελθόντας ἐπειρωτᾶν· Κροῖσον δὲ τέως μὲν σιγὴν ἔχειν εἰρωτώμενον, μετὰ δὲ ὡς ἠναγκάζετο, εἰπεῖν “τὸν ἂν ἐγὼ πᾶσι τυράννοισι προετίμησα μεγάλων χρημάτων ἐς λόγους ἐλθεῖν.” ὡς δέ σφι ἄσημα ἔφραζε, πάλιν ἐπειρώτων τὰ λεγόμενα. λιπαρεόντων δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ ὄχλον παρεχόντων, ἔλεγε δὴ ὡς ἦλθε ἀρχὴν ὁ Σόλων ἐὼν Ἀθηναῖος, καὶ θεησάμενος πάντα τὸν ἑωυτοῦ ὄλβον ἀποφλαυρίσειε οἷα δὴ εἶπας, ὥς τε αὐτῷ πάντα ἀποβεβήκοι τῇ περ ἐκεῖνος εἶπε, οὐδέν τι μᾶλλον ἐς ἑωυτὸν λέγων ἢ οὐκ ἐς ἅπαν τὸ ἀνθρώπινον καὶ μάλιστα τοὺς παρὰ σφίσι αὐτοῖσι ὀλβίους δοκέοντας εἶναι. τὸν μὲν Κροῖσον ταῦτα ἀπηγέεσθαι, τῆς δὲ πυρῆς ἤδη ἁμμένης καίεσθαι τὰ περιέσχατα. καὶ τὸν Κῦρον ἀκούσαντα τῶν ἑρμηνέων τὰ Κροῖσος εἶπε, μεταγνόντα τε καὶ ἐννώσαντα ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸς ἄνθρωπος ἐὼν ἄλλον ἄνθρωπον, γενόμενον ἑωυτοῦ εὐδαιμονίῃ οὐκ ἐλάσσω, ζῶντα πυρὶ διδοίη, πρός τε τούτοισι δείσαντα τὴν τίσιν καὶ ἐπιλεξάμενον ὡς οὐδὲν εἴη τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποισι ἀσφαλέως ἔχον, κελεύειν σβεννύναι τὴν ταχίστην τὸ καιόμενον πῦρ 1 καὶ καταβιβάζειν Κροῖσόν τε καὶ τοὺς μετὰ Κροίσου. καὶ τοὺς πειρωμένους οὐ δύνασθαι ἔτι τοῦ πυρὸς ἐπικρατῆσαι.
1.87. ἐνθαῦτα λέγεται ὑπὸ Λυδῶν Κροῖσον μαθόντα τὴν Κύρου μετάγνωσιν, ὡς ὥρα πάντα μὲν ἄνδρα σβεννύντα τὸ πῦρ, δυναμένους δὲ οὐκέτι καταλαβεῖν, ἐπιβώσασθαι τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα ἐπικαλεόμενον, εἴ τί οἱ κεχαρισμένον ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐδωρήθη, παραστῆναι καὶ ῥύσασθαι αὐτὸν ἐκ τοῦ παρεόντος κακοῦ. τὸν μὲν δακρύοντα ἐπικαλέεσθαι τὸν θεόν, ἐκ δὲ αἰθρίης τε καὶ νηνεμίης συνδραμεῖν ἐξαπίνης νέφεα καὶ χειμῶνά τε καταρραγῆναι καὶ ὗσαι ὕδατι λαβροτάτῳ, κατασβεσθῆναί τε τὴν πυρήν. οὕτω δὴ μαθόντα τὸν Κῦρον ὡς εἴη ὁ Κροῖσος καὶ θεοφιλὴς καὶ ἀνὴρ ἀγαθός, καταβιβάσαντα αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τῆς πυρῆς εἰρέσθαι τάδε. “Κροῖσε, τίς σε ἀνθρώπων ἀνέγνωσε ἐπὶ γῆν τὴν ἐμὴν στρατευσάμενον πολέμιον ἀντὶ φίλου ἐμοὶ καταστῆναι;” ὁ δὲ εἶπε “ὦ βασιλεῦ, ἐγὼ ταῦτα ἔπρηξα τῇ σῇ μὲν εὐδαιμονίῃ, τῇ ἐμεωυτοῦ δὲ κακοδαιμονίῃ, αἴτιος δὲ τούτων ἐγένετο ὁ Ἑλλήνων θεὸς ἐπαείρας ἐμὲ στρατεύεσθαι. οὐδεὶς γὰρ οὕτω ἀνόητος ἐστὶ ὅστις πόλεμον πρὸ εἰρήνης αἱρέεται· ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῇ οἱ παῖδες τοὺς πατέρας θάπτουσι, ἐν δὲ τῷ οἱ πατέρες τοὺς παῖδας. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα δαίμοσί κου φίλον ἦν οὕτω γενέσθαι.”
1.88. ὅ μὲν ταῦτα ἔλεγε, Κῦρος δὲ αὐτὸν λύσας κατεῖσέ τε ἐγγὺς ἑωυτοῦ καὶ κάρτα ἐν πολλῇ προμηθίῃ εἶχε, ἀπεθώμαζέ τε ὁρέων καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ περὶ ἐκεῖνον ἐόντες πάντες. ὁ δὲ συννοίῃ ἐχόμενος ἥσυχος ἦν· μετὰ δὲ ἐπιστραφείς τε καὶ ἰδόμενος τοὺς Πέρσας τὸ τῶν Λυδῶν ἄστυ κεραΐζοντας εἶπε “ὦ βασιλεῦ, κότερον λέγειν πρὸς σὲ τὰ νοέων τυγχάνω ἢ σιγᾶν ἐν τῷ παρεόντι χρή;” Κῦρος δέ μιν θαρσέοντα ἐκέλευε λέγειν ὅ τι βούλοιτο. ὁ δὲ αὐτὸν εἰρώτα λέγων “οὗτος ὁ πολλὸς ὅμιλος τί ταῦτα πολλῇ σπουδῇ ἐργάζεται;” ὁ δὲ εἶπε “πόλιν τε τὴν σὴν διαρπάζει καὶ χρήματα τὰ σὰ διαφορέει.” Κροῖσος δὲ ἀμείβετο “οὔτε πόλιν τὴν ἐμὴν οὔτε χρήματα τὰ ἐμὰ διαρπάζει· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἐμοὶ ἔτι τούτων μέτα· ἀλλὰ φέρουσί τε καὶ ἄγουσι τὰ σά.”
1.89. Κύρῳ δὲ ἐπιμελὲς ἐγένετο τὰ Κροῖσος εἶπε· μεταστησάμενος δὲ τοὺς ἄλλους, εἴρετο Κροῖσον ὅ τι οἱ ἐνορῴη ἐν τοῖσι ποιευμένοισι. ὁ δὲ εἶπε “ἐπείτε με θεοὶ ἔδωκαν δοῦλον σοί, δικαιῶ, εἴ τι ἐνορέω πλέον, σημαίνειν σοί. Πέρσαι φύσιν ἐόντες ὑβρισταὶ εἰσὶ ἀχρήματοι. ἢν ὦν σὺ τούτους περιίδῃς διαρπάσαντας καὶ κατασχόντας χρήματα μεγάλα, τάδε τοὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐπίδοξα γενέσθαι. ὃς ἂν αὐτῶν πλεῖστα κατάσχῃ, τοῦτον προσδέκεσθαί τοι ἐπαναστησόμενον. νῦν ὦν ποίησον ὧδε, εἲ τοι ἀρέσκει τὰ ἐγὼ λέγω· κάτισον τῶν δορυφόρων ἐπὶ πάσῃσι τῇσι πύλῃσι φυλάκους, οἳ λεγόντων πρὸς τοὺς ἐκφέροντας τὰ χρήματα ἀπαιρεόμενοι ὡς σφέα ἀναγκαίως ἔχει δεκατευθῆναι τῷ Διί. καὶ σύ τέ σφι οὐκ ἀπεχθήσεαι βίῃ ἀπαιρεόμενος τὰ χρήματα, καὶ ἐκεῖνοι συγγνόντες ποιέειν σε δίκαια ἑκόντες προήσουσι.” 1.90. ταῦτα ἀκούων ὁ Κῦρος ὑπερήδετο, ὥς οἱ ἐδόκεε εὖ ὑποτίθεσθαι· αἰνέσας δὲ πολλά, καὶ ἐντειλάμενος τοῖσι δορυφόροισι τὰ Κροῖσος ὑπεθήκατο ἐπιτελέειν, εἶπε πρὸς Κροῖσον τάδε. “Κροῖσε, ἀναρτημένου σεῦ ἀνδρὸς βασιλέος χρηστὰ ἔργα καὶ ἔπεα ποιέειν, αἰτέο δόσιν ἥντινα βούλεαί τοι γενέσθαι παραυτίκα.” ὁ δὲ εἶπε “ὦ δέσποτα, ἐάσας με χαριεῖ μάλιστα τὸν θεὸν τῶν Ἑλλήνων, τὸν ἐγὼ ἐτίμησα θεῶν μάλιστα, ἐπειρέσθαι πέμψαντα τάσδε τὰς πέδας, εἰ ἐξαπατᾶν τοὺς εὖ ποιεῦντας νόμος ἐστί οἱ.” Κῦρος δὲ εἴρετο ὅ τι οἱ τοῦτο ἐπηγορέων παραιτέοιτο. Κροῖσος δέ οἱ ἐπαλιλλόγησε πᾶσαν τὴν ἑωυτοῦ διάνοιαν καὶ τῶν χρηστηρίων τὰς ὑποκρίσιας καὶ μάλιστα τὰ ἀναθήματα, καὶ ὡς ἐπαερθεὶς τῷ μαντηίῳ ἐστρατεύσατο ἐπὶ Πέρσας· λέγων δὲ ταῦτα κατέβαινε αὖτις παραιτεόμενος ἐπεῖναί οἱ τῷ θεῷ τοῦτο ὀνειδίσαι. Κῦρος δὲ γελάσας εἶπε “καὶ τούτου τεύξεαι παρʼ ἐμεῦ, Κροῖσε, καὶ ἄλλου παντὸς τοῦ ἂν ἑκάστοτε δέῃ.” ὡς δὲ ταῦτα ἤκουσε ὁ Κροῖσος, πέμπων τῶν Λυδῶν ἐς Δελφοὺς ἐνετέλλετο τιθέντας τὰς πέδας ἐπὶ τοῦ νηοῦ τὸν οὐδὸν εἰρωτᾶν εἰ οὔ τι ἐπαισχύνεται τοῖσι μαντηίοισι ἐπαείρας Κροῖσον στρατεύεσθαι ἐπὶ Πέρσας ὡς καταπαύσοντα τὴν Κύρου δύναμιν, ἀπʼ ἧς οἱ ἀκροθίνια τοιαῦτα γενέσθαι, δεικνύντας τὰς πέδας· ταῦτά τε ἐπειρωτᾶν, καὶ εἰ ἀχαρίστοισι νόμος εἶναι τοῖσι Ἑλληνικοῖσι θεοῖσι. 1.91. ἀπικομένοισι δὲ τοῖσι Λυδοῖσι καὶ λέγουσι τὰ ἐντεταλμένα τὴν Πυθίην λέγεται εἰπεῖν τάδε. “τὴν πεπρωμένην μοῖραν ἀδύνατα ἐστὶ ἀποφυγεῖν καὶ θεῷ· Κροῖσος δὲ πέμπτου γονέος ἁμαρτάδα ἐξέπλησε, ὃς ἐὼν δορυφόρος Ἡρακλειδέων, δόλῳ γυναικηίῳ ἐπισπόμενος ἐφόνευσε τὸν δεσπότεα καὶ ἔσχε τὴν ἐκείνου τιμὴν οὐδέν οἱ προσήκουσαν. προθυμεομένου δὲ Λοξίεω ὅκως ἂν κατὰ τοὺς παῖδας τοῦ Κροίσου γένοιτο τὸ Σαρδίων πάθος καὶ μὴ κατʼ αὐτὸν Κροῖσον, οὐκ οἷόν τε ἐγίνετο παραγαγεῖν μοίρας. ὅσον δὲ ἐνέδωκαν αὗται, ἤνυσέ τε καὶ ἐχαρίσατό οἱ· τρία γὰρ ἔτεα ἐπανεβάλετο τὴν Σαρδίων ἅλωσιν, καὶ τοῦτο ἐπιστάσθω Κροῖσος ὡς ὕστερον τοῖσι ἔτεσι τούτοισι ἁλοὺς τῆς πεπρωμένης. δευτέρα δὲ τούτων καιομένῳ αὐτῷ ἐπήρκεσε. κατὰ δὲ τὸ μαντήιον τὸ γενόμενον οὐκ ὀρθῶς Κροῖσος μέμφεται. προηγόρευε γὰρ οἱ Λοξίης, ἢν στρατεύηται ἐπὶ Πέρσας, μεγάλην ἀρχὴν αὐτὸν καταλύσειν. τὸν δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα χρῆν εὖ μέλλοντα βουλεύεσθαι ἐπειρέσθαι πέμψαντα κότερα τὴν ἑωυτοῦ ἢ τὴν Κύρου λέγοι ἀρχήν. οὐ συλλαβὼν δὲ τὸ ῥηθὲν οὐδʼ ἐπανειρόμενος ἑωυτὸν αἴτιον ἀποφαινέτω· τῷ καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον χρηστηριαζομένῳ εἶπε Λοξίης περὶ ἡμιόνου, οὐδὲ τοῦτο συνέλαβε. ἦν γὰρ δὴ ὁ Κῦρος οὗτος ἡμίονος· ἐκ γὰρ δυῶν οὐκ ὁμοεθνέων ἐγεγόνεε, μητρὸς ἀμείνονος, πατρὸς δὲ ὑποδεεστέρου· ἣ μὲν γὰρ ἦν Μηδὶς καὶ Ἀστυάγεος θυγάτηρ τοῦ Μήδων βασιλέος, ὁ δὲ Πέρσης τε ἦν καὶ ἀρχόμενος ὑπʼ ἐκείνοισι καὶ ἔνερθε ἐὼν τοῖσι ἅπασι δεσποίνῃ τῇ ἑωυτοῦ συνοίκεε.” ταῦτα μὲν ἡ Πυθίη ὑπεκρίνατο τοῖσι Λυδοῖσι, οἳ δὲ ἀνήνεικαν ἐς Σάρδις καὶ ἀπήγγειλαν Κροίσῳ. ὁ δὲ ἀκούσας συνέγνω ἑωυτοῦ εἶναι τὴν ἁμαρτάδα καὶ οὐ τοῦ θεοῦ. κατὰ μὲν δὴ τὴν Κροίσου τε ἀρχὴν καὶ Ἰωνίης τὴν πρώτην καταστροφὴν ἔσχε οὕτω.
1.107. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Κυαξάρης μέν, βασιλεύσας τεσσεράκοντα ἔτεα σὺν τοῖσι Σκύθαι ἦρξαν, τελευτᾷ, ἐκδέκεται δὲ Ἀστυάγης Κυαξάρεω παῖς τὴν βασιληίην. Καὶ οἱ ἐγένετο θυγάτηρ τῇ οὔνομα ἔθετο Μανδάνην· τὴν ἐδόκεε Ἀστυάγης ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ οὐρῆσαι τοσοῦτον ὥστε πλῆσαι μὲν τὴν ἑωυτοῦ πόλιν, ἐπικατακλύσαι δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἀσίην πᾶσαν. ὑπερθέμενος δὲ τῶν Μάγων τοῖσι ὀνειροπόλοισι τὸ ἐνύπνιον, ἐφοβήθη παρʼ αὐτῶν αὐτὰ ἕκαστα μαθών. μετὰ δὲ τὴν Μανδάνην ταύτην ἐοῦσαν ἤδη ἀνδρὸς ὡραίην Μήδων μὲν τῶν ἑωυτοῦ ἀξίων οὐδενὶ διδοῖ γυναῖκα, δεδοικὼς τὴν ὄψιν· ὁ δὲ Πέρσῃ διδοῖ τῷ οὔνομα ἦν Καμβύσης, τὸν εὕρισκε οἰκίης μὲν ἐόντα ἀγαθῆς τρόπου δὲ ἡσυχίου, πολλῷ ἔνερθε ἄγων αὐτὸν μέσου ἀνδρὸς Μήδου. 1.108. συνοικεούσης δὲ τῷ Καμβύσῃ τῆς Μανδάνης, ὁ Ἀστυάγης τῷ πρώτῳ ἔτεϊ εἶδε ἄλλην ὄψιν, ἐδόκεε δέ οἱ ἐκ τῶν αἰδοίων τῆς θυγατρὸς ταύτης φῦναι ἄμπελον, τὴν δὲ ἄμπελον ἐπισχεῖν τὴν Ἀσίην πᾶσαν. ἰδὼν δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ὑπερθέμενος τοῖσι ὀνειροπόλοισι, μετεπέμψατο ἐκ τῶν Περσέων τὴν θυγατέρα ἐπίτεκα ἐοῦσαν, ἀπικομένην δὲ ἐφύλασσε βουλόμενος τὸ γενόμενον ἐξ αὐτῆς διαφθεῖραι· ἐκ γάρ οἱ τῆς ὄψιος οἱ τῶν Μάγων ὀνειροπόλοι ἐσήμαινον ὅτι μέλλοι ὁ τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτοῦ γόνος βασιλεύσειν ἀντὶ ἐκείνου. ταῦτα δὴ ὦν φυλασσόμενος ὁ Ἀστυάγης, ὡς ἐγένετο ὁ Κῦρος, καλέσας Ἅρπαγον ἄνδρα οἰκήιον καὶ πιστότατόν τε Μήδων καὶ πάντων ἐπίτροπον τῶν ἑωυτοῦ, ἔλεγὲ οἱ τοιάδε. “Ἅρπαγε, πρῆγμα τὸ ἄν τοι προσθέω, μηδαμῶς παραχρήσῃ, μηδὲ ἐμέ τε παραβάλῃ καὶ ἄλλους ἑλόμενος ἐξ ὑστέρης σοὶ αὐτῷ περιπέσῃς· λάβε τὸν Μανδάνη ἔτεκε παῖδα, φέρων δὲ ἐς σεωυτοῦ ἀπόκτεινον, μετὰ δὲ θάψον τρόπῳ ὅτεῳ αὐτὸς βούλεαι.” ὁ δὲ ἀμείβεται “ὦ βασιλεῦ, οὔτε ἄλλοτε κω παρεῖδες ἀνδρὶ τῷδε ἄχαρι οὐδέν, φυλασσόμεθα δὲ ἐς σὲ καὶ ἐς τὸν μετέπειτα χρόνον μηδὲν ἐξαμαρτεῖν. ἀλλʼ εἲ τοι φίλον τοῦτο οὕτω γίνεσθαι, χρὴ δὴ τό γε ἐμὸν ὑπηρετέεσθαι ἐπιτηδέως.”
1.153. ταῦτα εἰπόντος τοῦ κήρυκος, λέγεται Κῦρον ἐπειρέσθαι τοὺς παρεόντας οἱ Ἑλλήνων τινες ἐόντες ἄνθρωποι Λακεδαιμόνιοι καὶ κόσοι πλῆθος ταῦτα ἑωυτῷ προαγορεύουσι. πυνθανόμενον δέ μιν εἰπεῖν πρὸς τὸν κήρυκα τὸν Σπαρτιήτην· “οὐκ ἔδεισά κω ἄνδρας τοιούτους, τοῖσι ἐστι χῶρος ἐν μέση τῇ πόλι ἀποδεδεγμένος ἐς τὸν συλλεγόμενοι ἀλλήλους ὀμνύντες ἐξαπατῶσι· τοῖσι, ἢν ἐγὼ ὑγιαίνω, οὐ τὰ Ἰώνων πάθεα ἔσται ἔλλεσχα ἀλλὰ τὰ οἰκήια.” ταῦτα ἐς τοὺς πάντας Ἕλληνας ἀπέρριψε ὁ Κῦρος τὰ ἔπεα, ὅτι ἀγορὰς στησάμενοι ὠνῇ τε καὶ πρήσι χρέωνται· αὐτοὶ γὰρ οἱ Πέρσαι ἀγορῇσι οὐδὲν ἐώθασι χρᾶσθαι, οὐδέ σφι ἐστὶ τὸ παράπαν ἀγορή. μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπιτρέψας τὰς μὲν Σάρδις Ταβάλῳ ἀνδρὶ Πέρσῃ, τὸν δὲ χρυσὸν τόν τε Κροίσου καὶ τὸν τῶν ἄλλων Λυδῶν Πακτύῃ ἀνδρὶ Λυδῷ κομίζειν, ἀπήλαυνε αὐτὸς ἐς Ἀγβάτανα, Κροῖσόν τε ἅμα ἀγόμενος καὶ τοὺς Ἴωνας ἐν οὐδενὶ λόγῳ ποιησάμενος τὴν πρώτην εἶναι. ἡ τε γὰρ Βαβυλών οἱ ἦν ἐμπόδιος καὶ τὸ Βάκτριον ἔθνος καὶ Σάκαι τε καὶ Αἰγύπτιοι, ἐπʼ οὓς ἐπεῖχέ τε στρατηλατέειν αὐτός, ἐπὶ δὲ Ἴωνας ἄλλον πέμπειν στρατηγόν.
1.159. ἀπικομένων δὲ ἐς Βραγχίδας ἐχρηστηριάζετο ἐκ πάντων Ἀριστόδικος ἐπειρωτῶν τάδε. “ὦναξ, ἦλθε παρʼ ἡμέας ἱκέτης Πακτύης ὁ Λυδός, φεύγων θάνατον βίαιον πρὸς Περσέων· οἳ δέ μιν ἐξαιτέονται, προεῖναι Κυμαίους κελεύοντες. ἡμεῖς δὲ δειμαίνοντες τὴν Περσέων δύναμιν τὸν ἱκέτην ἐς τόδε οὐ τετολμήκαμεν ἐκδιδόναι, πρὶν ἂν τὸ ἀπὸ σεῦ ἡμῖν δηλωθῇ ἀτρεκέως ὁκότερα ποιέωμεν.” ὃ μὲν ταῦτα ἐπειρώτα, ὃ δʼ αὖτις τὸν αὐτόν σφι χρησμὸν ἔφαινε, κελεύων ἐκδιδόναι Πακτύην Πέρσῃσι. πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ Ἀριστόδικος ἐκ προνοίης ἐποίεε τάδε· περιιὼν τὸν νηὸν κύκλῳ ἐξαίρεε τοὺς στρουθοὺς καὶ ἄλλα ὅσα ἦν νενοσσευμένα ὀρνίθων γένεα ἐν τῷ νηῷ. ποιέοντος δὲ αὐτοῦ ταῦτα λέγεται φωνὴν ἐκ τοῦ ἀδύτου γενέσθαι φέρουσαν μὲν πρὸς τὸν Ἀριστόδικον, λέγουσαν δὲ τάδε “ἀνοσιώτατε ἀνθρώπων, τί τάδε τολμᾷς ποιέειν; τοὺς ἱκέτας μου ἐκ τοῦ νηοῦ κεραΐζεις;” Ἀριστόδικον δὲ οὐκ ἀπορήσαντα πρὸς ταῦτα εἰπεῖν “ὦναξ, αὐτὸς μὲν οὕτω τοῖσι ἱκέτῃσι βοηθέεις, Κυμαίους δὲ κελεύεις τὸν ἱκέτην ἐκδιδόναι;” τὸν δὲ αὖτις ἀμείψασθαι τοῖσιδε “ναὶ κελεύω, ἵνα γε ἀσεβήσαντες θᾶσσον ἀπόλησθε, ὡς μὴ τὸ λοιπὸν περὶ ἱκετέων ἐκδόσιος ἔλθητε ἐπὶ τὸ χρηστήριον.”
1.181. τοῦτο μὲν δὴ τὸ τεῖχος θώρηξ ἐστί, ἕτερον δὲ ἔσωθεν τεῖχος περιθέει, οὐ πολλῷ τεῳ ἀσθενέστερον τοῦ ἑτέρου τείχεος, στεινότερον δέ. ἐν δὲ φάρσεϊ ἑκατέρῳ τῆς πόλιος ἐτετείχιστο ἐν μέσῳ ἐν τῷ μὲν τὰ βασιλήια περιβόλῳ μεγάλῳ τε καὶ ἰσχυρῷ, ἐν δὲ τῷ ἑτέρῳ Διὸς Βήλου ἱρὸν χαλκόπυλον, καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἔτι τοῦτο ἐόν, δύο σταδίων πάντῃ, ἐὸν τετράγωνον. ἐν μέσῳ δὲ τοῦ ἱροῦ πύργος στερεὸς οἰκοδόμηται, σταδίου καὶ τὸ μῆκος καὶ τὸ εὖρος, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ τῷ πύργῳ ἄλλος πύργος ἐπιβέβηκε, καὶ ἕτερος μάλα ἐπὶ τούτῳ, μέχρι οὗ ὀκτὼ πύργων. ἀνάβασις δὲ ἐς αὐτοὺς ἔξωθεν κύκλῳ περὶ πάντας τοὺς πύργους ἔχουσα πεποίηται. μεσοῦντι δέ κου τῆς ἀναβάσιος ἐστὶ καταγωγή τε καὶ θῶκοι ἀμπαυστήριοι, ἐν τοῖσι κατίζοντες ἀμπαύονται οἱ ἀναβαίνοντες. ἐν δὲ τῷ τελευταίῳ πύργῳ νηὸς ἔπεστι μέγας· ἐν δὲ τῷ νηῷ κλίνη μεγάλη κέεται εὖ ἐστρωμένη, καὶ οἱ τράπεζα παρακέεται χρυσέη. ἄγαλμα δὲ οὐκ ἔνι οὐδὲν αὐτόθι ἐνιδρυμένον, οὐδὲ νύκτα οὐδεὶς ἐναυλίζεται ἀνθρώπων ὅτι μὴ γυνὴ μούνη τῶν ἐπιχωρίων, τὴν ἂν ὁ θεὸς ἕληται ἐκ πασέων, ὡς λέγουσι οἱ Χαλδαῖοι ἐόντες ἱρέες τούτου τοῦ θεοῦ. 1.182. φασὶ δὲ οἱ αὐτοὶ οὗτοι, ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐ πιστὰ λέγοντες, τὸν θεὸν αὐτὸν φοιτᾶν τε ἐς τὸν νηὸν καὶ ἀμπαύεσθαι ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης, κατά περ ἐν Θήβῃσι τῇσι Αἰγυπτίῃσι κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον, ὡς λέγουσι οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι· καὶ γὰρ δὴ ἐκεῖθι κοιμᾶται ἐν τῷ τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ Θηβαιέος γυνή, ἀμφότεραι δὲ αὗται λέγονται ἀνδρῶν οὐδαμῶν ἐς ὁμιλίην φοιτᾶν· καὶ κατά περ ἐν Πατάροισι τῆς Λυκίης ἡ πρόμαντις τοῦ θεοῦ, ἐπεὰν γένηται· οὐ γὰρ ὦν αἰεί ἐστι χρηστήριον αὐτόθι· ἐπεὰν δὲ γένηται τότε ὦν συγκατακληίεται τὰς νύκτας ἔσω ἐν τῷ νηῷ. 1.183. ἔστι δὲ τοῦ ἐν Βαβύλῶνι ἱροῦ καὶ ἄλλος κάτω νηός, ἔνθα ἄγαλμα μέγα τοῦ Διὸς ἔνι κατήμενον χρύσεον, καὶ οἱ τράπεζα μεγάλη παρακέεται χρυσέη, καὶ τὸ βάθρον οἱ καὶ ὁ θρόνος χρύσεος ἐστί· καὶ ὡς ἔλεγον οἱ Χαλδαῖοι, ταλάντων ὀκτακοσίων χρυσίου πεποίηται ταῦτα. ἔξω δὲ τοῦ νηοῦ βωμός ἐστι χρύσεος, ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλος βωμὸς μέγας, ἐπʼ οὗ θύεται τὰ τέλεα τῶν προβάτων· ἐπὶ γὰρ τοῦ χρυσέου βωμοῦ οὐκ ἔξεστι θύειν ὅτι μὴ γαλαθηνὰ μούνᾳ, ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ μέζονος βωμοῦ καὶ καταγίζουσι λιβανωτοῦ χίλια τάλαντα ἔτεος ἑκάστου οἱ Χαλδαῖοι τότε ἐπεὰν τὴν ὁρτὴν ἄγωσι τῷ θεῷ τούτῳ. ἦν δὲ ἐν τῷ τεμένεϊ τούτῳ ἔτι τὸν χρόνον ἐκεῖνον καὶ ἀνδριὰς δυώδεκα πηχέων χρύσεος στερεός· ἐγὼ μέν μιν οὐκ εἶδον, τὰ δὲ λέγεται ὑπὸ Χαλδαίων, ταῦτα λέγω. τούτῳ τῷ ἀνδριάντι Δαρεῖος μὲν ὁ Ὑστάσπεος ἐπιβουλεύσας οὐκ ἐτόλμησε λαβεῖν, Ξέρξης δὲ ὁ Δαρείου ἔλαβε καὶ τὸν ἱρέα ἀπέκτεινε ἀπαγορεύοντα μὴ κινέειν τὸν ἀνδριάντα. τὸ μὲν δὴ ἱρὸν τοῦτο οὕτω κεκόσμηται, ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἴδια ἀναθήματα πολλά.
1.187. ἡ δʼ αὐτὴ αὕτη βασίλεια καὶ ἀπάτην τοιήνδε τινὰ ἐμηχανήσατο· ὕπερ τῶν μάλιστα λεωφόρων πυλέων τοῦ ἄστεος τάφον ἑωυτῇ κατεσκευάσατο μετέωρον ἐπιπολῆς αὐτέων τῶν πυλέων, ἐνεκόλαψε δὲ ἐς τὸν τάφον γράμματα λέγοντα τάδε. “τῶν τις ἐμεῦ ὕστερον γινομένων Βαβυλῶνος βασιλέων ἢν σπανίσῃ χρημάτων, ἀνοίξας τὸν τάφον λαβέτω ὁκόσα βούλεται χρήματα· μὴ μέντοι γε μὴ σπανίσας γε ἄλλως ἀνοίξῃ· οὐ γὰρ ἄμεινον·” οὗτος ὁ τάφος ἦν ἀκίνητος μέχρι οὗ ἐς Δαρεῖον περιῆλθε ἡ βασιληίη· Δαρείῳ δὲ καὶ δεινὸν ἐδόκεε εἶναι τῇσι πύλῃσι ταύτῃσι μηδὲν χρᾶσθαι, καὶ χρημάτων κειμένων καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν γραμμάτων ἐπικαλεομένων, μὴ οὐ λαβεῖν αὐτά· τῇσι δὲ πύλῃσι ταύτῃσι οὐδὲν ἐχρᾶτο τοῦδε εἵνεκα, ὅτι ὕπερ κεφαλῆς οἱ ἐγίνετο ὁ νεκρὸς διεξελαύνοντι. ἀνοίξας δὲ τὸν τάφον εὗρε χρήματα μὲν οὔ, τὸν δὲ νεκρὸν καὶ γράμματα λέγοντα τάδε· “εἰ μὴ ἄπληστός τε ἔας χρημάτων καὶ αἰσχροκερδής, οὐκ ἂν νεκρῶν θήκας ἀνέῳγες.” αὕτη μέν νυν ἡ βασίλεια τοιαύτη τις λέγεται γενέσθαι.
1.199. 1 ὁ δὲ δὴ αἴσχιστος τῶν νόμων ἐστὶ τοῖσι Βαβυλωνίοισι ὅδε· δεῖ πᾶσαν γυναῖκα ἐπιχωρίην ἱζομένην ἐς ἱρὸν Ἀφροδίτης ἅπαξ ἐν τῇ ζόῃ μιχθῆναι ἀνδρὶ ξείνῳ. πολλαὶ δὲ καὶ οὐκ ἀξιούμεναι ἀναμίσγεσθαι τῇσι ἄλλῃσι, οἷα πλούτῳ ὑπερφρονέουσαι, ἐπὶ ζευγέων ἐν καμάρῃσι ἐλάσασαι πρὸς τὸ ἱρὸν ἑστᾶσι· θεραπηίη δέ σφι ὄπισθε ἕπεται πολλή. αἱ δὲ πλεῦνες ποιεῦσι ὧδε· ἐν τεμένεϊ Ἀφροδίτης κατέαται στέφανον περὶ τῇσι κεφαλῇσι ἔχουσαι θώμιγγος πολλαὶ γυναῖκες· αἳ μὲν γὰρ προσέρχονται, αἳ δὲ ἀπέρχονται. σχοινοτενέες δὲ διέξοδοι πάντα τρόπον ὁδῶν ἔχουσι διὰ τῶν γυναικῶν, διʼ ὧν οἱ ξεῖνοι διεξιόντες ἐκλέγονται· ἔνθα ἐπεὰν ἵζηται γυνή, οὐ πρότερον ἀπαλλάσσεται ἐς τὰ οἰκία ἤ τίς οἱ ξείνων ἀργύριον ἐμβαλὼν ἐς τὰ γούνατα μιχθῇ ἔξω τοῦ ἱροῦ· ἐμβαλόντα δὲ δεῖ εἰπεῖν τοσόνδε· “ἐπικαλέω τοι τὴν θεὸν Μύλιττα.” Μύλιττα δὲ καλέουσι τὴν Ἀφροδίτην Ἀσσύριοι. τὸ δὲ ἀργύριον μέγαθος ἐστὶ ὅσον ὦν· οὐ γὰρ μὴ ἀπώσηται· οὐ γάρ οἱ θέμις ἐστί· γίνεται γὰρ ἱρὸν τοῦτο τὸ ἀργύριον. τῷ δὲ πρώτῳ ἐμβαλόντι ἕπεται οὐδὲ ἀποδοκιμᾷ οὐδένα. ἐπεὰν δὲ μιχθῇ, ἀποσιωσαμένη τῇ θεῷ ἀπαλλάσσεται ἐς τὰ οἰκία, καὶ τὠπὸ τούτου οὐκ οὕτω μέγα τί οἱ δώσεις ὥς μιν λάμψεαι. ὅσσαι μέν νυν εἴδεός τε ἐπαμμέναι εἰσὶ καὶ μεγάθεος, ταχὺ ἀπαλλάσσονται, ὅσαι δὲ ἄμορφοι αὐτέων εἰσί, χρόνον πολλὸν προσμένουσι οὐ δυνάμεναι τὸν νόμον ἐκπλῆσαι· καὶ γὰρ τριέτεα καὶ τετραέτεα μετεξέτεραι χρόνον μένουσι. ἐνιαχῇ δὲ καὶ τῆς Κύπρου ἐστὶ παραπλήσιος τούτῳ νόμος.
1.204. τὰ μὲν δὴ πρὸς ἑσπέρην τῆς θαλάσσης ταύτης τῆς Κασπίης καλεομένης ὁ Καύκασος ἀπέργει, τὰ δὲ πρὸς ἠῶ τε καὶ ἥλιον ἀνατέλλοντα πεδίον ἐκδέκεται πλῆθος ἄπειρον ἐς ἄποψιν. τοῦ ὦν δὴ πεδίου τούτου τοῦ μεγάλου οὐκ ἐλαχίστην μοῖραν μετέχουσι οἱ Μασσαγέται, ἐπʼ οὓς ὁ Κῦρος ἔσχε προθυμίην στρατεύσασθαι. πολλά τε γάρ μιν καὶ μεγάλα τὰ ἐπαείροντα καὶ ἐποτρύνοντα ἦν, πρῶτον μὲν ἡ γένεσις, τὸ δοκέειν πλέον τι εἶναι ἀνθρώπου, δευτέρα δὲ ἡ εὐτυχίη ἡ κατὰ τοὺς πολέμους γενομένη· ὅκῃ γὰρ ἰθύσειε στρατεύεσθαι Κῦρος, ἀμήχανον ἦν ἐκεῖνο τὸ ἔθνος διαφυγεῖν.
1.206. ἔχοντι δέ οἱ τοῦτον τὸν πόνον πέμψασα ἡ Τόμυρις κήρυκα ἔλεγε τάδε. “ὦ βασιλεῦ Μήδων, παῦσαι σπεύδων τὰ σπεύδεις· οὐ γὰρ ἂν εἰδείης εἴ τοι ἐς καιρὸν ἔσται ταῦτα τελεόμενα· παυσάμενος δὲ βασίλευε τῶν σεωυτοῦ, καὶ ἡμέας ἀνέχευ ὁρέων ἄρχοντας τῶν περ ἄρχομεν. οὔκων ἐθελήσεις ὑποθήκῃσι τῇσιδε χρᾶσθαι, ἀλλὰ πάντως μᾶλλον ἢ διʼ ἡσυχίης εἶναι· σὺ δὴ εἰ μεγάλως προθυμέαι Μασσαγετέων πειρηθῆναι, φέρε μόχθον μὲν τὸν ἔχεις ζευγνὺς τὸν ποταμὸν ἄπες, σὺ δὲ ἡμέων ἀναχωρησάντων ἀπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τριῶν ἡμερέων ὁδὸν διάβαινε ἐς τὴν ἡμετέρην· εἰ δʼ ἡμέας βούλεαι ἐσδέξασθαι μᾶλλον ἐς τὴν ὑμετέρην, σὺ τὠυτὸ τοῦτο ποίεε.” ταῦτα δὲ ἀκούσας ὁ Κῦρος συνεκάλεσε Περσέων τοὺς πρώτους, συναγείρας δὲ τούτους ἐς μέσον σφι προετίθεε τὸ πρῆγμα, συμβουλευόμενος ὁκότερα ποιέῃ. τῶν δὲ κατὰ τὠυτὸ αἱ γνῶμαι συνεξέπιπτον κελευόντων ἐσδέκεσθαι Τόμυρίν τε καὶ τὸν στρατὸν αὐτῆς ἐς τὴν χώρην. 1.207. παρεὼν δὲ καὶ μεμφόμενος τὴν γνώμην ταύτην Κροῖσος ὁ Λυδὸς ἀπεδείκνυτο ἐναντίην τῇ προκειμένῃ γνώμῃ, λέγων τάδε. “ὦ βασιλεῦ, εἶπον μὲν καὶ πρότερόν τοι ὅτι ἐπεί με Ζεὺς ἔδωκέ τοι, τὸ ἂν ὁρῶ σφάλμα ἐὸν οἴκῳ τῷ σῷ κατὰ δύναμιν ἀποτρέψειν· τὰ δὲ μοι παθήματα ἐόντα ἀχάριτα μαθήματα γέγονε. εἰ μὲν ἀθάνατος δοκέεις εἶναι καὶ στρατιῆς τοιαύτης ἄρχειν, οὐδὲν ἂν εἴη πρῆγμα γνώμας ἐμὲ σοὶ ἀποφαίνεσθαι· εἰ δʼ ἔγνωκας ὅτι ἄνθρωπος καὶ σὺ εἶς καὶ ἑτέρων τοιῶνδε ἄρχεις, ἐκεῖνο πρῶτον μάθε, ὡς κύκλος τῶν ἀνθρωπηίων ἐστὶ πρηγμάτων, περιφερόμενος δὲ οὐκ ἐᾷ αἰεὶ τοὺς αὐτοὺς; εὐτυχέειν. ἤδη ὦν ἔχω γνώμην περὶ τοῦ προκειμένου πρήγματος τὰ ἔμπαλιν ἢ οὗτοι. εἰ γὰρ ἐθελήσομεν ἐσδέξασθαι τοὺς πολεμίους ἐς τὴν χώρην, ὅδε τοι ἐν αὐτῷ κίνδυνος ἔνι· ἑσσωθεὶς μὲν προσαπολλύεις πᾶσαν τὴν ἀρχήν. δῆλα γὰρ δὴ ὅτι νικῶντες Μασσαγέται οὐ τὸ ὀπίσω φεύξονται ἀλλʼ ἐπʼ ἀρχὰς τὰς σὰς ἐλῶσι. νικῶν δὲ οὐ νικᾷς τοσοῦτον ὅσον εἰ διαβὰς ἐς τὴν ἐκείνων, νικῶν Μασσαγέτας, ἕποιο φεύγουσι. τὠυτὸ γὰρ ἀντιθήσω ἐκείνῳ, ὅτι νικήσας τοὺς ἀντιουμένους ἐλᾷς ἰθὺ τῆς ἀρχῆς τῆς Τομύριος. χωρίς τε τοῦ ἀπηγημένου αἰσχρὸν καὶ οὐκ ἀνασχετὸν Κῦρόν γε τὸν Καμβύσεω γυναικὶ εἴξαντα ὑποχωρῆσαι τῆς χώρης. νῦν ὦν μοι δοκέει διαβάντας προελθεῖν ὅσον ἂν ἐκεῖνοι ὑπεξίωσι, ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ τάδε ποιεῦντας πειρᾶσθαι ἐκείνων περιγενέσθαι. ὡς γὰρ ἐγὼ πυνθάνομαι, Μασσαγέται εἰσὶ ἀγαθῶν τε Περσικῶν ἄπειροι καὶ καλῶν μεγάλων ἀπαθέες. τούτοισι ὦν τοῖσι ἀνδράσι τῶν προβάτων ἀφειδέως πολλὰ κατακόψαντας καὶ σκευάσαντας προθεῖναι ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ τῷ ἡμετέρῳ δαῖτα, πρὸς δὲ καὶ κρητῆρας ἀφειδέως οἴνου ἀκρήτου καὶ σιτία παντοῖα· ποιήσαντας δὲ ταῦτα, ὑπολιπομένους τῆς στρατιῆς τὸ φλαυρότατον, τοὺς λοιποὺς αὖτις ἐξαναχωρέειν ἐπὶ τὸν ποταμόν. ἢν γὰρ ἐγὼ γνώμης μὴ ἁμάρτω, κεῖνοι ἰδόμενοι ἀγαθὰ πολλὰ τρέψονταί τε πρὸς αὐτὰ καὶ ἡμῖν τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν λείπεται ἀπόδεξις ἔργων μεγάλων.” 1.208. γνῶμαι μὲν αὗται συνέστασαν· Κῦρος δὲ μετεὶς τὴν προτέρην γνώμην, τὴν Κροίσου δὲ ἑλόμενος, προηγόρευε Τομύρι ἐξαναχωρέειν ὡς αὐτοῦ διαβησομένου ἐπʼ ἐκείνην. ἣ μὲν δὴ ἐξανεχώρεε κατὰ ὑπέσχετο πρῶτα· Κῦρος δὲ Κροῖσον ἐς τὰς χεῖρας ἐσθεὶς τῷ ἑωυτοῦ παιδὶ Καμβύσῃ, τῷ περ τὴν βασιληίην ἐδίδου, καὶ πολλὰ ἐντειλάμενὸς οἱ τιμᾶν τε αὐτὸν καὶ εὖ ποιέειν, ἢν ἡ διάβασις ἡ ἐπὶ Μασσαγέτας μὴ ὀρθωθῇ, ταῦτα ἐντειλάμενος καὶ ἀποστείλας τούτους ἐς Πέρσας, αὐτὸς διέβαινε τὸν ποταμὸν καὶ ὁ στρατὸς αὐτοῦ. 1.209. ἐπείτε δὲ ἐπεραιώθη τὸν Ἀράξεα, νυκτὸς ἐπελθούσης εἶδε ὄψιν εὕδων ἐν τῶν Μασσαγετέων τῇ χωρῇ τοιήνδε· ἐδόκεε ὁ Κῦρος ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ ὁρᾶν τῶν Ὑστάσπεος παίδων τὸν πρεσβύτατον ἔχοντα ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων πτέρυγας καὶ τουτέων τῇ μὲν τὴν Ἀσίην τῇ δὲ τὴν Εὐρώπην ἐπισκιάζειν. Ὑστάσπεϊ δὲ τῷ Ἀρσάμεος ἐόντι ἀνδρὶ Ἀχαιμενίδῃ ἦν τῶν παίδων Δαρεῖος πρεσβύτατος, ἐὼν τότε ἡλικίην ἐς εἴκοσί κου μάλιστα ἔτεα, καὶ οὗτος κατελέλειπτο ἐν Πέρσῃσι· οὐ γὰρ εἶχέ κω ἡλικίην στρατεύεσθαι. ἐπεὶ ὦν δὴ ἐξηγέρθη ὁ Κῦρος, ἐδίδου λόγον ἑωυτῷ περὶ τῆς ὄψιος. ὡς δέ οἱ ἐδόκεε μεγάλη εἶναι ἡ ὄψις, καλέσας Ὑστάσπεα καὶ ἀπολαβὼν μοῦνον εἶπε “Ὕστασπες, παῖς σὸς ἐπιβουλεύων ἐμοί τε καὶ τῇ ἐμῇ ἀρχῇ ἑάλωκε. ὡς δὲ ταῦτα ἀτρεκέως οἶδα, ἐγὼ σημανέω· ἐμεῦ θεοὶ κήδονται καί μοι πάντα προδεικνύουσι τὰ ἐπιφερόμενα. ἤδη ὦν ἐν τῇ παροιχομένῃ νυκτὶ εὕδων εἶδον τῶν σῶν παίδων τὸν πρεσβύτατον ἔχοντα ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων πτέρυγας καὶ τουτέων τῇ μὲν τὴν Ἀσίην τῇ δὲ τὴν Εὐρώπην ἐπισκιάζειν. οὔκων ἐστὶ μηχανὴ ἀπὸ τῆς ὄψιος ταύτης οὐδεμία τὸ μὴ ἐκεῖνον ἐπιβουλεύειν ἐμοί· σύ νυν τὴν ταχίστην πορεύεο ὀπίσω ἐς Πέρσας καὶ ποίεε ὅκως, ἐπεὰν ἐγὼ τάδε καταστρεψάμενος ἔλθω ἐκεῖ, ὥς μοι καταστήσεις τὸν παῖδα ἐς ἔλεγχον.”
1.210. Κῦρος μὲν δοκέων οἱ Δαρεῖον ἐπιβουλεύειν ἔλεγε τάδε· τῷ δὲ ὁ δαίμων προέφαινε ὡς αὐτὸς μὲν τελευτήσειν αὐτοῦ ταύτῃ μέλλοι, ἡ δὲ βασιληίη αὐτοῦ περιχωρέοι ἐς Δαρεῖον. ἀμείβεται δὴ ὦν ὁ Ὑστάσπης τοῖσιδε. “ὦ βασιλεῦ, μὴ εἴη ἀνὴρ Πέρσης γεγονὼς ὅστις τοὶ ἐπιβουλεύσειε, εἰ δʼ ἐστί, ἀπόλοιτο ὡς τάχιστα· ὃς ἀντὶ μὲν δούλων ἐποίησας ἐλευθέρους Πέρσας εἶναι, ἀντὶ δὲ ἄρχεσθαι ὑπʼ ἄλλων ἄρχειν ἁπάντων. εἰ δέ τις τοὶ ὄψις ἀπαγγέλλει παῖδα τὸν ἐμὸν νεώτερα βουλεύειν περὶ σέο, ἐγώ τοι παραδίδωμι χρᾶσθαι αὐτῷ τοῦτο ὅ τι σὺ βούλεαι.”
1.211. Ὑστάσπης μὲν τούτοισι ἀμειψάμενος καὶ διαβὰς τὸν Ἀράξεα ἤιε ἐς Πέρσας φυλάξων Κύρῳ τὸν παῖδα Δαρεῖον, Κῦρος δὲ προελθὼν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀράξεω ἡμέρης ὁδὸν ἐποίεε κατὰ τὰς Κροίσου ὑποθήκας. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Κύρου τε καὶ Περσέων τοῦ καθαροῦ στρατοῦ ἀπελάσαντος ὀπίσω ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀράξεα, λειφθέντος δὲ τοῦ ἀχρηίου, ἐπελθοῦσα τῶν Μασσαγετέων τριτημορὶς τοῦ στρατοῦ τούς τε λειφθέντας τῆς Κύρου στρατιῆς ἐφόνευε ἀλεξομένους καὶ τὴν προκειμένην ἰδόντες δαῖτα, ὡς ἐχειρώσαντο τοὺς ἐναντίους, κλιθέντες ἐδαίνυντο, πληρωθέντες δὲ φορβῆς καὶ οἴνου ηὗδον. οἱ δὲ Πέρσαι ἐπελθόντες πολλοὺς μὲν σφέων ἐφόνευσαν, πολλῷ δʼ ἔτι πλεῦνας ἐζώγρησαν καὶ ἄλλους καὶ τὸν τῆς βασιλείης Τομύριος παῖδα στρατηγέοντα Μασσαγετέων, τῷ οὔνομα ἦν Σπαργαπίσης.
1.212. ἣ δὲ πυθομένη τά τε περὶ τὴν στρατιὴν γεγονότα καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν παῖδα, πέμπουσα κήρυκα παρὰ Κῦρον ἔλεγε τάδε. “ἄπληστε αἵματος Κῦρε, μηδὲν ἐπαερθῇς τῷ γεγονότι τῷδε πρήγματι, εἰ ἀμπελίνῳ καρπῷ, τῷ περ αὐτοὶ ἐμπιπλάμενοι μαίνεσθε οὕτω ὥστε κατιόντος τοῦ οἴνου ἐς τὸ σῶμα ἐπαναπλέειν ὑμῖν ἔπεα κακά, τοιούτῳ φαρμάκῳ δολώσας ἐκράτησας παιδὸς τοῦ ἐμοῦ, ἀλλʼ οὐ μάχῃ κατὰ τὸ καρτερόν. νῦν ὦν μευ εὖ παραινεούσης ὑπόλαβε τὸν λόγον· ἀποδούς μοι τὸν παῖδα ἄπιθι ἐκ τῆσδε τῆς χώρης ἀζήμιος, Μασσαγετέων τριτημορίδι τοῦ στρατοῦ κατυβρίσας. εἰ δὲ ταῦτα οὐ ποιήσεις, ἥλιον ἐπόμνυμί τοι τὸν Μασσαγετέων δεσπότην, ἦ μέν σε ἐγὼ καὶ ἄπληστον ἐόντα αἵματος κορέσω.”
1.213. Κῦρος μὲν ἐπέων οὐδένα τούτων ἀνενειχθέντων ἐποιέετο λόγον· ὁ δὲ τῆς βασιλείης Τομύριος παῖς Σπαργαπίσης, ὥς μιν ὅ τε οἶνος ἀνῆκε καὶ ἔμαθε ἵνα ἦν κακοῦ, δεηθεὶς Κύρου ἐκ τῶν δεσμῶν λυθῆναι ἔτυχε, ὡς δὲ ἐλύθη τε τάχιστα καὶ τῶν χειρῶν ἐκράτησε, διεργάζεται ἑωυτόν.
1.214. καὶ δὴ οὗτος μὲν τρόπῳ τοιούτῳ τελευτᾷ· Τόμυρις δέ, ὥς οἱ Κῦρος οὐκ ἐσήκουσε, συλλέξασα πᾶσαν τὴν ἑωυτῆς δύναμιν συνέβαλε Κύρῳ. ταύτην τὴν μάχην, ὅσαι δὴ βαρβάρων ἀνδρῶν μάχαι ἐγένοντο, κρίνω ἰσχυροτάτην γενέσθαι, καὶ δὴ καὶ πυνθάνομαι οὕτω τοῦτο γενόμενον. πρῶτα μὲν γὰρ λέγεται αὐτοὺς διαστάντας ἐς ἀλλήλους τοξεύειν, μετὰ δὲ ὥς σφι τὰ βέλεα ἐξετετόξευτο, συμπεσόντας τῇσι αἰχμῇσί τε καὶ τοῖσι ἐγχειριδίοισι συνέχεσθαι. χρόνον τε δὴ ἐπὶ πολλὸν συνεστάναι μαχομένους καὶ οὐδετέρους ἐθέλειν φεύγειν. τέλος δὲ οἱ Μασσαγέται περιεγένοντο, ἥ τε δὴ πολλὴ τῆς Περσικῆς στρατιῆς αὐτοῦ ταύτῃ διεφθάρη καὶ δὴ καὶ αὐτὸς Κῦρος τελευτᾷ, βασιλεύσας τὰ πάντα ἑνὸς δέοντα τριήκοντα ἔτεα. ἀσκὸν δὲ πλήσασα αἵματος ἀνθρωπηίου Τόμυρις ἐδίζητο ἐν τοῖσι τεθνεῶσι τῶν Περσέων τὸν Κύρου νέκυν, ὡς δὲ εὗρε, ἐναπῆκε αὐτοῦ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐς τὸν ἀσκόν, λυμαινομένη δὲ τῷ νεκρῷ ἐπέλεγε τάδε· “σὺ μὲν ἐμὲ ζῶσάν τε καὶ νικῶσάν σε μάχῃ ἀπώλεσας, παῖδα τὸν ἐμὸν ἑλὼν δόλῳ· σὲ δʼ ἐγώ, κατά περ ἠπείλησα, αἵματος κορέσω.” τὰ μὲν δὴ κατὰ τὴν Κύρου τελευτὴν τοῦ βίου, πολλῶν λόγων λεγομένων, ὅδε μοι ὁ πιθανώτατος εἴρηται.
2.12. τὰ περὶ Αἴγυπτον ὦν καὶ τοῖσι λέγουσι αὐτὰ πείθομαι καὶ αὐτὸς οὕτω κάρτα δοκέω εἶναι, ἰδών τε τὴν Αἴγυπτον προκειμένην τῆς ἐχομένης γῆς κογχύλιά τε φαινόμενα ἐπὶ τοῖσι ὄρεσι καὶ ἅλμην ἐπανθέουσαν, ὥστε καὶ τὰς πυραμίδας δηλέεσθαι, καὶ ψάμμον μοῦνον Αἰγύπτου ὄρος τοῦτο τὸ ὑπὲρ Μέμφιος ἔχον, πρὸς δὲ τῇ χώρῃ οὔτε τῇ Ἀραβίῃ προσούρῳ ἐούσῃ τὴν Αἴγυπτον προσεικέλην οὔτε τῇ Λιβύῃ, οὐ μὲν οὐδὲ τῇ Συρίῃ ʽτῆς γὰρ Ἀραβίης τὰ παρὰ θάλασσαν Σύροι νέμονταἰ, ἀλλὰ μελάγγαιόν τε καὶ καταρρηγνυμένην, ὥστε ἐοῦσαν ἰλύν τε καὶ πρόχυσιν ἐξ Αἰθιοπίης κατενηνειγμένην ὑπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ. τὴν δὲ Λιβύην ἴδμεν ἐρυθροτέρην τε γῆν καὶ ὑποψαμμοτέρην, τὴν δὲ Ἀραβίην τε καὶ Συρίην ἀργιλωδεστέρην τε καὶ ὑπόπετρον ἐοῦσαν.
2.38. τοὺς δὲ βοῦς τοὺς ἔρσενας τοῦ Ἐπάφου εἶναι νομίζουσι, καὶ τούτου εἵνεκα δοκιμάζουσι αὐτοὺς ὧδε· τρίχα ἢν καὶ μίαν ἴδηται ἐπεοῦσαν μέλαιναν, οὐ καθαρὸν εἶναι νομίζει. δίζηται δὲ ταῦτα ἐπὶ τούτῳ τεταγμένος τῶν τις ἱρέων καὶ ὀρθοῦ ἑστεῶτος τοῦ κτήνεος καὶ ὑπτίου, καὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν ἐξειρύσας, εἰ καθαρὴ τῶν προκειμένων σημηίων, τὰ ἐγὼ ἐν ἄλλῳ λόγῳ ἐρέω· κατορᾷ δὲ καὶ τὰς τρίχας τῆς οὐρῆς εἰ κατὰ φύσιν ἔχει πεφυκυίας. ἢν δὲ τούτων πάντων ᾖ καθαρός, σημαίνεται βύβλῳ περὶ τὰ κέρεα εἱλίσσων καὶ ἔπειτα γῆν σημαντρίδα ἐπιπλάσας ἐπιβάλλει τὸν δακτύλιον, καὶ οὕτω ἀπάγουσι. ἀσήμαντον δὲ θύσαντι θάνατος ἡ ζημίη ἐπικέεται. δοκιμάζεται μέν νυν τὸ κτῆνος τρόπῳ τοιῷδε, θυσίη δέ σφι ἥδε κατέστηκε. 2.39. ἀγαγόντες τὸ σεσημασμένον κτῆνος πρὸς τὸν βωμὸν ὅκου ἂν θύωσι, πῦρ ἀνακαίουσι, ἔπειτα δὲ ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ οἶνον κατὰ τοῦ ἱρηίου ἐπισπείσαντες καὶ ἐπικαλέσαντες τὸν θεὸν σφάζουσι, σφάξαντες δὲ ἀποτάμνουσι τὴν κεφαλήν. σῶμα μὲν δὴ τοῦ κτήνεος δείρουσι, κεφαλῇ δὲ κείνῃ πολλὰ καταρησάμενοι φέρουσι, τοῖσι μὲν ἂν ᾖ ἀγορὴ καὶ Ἕλληνές σφι ἔωσι ἐπιδήμιοι ἔμποροι, οἳ δὲ φέροντες ἐς τὴν ἀγορὴν ἀπʼ ὦν ἔδοντο, τοῖσι δὲ ἂν μὴ παρέωσι Ἕλληνες, οἳ δʼ ἐκβάλλουσι ἐς τὸν ποταμόν· καταρῶνται δὲ τάδε λέγοντες τῇσι κεφαλῇσι, εἴ τι μέλλοι ἢ σφίσι τοῖσι θύουσι ἢ Αἰγύπτῳ τῇ συναπάσῃ κακὸν γενέσθαι, ἐς κεφαλὴν ταύτην τραπέσθαι. κατὰ μέν νυν τὰς κεφαλὰς τῶν θυομένων κτηνέων καὶ τὴν ἐπίσπεισιν τοῦ οἴνου πάντες Αἰγύπτιοι νόμοισι τοῖσι αὐτοῖσι χρέωνται ὁμοίως ἐς πάντα τὰ ἱρά, καὶ ἀπὸ τούτου τοῦ νόμου οὐδὲ ἄλλου οὐδενὸς ἐμψύχου κεφαλῆς γεύσεται Αἰγυπτίων οὐδείς.
2.45. λέγουσι δὲ πολλὰ καὶ ἄλλα ἀνεπισκέπτως οἱ Ἕλληνες, εὐήθης δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ ὅδε ὁ μῦθος ἐστὶ τὸν περὶ τοῦ Ἡρακλέος λέγουσι, ὡς αὐτὸν ἀπικόμενον ἐς Αἴγυπτον στέψαντες οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι ὑπὸ πομπῆς ἐξῆγον ὡς θύσοντες τῷ Διί· τὸν δὲ τέως μὲν ἡσυχίην ἔχειν, ἐπεὶ δὲ αὐτοῦ πρὸς τῷ βωμῷ κατάρχοντο, ἐς ἀλκὴν τραπόμενον πάντας σφέας καταφονεῦσαι. ἐμοὶ μέν νυν δοκέουσι ταῦτα λέγοντες τῆς Αἰγυπτίων φύσιος καὶ τῶν νόμων πάμπαν ἀπείρως ἔχειν οἱ Ἕλληνες· τοῖσι γὰρ οὐδὲ κτήνεα ὁσίη θύειν ἐστὶ χωρὶς ὑῶν καὶ ἐρσένων βοῶν καὶ μόσχων, ὅσοι ἂν καθαροὶ ἔωσι, καὶ χηνῶν, κῶς ἂν οὗτοι ἀνθρώπους θύοιεν; ἔτι δὲ ἕνα ἐόντα τὸν Ἡρακλέα καὶ ἔτι ἄνθρωπον, ὡς δὴ φασί, κῶς φύσιν ἔχει πολλὰς μυριάδας φονεῦσαι; καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτων τοσαῦτα ἡμῖν εἰποῦσι καὶ παρὰ τῶν θεῶν καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἡρώων εὐμένεια εἴη.
2.53. ἔνθεν δὲ ἐγένοντο ἕκαστος τῶν θεῶν, εἴτε αἰεὶ ἦσαν πάντες, ὁκοῖοί τε τινὲς τὰ εἴδεα, οὐκ ἠπιστέατο μέχρι οὗ πρώην τε καὶ χθὲς ὡς εἰπεῖν λόγῳ. Ἡσίοδον γὰρ καὶ Ὅμηρον ἡλικίην τετρακοσίοισι ἔτεσι δοκέω μευ πρεσβυτέρους γενέσθαι καὶ οὐ πλέοσι· οὗτοι δὲ εἰσὶ οἱ ποιήσαντες θεογονίην Ἕλλησι καὶ τοῖσι θεοῖσι τὰς ἐπωνυμίας δόντες καὶ τιμάς τε καὶ τέχνας διελόντες καὶ εἴδεα αὐτῶν σημήναντες. οἱ δὲ πρότερον ποιηταὶ λεγόμενοι τούτων τῶν ἀνδρῶν γενέσθαι ὕστερον, ἔμοιγε δοκέειν, ἐγένοντο. τούτων τὰ μὲν πρῶτα αἱ Δωδωνίδες ἱρεῖαι λέγουσι, τὰ δὲ ὕστερα τὰ ἐς Ἡσίοδόν τε καὶ Ὅμηρον ἔχοντα ἐγὼ λέγω.
2.64. καὶ τὸ μὴ μίσγεσθαι γυναιξὶ ἐν ἱροῖσι μηδὲ ἀλούτους ἀπὸ γυναικῶν ἐς ἱρὰ ἐσιέναι οὗτοι εἰσὶ οἱ πρῶτοι θρησκεύσαντες. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι σχεδὸν πάντες ἄνθρωποι, πλὴν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Ἑλλήνων, μίσγονται ἐν ἱροῖσι καὶ ἀπὸ γυναικῶν ἀνιστάμενοι ἄλουτοι ἐσέρχονται ἐς ἱρόν, νομίζοντες ἀνθρώπους εἶναι κατά περ τὰ ἄλλα κτήνεα· καὶ γὰρ τὰ ἄλλα κτήνεα ὁρᾶν καὶ ὀρνίθων γένεα ὀχευόμενα ἔν τε τοῖσι νηοῖσι τῶν θεῶν καὶ ἐν τοῖσι τεμένεσι· εἰ ὦν εἶναι τῷ θεῷ τοῦτο μὴ φίλον, οὐκ ἂν οὐδὲ τὰ κτήνεα ποιέειν. οὗτοι μέν νυν τοιαῦτα ἐπιλέγοντες ποιεῦσι ἔμοιγε οὐκ ἀρεστά·
2.83. μαντικὴ δὲ αὐτοῖσι ὧδε διακέεται· ἀνθρώπων μὲν οὐδενὶ προσκέεται ἡ τέχνη, τῶν δὲ θεῶν μετεξετέροισι· καὶ γὰρ Ἡρακλέος μαντήιον αὐτόθι ἐστὶ καὶ Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ Ἀθηναίης καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος καὶ Ἄρεος καὶ Διός, καὶ τό γε μάλιστα ἐν τιμῇ ἄγονται πάντων τῶν μαντηίων, Λητοῦς ἐν Βουτοῖ πόλι ἐστί. οὐ μέντοι αἵ γε μαντηίαι σφι κατὰ τὠυτὸ ἑστᾶσι, ἀλλὰ διάφοροι εἰσί. 2.84. ἡ δὲ ἰητρικὴ κατὰ τάδε σφι δέδασται· μιῆς νούσου ἕκαστος ἰητρός ἐστι καὶ οὐ πλεόνων. πάντα δʼ ἰητρῶν ἐστι πλέα· οἳ μὲν γὰρ ὀφθαλμῶν ἰητροὶ κατεστᾶσι, οἳ δὲ κεφαλῆς, οἳ δὲ ὀδόντων, οἳ δὲ τῶν κατὰ νηδύν, οἳ δὲ τῶν ἀφανέων νούσων.
2.91. ἑλληνικοῖσι δὲ νομαίοισι φεύγουσι χρᾶσθαι, τὸ δὲ σύμπαν εἰπεῖν, μηδʼ ἄλλων μηδαμὰ μηδαμῶν ἀνθρώπων νομαίοισι. οἱ μέν νυν ἄλλοι Αἰγύπτιοι οὕτω τοῦτο φυλάσσουσι, ἔστι δὲ Χέμμις πόλις μεγάλη νομοῦ τοῦ Θηβαϊκοῦ ἐγγὺς Νέης πόλιος· ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ πόλι ἐστὶ Περσέος τοῦ Δανάης ἱρὸν τετράγωνον, πέριξ δὲ αὐτοῦ φοίνικες πεφύκασι. τὰ δὲ πρόπυλα τοῦ ἱροῦ λίθινα ἐστὶ κάρτα μεγάλα· ἐπὶ δὲ αὐτοῖσι ἀνδριάντες δύο ἑστᾶσι λίθινοι μεγάλοι. ἐν δὲ τῷ περιβεβλημένῳ τούτῳ νηός τε ἔνι καὶ ἄγαλμα ἐν αὐτῷ ἐνέστηκε τοῦ Περσέος. οὗτοι οἱ Χεμμῖται λέγουσι τὸν Περσέα πολλάκις μὲν ἀνὰ τὴν γῆν φαίνεσθαί σφι πολλάκις δὲ ἔσω τοῦ ἱροῦ, σανδάλιόν τε αὐτοῦ πεφορημένον εὑρίσκεσθαι ἐὸν τὸ μέγαθος δίπηχυ, τὸ ἐπεὰν φανῇ, εὐθηνέειν ἅπασαν Αἴγυπτον. ταῦτα μὲν λέγουσι, ποιεῦσι δὲ τάδε Ἑλληνικὰ τῷ Περσέι· ἀγῶνα γυμνικὸν τιθεῖσι διὰ πάσης ἀγωνίης ἔχοντα, παρέχοντες ἄεθλα κτήνεα καὶ χλαίνας καὶ δέρματα. εἰρομένου δέ μευ ὅ τι σφι μούνοισι ἔωθε ὁ Περσεὺς ἐπιφαίνεσθαι καὶ ὅ τι κεχωρίδαται Αἰγυπτίων τῶν ἄλλων ἀγῶνα γυμνικὸν τιθέντες, ἔφασαν τὸν Περσέα ἐκ τῆς ἑωυτῶν πόλιος γεγονέναι· τὸν γὰρ Δαναὸν καὶ τὸν Λυγκέα ἐόντας Χεμμίτας ἐκπλῶσαι ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα, ἀπὸ δὲ τούτων γενεηλογέοντες κατέβαινον ἐς τὸν Περσέα. ἀπικόμενον δὲ αὐτὸν ἐς Αἴγυπτον κατʼ αἰτίην τὴν καὶ Ἕλληνες λέγουσι, οἴσοντα ἐκ Λιβύης τὴν Γοργοῦς κεφαλήν, ἔφασαν ἐλθεῖν καὶ παρὰ σφέας καὶ ἀναγνῶναι τοὺς συγγενέας πάντας· ἐκμεμαθηκότα δέ μιν ἀπικέσθαι ἐς Αἴγυπτον τὸ τῆς Χέμμιος οὔνομα, πεπυσμένον παρὰ τῆς μητρός. ἀγῶνα δέ οἱ γυμνικὸν αὐτοῦ κελεύσαντος ἐπιτελέειν.
2.102. παραμειψάμενος ὦν τούτους τοῦ ἐπὶ τούτοισι γενομένου βασιλέος, τῷ οὔνομα ἦν Σέσωστρις, τούτου μνήμην ποιήσομαι· τὸν ἔλεγον οἱ ἱρέες πρῶτον μὲν πλοίοισι μακροῖσι ὁρμηθέντα ἐκ τοῦ Ἀραβίου κόλπου τοὺς παρὰ τὴν Ἐρυθρὴν θάλασσαν κατοικημένους καταστρέφεσθαι, ἐς ὃ πλέοντά μιν πρόσω ἀπικέσθαι ἐς θάλασσαν οὐκέτι πλωτὴν ὑπὸ βραχέων. ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ ὡς ὀπίσω ἀπίκετο ἐς Αἴγυπτον, κατὰ τῶν ἱρέων τὴν φάτιν, πολλὴν στρατιὴν τῶν λαβὼν ἤλαυνε διὰ τῆς ἠπείρου, πᾶν ἔθνος τὸ ἐμποδὼν καταστρεφόμενος. ὁτέοισι μέν νυν αὐτῶν ἀλκίμοισι ἐνετύγχανε καὶ δεινῶς γλιχομένοισι περὶ τῆς ἐλευθερίης, τούτοισι μὲν στήλας ἐνίστη ἐς τὰς χώρας διὰ γραμμάτων λεγούσας τό τε ἑωυτοῦ οὔνομα καὶ τῆς πάτρης, καὶ ὡς δυνάμι τῇ ἑωυτοῦ κατεστρέψατο σφέας· ὅτεων δὲ ἀμαχητὶ καὶ εὐπετέως παρέλαβε τὰς πόλιας, τούτοισι δὲ ἐνέγραφε ἐν τῇσι στήλῃσι κατὰ ταὐτὰ καὶ τοῖσι ἀνδρηίοισι τῶν ἐθνέων γενομένοισι, καὶ δὴ καὶ αἰδοῖα γυναικὸς προσενέγραφε, δῆλα βουλόμενος ποιέειν ὡς εἴησαν ἀνάλκιδες. 2.103. ταῦτα δὲ ποιέων διεξήιε τὴν ἤπειρον, ἐς ὃ ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίης ἐς τὴν Εὐρώπην διαβὰς τούς τε Σκύθας κατεστρέψατο καὶ τοὺς Θρήικας. ἐς τούτους δέ μοι δοκέει καὶ προσώτατα ἀπικέσθαι ὁ Αἰγύπτιος στρατός· ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῇ τούτων χώρῃ φαίνονται σταθεῖσαι αἱ στῆλαι, τὸ δὲ προσωτέρω τούτων οὐκέτι. ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ ἐπιστρέψας ὀπίσω ἤιε, καὶ ἐπείτε ἐγίνετο ἐπὶ Φάσι ποταμῷ, οὐκ ἔχω τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν ἀτρεκέως εἰπεῖν εἴτε αὐτὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς Σέσωστρις ἀποδασάμενος τῆς ἑωυτοῦ στρατιῆς μόριον ὅσον δὴ αὐτοῦ κατέλιπε τῆς χώρης οἰκήτορας, εἴτε τῶν τινες στρατιωτέων τῇ πλάνῃ αὐτοῦ ἀχθεσθέντες περὶ Φᾶσιν ποταμὸν κατέμειναν. 2.104. φαίνονται μὲν γὰρ ἐόντες οἱ Κόλχοι Αἰγύπτιοι, νοήσας δὲ πρότερον αὐτὸς ἢ ἀκούσας ἄλλων λέγω. ὡς δέ μοι ἐν φροντίδι ἐγένετο, εἰρόμην ἀμφοτέρους, καὶ μᾶλλον οἱ Κόλχοι ἐμεμνέατο τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἢ οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι τῶν Κόλχων· νομίζειν δʼ ἔφασαν οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι τῆς Σεσώστριος στρατιῆς εἶναι τοὺς Κόλχους. αὐτὸς δὲ εἴκασα τῇδε, καὶ ὅτι μελάγχροες εἰσὶ καὶ οὐλότριχες. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν ἐς οὐδὲν ἀνήκει· εἰσὶ γὰρ καὶ ἕτεροι τοιοῦτοι· ἀλλὰ τοῖσιδε καὶ μᾶλλον, ὅτι μοῦνοι πάντων ἀνθρώπων Κόλχοι καὶ Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ Αἰθίοπες περιτάμνονται ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς τὰ αἰδοῖα. Φοίνικες δὲ καὶ Σύροι οἱ ἐν τῇ Παλαιστίνῃ καὶ αὐτοὶ ὁμολογέουσι παρʼ Αἰγυπτίων μεμαθηκέναι, Σύριοι δὲ οἱ περὶ Θερμώδοντα καὶ Παρθένιον ποταμὸν καὶ Μάκρωνες οἱ τούτοισι ἀστυγείτονες ἐόντες ἀπὸ Κόλχων φασὶ νεωστὶ μεμαθηκέναι. οὗτοι γὰρ εἰσὶ οἱ περιταμνόμενοι ἀνθρώπων μοῦνοι, καὶ οὗτοι Αἰγυπτίοισι φαίνονται ποιεῦντες κατὰ ταὐτά. αὐτῶν δὲ Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Αἰθιόπων οὐκ ἔχω εἰπεῖν ὁκότεροι παρὰ τῶν ἑτέρων ἐξέμαθον· ἀρχαῖον γὰρ δή τι φαίνεται ἐόν. ὡς δὲ ἐπιμισγόμενοι Αἰγύπτῳ ἐξέμαθον, μέγα μοι καὶ τόδε τεκμήριον γίνεται· Φοινίκων ὁκόσοι τῇ Ἑλλάδι ἐπιμίσγονται, οὐκέτι Αἰγυπτίους μιμέονται κατὰ τὰ αἰδοῖα. ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐπιγινομένων οὐ περιτάμνουσι τὰ αἰδοῖα. 2.105. φέρε νῦν καὶ ἄλλο εἴπω περὶ τῶν Κόλχων, ὡς Αἰγυπτίοισι προσφερέες εἰσί· λίνον μοῦνοι οὗτοί τε καὶ Αἰγύπτιοι ἐργάζονται καὶ κατὰ ταὐτά, καὶ ἡ ζόη πᾶσα καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα ἐμφερής ἐστι ἀλλήλοισι. λίνον δὲ τὸ μὲν Κολχικὸν ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων Σαρδωνικὸν κέκληται, τὸ μέντοι ἀπʼ Αἰγύπτου ἀπικνεύμενον καλέεται Αἰγύπτιον.
2.111. Σεσώστριος δὲ τελευτήσαντος ἐκδέξασθαι ἔλεγον τὴν βασιληίην τὸν παῖδα αὐτοῦ Φερῶν, τὸν ἀποδέξασθαι μὲν οὐδεμίαν στρατηίην, συνενειχθῆναι δέ οἱ τυφλὸν γενέσθαι διὰ τοιόνδε πρῆγμα. τοῦ ποταμοῦ κατελθόντος μέγιστα δὴ τότε ἐπʼ ὀκτωκαίδεκα πήχεας, ὡς ὑπερέβαλε τὰς ἀρούρας, πνεύματος ἐμπεσόντος κυματίης ὁ ποταμὸς ἐγένετο· τὸν δὲ βασιλέα λέγουσι τοῦτον ἀτασθαλίῃ χρησάμενον, λαβόντα αἰχμὴν βαλεῖν ἐς μέσας τὰς δίνας τοῦ ποταμοῦ, μετὰ δὲ αὐτίκα καμόντα αὐτὸν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τυφλωθῆναι. δέκα μὲν δὴ ἔτεα εἶναί μιν τυφλόν, ἑνδεκάτῳ δὲ ἔτεϊ ἀπικέσθαι οἱ μαντήιον ἐκ Βουτοῦς πόλιος ὡς ἐξήκει τέ οἱ ὁ χρόνος τῆς ζημίης καὶ ἀναβλέψει γυναικὸς οὔρῳ νιψάμενος τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, ἥτις παρὰ τὸν ἑωυτῆς ἄνδρα μοῦνον πεφοίτηκε, ἄλλων ἀνδρῶν ἐοῦσα ἄπειρος. καὶ τὸν πρώτης τῆς ἑωυτοῦ γυναικὸς πειρᾶσθαι, μετὰ δέ, ὡς οὐκ ἀνέβλεπε, ἐπεξῆς πασέων πειρᾶσθαι· ἀναβλέψαντα δὲ συναγαγεῖν τὰς γυναῖκας τῶν ἐπειρήθη, πλὴν ἢ τῆς τῷ οὔρῳ νιψάμενος ἀνέβλεψε, ἐς μίαν πόλιν, ἣ νῦν καλέεται Ἐρυθρὴ βῶλος· ἐς ταύτην συναλίσαντα ὑποπρῆσαι πάσας σὺν αὐτῇ τῇ πόλι· τῆς δὲ νιψάμενος τῷ οὔρῳ ἀνέβλεψε, ταύτην δὲ ἔσχε αὐτὸς γυναῖκα. ἀναθήματα δὲ ἀποφυγὼν τὴν πάθην τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἄλλα τε ἀνὰ τὰ ἱρὰ πάντα τὰ λόγιμα ἀνέθηκε καὶ τοῦ γε λόγον μάλιστα ἄξιον ἐστὶ ἔχειν, ἐς τοῦ Ἡλίου τὸ ἱρὸν ἀξιοθέητα ἀνέθηκε ἔργα, ὀβελοὺς δύο λιθίνους, ἐξ ἑνὸς ἐόντα ἑκάτερον λίθου, μῆκος μὲν ἑκάτερον πηχέων ἑκατόν, εὖρος δὲ ὀκτὼ πηχέων. 2.112. τούτου δὲ ἐκδέξασθαι τὴν βασιληίην ἔλεγον ἄνδρα Μεμφίτην, τῷ κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλήνων γλῶσσαν οὔνομα Πρωτέα εἶναι· τοῦ νῦν τέμενος ἐστὶ ἐν Μέμφι κάρτα καλόν τε καὶ εὖ ἐσκευασμένον, τοῦ Ἡφαιστείου πρὸς νότον ἄνεμον κείμενον. περιοικέουσι δὲ τὸ τέμενος τοῦτο Φοίνικες Τύριοι, καλέεται δὲ ὁ χῶρος οὗτος ὁ συνάπας Τυρίων στρατόπεδον. ἔστι δὲ ἐν τῷ τεμένεϊ τοῦ Πρωτέος ἱρὸν τὸ καλέεται ξείνης Ἀφροδίτης· συμβάλλομαι δὲ τοῦτο τὸ ἱρὸν εἶναι Ἑλένης τῆς Τυνδάρεω, καὶ τὸν λόγον ἀκηκοὼς ὡς διαιτήθη Ἑλένη παρὰ Πρωτέι, καὶ δὴ καὶ ὅτι ξείνης Ἀφροδίτης ἐπώνυμον ἐστί· ὅσα γὰρ ἄλλα Ἀφροδίτης ἱρά ἐστι, οὐδαμῶς ξείνης ἐπικαλέεται. 2.113. ἔλεγον δέ μοι οἱ ἱρέες ἱστορέοντι τὰ περὶ Ἑλένην γενέσθαι ὧδε. Ἀλέξανδρον ἁρπάσαντα Ἑλένην ἐκ Σπάρτης ἀποπλέειν ἐς τὴν ἑωυτοῦ· καί μιν, ὡς ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ Αἰγαίῳ, ἐξῶσται ἄνεμοι ἐκβάλλουσι ἐς τὸ Αἰγύπτιον πέλαγος, ἐνθεῦτεν δέ, οὐ γὰρ ἀνιεῖ τὰ πνεύματα, ἀπικνέεται ἐς Αἴγυπτον καὶ Αἰγύπτου ἐς τὸ νῦν Κανωβικὸν καλεύμενον στόμα τοῦ Νείλου καὶ ἐς Ταριχείας. ἦν δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς ἠιόνος τὸ καὶ νῦν ἐστι Ἡρακλέος ἱρόν, ἐς τὸ ἢν καταφυγὼν οἰκέτης ὅτευ ὦν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιβάληται στίγματα ἱρά, ἑωυτὸν διδοὺς τῷ θεῷ, οὐκ ἔξεστι τούτου ἅψασθαι. ὁ νόμος οὗτος διατελέει ἐὼν ὅμοιος μέχρι ἐμεῦ τῷ ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς· τοῦ ὦν δὴ Ἀλεξάνδρου ἀπιστέαται θεράποντες πυθόμενοι τὸν περὶ τὸ ἱρὸν ἔχοντα νόμον, ἱκέται δὲ ἱζόμενοι τοῦ θεοῦ κατηγόρεον τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου, βουλόμενοι βλάπτειν αὐτόν, πάντα λόγον ἐξηγεύμενοι ὡς εἶχε περὶ τὴν Ἑλένην τε καὶ τὴν ἐς Μενέλεων ἀδικίην· κατηγόρεον δὲ ταῦτα πρός τε τοὺς ἱρέας καὶ τὸν στόματος τούτου φύλακον, τῷ οὔνομα ἦν Θῶνις. 2.114. ἀκούσας δὲ τούτων ὁ Θῶνις πέμπει τὴν ταχίστην ἐς Μέμφιν παρὰ Πρωτέα ἀγγελίην λέγουσαν τάδε. “ἥκει ξεῖνος γένος μὲν Τευκρός, ἔργον δὲ ἀνόσιον ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι ἐξεργασμένος· ξείνου γὰρ τοῦ ἑωυτοῦ ἐξαπατήσας τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτήν τε ταύτην ἄγων ἥκει καὶ πολλὰ κάρτα χρήματα, ὑπὸ ἀνέμων ἐς γῆν ταύτην ἀπενειχθείς. κότερα δῆτα τοῦτον ἐῶμεν ἀσινέα ἐκπλέειν ἢ ἀπελώμεθα τὰ ἔχων ἦλθε;” ἀντιπέμπει πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ Πρωτεὺς λέγοντα τάδε. “ἄνδρα τοῦτον, ὅστις κοτὲ ἐστὶ ἀνόσια ἐργασμένος ξεῖνον τὸν ἑωυτοῦ, συλλαβόντες ἀπάγετε παρʼ ἐμέ, ἵνα εἰδέω ὅ τι κοτὲ καὶ λέξει.” 2.115. ἀκούσας δὲ ταῦτα ὁ Θῶνις συλλαμβάνει τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον καὶ τὰς νέας αὐτοῦ κατίσχει, μετὰ δὲ αὐτόν τε τοῦτον ἀνήγαγε ἐς Μέμφιν καὶ τὴν Ἑλένην τε καὶ τὰ χρήματα, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἱκέτας. ἀνακομισθέντων δὲ πάντων, εἰρώτα τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον ὁ Πρωτεὺς τίς εἴη καὶ ὁκόθεν πλέοι. ὁ δέ οἱ καὶ τὸ γένος κατέλεξε καὶ τῆς πάτρης εἶπε τὸ οὔνομα, καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸν πλόον ἀπηγήσατο ὁκόθεν πλέοι. μετὰ δὲ ὁ Πρωτεὺς εἰρώτα αὐτὸν ὁκόθεν τὴν Ἑλένην λάβοι· πλανωμένου δὲ τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου ἐν τῷ λόγῳ καὶ οὐ λέγοντος τὴν ἀληθείην, ἤλεγχον οἱ γενόμενοι ἱκέται, ἐξηγεύμενοι πάντα λόγον τοῦ ἀδικήματος. τέλος δὲ δή σφι λόγον τόνδε ἐκφαίνει ὁ Πρωτεύς, λέγων ὅτι “ἐγὼ εἰ μὴ περὶ πολλοῦ ἡγεύμην μηδένα ξείνων κτείνειν, ὅσοι ὑπʼ ἀνέμων ἤδη ἀπολαμφθέντες ἦλθον ἐς χώρην τὴν ἐμήν, ἐγὼ ἄν σε ὑπὲρ τοῦ Ἕλληνος ἐτισάμην, ὅς, ὦ κάκιστε ἀνδρῶν, ξεινίων τυχὼν ἔργον ἀνοσιώτατον ἐργάσαο· παρὰ τοῦ σεωυτοῦ ξείνου τὴν γυναῖκα ἦλθες. καὶ μάλα ταῦτά τοι οὐκ ἤρκεσε, ἀλλʼ ἀναπτερώσας αὐτὴν οἴχεαι ἔχων ἐκκλέψας. καὶ οὐδὲ ταῦτά τοι μοῦνα ἤρκεσε, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἰκία τοῦ ξείνου κεραΐσας ἥκεις. νῦν ὦν ἐπειδὴ περὶ πολλοῦ ἥγημαι μὴ ξεινοκτονέειν, γυναῖκα μὲν ταύτην καὶ τὰ χρήματα οὔ τοι προήσω ἀπάγεσθαι, ἀλλʼ αὐτὰ ἐγὼ τῷ Ἕλληνι ξείνῳ φυλάξω, ἐς ὃ ἂν αὐτὸς ἐλθὼν ἐκεῖνος ἀπαγαγέσθαι ἐθέλῃ· αὐτὸν δέ σε καὶ τοὺς σοὺς συμπλόους τριῶν ἡμερέων προαγορεύω ἐκ τῆς ἐμῆς γῆς ἐς ἄλλην τινὰ μετορμίζεσθαι, εἰ δὲ μή, ἅτε πολεμίους περιέψεσθαι.” 2.116. Ἑλένης μὲν ταύτην ἄπιξιν παρὰ Πρωτέα ἔλεγον οἱ ἱρέες γενέσθαι· δοκέει δέ μοι καὶ Ὅμηρος τὸν λόγον τοῦτον πυθέσθαι· ἀλλʼ οὐ γὰρ ὁμοίως ἐς τὴν ἐποποιίην εὐπρεπὴς ἦν τῷ ἑτέρῳ τῷ περ ἐχρήσατο, ἑκὼν μετῆκε αὐτόν, δηλώσας ὡς καὶ τοῦτον ἐπίσταιτο τὸν λόγον· δῆλον δὲ κατὰ γὰρ 1 ἐποίησε ἐν Ἰλιάδι ʽκαὶ οὐδαμῇ ἄλλῃ ἀνεπόδισε ἑωυτόν’ πλάνην τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου, ὡς ἀπηνείχθη ἄγων Ἑλένην τῇ τε δὴ ἄλλῃ πλαζόμενος καὶ ὡς ἐς Σιδῶνα τῆς Φοινίκης ἀπίκετο. ἐπιμέμνηται δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐν Διομήδεος ἀριστείῃ· λέγει δὲ τὰ ἔπεα ὧδε. ἔνθʼ ἔσαν οἱ πέπλοι παμποίκιλοι, ἔργα γυναικῶν Σιδονίων, τὰς αὐτὸς Ἀλέξανδρος θεοειδής ἤγαγε Σιδονίηθεν, ἐπιπλὼς εὐρέα πόντον, τὴν ὁδὸν ἣν Ἑλένην περ ἀνήγαγεν εὐπατέρειαν. homer, Iliad, 6.289-292 ἐπιμέμνηται δὲ καὶ ἐν Ὀδυσσείῃ ἐν τοῖσιδε τοῖσι ἔπεσι. τοῖα Διὸς θυγάτηρ ἔχε φάρμακα μητιόεντα, ἐσθλά, τά οἱ Πολύδαμνα πόρεν Θῶνος παράκοιτις Αἰγυπτίη, τῇ πλεῖστα φέρει ζείδωρος ἄρουρα φάρμακα, πολλὰ μὲν ἐσθλὰ μεμιγμένα, πολλὰ δὲ λυγρά. Homer, Odyssey, 4.227-230 καὶ τάδε ἕτερα πρὸς Τηλέμαχον Μενέλεως λέγει. Αἰγύπτῳ μʼ ἔτι δεῦρο θεοὶ μεμαῶτα νέεσθαι ἔσχον, ἐπεὶ οὔ σφιν ἔρεξα τεληέσσας ἑκατόμβας. Homer,Odyssey, 4.351-352 ἐν τούτοισι τοῖσι ἔπεσι δηλοῖ ὅτι ἠπίστατο τὴν ἐς Αἴγυπτον Ἀλεξάνδρου πλάνην· ὁμουρέει γὰρ ἡ Συρίη Αἰγύπτῶ, οἱ δὲ Φοίνικες, τῶν ἐστὶ ἡ Σιδών, ἐν τῇ Συρίῃ οἰκέουσι. 2.117. κατὰ ταῦτα δὲ τὰ ἔπεα καὶ τόδε τὸ χωρίον οὐκ ἥκιστα ἀλλὰ μάλιστα δηλοῖ ὅτι οὐκ Ὁμήρου τὰ Κύπρια ἔπεα ἐστὶ ἀλλʼ ἄλλου τινός. ἐν μὲν γὰρ τοῖσι Κυπρίοισι εἴρηται ὡς τριταῖος ἐκ Σπάρτης Ἀλέξανδρος ἀπίκετο ἐς τὸ Ἴλιον ἄγων Ἑλένην, εὐαέι τε πνεύματι χρησάμενος καὶ θαλάσσῃ λείῃ· ἐν δὲ Ἰλιάδι λέγει ὡς ἐπλάζετο ἄγων αὐτήν.
2.122. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἔλεγον τοῦτον τὸν βασιλέα ζωὸν καταβῆναι κάτω ἐς τὸν οἱ Ἕλληνες Ἅιδην νομίζουσι εἶναι, καὶ κεῖθι συγκυβεύειν τῇ Δήμητρι, καὶ τὰ μὲν νικᾶν αὐτὴν τὰ δὲ ἑσσοῦσθαι ὑπʼ αὐτῆς, καί μιν πάλιν ἀπικέσθαι δῶρον ἔχοντα παρʼ αὐτῆς χειρόμακτρον χρύσεον. ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς Ῥαμψινίτου καταβάσιος, ὡς πάλιν ἀπίκετο, ὁρτὴν δὴ ἀνάγειν Αἰγυπτίους ἔφασαν· τὴν καὶ ἐγὼ οἶδα ἔτι καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἐπιτελέοντας αὐτούς, οὐ μέντοι εἴ γε διὰ ταῦτα ὁρτάζουσι ἔχω λέγειν. φᾶρος δὲ αὐτημερὸν ἐξυφήναντες οἱ ἱρέες κατʼ ὦν ἔδησαν ἑνὸς ἑωυτῶν μίτρῃ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς, ἀγαγόντες δέ μιν ἔχοντα τὸ φᾶρος ἐς ὁδὸν φέρουσαν ἐς ἱρὸν Δήμητρος αὐτοὶ ἀπαλλάσσονται ὀπίσω· τὸν δὲ ἱρέα τοῦτον καταδεδεμένον τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς λέγουσι ὑπὸ δύο λύκων ἄγεσθαι ἐς τὸ ἱρὸν τῆς Δήμητρος ἀπέχον τῆς πόλιος εἴκοσι σταδίους, καὶ αὖτις ὀπίσω ἐκ τοῦ ἱροῦ ἀπάγειν μιν τοὺς λύκους ἐς τὠυτὸ χωρίον.
2.123. τοῖσι μέν νυν ὑπʼ Αἰγυπτίων λεγομένοισι χράσθω ὅτεῳ τὰ τοιαῦτα πιθανά ἐστι· ἐμοὶ δὲ παρὰ πάντα τὸν λόγον ὑπόκειται ὅτι τὰ λεγόμενα ὑπʼ ἑκάστων ἀκοῇ γράφω. ἀρχηγετέειν δὲ τῶν κάτω Αἰγύπτιοι λέγουσι Δήμητρα καὶ Διόνυσον. πρῶτοι δὲ καὶ τόνδε τὸν λόγον Αἰγύπτιοι εἰσὶ οἱ εἰπόντες, ὡς ἀνθρώπου ψυχὴ ἀθάνατος ἐστί, τοῦ σώματος δὲ καταφθίνοντος ἐς ἄλλο ζῷον αἰεὶ γινόμενον ἐσδύεται, ἐπεὰν δὲ πάντα περιέλθῃ τὰ χερσαῖα καὶ τὰ θαλάσσια καὶ τὰ πετεινά, αὖτις ἐς ἀνθρώπου σῶμα γινόμενον ἐσδύνει· τὴν περιήλυσιν δὲ αὐτῇ γίνεσθαι ἐν τρισχιλίοισι ἔτεσι. τούτῳ τῷ λόγῳ εἰσὶ οἳ Ἑλλήνων ἐχρήσαντο, οἳ μὲν πρότερον οἳ δὲ ὕστερον, ὡς ἰδίῳ ἑωυτῶν ἐόντι· τῶν ἐγὼ εἰδὼς τὰ οὐνόματα οὐ γράφω.
2.129. μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον βασιλεῦσαι Αἰγύπτου Μυκερῖνον ἔλεγον Χέοπος παῖδα· τῷ τὰ μὲν τοῦ πατρὸς ἔργα ἀπαδεῖν, τὸν δὲ τά τε ἱρὰ ἀνοῖξαι καὶ τὸν λεὼν τετρυμένον ἐς τὸ ἔσχατον κακοῦ ἀνεῖναι πρὸς ἔργα τε καὶ θυσίας, δίκας δέ σφι πάντων βασιλέων δικαιότατα κρίνειν. κατὰ τοῦτο μέν νυν τὸ ἔργον ἁπάντων ὅσοι ἤδη βασιλέες ἐγένοντο Αἰγυπτίων αἰνέουσι μάλιστα τοῦτον. τά τε ἄλλα γάρ μιν κρίνειν εὖ, καὶ δὴ καὶ τῷ ἐπιμεμφομένῳ ἐκ τῆς δίκης παρʼ ἑωυτοῦ διδόντα ἄλλα ἀποπιμπλάναι αὐτοῦ τὸν θυμόν. ἐόντι δὲ ἠπίῳ τῷ Μυκερίνῳ κατὰ τοὺς πολιήτας καὶ ταῦτα ἐπιτηδεύοντι πρῶτον κακῶν ἄρξαι τὴν θυγατέρα ἀποθανοῦσαν αὐτοῦ, τὴν μοῦνόν οἱ εἶναι ἐν τοῖσι οἰκίοισι τέκνον. τὸν δὲ ὑπεραλγήσαντά τε τῷ περιεπεπτώκεε πρήγματι, καὶ βουλόμενον περισσότερόν τι τῶν ἄλλων θάψαι τὴν θυγατέρα, ποιήσασθαι βοῦν ξυλίνην κοίλην, καὶ ἔπειτα καταχρυσώσαντά μιν ταύτην ἔσω ἐν αὐτῇ θάψαι ταύτην δὴ τὴν ἀποθανοῦσαν θυγατέρα.
2.133. μετὰ δὲ τῆς θυγατρὸς τὸ πάθος δεύτερα τούτῳ τῷ βασιλέι τάδε γενέσθαι· ἐλθεῖν οἱ μαντήιον ἐκ Βουτοῦς πόλιος ὡς μέλλοι ἓξ ἔτεα μοῦνον βιοὺς τῷ ἑβδόμῳ τελευτήσειν. τὸν δὲ δεινὸν ποιησάμενον πέμψαι ἐς τὸ μαντήιον τῷ θεῷ ὀνείδισμα, ἀντιμεμφόμενον ὅτι ὁ μὲν αὐτοῦ πατὴρ καὶ πάτρως, ἀποκληίσαντες τὰ ἱρὰ καὶ θεῶν οὐ μεμνημένοι ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους φθείροντες, ἐβίωσαν χρόνον ἐπὶ πολλόν, αὐτὸς δʼ εὐσεβὴς ἐὼν μέλλοι ταχέως οὕτω τελευτήσειν. ἐκ δὲ τοῦ χρηστηρίου αὐτῷ δεύτερα ἐλθεῖν λέγοντα τούτων εἵνεκα καὶ συνταχύνειν αὐτὸν τὸν βίον· οὐ γὰρ ποιῆσαί μιν τὸ χρεὸν ἦν ποιέειν· δεῖν γὰρ Αἴγυπτον κακοῦσθαι ἐπʼ ἔτεα πεντήκοντά τε καὶ ἑκατόν, καὶ τοὺς μὲν δύο τοὺς πρὸ ἐκείνου γενομένους βασιλέας μαθεῖν τοῦτο, κεῖνον δὲ οὔ. ταῦτα ἀκούσαντα τὸν Μυκερῖνον, ὡς κατακεκριμένων ἤδη οἱ τούτων, λύχνα ποιησάμενον πολλά, ὅκως γίνοιτο νύξ, ἀνάψαντα αὐτὰ πίνειν τε καὶ εὐπαθέειν, οὔτε ἡμέρης οὔτε νυκτὸς ἀνιέντα, ἔς τε τὰ ἕλεα καὶ τὰ ἄλσεα πλανώμενον καὶ ἵνα πυνθάνοιτο εἶναι ἐνηβητήρια ἐπιτηδεότατα. ταῦτα δὲ ἐμηχανᾶτο θέλων τὸ μαντήιον ψευδόμενον ἀποδέξαι, ἵνα οἱ δυώδεκα ἔτεα ἀντὶ ἓξ ἐτέων γένηται, αἱ νύκτες ἡμέραι ποιεύμεναι.
2.137. τοῦτον μὲν τοσαῦτα ἀποδέξασθαι. μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον βασιλεῦσαι ἄνδρα τυφλὸν ἐξ Ἀνύσιος πόλιος, τῷ οὔνομα Ἄνυσιν εἶναι. ἐπὶ τούτου βασιλεύοντος ἐλάσαι ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον χειρὶ πολλῇ Αἰθίοπάς τε καὶ Σαβακῶν τὸν Αἰθιόπων βασιλέα. τὸν μὲν δὴ τυφλὸν τοῦτον οἴχεσθαι φεύγοντα ἐς τὰ ἕλεα, τὸν δὲ Αἰθίοπα βασιλεύειν Αἰγύπτου ἐπʼ ἔτεα πεντήκοντα, ἐν τοῖσι αὐτὸν τάδε ἀποδέξασθαι· ὅκως τῶν τις Αἰγυπτίων ἁμάρτοι τι, κτείνειν μὲν αὐτῶν οὐδένα ἐθέλειν, τὸν δὲ κατὰ μέγαθος τοῦ ἀδικήματος ἑκάστῳ δικάζειν ἐπιτάσσοντα χώματα χοῦν πρὸς τῇ ἑωυτῶν πόλι, ὅθεν ἕκαστος ἦν τῶν ἀδικεόντων. καὶ οὕτω ἔτι αἱ πόλιες ἐγένοντο ὑψηλότεραι· τὸ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτον ἐχώσθησαν ὑπὸ τῶν τὰς διώρυχας ὀρυξάντων ἐπὶ Σεσώστριος βασιλέος, δεύτερα δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ Αἰθίοπος καὶ κάρτα ὑψηλαὶ ἐγένοντο. ὑψηλέων δὲ καὶ ἑτερέων γενομενέων ἐν τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ πολίων, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκέει, μάλιστα ἡ ἐν Βουβάστιπόλις ἐξεχώσθη, ἐν τῇ καὶ ἱρόν ἐστι Βουβάστιος ἀξιαπηγητότατον· μέζω μὲν γὰρ ἄλλα καὶ πολυδαπανώτερα ἐστὶ ἱρά, ἡδονὴ δὲ ἰδέσθαι οὐδὲν τούτου μᾶλλον. ἡ δὲ Βούβαστις κατὰ Ἑλλάδα γλῶσσαν ἐστὶ Ἄρτεμις.
2.139. τέλος δὲ τῆς ἀπαλλαγῆς τοῦ Αἰθίοπος ὧδε ἔλεγον γενέσθαι· ὄψιν ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ τοιήνδε ἰδόντα αὐτὸν οἴχεσθαι φεύγοντα· ἐδόκέε οἱ ἄνδρα ἐπιστάντα συμβουλεύειν τοὺς ἱρέας τοὺς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ συλλέξαντα πάντας μέσους διαταμεῖν. ἰδόντα δὲ τὴν ὄψιν ταύτην λέγειν αὐτὸν ὡς πρόφασίν οἱ δοκέοι ταύτην τοὺς θεοὺς προδεικνύναι, ἵνα ἀσεβήσας περὶ τὰ ἱρὰ κακόν τι πρὸς θεῶν ἢ πρὸς ἀνθρώπων λάβοι· οὔκων ποιήσειν ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ γάρ οἱ ἐξεληλυθέναι τὸν χρόνον, ὁκόσον κεχρῆσθαι ἄρξαντα Αἰγύπτου ἐκχωρήσειν. ἐν γὰρ τῇ Αἰθιοπίῃ ἐόντι αὐτῷ τὰ μαντήια, τοῖσι χρέωνται Αἰθίοπες, ἀνεῖλε ὡς δέοι αὐτὸν Αἰγύπτου βασιλεῦσαι ἔτεα πεντήκοντα. ὡς ὦν ὁ χρόνος οὗτος ἐξήιε καὶ αὐτὸν ἡ ὄψις τοῦ ἐνυπνίου ἐπετάρασσε, ἑκὼν ἀπαλλάσσετο ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου ὁ Σαβακῶς.
2.141. μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον βασιλεῦσαι τὸν ἱρέα τοῦ Ἡφαίστου, τῷ οὔνομα εἶναι Σεθῶν· τὸν ἐν ἀλογίῃσι ἔχειν παραχρησάμενον τῶν μαχίμων Αἰγυπτίων ὡς οὐδὲν δεησόμενον αὐτῶν, ἄλλα τε δὴ ἄτιμα ποιεῦντα ἐς αὐτούς, καί σφεας ἀπελέσθαι τὰς ἀρούρας· τοῖσι ἐπὶ τῶν προτέρων βασιλέων δεδόσθαι ἐξαιρέτους ἑκάστῳ δυώδεκα ἀρούρας. μετὰ δὲ ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον ἐλαύνειν στρατὸν μέγαν Σαναχάριβον βασιλέα Ἀραβίων τε καὶ Ἀσσυρίων· οὔκων δὴ ἐθέλειν τοὺς μαχίμους τῶν Αἰγυπτίων βοηθέειν. τὸν δʼ ἱρέα ἐς ἀπορίην ἀπειλημένον ἐσελθόντα ἐς τὸ μέγαρον πρὸς τὤγαλμα ἀποδύρεσθαι οἷα κινδυνεύει παθεῖν. ὀλοφυρόμενον δʼ ἄρα μιν ἐπελθεῖν ὕπνον, καί οἱ δόξαι ἐν τῇ ὄψι ἐπιστάντα τὸν θεὸν θαρσύνειν ὡς οὐδὲν πείσεται ἄχαρι ἀντιάζων τὸν Ἀραβίων στρατόν· αὐτὸς γάρ οἱ πέμψειν τιμωρούς. τούτοισι δή μιν πίσυνον τοῖσι ἐνυπνίοισι, παραλαβόντα Αἰγυπτίων τοὺς βουλομένους οἱ ἕπεσθαι, στρατοπεδεύσασθαι ἐν Πηλουσίῳ· ταύτῃ γὰρ εἰσὶ αἱ ἐσβολαί· ἕπεσθαι δέ οἱ τῶν μαχίμων μὲν οὐδένα ἀνδρῶν, καπήλους δὲ καὶ χειρώνακτας καὶ ἀγοραίους ἀνθρώπους. ἐνθαῦτα ἀπικομένοισι 1 τοῖσι ἐναντίοισι αὐτοῖσι ἐπιχυθέντας νυκτὸς μῦς ἀρουραίους κατὰ μὲν φαγεῖν τοὺς φαρετρεῶνας αὐτῶν κατὰ δὲ τὰ τόξα, πρὸς δὲ τῶν ἀσπίδων τὰ ὄχανα, ὥστε τῇ ὑστεραίῃ φευγόντων σφέων γυμνῶν πεσεῖν πολλούς. καὶ νῦν οὗτος ὁ βασιλεὺς ἕστηκε ἐν τῷ ἱρῷ τοῦ Ἡφαίστου λίθινος, ἔχων ἐπὶ τῆς χειρὸς μῦν, λέγων διὰ γραμμάτων τάδε· “ἐς ἐμέ τις ὁρέων εὐσεβὴς ἔστω.”
2.150. ἔλεγον δὲ οἱ ἐπιχώριοι καὶ ὡς ἐς τὴν Σύρτιν τὴν ἐς Λιβύην ἐκδιδοῖ ἡ λίμνη αὕτη ὑπὸ γῆν, τετραμμένη τὸ πρὸς ἑσπέρην ἐς τὴν μεσόγαιαν παρὰ τὸ ὄρος τὸ ὑπὲρ Μέμφιος. ἐπείτε δὲ τοῦ ὀρύγματος τούτου οὐκ ὥρων τὸν χοῦν οὐδαμοῦ ἐόντα, ἐπιμελὲς γὰρ δή μοι ἦν, εἰρόμην τοὺς ἄγχιστα οἰκέοντας τῆς λίμνης ὅκου εἴη ὁ χοῦς ὁ ἐξορυχθείς. οἳ δὲ ἔφρασάν μοι ἵνα ἐξεφορήθη, καὶ εὐπετέως ἔπειθον· ᾔδεα γὰρ λόγῳ καὶ ἐν Νίνῳ τῇ Ἀσσυρίων πόλι γενόμενον ἕτερον τοιοῦτον. τὰ γὰρ Σαρδαναπάλλου τοῦ Νίνου βασιλέος ἐόντα μεγάλα χρήματα καὶ φυλασσόμενα ἐν θησαυροῖσι καταγαίοισι ἐπενόησαν κλῶπες ἐκφορῆσαι. ἐκ δὴ ὦν τῶν σφετέρων οἰκίων ἀρξάμενοι οἱ κλῶπες ὑπὸ γῆν σταθμεόμενοι ἐς τὰ βασιλήια οἰκία ὤρυσσον, τὸν δὲ χοῦν τὸν ἐκφορεόμενον ἐκ τοῦ ὀρύγματος, ὅκως γένοιτο νύξ, ἐς τὸν Τίγρην ποταμὸν παραρρέοντα τὴν Νίνον ἐξεφόρεον, ἐς ὃ κατεργάσαντο ὅ τι ἐβούλοντο. τοιοῦτον ἕτερον ἤκουσα καὶ κατὰ τὸ τῆς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ λίμνης ὄρυγμα γενέσθαι, πλὴν οὐ νυκτὸς ἀλλὰ μετʼ ἡμέρην ποιεύμενον· ὀρύσσοντας γὰρ τὸν χοῦν τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ἐς τὸν Νεῖλον φορέειν· ὁ δὲ ὑπολαμβάνων ἔμελλε διαχέειν. ἡ μέν νυν λίμνη αὕτη οὕτω λέγεται ὀρυχθῆναι·
2.152. τὸν δὲ Ψαμμήτιχον τοῦτον πρότερον φεύγοντα τὸν Αἰθίοπα Σαβακῶν, ὅς οἱ τὸν πατέρα Νεκῶν ἀπέκτεινε, τοῦτον φεύγοντα τότε ἐς Συρίην, ὡς ἀπαλλάχθη ἐκ τῆς ὄψιος τοῦ ὀνείρου ὁ Αἰθίοψ, κατήγαγον Αἰγυπτίων οὗτοι οἳ ἐκ νομοῦ τοῦ Σαΐτεω εἰσί. μετὰ δὲ βασιλεύοντα τὸ δεύτερον πρὸς τῶν ἕνδεκα βασιλέων καταλαμβάνει μιν διὰ τὴν κυνέην φεύγειν ἐς τὰ ἕλεα. ἐπιστάμενος ὦν ὡς περιυβρισμένος εἴη πρὸς αὐτῶν, ἐπενόεε τίσασθαι τοὺς διώξαντας. πέμψαντι δέ οἱ ἐς Βουτοῦν πόλιν ἐς τὸ χρηστήριον τῆς Λητοῦς, ἔνθα δὴ Αἰγυπτίοισι ἐστὶ μαντήιον ἀψευδέστατον, ἦλθε χρησμὸς ὡς τίσις ἥξει ἀπὸ θαλάσσης χαλκέων ἀνδρῶν ἐπιφανέντων. καὶ τῷ μὲν δὴ ἀπιστίη μεγάλη ὑπεκέχυτο χαλκέους οἱ ἄνδρας ἥξειν ἐπικούρους. χρόνου δὲ οὐ πολλοῦ διελθόντος ἀναγκαίη κατέλαβε Ἴωνάς τε καὶ Κᾶρας ἄνδρας κατὰ ληίην ἐκπλώσαντας ἀπενειχθῆναι ἐς Αἴγυπτον, ἐκβάντας δὲ ἐς γῆν καὶ ὁπλισθέντας χαλκῷ ἀγγέλλει τῶν τις Αἰγυπτίων ἐς τὰ ἕλεα ἀπικόμενος τῷ Ψαμμητίχῳ, ὡς οὐκ ἰδὼν πρότερον χαλκῷ ἄνδρας ὁπλισθέντας, ὡς χάλκεοι ἄνδρες ἀπιγμένοι ἀπὸ θαλάσσης λεηλατεῦσι τὸ πεδίον. ὁ δὲ μαθὼν τὸ χρηστήριον ἐπιτελεύμενον φίλα τε τοῖσι Ἴωσι καὶ Καρσὶ ποιέεται καί σφεας μεγάλα ὑπισχνεύμενος πείθει μετʼ ἑωυτοῦ γενέσθαι. ὡς δὲ ἔπεισε, οὕτω ἅμα τοῖσι τὰ ἑωυτοῦ βουλομένοισι Αἰγυπτίοισι καὶ τοῖσι ἐπικούροισι καταιρέει τοὺς βασιλέας.
2.155. Ψαμμήτιχος μέν νυν οὕτω ἔσχε Αἴγυπτον. τοῦ δὲ χρηστηρίου τοῦ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ πολλὰ ἐπεμνήσθην ἤδη, καὶ δὴ λόγον περὶ αὐτοῦ ὡς ἀξίου ἐόντος ποιήσομαι. τὸ γὰρ χρηστήριον τοῦτο τὸ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἐστὶ μὲν Λητοῦς ἱρόν, ἐν πόλι δὲ μεγάλῃ ἱδρυμένον κατὰ τὸ Σεβεννυτικὸν καλεόμενον στόμα τοῦ Νείλου, ἀναπλέοντι ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἄνω. οὔνομα δὲ τῇ πόλι ταύτῃ ὅκου τὸ χρηστήριον ἐστὶ Βουτώ, ὡς καὶ πρότερον ὠνόμασταί μοι. ἱρὸν δὲ ἐστὶ ἐν τῇ Βουτοῖ ταύτῃ Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος, καὶ ὅ γε νηὸς τῆς Λητοῦς, ἐν τῷ δὴ τὸ χρηστήριον ἔνι, αὐτός τε τυγχάνει ἐὼν μέγας καὶ τὰ προπύλαια ἔχει ἐς ὕψος δέκα ὀργυιέων. τὸ δέ μοι τῶν φανερῶν ἦν θῶμα μέγιστον παρεχόμενον, φράσω· ἔστι ἐν τῷ τεμένεϊ τούτῳ Λητοῦς νηὸς ἐξ ἑνὸς λίθου πεποιημένος ἔς τε ὕψος καὶ ἐς μῆκος καὶ τοῖχος ἕκαστος τούτοισι ἴσος τεσσεράκοντα πηχέων τούτων ἕκαστον ἐστί, τὸ δὲ καταστέγασμα τῆς ὀροφῆς ἄλλος ἐπίκειται λίθος, ἔχων τὴν παρωροφίδα τετράπηχυν. 2.156. οὕτω μέν νυν ὁ νηὸς τῶν φανερῶν μοι τῶν περὶ τοῦτο τὸ ἱρὸν ἐστὶ θωμαστότατον, τῶν δὲ δευτέρων νῆσος ἡ Χέμμις καλευμένη· ἔστι μὲν ἐν λίμνῃ βαθέῃ καὶ πλατέῃ κειμένη παρὰ τὸ ἐν Βουτοῖ ἱρόν, λέγεται δὲ ὑπʼ Αἰγυπτίων εἶναι αὕτη ἡ νῆσος πλωτή. αὐτὸς μὲν ἔγωγε οὔτε πλέουσαν οὔτε κινηθεῖσαν εἶδον, τέθηπα δὲ ἀκούων εἰ νῆσος ἀληθέως ἐστὶ πλωτή. ἐν δὲ ὦν ταύτῃ νηός τε Ἀπόλλωνος μέγας ἔνι καὶ βωμοὶ τριφάσιοι ἐνιδρύαται, ἐμπεφύκασι δʼ ἐν αὐτῇ φοίνικες συχνοὶ καὶ ἄλλα δένδρεα καὶ καρποφόρα καὶ ἄφορα πολλά. λόγον δὲ τόνδε ἐπιλέγοντες οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι φασὶ εἶναι αὐτὴν πλωτήν, ὡς ἐν τῇ νήσῳ ταύτῃ οὐκ ἐούσῃ πρότερον πλωτῇ Λητώ, ἐοῦσα τῶν ὀκτὼ θεῶν τῶν πρώτων γενομένων, οἰκέουσα δὲ ἐν Βουτοῖ πόλι, ἵνα δή οἱ τὸ χρηστήριον τοῦτο ἐστί, Ἀπόλλωνα παρʼ Ἴσιος παρακαταθήκην δεξαμένη διέσωσε κατακρύψασα ἐν τῇ νῦν πλωτῇ λεγομένῃ νήσῳ, ὅτε τὸ πᾶν διζήμενος ὁ Τυφῶν ἐπῆλθε, θέλων ἐξευρεῖν τοῦ Ὀσίριος τὸν παῖδα. Ἀπόλλωνα δὲ καὶ Ἄρτεμιν Διονύσου καὶ Ἴσιος λέγουσι εἶναι παῖδας, Λητοῦν δὲ τροφὸν αὐτοῖσι καὶ σώτειραν γενέσθαι. Αἰγυπτιστὶ δὲ Ἀπόλλων μὲν Ὦρος, Δημήτηρ δὲ Ἶσις, Ἄρτεμις δὲ Βούβαστις. ἐκ τούτου δὲ τοῦ λόγου καὶ οὐδενὸς ἄλλου Αἰσχύλος ὁ Εὐφορίωνος ἥρπασε τὸ ἐγὼ φράσω, μοῦνος δὴ ποιητέων τῶν προγενομένων· ἐποίησε γὰρ Ἄρτεμιν εἶναι θυγατέρα Δήμητρος. τὴν δὲ νῆσον διὰ τοῦτο γενέσθαι πλωτήν. ταῦτα μὲν οὕτω λέγουσι.
2.161. ψάμμιος δὲ ἓξ ἔτεα μοῦνον βασιλεύσαντος Αἰγύπτου καὶ στρατευσαμένου ἐς Αἰθιοπίην καὶ μεταυτίκα τελευτήσαντος ἐξεδέξατο Ἀπρίης ὁ Ψάμμιος· ὃς μετὰ Ψαμμήτιχον τὸν ἑωυτοῦ προπάτορα ἐγένετο εὐδαιμονέστατος τῶν πρότερον βασιλέων, ἐπʼ ἔτεα πέντε καὶ εἴκοσι ἄρξας, ἐν τοῖσι ἐπί τε Σιδῶνα στρατὸν ἤλασε καὶ ἐναυμάχησε τῷ Τυρίῳ. ἐπεὶ δέ οἱ ἔδεε κακῶς γενέσθαι, ἐγίνετο ἀπὸ προφάσιος τὴν ἐγὼ μεζόνως μὲν ἐν τοῖσι Λιβυκοῖσι λόγοισι ἀπηγήσομαι, μετρίως δʼ ἐν τῷ παρεόντι. ἀποπέμψας γὰρ στράτευμα ὁ Ἀπρίης ἐπὶ Κυρηναίους μεγαλωστὶ προσέπταισε, Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ ταῦτα ἐπιμεμφόμενοι ἀπέστησαν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ, δοκέοντες τὸν Ἀπρίην ἐκ προνοίης αὐτοὺς ἀποπέμψαι ἐς φαινόμενον κακόν, ἵνα δὴ σφέων φθορὴ γένηται, αὐτὸς δὲ τῶν λοιπῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἀσφαλέστερον ἄρχοι. ταῦτα δὲ δεινὰ ποιεύμενοι οὗτοί τε οἱ ἀπονοστήσαντες καὶ οἱ τῶν ἀπολομένων φίλοι ἀπέστησαν ἐκ τῆς ἰθέης. 2.162. πυθόμενος δὲ Ἀπρίης ταῦτα πέμπει ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς Ἄμασιν καταπαύσοντα λόγοισι. ὁ δὲ ἐπείτε ἀπικόμενος κατελάμβανε τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ταῦτα μὴ ποιέειν, λέγοντος αὐτοῦ τῶν τις Αἰγυπτίων ὄπισθε στὰς περιέθηκέ οἱ κυνέην, καὶ περιτιθεὶς ἔφη ἐπὶ βασιληίῃ περιτιθέναι. καὶ τῷ οὔ κως ἀεκούσιον ἐγίνετο τὸ ποιεύμενον, ὡς διεδείκνυε. ἐπείτε γὰρ ἐστήσαντό μιν βασιλέα τῶν Αἰγυπτίων οἱ ἀπεστεῶτες, παρεσκευάζετο ὡς ἐλῶν ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀπρίην. πυθόμενος δὲ ταῦτα ὁ Ἀπρίης ἔπεμπε ἐπʼ Ἄμασιν ἄνδρα δόκιμον τῶν περὶ ἑωυτὸν Αἰγυπτίων, τῷ οὔνομα ἦν Πατάρβημις, ἐντειλάμενος αὐτῷ ζῶντα Ἄμασιν ἀγαγεῖν παρʼ ἑωυτόν. ὡς δὲ ἀπικόμενος τὸν Ἄμασιν ἐκάλεε ὁ Πατάρβημις, ὁ Ἄμασις, ἔτυχε γὰρ ἐπʼ ἵππου κατήμενος, ἐπαείρας ἀπεματάισε, καὶ τοῦτό μιν ἐκέλευε Ἀπρίῃ ἀπάγειν. ὅμως δὲ αὐτὸν ἀξιοῦν τὸν Πατάρβημιν βασιλέος μεταπεμπομένου ἰέναι πρὸς αὐτόν· τὸν δὲ αὐτῷ ὑποκρίνεσθαι ὡς ταῦτα πάλαι παρεσκευάζετο ποιέειν, καὶ αὐτῷ οὐ μέμψεσθαι Ἀπρίην· παρέσεσθαι γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ ἄλλους ἄξειν. τὸν δὲ Πατάρβημιν ἔκ τε τῶν λεγομένων οὐκ ἀγνοέειν τὴν διάνοιαν, καὶ παρασκευαζόμενον ὁρῶντα σπουδῇ ἀπιέναι, βουλόμενον τὴν ταχίστην βασιλέι δηλῶσαι τὰ πρησσόμενα. ὡς δὲ ἀπικέσθαι αὐτὸν πρὸς τὸν Ἀπρίην οὐκ ἄγοντα τὸν Ἄμασιν, οὐδένα λόγον αὐτῷ δόντα ἀλλὰ περιθύμως ἔχοντα περιταμεῖν προστάξαι αὐτοῦ τά τε ὦτα καὶ τὴν ῥῖνα. ἰδόμενοι δʼ οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων, οἳ ἔτι τὰ ἐκείνου ἐφρόνεον, ἄνδρα τὸν δοκιμώτατον ἑωυτῶν οὕτω αἰσχρῶς λύμῃ διακείμενον, οὐδένα δὴ χρόνον ἐπισχόντες ἀπιστέατο πρὸς τοὺς ἑτέρους καὶ ἐδίδοσαν σφέας αὐτοὺς Ἀμάσι. 2.163. πυθόμενος δὲ καὶ ταῦτα ὁ Ἀπρίης ὥπλιζε τοὺς ἐπικούρους καὶ ἤλαυνε ἐπὶ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους· εἶχε δὲ περὶ ἑωυτὸν Κᾶράς τε καὶ Ἴωνας ἄνδρας ἐπικούρους τρισμυρίους· ἦν δέ οἱ τὰ βασιλήια ἐν Σάι πόλι, μεγάλα ἐόντα καὶ ἀξιοθέητα. καὶ οἵ τε περὶ τὸν Ἀπρίην ἐπὶ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ἤισαν καὶ οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἄμασιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ξείνους· ἔν τε δὴ Μωμέμφι πόλι ἐγένοντο ἀμφότεροι καὶ πειρήσεσθαι ἔμελλον ἀλλήλων.
2.169. ἐπείτε δὲ συνιόντες ὅ τε Ἀπρίης ἄγων τοὺς ἐπικούρους καὶ ὁ Ἄμασις πάντας Αἰγυπτίους ἀπίκοντο ἐς Μώμεμφιν πόλιν, συνέβαλον· καὶ ἐμαχέσαντο μὲν εὖ οἱ ξεῖνοι, πλήθεϊ δὲ πολλῷ ἐλάσσονες ἐόντες κατὰ τοῦτο ἑσσώθησαν. Ἀπρίεω δὲ λέγεται εἶναι ἥδε διάνοια, μηδʼ ἂν θεόν μιν μηδένα δύνασθαι παῦσαι τῆς βασιληίης· οὕτω ἀσφαλέως ἑωυτῷ ἱδρῦσθαι ἐδόκεε. καὶ δὴ τότε συμβαλὼν ἑσσώθη καὶ ζωγρηθεὶς ἀπήχθη ἐς Σάιν πόλιν, ἐς τὰ ἑωυτοῦ οἰκία πρότερον ἐόντα, τότε δὲ Ἀμάσιος ἤδη βασιληία. ἐνθαῦτα δὲ τέως μὲν ἐτρέφετο ἐν τοῖσι βασιληίοισι, καί μιν Ἄμασις εὖ περιεῖπε· τέλος δὲ μεμφομένων Αἰγυπτίων ὡς οὐ ποιέοι δίκαια τρέφων τὸν σφίσι τε καὶ ἑωυτῷ ἔχθιστον, οὕτω δὴ παραδιδοῖ τὸν Ἀπρίην τοῖσι Αἰγυπτίοισι. οἳ δέ μιν ἀπέπνιξαν καὶ ἔπειτα ἔθαψαν ἐν τῇσι πατρωίῃσι ταφῇσι· αἳ δὲ εἰσὶ ἐν τῷ ἱρῷ τῆς Ἀθηναίης, ἀγχοτάτω τοῦ μεγάρου, ἐσιόντι ἀριστερῆς χειρός. ἔθαψαν δὲ Σαῗται πάντας τοὺς ἐκ νομοῦ τούτου γενομένους βασιλέας ἔσω ἐν τῷ ἱρῷ. καὶ γὰρ τὸ τοῦ Ἀμάσιος σῆμα ἑκαστέρω μὲν ἐστὶ τοῦ μεγάρου ἢ τὸ τοῦ Ἀπρίεω καὶ τῶν τούτου προπατόρων, ἔστι μέντοι καὶ τοῦτο ἐν τῇ αὐλῇ τοῦ ἱροῦ, παστὰς λιθίνη μεγάλη καὶ ἠσκημένη στύλοισί τε φοίνικας τὰ δένδρεα μεμιμημένοισι καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ δαπάνῃ· ἔσω δὲ ἐν τῇ παστάδι διξὰ θυρώματα ἕστηκε, ἐν δὲ τοῖσι θυρώμασι ἡ θήκη ἐστί.
3.1. ἐπὶ τοῦτον δὴ τὸν Ἄμασιν Καμβύσης ὁ Κύρου ἐστρατεύετο, ἄγων καί ἄλλους τῶν ἦρχε καὶ Ἑλλήνων Ἴωνάς τε καὶ Αἰολέας, διʼ αἰτίην τοιήνδε. πέμψας Καμβύσης ἐς Αἴγυπτον κήρυκα αἴτεε Ἄμασιν θυγατέρα, αἴτεε δὲ ἐκ βουλῆς ἀνδρὸς Αἰγυπτίου, ὃς μεμφόμενος Ἄμασιν ἔπρηξε ταῦτα ὅτι μιν ἐξ ἁπάντων τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἰητρῶν ἀποσπάσας ἀπὸ γυναικός τε καὶ τέκνων ἔκδοτον ἐποίησε ἐς Πέρσας, ὅτε Κῦρος πέμψας παρὰ Ἄμασιν αἴτεε ἰητρὸν ὀφθαλμῶν ὃς εἴη ἄριστος τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ. ταῦτα δὴ ἐπιμεμφόμενος ὁ Αἰγύπτιος ἐνῆγε τῇ συμβουλῇ κελεύων αἰτέειν τὸν Καμβύσεα Ἄμασιν θυγατέρα, ἵνα ἢ δοὺς ἀνιῷτο ἢ μὴ δοὺς Καμβύσῃ ἀπέχθοιτο. ὁ δὲ Ἄμασις τῇ δυνάμι τῶν Περσέων ἀχθόμενος καὶ ἀρρωδέων οὐκ εἶχε οὔτε δοῦναι οὔτε ἀρνήσασθαι· εὖ γὰρ ἠπίστατο ὅτι οὐκ ὡς γυναῖκά μιν ἔμελλε Καμβύσης ἕξειν ἀλλʼ ὡς παλλακήν. ταῦτα δὴ ἐκλογιζόμενος ἐποίησε τάδε. ἦν Ἀπρίεω τοῦ προτέρου βασιλέος θυγάτηρ κάρτα μεγάλη τε καὶ εὐειδὴς μούνη τοῦ οἴκου λελειμμένη, οὔνομα δέ οἱ ἦν Νίτητις· ταύτην δὴ τὴν παῖδα ὁ Ἄμασις κοσμήσας ἐσθῆτί τε καὶ χρυσῷ ἀποπέμπει ἐς Πέρσας ὡς ἑωυτοῦ θυγατέρα. μετὰ δὲ χρόνον ὥς μιν ἠσπάζετο πατρόθεν ὀνομάζων, λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν ἡ παῖς “ὦ βασιλεῦ, διαβεβλημένος ὑπὸ Ἀμάσιος οὐ μανθάνεις. ὃς ἐμὲ σοὶ κόσμῳ ἀσκήσας ἀπέπεμψε ὡς ἑωυτοῦ θυγατέρα διδούς, ἐοῦσαν τῇ ἀληθείῃ Ἀπρίεω, τὸν ἐκεῖνος ἐόντα ἑωυτοῦ δεσπότεα μετʼ Αἰγυπτίων ἐπαναστὰς ἐφόνευσε.” τοῦτο δὴ τὸ ἔπος καὶ αὕτη ἡ αἰτίη ἐγγενομένη ἤγαγε Καμβύσεα τὸν Κύρου μεγάλως θυμωθέντα ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον.
3.3. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ὧδε ἔχει. λέγεται δὲ καὶ ὅδε λόγος, ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐ πιθανός, ὡς τῶν Περσίδων γυναικῶν ἐσελθοῦσά τις παρὰ τὰς Κύρου γυναῖκας, ὡς εἶδε τῇ Κασσανδάνῃ παρεστεῶτα τέκνα εὐειδέα τε καὶ μεγάλα, πολλῷ ἐχρᾶτο τῷ ἐπαίνῳ ὑπερθωμάζουσα, ἡ δὲ Κασσανδάνη ἐοῦσα τοῦ Κύρου γυνὴ εἶπε τάδε· “τοιῶνδε μέντοι ἐμὲ παίδων μητέρα ἐοῦσαν Κῦρος ἐν ἀτιμίῃ ἔχει, τὴν δὲ ἀπʼ Αἰγύπτου ἐπίκτητον ἐν τιμῇ τίθεται.” τὴν μὲν ἀχθομένην τῇ Νιτήτι εἰπεῖν ταῦτα, τῶν δέ οἱ παίδων τὸν πρεσβύτερον εἰπεῖν Καμβύσεα· “τοιγάρ τοι ὦ μῆτερ, ἐπεὰν ἐγὼ γένωμαι ἀνήρ, Αἰγύπτου τὰ μὲν ἄνω κάτω θήσω, τὰ δὲ κάτω ἄνω.” ταῦτα εἰπεῖν αὐτὸν ἔτεα ὡς δέκα κου γεγονότα, καὶ τὰς γυναῖκας ἐν θώματι γενέσθαι· τὸν δὲ διαμνημονεύοντα οὕτω δή, ἐπείτε ἀνδρώθη καὶ ἔσχε τὴν βασιληίην, ποιήσασθαι τὴν ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον στρατηίην. 3.4. συνήνεικε δὲ καὶ ἄλλο τι τοιόνδε πρῆγμα γενέσθαι ἐς τὴν ἐπιστράτευσιν ταύτην. ἦν τῶν ἐπικούρων Ἀμάσιος ἀνὴρ γένος μὲν Ἁλικαρνησσεύς, οὔνομα δέ οἱ Φάνης, καὶ γνώμην ἱκανὸς καὶ τὰ πολεμικὰ ἄλκιμος. οὗτος ὁ Φάνης μεμφόμενός κού τι Ἀμάσι ἐκδιδρήσκει πλοίῳ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, βουλόμενος Καμβύσῃ ἐλθεῖν ἐς λόγους. οἷα δὲ ἐόντα αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖσι ἐπικούροισι λόγου οὐ σμικροῦ ἐπιστάμενόν τε τὰ περὶ Αἴγυπτον ἀτρεκέστατα, μεταδιώκει ὁ Ἄμασις σπουδὴν ποιεύμενος ἑλεῖν, μεταδιώκει δὲ τῶν εὐνούχων τὸν πιστότατον ἀποστείλας τριήρεϊ κατʼ αὐτόν, ὃς αἱρέει μιν ἐν Λυκίῃ, ἑλὼν δὲ οὐκ ἀνήγαγε ἐς Αἴγυπτον· σοφίῃ γάρ μιν περιῆλθε ὁ Φάνης· καταμεθύσας γὰρ τοὺς φυλάκους ἀπαλλάσσετο ἐς Πέρσας. ὁρμημένῳ δὲ στρατεύεσθαι Καμβύσῃ ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον καὶ ἀπορέοντι τὴν ἔλασιν, ὅκως τὴν ἄνυδρον διεκπερᾷ, ἐπελθὼν φράζει μὲν καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τὰ Ἀμάσιος πρήγματα, ἐξηγέεται δὲ καὶ τὴν ἔλασιν, ὧδε παραινέων, πέμψαντα παρὰ τὸν Ἀραβίων βασιλέα δέεσθαι τὴν διέξοδόν οἱ ἀσφαλέα παρασχεῖν.
3.8. σέβονται δὲ Ἀράβιοι πίστις ἀνθρώπων ὅμοια τοῖσι μάλιστα, ποιεῦνται δὲ αὐτὰς τρόπῳ τοιῷδε· τῶν βουλομένων τὰ πιστὰ ποιέεσθαι ἄλλος ἀνήρ, ἀμφοτέρων αὐτῶν ἐν μέσῳ ἑστεώς, λίθῳ ὀξέι τὸ ἔσω τῶν χειρῶν παρὰ τοὺς δακτύλους τοὺς μεγάλους ἐπιτάμνει τῶν ποιευμένων τὰς πίστις, καὶ ἔπειτα λαβὼν ἐκ τοῦ ἱματίου ἑκατέρου κροκύδα ἀλείφει τῷ αἵματι ἐν μέσῳ κειμένους λίθους ἑπτά· τοῦτο δὲ ποιέων ἐπικαλέει τε τὸν Διόνυσον καὶ τὴν Οὐρανίην. ἐπιτελέσαντος δὲ τούτου ταῦτα, ὁ τὰς πίστις ποιησάμενος τοῖσι φίλοισι παρεγγυᾷ τὸν ξεῖνον ἢ καὶ τὸν ἀστόν, ἢν πρὸς ἀστὸν ποιέηται· οἱ δὲ φίλοι καὶ αὐτοὶ τὰς πίστις δικαιεῦσι σέβεσθαι. Διόνυσον δὲ θεῶν μοῦνον καὶ τὴν Οὐρανίην ἡγέονται εἶναι, καὶ τῶν τριχῶν τὴν κουρὴν κείρεσθαι φασὶ κατά περ αὐτὸν τὸν Διόνυσον κεκάρθαι· κείρονται δὲ περιτρόχαλα, ὑποξυρῶντες τοὺς κροτάφους. ὀνομάζουσι δὲ τὸν μὲν Διόνυσον Ὀροτάλτ, τὴν δὲ Οὐρανίην Ἀλιλάτ. 3.9. ἐπεὶ ὦν τὴν πίστιν τοῖσι ἀγγέλοισι τοῖσι παρὰ Καμβύσεω ἀπιγμένοισι ἐποιήσατο ὁ Ἀράβιος, ἐμηχανᾶτο τοιάδε· ἀσκοὺς καμήλων πλήσας, ὕδατος ἐπέσαξε ἐπὶ τὰς ζωὰς τῶν καμήλων πάσας, τοῦτο δὲ ποιήσας ἤλασε ἐς τὴν ἄνυδρον καὶ ὑπέμενε ἐνθαῦτα τὸν Καμβύσεω στρατόν. οὗτος μὲν ὁ πιθανώτερος τῶν λόγων εἴρηται, δεῖ δὲ καὶ τὸν ἧσσον πιθανόν, ἐπεί γε δὴ λέγεται, ῥηθῆναι. ποταμός ἐστι μέγας ἐν τῇ Ἀραβίῃ τῷ οὔνομα Κόρυς, ἐκδιδοῖ δὲ οὗτος ἐς τὴν Ἐρυθρὴν καλεομένην θάλασσαν· ἀπὸ τούτου δὴ ὦν τοῦ ποταμοῦ λέγεται τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ἀραβίων, ῥαψάμενον τῶν ὠμοβοέων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων δερμάτων ὀχετὸν μήκεϊ ἐξικνεύμενον ἐς τὴν ἄνυδρον, ἀγαγεῖν διὰ δὴ τούτων τὸ ὕδωρ, ἐν δὲ τῇ, ἀνύδρῳ μεγάλας δεξαμενὰς ὀρύξασθαι, ἵνα δεκόμεναι τὸ ὕδωρ σώζωσι. ὁδὸς δʼ ἐστὶ δυώδεκα ἡμερέων ἀπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἐς ταύτην τὴν ἄνυδρον. ἄγειν δέ μιν διʼ ὀχετῶν τριῶν ἐς τριξὰ χωρία.
3.14. ἡμέρῃ δὲ δεκάτῃ ἀπʼ ἧς παρέλαβε τὸ τεῖχος τὸ ἐν Μέμφι Καμβύσης, κατίσας ἐς τὸ προάστειον ἐπὶ λύμῃ τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Αἰγυπτίων Ψαμμήνιτον, βασιλεύσαντα μῆνας ἕξ, τοῦτον κατίσας σὺν ἄλλοισι Αἰγυπτίοισι διεπειρᾶτο αὐτοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς ποιέων τοιάδε· στείλας αὐτοῦ τὴν θυγατέρα ἐσθῆτι δουληίῃ ἐξέπεμπε ἐπʼ ὕδωρ ἔχουσαν ὑδρήιον, συνέπεμπε δὲ καὶ ἄλλας παρθένους ἀπολέξας ἀνδρῶν τῶν πρώτων, ὁμοίως ἐσταλμένας τῇ τοῦ βασιλέος. ὡς δὲ βοῇ τε καὶ κλαυθμῷ παρήισαν αἱ παρθένοι παρὰ τοὺς πατέρας, οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι πάντες ἀντεβόων τε καὶ ἀντέκλαιον ὁρῶντες τὰ τέκνα κεκακωμένα, ὁ δὲ Ψαμμήνιτος προϊδὼν καὶ μαθὼν ἔκυψε ἐς τὴν γῆν. παρελθουσέων δὲ τῶν ὑδροφόρων, δεύτερά οἱ τὸν παῖδα ἔπεμπε μετʼ ἄλλων Αἰγυπτίων δισχιλίων τὴν αὐτὴν ἡλικίην ἐχόντων, τούς τε αὐχένας κάλῳ δεδεμένους καὶ τὰ στόματα ἐγκεχαλινωμένους· ἤγοντο δὲ ποινὴν τίσοντες Μυτιληναίων τοῖσι ἐν Μέμφι ἀπολομένοισι σὺν τῇ νηί. ταῦτα γὰρ ἐδίκασαν οἱ βασιλήιοι δικασταί, ὑπὲρ ἀνδρὸς ἑκάστου δέκα Αἰγυπτίων τῶν πρώτων ἀνταπόλλυσθαι. ὁ δὲ ἰδὼν παρεξιόντας καὶ μαθὼν τὸν παῖδα ἡγεόμενον ἐπὶ θάνατον, τῶν ἄλλων Αἰγυπτίων τῶν περικατημένων αὐτὸν κλαιόντων καὶ δεινὰ ποιεύντων, τὠυτὸ ἐποίησε τὸ καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ θυγατρί. παρελθόντων δὲ καὶ τούτων, συνήνεικε ὥστε τῶν συμποτέων οἱ ἄνδρα ἀπηλικέστερον, ἐκπεπτωκότα ἐκ τῶν ἐόντων ἔχοντά τε οὐδὲν εἰ μὴ ὅσα πτωχὸς καὶ προσαιτέοντα τὴν στρατιήν, παριέναι Ψαμμήνιτόν τε τὸν Ἀμάσιος καὶ τοὺς ἐν τῷ προαστείῳ κατημένους Αἰγυπτίων. ὁ δὲ Ψαμμήνιτος ὡς εἶδε, ἀνακλαύσας μέγα καὶ καλέσας ὀνομαστὶ τὸν ἑταῖρον ἐπλήξατο τὴν κεφαλήν. ἦσαν δʼ ἄρα αὐτοῦ φύλακοι, οἳ τὸ ποιεύμενον πᾶν ἐξ ἐκείνου ἐπʼ ἑκάστῃ ἐξόδῳ Καμβύσῃ ἐσήμαινον. θωμάσας δὲ ὁ Καμβύσης τὰ ποιεύμενα, πέμψας ἄγγελον εἰρώτα αὐτὸν λέγων τάδε. “δεσπότης σε Καμβύσης, Ψαμμήνιτε, εἰρωτᾷ διʼ ὅ τι δὴ τὴν μὲν θυγατέρα ὁρέων κεκακωμένην καὶ τὸν παῖδα ἐπὶ θάνατον στείχοντα οὔτε ἀνέβωσας οὔτε ἀπέκλαυσας, τὸν δὲ πτωχὸν οὐδὲν σοὶ προσήκοντα, ὡς ἄλλων πυνθάνεται, ἐτίμησας.” ὃ μὲν δὴ ταῦτα ἐπειρώτα, ὃ δʼ ἀμείβετο τοῖσιδε. “ὦ παῖ Κύρου, τὰ μὲν οἰκήια ἦν μέζω κακὰ ἢ ὥστε ἀνακλαίειν, τὸ δὲ τοῦ ἑταίρου πένθος ἄξιον ἦν δακρύων, ὃς ἐκ πολλῶν τε καὶ εὐδαιμόνων ἐκπεσὼν ἐς πτωχηίην ἀπῖκται ἐπὶ γήραος οὐδῷ.” καὶ ταῦτα ὡς 1 ἀπενειχθέντα ὑπὸ τούτου εὖ δοκέειν σφι εἰρῆσθαι, ὡς δὲ λέγεται ὑπʼ Αἰγυπτίων, δακρύειν μὲν Κροῖσον ʽἐτετεύχεε γὰρ καὶ οὗτος ἐπισπόμενος Καμβύσῃ ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτουσ̓, δακρύειν δὲ Περσέων τοὺς παρεόντας· αὐτῷ τε Καμβύσῃ ἐσελθεῖν οἶκτον τινά, καὶ αὐτίκα κελεύειν τόν τέ οἱ παῖδα ἐκ τῶν ἀπολλυμένων σώζειν καὶ αὐτὸν ἐκ τοῦ προαστείου ἀναστήσαντας ἄγειν παρʼ ἑωυτόν.
3.16. Καμβύσης δὲ ἐκ Μέμφιος ἀπίκετο ἐς Σάιν πόλιν, βουλόμενος ποιῆσαι τὰ δὴ καὶ ἐποίησε. ἐπείτε γὰρ ἐσῆλθε ἐς τὰ τοῦ Ἀμάσιος οἰκία, αὐτίκα ἐκέλευε ἐκ τῆς ταφῆς τὸν Ἀμάσιος νέκυν ἐκφέρειν ἔξω· ὡς δὲ ταῦτα ἐπιτελέα ἐγένετο, μαστιγοῦν ἐκέλευε καὶ τὰς τρίχας ἀποτίλλειν καὶ κεντοῦν τε καὶ τἆλλα πάντα λυμαίνεσθαι. ἐπείτε δὲ καὶ ταῦτα ἔκαμον ποιεῦντες ʽὁ γὰρ δὴ νεκρὸς ἅτε τεταριχευμένος ἀντεῖχέ τε καὶ οὐδὲν διεχέετὀ, ἐκέλευσέ μιν ὁ Καμβύσης κατακαῦσαι, ἐντελλόμενος οὐκ ὅσια· Πέρσαι γὰρ θεὸν νομίζουσι εἶναι πῦρ. τὸ ὦν κατακαίειν γε τοὺς νεκροὺς οὐδαμῶς ἐν νόμῳ οὐδετέροισι ἐστί, Πέρσῃσι μὲν διʼ ὅ περ εἴρηται, θεῷ οὐ δίκαιον εἶναι λέγοντες νέμειν νεκρὸν ἀνθρώπου· Αἰγυπτίοισι δὲ νενόμισται πῦρ θηρίον εἶναι ἔμψυχον, πάντα δὲ αὐτὸ κατεσθίειν τά περ ἂν λάβῃ, πλησθὲν δὲ αὐτὸ τῆς βορῆς συναποθνήσκειν τῷ κατεσθιομένῳ. οὔκων θηρίοισι νόμος οὐδαμῶς σφι ἐστὶ τὸν νέκυν διδόναι, καὶ διὰ ταῦτα ταριχεύουσι, ἵνα μὴ κείμενος ὑπὸ εὐλέων καταβρωθῇ. οὕτω οὐδετέροισι νομιζόμενα ἐνετέλλετο ποιέειν ὁ Καμβύσης. ὡς μέντοι, Αἰγύπτιοι λέγουσι, οὐκ Ἄμασις ἦν ὁ ταῦτα παθών, ἀλλὰ ἄλλος τις τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἔχων τὴν αὐτὴν ἡλικίην Ἀμάσι, τῷ λυμαινόμενοι Πέρσαι ἐδόκεον Ἀμάσι λυμαίνεσθαι. λέγουσι γὰρ ὡς πυθόμενος ἐκ μαντηίου ὁ Ἄμασις τὰ περὶ ἑωυτὸν ἀποθανόντα μέλλοντα γίνεσθαι, οὕτω δὴ ἀκεόμενος τὰ ἐπιφερόμενα τὸν μὲν ἄνθρωπον τοῦτον τὸν μαστιγωθέντα ἀποθανόντα ἔθαψε ἐπὶ τῇσι θύρῃσι ἐντὸς τῆς ἑωυτοῦ θήκης, ἑωυτὸν δὲ ἐνετείλατο τῷ παιδὶ ἐν μυχῷ τῆς θήκης ὡς μάλιστα θεῖναι. αἱ μέν νυν ἐκ τοῦ Ἀμάσιος ἐντολαὶ αὗται αἱ ἐς τὴν ταφήν τε καὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἔχουσαι οὔ μοι δοκέουσι ἀρχὴν γενέσθαι, ἄλλως δʼ αὐτὰ Αἰγύπτιοι σεμνοῦν.
3.17. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ὁ Καμβύσης ἐβουλεύσατο τριφασίας στρατηίας, ἐπί τε Καρχηδονίους καὶ ἐπὶ Ἀμμωνίους καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς μακροβίους Αἰθίοπας, οἰκημένους δὲ Λιβύης ἐπὶ τῇ νοτίῃ θαλάσσῃ· βουλευομένῳ δέ οἱ ἔδοξε ἐπὶ μὲν Καρχηδονίους τὸν ναυτικὸν στρατὸν ἀποστέλλειν, ἐπὶ δὲ Ἀμμωνίους τοῦ πεζοῦ ἀποκρίναντα, ἐπὶ δὲ τοὺς Αἰθίοπας κατόπτας πρῶτον, ὀψομένους τε τὴν ἐν τούτοισι τοῖσι Αἰθίοψι λεγομένην εἶναι ἡλίου τράπεζαν εἰ ἔστι ἀληθέως, καὶ πρὸς ταύτῃ τὰ ἄλλα κατοψομένους, δῶρα δὲ τῷ λόγῳ φέροντας τῷ βασιλέι αὐτῶν.
3.18. ἡ δὲ τράπεζα τοῦ ἡλίου τοιήδε τις λέγεται εἶναι, λειμὼν ἐστὶ ἐν τῷ προαστείῳ ἐπίπλεος κρεῶν ἑφθῶν πάντων τῶν τετραπόδων, ἐς τὸν τὰς μὲν νύκτας ἐπιτηδεύοντας τιθέναι τὰ κρέα τοὺς ἐν τέλεϊ ἑκάστοτε ἐόντας τῶν ἀστῶν, τὰς δὲ ἡμέρας δαίνυσθαι προσιόντα τὸν βουλόμενον. φάναι δὲ τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους ταῦτα τὴν γῆν αὐτὴν ἀναδιδόναι ἑκάστοτε.
3.19. ἡ μὲν δὴ τράπεζα τοῦ ἡλίου καλεομένη λέγεται εἶναι τοιήδε. Καμβύσῃ δὲ ὡς ἔδοξε πέμπειν τοὺς κατασκόπους, αὐτίκα μετεπέμπετο ἐξ Ἐλεφαντίνης πόλιος τῶν Ἰχθυοφάγων ἀνδρῶν τοὺς ἐπισταμένους τὴν Αἰθιοπίδα γλῶσσαν. ἐν ᾧ δὲ τούτους μετήισαν, ἐν τούτῳ ἐκέλευε ἐπὶ τὴν Καρχηδόνα πλέειν τὸν ναυτικὸν στρατόν. Φοίνικες δὲ οὐκ ἔφασαν ποιήσειν ταῦτα· ὁρκίοισι γὰρ μεγάλοισι ἐνδεδέσθαι, καὶ οὐκ ἂν ποιέειν ὅσια ἐπὶ τοὺς παῖδας τοὺς ἑωυτῶν στρατευόμενοι. Φοινίκων δὲ οὐ βουλομένων οἱ λοιποὶ οὐκ ἀξιόμαχοι ἐγίνοντο. Καρχηδόνιοι μέν νυν οὕτω δουλοσύνην διέφυγον πρὸς Περσέων· Καμβύσης γὰρ βίην οὐκ ἐδικαίου προσφέρειν Φοίνιξι, ὅτι σφέας τε αὐτοὺς ἐδεδώκεσαν Πέρσῃσι καὶ πᾶς ἐκ Φοινίκων ἤρτητο ὁ ναυτικὸς στρατός. δόντες δὲ καὶ Κύπριοι σφέας αὐτοὺς Πέρσῃσι ἐστρατεύοντο ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον. 3.20. ἐπείτε δὲ τῷ Καμβύσῃ ἐκ τῆς Ἐλεφαντίνης ἀπίκοντο οἱ Ἰχθυοφάγοι, ἔπεμπε αὐτοὺς ἐς τοὺς Αἰθίοπας ἐντειλάμενος τὰ λέγειν χρῆν καὶ δῶρα φέροντας πορφύρεόν τε εἷμα καὶ χρύσεον στρεπτὸν περιαυχένιον καὶ ψέλια καὶ μύρου ἀλάβαστρον καὶ φοινικηίου οἴνου κάδον. οἱ δὲ Αἰθίοπες οὗτοι, ἐς τοὺς ἀπέπεμπε ὁ Καμβύσης, λέγονται εἶναι μέγιστοι καὶ κάλλιστοι ἀνθρώπων πάντων. νόμοισι δὲ καὶ ἄλλοισι χρᾶσθαι αὐτοὺς κεχωρισμένοισι τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων καὶ δὴ καὶ κατὰ τὴν βασιληίην τοιῷδε· τὸν ἂν τῶν ἀστῶν κρίνωσι μέγιστόν τε εἶναι καὶ κατὰ τὸ μέγαθος ἔχειν τὴν ἰσχύν, τοῦτον ἀξιοῦσι βασιλεύειν. 3.21. ἐς τούτους δὴ ὦν τοὺς ἄνδρας ὡς ἀπίκοντο οἱ Ἰχθυοφάγοι, διδόντες τὰ δῶρα τῷ, βασιλέι αὐτῶν ἔλεγον τάδε. “βασιλεὺς ὁ Περσέων Καμβύσης, βουλόμενος φίλος καὶ ξεῖνός τοι γενέσθαι, ἡμέας τε ἀπέπεμψε ἐς λόγους τοι ἐλθεῖν κελεύων, καὶ δῶρα ταῦτά τοι διδοῖ τοῖσι καὶ αὐτὸς μάλιστα ἥδεται χρεώμενος.” ὁ δὲ Αἰθίοψ μαθὼν ὅτι κατόπται ἥκοιεν, λέγει πρὸς αὐτοὺς τοιάδε. “οὔτε ὁ Περσέων βασιλεὺς δῶρα ὑμέας ἔπεμψε φέροντας προτιμῶν πολλοῦ ἐμοὶ ξεῖνος γενέσθαι, οὔτε ὑμεῖς λέγετε ἀληθέα ʽἥκετε γὰρ κατόπται τῆς ἐμῆς ἀρχῆσ̓, οὔτε ἐκεῖνος ἀνήρ δίκαιος. εἰ γὰρ ἦν δίκαιος, οὔτʼ ἂν ἐπεθύμησε χώρης ἄλλης ἢ τῆς ἑωυτοῦ, οὔτʼ ἂν ἐς δουλοσύνην ἀνθρώπους ἦγε ὑπʼ ὧν μηδὲν ἠδίκηται. νῦν δὲ αὐτῷ τόξον τόδε διδόντες τάδε ἔπεα λέγετε.” “βασιλεὺς ὁ Αἰθιόπων συμβουλεύει τῷ Περσέων βασιλέι, ἐπεὰν οὕτω εὐπετέως ἕλκωσι τὰ τόξα Πέρσαι ἐόντα μεγάθεϊ τοσαῦτα, τότε ἐπʼ Αἰθίοπας τοὺς μακροβίους πλήθεϊ ὑπερβαλλόμενον στρατεύεσθαι· μέχρι δὲ τούτου θεοῖσι εἰδέναι χάριν, οἳ οὐκ ἐπὶ νόον τρέπουσι Αἰθιόπων παισὶ γῆν ἄλλην προσκτᾶσθαι τῇ ἑωυτῶν.” 3.22. ταῦτα δὲ εἴπας καὶ ἀνεὶς τὸ τόξον παρέδωκε τοῖσι ἥκουσι. λαβὼν δὲ τὸ εἷμα τὸ πορφύρεον εἰρώτα ὅ τι εἴη καὶ ὅκως πεποιημένον· εἰπόντων δὲ τῶν Ἰχθυοφάγων τὴν ἀληθείην περὶ τῆς πορφύρης καὶ τῆς βαφῆς, δολεροὺς μὲν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἔφη εἶναι, δολερὰ δὲ αὐτῶν τὰ εἵματα. δεύτερα δὲ τὸν χρυσὸν εἰρώτα τὸν στρεπτὸν τὸν περιαυχένιον καὶ τὰ ψέλια· ἐξηγεομένων δὲ τῶν Ἰχθυοφάγων τὸν κόσμον αὐτοῦ, γελάσας ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ νομίσας εἶναι σφέα πέδας εἶπε ὡς παρʼ ἑωυτοῖσι εἰσὶ ῥωμαλεώτεραι τουτέων πέδαι. τρίτον δὲ εἰρώτα τὸ μύρον· εἰπόντων δὲ τῆς ποιήσιος πέρι καὶ ἀλείψιος, τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον τὸν καὶ περὶ τοῦ εἵματος εἶπε. ὡς δὲ ἐς τὸν οἶνον ἀπίκετο καὶ ἐπύθετο αὐτοῦ τὴν ποίησιν, ὑπερησθεὶς τῷ πόματι ἐπείρετο ὅ τι τε σιτέεται ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ χρόνον ὁκόσον μακρότατον ἀνὴρ Πέρσης ζώει. οἳ δὲ σιτέεσθαι μὲν τὸν ἄρτον εἶπον, ἐξηγησάμενοι τῶν πυρῶν τὴν φύσιν, ὀγδώκοντα δὲ ἔτεα ζόης πλήρωμα ἀνδρὶ μακρότατον προκεῖσθαι. πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ Αἰθίοψ ἔφη οὐδὲν θωμάζειν εἰ σιτεόμενοι κόπρον ἔτεα ὀλίγα ζώουσι· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν τοσαῦτα δύνασθαι ζώειν σφέας, εἰ μὴ τῷ πόματι ἀνέφερον, φράζων τοῖσι Ἰχθυοφάγοισι τὸν οἶνον· τούτῳ γὰρ ἑωυτοὺς ὑπὸ Περσέων ἑσσοῦσθαι. 3.23. ἀντειρομένων δὲ τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ἰχθυοφάγων τῆς ζόης καὶ διαίτης πέρι, ἔτεα μὲν ἐς εἴκοσι καὶ ἑκατὸν τοὺς πολλοὺς αὐτῶν ἀπικνέεσθαι, ὑπερβάλλειν δὲ τινὰς καὶ ταῦτα, σίτησιν δὲ εἶναι κρέα τε ἑφθὰ καὶ πόμα γάλα. θῶμα δὲ ποιευμένων τῶν κατασκόπων περὶ τῶν ἐτέων, ἐπὶ κρήνην σφι ἡγήσασθαι, ἀπʼ ἧς λουόμενοι λιπαρώτεροι ἐγίνοντο, κατά περ εἰ ἐλαίου εἴη· ὄζειν δὲ ἀπʼ αὐτῆς ὡς εἰ ἴων. ἀσθενὲς δὲ τὸ ὕδωρ τῆς κρήνης ταύτης οὕτω δή τι ἔλεγον εἶναι οἱ κατάσκοποι ὥστε μηδὲν οἷόν τʼ εἶναι ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ ἐπιπλέειν, μήτε ξύλον μήτε τῶν ὅσα ξύλου ἐστὶ ἐλαφρότερα, ἀλλὰ πάντα σφέα χωρέειν ἐς βυσσόν. τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ τοῦτο εἴ σφι ἐστὶ ἀληθέως οἷόν τι λέγεται, διὰ τοῦτο ἂν εἶεν, τούτῳ τὰ πάντα χρεώμενοι, μακρόβιοι. ἀπὸ τῆς κρήνης δὲ ἀπαλλασσομένων, ἀγαγεῖν σφεας ἐς δεσμωτήριον ἀνδρῶν, ἔνθα τοὺς πάντας ἐν πέδῃσι χρυσέῃσι δεδέσθαι. ἔστι δὲ ἐν τούτοισι τοῖσι Αἰθίοψι πάντων ὁ χαλκὸς σπανιώτατον καὶ τιμιώτατον. θεησάμενοι δὲ καὶ τὸ δεσμωτήριον, ἐθεήσαντο καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἡλίου λεγομένην τράπεζαν. 3.24. μετὰ δὲ ταύτην τελευταίας ἐθεήσαντο τὰς θήκας αὐτῶν, αἳ λέγονται σκευάζεσθαι ἐξ ὑέλου τρόπῳ τοιῷδε· ἐπεὰν τὸν νεκρὸν ἰσχνήνωσι, εἴτε δὴ κατά περ Αἰγύπτιοι εἴτε ἄλλως κως, γυψώσαντες ἅπαντα αὐτὸν γραφῇ κοσμέουσι, ἐξομοιεῦντες τὸ εἶδος ἐς τὸ δυνατόν, ἔπειτα δέ οἱ περιιστᾶσι στήλην ἐξ ὑέλου πεποιημένην κοίλην· ἣ δέ σφι πολλὴ καὶ εὐεργὸς ὀρύσσεται. ἐν μέσῃ δὲ τῇ στήλῃ ἐνεὼν διαφαίνεται ὁ νέκυς, οὔτε ὀδμὴν οὐδεμίαν ἄχαριν παρεχόμενος οὔτε ἄλλο ἀεικὲς οὐδέν, καὶ ἔχει πάντα φανερὰ ὁμοίως αὐτῷ τῷ νέκυϊ. ἐνιαυτὸν μὲν δὴ ἔχουσι τὴν στήλην ἐν τοῖσι οἰκίοισι οἱ μάλιστα προσήκοντες, πάντων ἀπαρχόμενοι καὶ θυσίας οἱ προσάγοντες· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐκκομίσαντες ἱστᾶσι περὶ τὴν πόλιν. 3.25. θεησάμενοι δὲ τὰ πάντα οἱ κατάσκοποι ἀπαλλάσσοντο ὀπίσω. ἀπαγγειλάντων δὲ ταῦτα τούτων, αὐτίκα ὁ Καμβύσης ὀργὴν ποιησάμενος ἐστρατεύετο ἐπὶ τοὺς Αἰθίοπας, οὔτε παρασκευὴν σίτου οὐδεμίαν παραγγείλας, οὔτε λόγον ἑωυτῷ δοὺς ὅτι ἐς τὰ ἔσχατα γῆς ἔμελλε στρατεύεσθαι· οἷα δὲ ἐμμανής τε ἐὼν καὶ οὐ φρενήρης, ὡς ἤκουε τῶν Ἰχθυοφάγων, ἐστρατεύετο, Ἑλλήνων μὲν τοὺς παρεόντας αὐτοῦ τάξας ὑπομένειν, τὸν δὲ πεζὸν πάντα ἅμα ἀγόμενος. ἐπείτε δὲ στρατευόμενος ἐγένετο ἐν Θήβῃσι, ἀπέκρινε τοῦ στρατοῦ ὡς πέντε μυριάδας, καὶ τούτοισι μὲν ἐνετέλλετο Ἀμμωνίους ἐξανδραποδισαμένους τὸ χρηστήριον τὸ τοῦ Διὸς ἐμπρῆσαι, αὐτὸς δὲ τὸν λοιπὸν ἄγων στρατὸν ἤιε ἐπὶ τοὺς Αἰθίοπας. πρὶν δὲ τῆς ὁδοῦ τὸ πέμπτον μέρος διεληλυθέναι τὴν στρατιήν, αὐτίκα πάντα αὐτοὺς τὰ εἶχον σιτίων ἐχόμενα ἐπελελοίπεε, μετὰ δὲ τὰ σιτία καὶ τὰ ὑποζύγια ἐπέλιπε κατεσθιόμενα. εἰ μέν νυν μαθὼν ταῦτα ὁ Καμβύσης ἐγνωσιμάχεε καὶ ἀπῆγε ὀπίσω τὸν στρατόν, ἐπὶ τῇ ἀρχῆθεν γενομένῃ ἁμαρτάδι ἦν ἂν ἀνὴρ σοφός· νῦν δὲ οὐδένα λόγον ποιεύμενος ἤιε αἰεὶ ἐς τὸ πρόσω. οἱ δὲ στρατιῶται ἕως μέν τι εἶχον ἐκ τῆς γῆς λαμβάνειν, ποιηφαγέοντες διέζωον, ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐς τὴν ψάμμον ἀπίκοντο, δεινὸν ἔργον αὐτῶν τινες ἐργάσαντο· ἐκ δεκάδος γὰρ ἕνα σφέων αὐτῶν ἀποκληρώσαντες κατέφαγον. πυθόμενος δὲ ταῦτα ὁ Καμβύσης, δείσας τὴν ἀλληλοφαγίην, ἀπεὶς τὸν ἐπʼ Αἰθίοπας στόλον ὀπίσω ἐπορεύετο καὶ ἀπικνέεται ἐς Θήβας πολλοὺς ἀπολέσας τοῦ στρατοῦ· ἐκ Θηβέων δὲ καταβὰς ἐς Μέμφιν τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἀπῆκε ἀποπλέειν.
3.27. ἀπιγμένου δὲ Καμβύσεω ἐς Μέμφιν ἐφάνη Αἰγυπτίοισι ὁ Ἆπις, τὸν Ἕλληνες Ἔπαφον καλέουσι· ἐπιφανέος δὲ τούτου γενομένου αὐτίκα οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι εἵματα ἐφόρεον τὰ κάλλιστα καὶ ἦσαν ἐν θαλίῃσι. ἰδὼν δὲ ταῦτα τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ποιεῦντας ὁ Καμβύσης, πάγχυ σφέας καταδόξας ἑωυτοῦ κακῶς πρήξαντος χαρμόσυνα ταῦτα ποιέειν, ἐκάλεε τοὺς ἐπιτρόπους τῆς Μέμφιος, ἀπικομένους δὲ ἐς ὄψιν εἴρετο ὅ τι πρότερον μὲν ἐόντος αὐτοῦ ἐν Μέμφι ἐποίευν τοιοῦτον οὐδὲν Αἰγύπτιοι, τότε δὲ ἐπεὶ αὐτὸς παρείη τῆς στρατιῆς πλῆθός τι ἀποβαλών. οἳ δὲ ἔφραζον ὥς σφι θεὸς εἴη φανεὶς διὰ χρόνου πολλοῦ ἐωθὼς ἐπιφαίνεσθαι, καὶ ὡς ἐπεὰν φανῇ τότε πάντες Αἰγύπτιοι κεχαρηκότες ὁρτάζοιεν. ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ Καμβύσης ἔφη ψεύδεσθαι σφέας καὶ ὡς ψευδομένους θανάτῳ ἐζημίου. 3.28. ἀποκτείνας δὲ τούτους δεύτερα τοὺς ἱρέας ἐκάλεε ἐς ὄψιν· λεγόντων δὲ κατὰ ταὐτὰ τῶν ἱρέων, οὐ λήσειν ἔφη αὐτὸν εἰ θεός τις χειροήθης ἀπιγμένος εἴη Αἰγυπτίοισι. τοσαῦτα δὲ εἴπας ἀπάγειν ἐκέλευε τὸν Ἆπιν τοὺς ἱρέας. οἳ μὲν δὴ μετήισαν ἄξοντες. ὁ δὲ Ἆπις οὗτος ὁ Ἔπαφος γίνεται μόσχος ἐκ βοός, ἥτις οὐκέτι οἵη τε γίνεται ἐς γαστέρα ἄλλον βάλλεσθαι γόνον. Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ λέγουσι σέλας ἐπὶ τὴν βοῦν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κατίσχειν, καί μιν ἐκ τούτου τίκτειν τὸν Ἆπιν. ἔχει δὲ ὁ μόσχος οὗτος ὁ Ἆπις καλεόμενος σημήια τοιάδε ἐὼν μέλας, ἐπὶ μὲν τῷ μετώπῳ λευκόν τι τρίγωνον, ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ νώτου αἰετὸν εἰκασμένον, ἐν δὲ τῇ οὐρῇ τὰς τρίχας διπλᾶς, ὑπὸ δὲ τῇ γλώσσῃ κάνθαρον. 3.29. ὡς δὲ ἤγαγον τὸν Ἆπιν οἱ ἱρέες, ὁ Καμβύσης, οἷα ἐὼν ὑπομαργότερος, σπασάμενος τὸ ἐγχειρίδιον, θέλων τύψαι τὴν γαστέρα τοῦ Ἄπιος παίει τὸν μηρόν· γελάσας δὲ εἶπε πρὸς τοὺς ἱρέας “ὦ κακαὶ κεφαλαί, τοιοῦτοι θεοὶ γίνονται, ἔναιμοί τε καὶ σαρκώδεες καὶ ἐπαΐοντες σιδηρίων; ἄξιος μέν γε Αἰγυπτίων οὗτός γε ὁ θεός, ἀτάρ τοι ὑμεῖς γε οὐ χαίροντες γέλωτα ἐμὲ θήσεσθε.” ταῦτα εἴπας ἐνετείλατο τοῖσι ταῦτα πρήσσουσι τοὺς μὲν ἱρέας ἀπομαστιγῶσαι, Αἰγυπτίων δὲ τῶν ἄλλων τὸν ἂν λάβωσι ὁρτάζοντα κτείνειν. ὁρτὴ μὲν δὴ διελέλυτο Αἰγυπτίοισι, οἱ δὲ ἱρέες ἐδικαιεῦντο, ὁ δὲ Ἆπις πεπληγμένος τὸν μηρὸν ἔφθινε ἐν τῷ ἱρῷ κατακείμενος. καὶ τὸν μὲν τελευτήσαντα ἐκ τοῦ τρώματος ἔθαψαν οἱ ἱρέες λάθρῃ Καμβύσεω.
3.30. Καμβύσης δέ, ὡς λέγουσι Αἰγύπτιοι, αὐτίκα διὰ τοῦτο τὸ ἀδίκημα ἐμάνη, ἐὼν οὐδὲ πρότερον φρενήρης. καὶ πρῶτα μὲν τῶν κακῶν ἐξεργάσατο τὸν ἀδελφεὸν Σμέρδιν ἐόντα πατρὸς καὶ μητρὸς τῆς αὐτῆς, τὸν ἀπέπεμψε ἐς Πέρσας φθόνῳ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, ὅτι τὸ τόξον μοῦνος Περσέων ὅσον τε ἐπὶ δύο δακτύλους εἴρυσε, τὸ παρὰ τοῦ Αἰθίοπος ἤνεικαν οἱ Ἰχθυοφάγοι, τῶν δὲ ἄλλων Περσέων οὐδεὶς οἷός τε ἐγένετο. ἀποιχομένου ὦν ἐς Πέρσας τοῦ Σμέρδιος ὄψιν εἶδε ὁ Καμβύσης ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ τοιήνδε· ἔδοξέ οἱ ἄγγελον ἐλθόντα ἐκ Περσέων ἀγγέλλειν ὡς ἐν τῷ θρόνῳ τῷ βασιληίῳ ἱζόμενος Σμέρδις τῇ κεφαλῇ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ψαύσειε. πρὸς ὦν ταῦτα δείσας περὶ ἑωυτοῦ μή μιν ἀποκτείνας ὁ ἀδελφεὸς ἄρχῃ, πέμπει Πρηξάσπεα ἐς Πέρσας, ὃς ἦν οἱ ἀνὴρ Περσέων πιστότατος, ἀποκτενέοντά μιν. ὁ δὲ ἀναβὰς ἐς Σοῦσα ἀπέκτεινε Σμέρδιν, οἳ μὲν λέγουσι ἐπʼ ἄγρην ἐξαγαγόντα, οἳ δὲ ἐς τὴν Ἐρυθρὴν θάλασσαν προαγαγόντα καταποντῶσαι.
3.31. πρῶτον μὲν δὴ λέγουσι Καμβύσῃ τῶν κακῶν ἄρξαι τοῦτο· δεύτερα δὲ ἐξεργάσατο τὴν ἀδελφεὴν ἑσπομένην οἱ ἐς Αἴγυπτον, τῇ καὶ συνοίκεε καὶ ἦν οἱ ἀπʼ ἀμφοτέρων ἀδελφεή. ἔγημε δὲ αὐτὴν ὧδε· οὐδαμῶς γὰρ ἐώθεσαν πρότερον τῇσι ἀδελφεῇσι συνοικέειν Πέρσαι. ἠράσθη μιῆς τῶν ἀδελφεῶν Καμβύσης, καὶ ἔπειτα βουλόμενος αὐτὴν γῆμαι, ὅτι οὐκ ἐωθότα ἐπενόεε ποιήσειν, εἴρετο καλέσας τοὺς βασιληίους δικαστὰς εἴ τις ἐστὶ κελεύων νόμος τὸν βουλόμενον ἀδελφεῇ συνοικέειν. οἱ δὲ βασιλήιοι δικασταὶ κεκριμένοι ἄνδρες γίνονται Περσέων, ἐς οὗ ἀποθάνωσι ἤ σφι παρευρεθῇ τι ἄδικον, μέχρι τούτου· οὗτοι δὲ τοῖσι πέρσῃσι δίκας δικάζουσι καὶ ἐξηγηταὶ τῶν πατρίων θεσμῶν γίνονται, καὶ πάντα ἐς τούτους ἀνακέεται. εἰρομένου ὦν τοῦ Καμβύσεω, ὑπεκρίνοντο αὐτῷ οὗτοι καὶ δίκαια καὶ ἀσφαλέα, φάμενοι νόμον οὐδένα ἐξευρίσκειν ὃς κελεύει ἀδελφεῇ συνοικέειν ἀδελφεόν, ἄλλον μέντοι ἐξευρηκέναι νόμον, τῷ βασιλεύοντι Περσέων ἐξεῖναι ποιέειν τὸ ἂν βούληται. οὕτω οὔτε τὸν νόμον ἔλυσαν δείσαντες Καμβύσεα, ἵνα τε μὴ αὐτοὶ ἀπόλωνται τὸν νόμον περιστέλλοντες, παρεξεῦρον ἄλλον νόμον σύμμαχον τῷ θέλοντι γαμέειν ἀδελφεάς. τότε μὲν δὴ ὁ Καμβύσης ἔγημε τὴν ἐρωμένην, μετὰ μέντοι οὐ πολλὸν χρόνον ἔσχε ἄλλην ἀδελφεήν. τουτέων δῆτα τὴν νεωτέρην ἐπισπομένην οἱ ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον κτείνει.
3.32. ἀμφὶ δὲ τῷ θανάτῳ αὐτῆς διξὸς ὥσπερ περὶ Σμέρδιος λέγεται λόγος. Ἕλληνες μὲν λέγουσι Καμβύσεα συμβαλεῖν σκύμνον λέοντος σκύλακι κυνός, θεωρέειν δὲ καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα ταύτην, νικωμένου δὲ τοῦ σκύλακος ἀδελφεὸν αὐτοῦ ἄλλον σκύλακα ἀπορρήξαντα τὸν δεσμὸν παραγενέσθαι οἱ, δύο δὲ γενομένους οὕτω δὴ τοὺς σκύλακας ἐπικρατῆσαι τοῦ σκύμνου. καὶ τὸν μὲν Καμβύσεα ἥδεσθαι θεώμενον, τὴν δὲ παρημένην δακρύειν. Καμβύσεα δὲ μαθόντα τοῦτο ἐπειρέσθαι διʼ ὅ τι δακρύει, τὴν δὲ εἰπεῖν ὡς ἰδοῦσα τὸν σκύλακα τῷ ἀδελφεῷ τιμωρήσαντα δακρύσειε, μνησθεῖσά τε Σμέρδιος καὶ μαθοῦσα ὡς ἐκείνῳ οὐκ εἴη ὁ τιμωρήσων. Ἕλληνες μὲν δὴ διὰ τοῦτο τὸ ἔπος φασὶ αὐτὴν ἀπολέσθαι ὑπὸ Καμβύσεω, Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ ὡς τραπέζῃ παρακατημένων λαβοῦσαν θρίδακα τὴν γυναῖκα περιτῖλαι καὶ ἐπανειρέσθαι τὸν ἄνδρα κότερον περιτετιλμένη ἡ θρίδαξ ἢ δασέα εἴη καλλίων, καὶ τὸν φάναι δασέαν, τὴν δʼ εἰπεῖν “ταύτην μέντοι κοτὲ σὺ τὴν θρίδακα ἐμιμήσαο τὸν Κύρου οἶκον ἀποψιλώσας.” τὸν δὲ θυμωθέντα ἐμπηδῆσαι αὐτῇ ἐχούσῃ ἐν γαστρί, καί μιν ἐκτρώσασαν ἀποθανεῖν.
3.33. ταῦτα μὲν ἐς τοὺς οἰκηίους ὁ Καμβύσης ἐξεμάνη, εἴτε δὴ διὰ τὸν Ἆπιν εἴτε καὶ ἄλλως, οἷα πολλὰ ἔωθε ἀνθρώπους κακὰ καταλαμβάνειν· καὶ γὰρ τινὰ ἐκ γενεῆς νοῦσον μεγάλην λέγεται ἔχειν ὁ Καμβύσης, τὴν ἱρὴν ὀνομάζουσι τινές. οὔ νύν τοι ἀεικὲς οὐδὲν ἦν τοῦ σώματος νοῦσον μεγάλην νοσέοντος μηδὲ τὰς φρένας ὑγιαίνειν.
3.34. τάδε δʼ ἐς τοὺς ἄλλους Πέρσας ἐξεμάνη. λέγεται γὰρ εἰπεῖν αὐτὸν πρὸς Πρηξάσπεα, τὸν ἐτίμα τε μάλιστα καί οἱ τὰς ἀγγελίας ἐφόρεε οὗτος, τούτου τε ὁ παῖς οἰνοχόος ἦν τῷ Καμβύσῃ, τιμὴ δὲ καὶ αὕτη οὐ σμικρή· εἰπεῖν δὲ λέγεται τάδε. “Πρήξασπες, κοῖόν με τινὰ νομίζουσι Πέρσαι εἶναι ἄνδρα τίνας τε λόγους περὶ ἐμέο ποιεῦνται;” τὸν δὲ εἰπεῖν “ὦ δέσποτα, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα πάντα μεγάλως ἐπαινέαι, τῇ δὲ φιλοινίῃ σε φασὶ πλεόνως προσκεῖσθαι.” τὸν μὲν δὴ λέγειν ταῦτα περὶ Περσέων, τὸν δὲ θυμωθέντα τοιάδε ἀμείβεσθαι. “νῦν ἄρα με φασὶ Πέρσαι οἴνῳ προσκείμενον παραφρονέειν καὶ οὐκ εἶναι νοήμονα· οὐδʼ ἄρα σφέων οἱ πρότεροι λόγοι ἦσαν ἀληθέες.” πρότερον γὰρ δὴ ἄρα, Περσέων οἱ συνέδρων ἐόντων καὶ Κροίσου, εἴρετο Καμβύσης κοῖός τις δοκέοι ἀνὴρ εἶναι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα τελέσαι Κῦρον, οἳ δὲ ἀμείβοντο ὡς εἴη ἀμείνων τοῦ πατρός· τά τε γὰρ ἐκείνου πάντα ἔχειν αὐτὸν καὶ προσεκτῆσθαι Αἴγυπτόν τε καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν. Πέρσαι μὲν ταῦτα ἔλεγον, Κροῖσος δὲ παρεών τε καὶ οὐκ ἀρεσκόμενος τῇ κρίσι εἶπε πρὸς τὸν Καμβύσεα τάδε. “ἐμοὶ μέν νυν, ὦ παῖ Κύρου, οὐ δοκέεις ὅμοιος εἶναι τῷ πατρί· οὐ γάρ κώ τοι ἐστὶ υἱὸς οἷον σε ἐκεῖνος κατελίπετο.” ἥσθη τε ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ Καμβύσης καὶ ἐπαίνεε τὴν Κροίσου κρίσιν.
3.35. τούτων δὴ ὦν ἐπιμνησθέντα ὀργῇ λέγειν πρὸς τὸν Πρηξάσπεα “σύ νυν μάθε εἰ λέγουσι Πέρσαι ἀληθέα εἴτε αὐτοὶ λέγοντες ταῦτα παραφρονέουσι· εἰ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ παιδὸς τοῦ σοῦ τοῦδε ἑστεῶτος ἐν τοῖσι προθύροισι βαλὼν τύχοιμι μέσης τῆς καρδίης, Πέρσαι φανέονται λέγοντες οὐδέν· ἢν δὲ ἁμάρτω, φάναι Πέρσας τε λέγειν ἀληθέα καί με μὴ σωφρονέειν.” ταῦτα δὲ εἰπόντα καὶ διατείναντα τὸ τόξον βαλεῖν τὸν παῖδα, πεσόντος δὲ τοῦ παιδὸς ἀνασχίζειν αὐτὸν κελεύειν καὶ σκέψασθαι τὸ βλῆμα· ὡς δὲ ἐν τῇ καρδίῃ εὑρεθῆναι ἐνεόντα τὸν ὀιστόν, εἰπεῖν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα τοῦ παιδὸς γελάσαντα καὶ περιχαρέα γενόμενον “Πρήξασπες, ὡς μὲν ἐγὼ τε οὐ μαίνομαι Πέρσαι τε παραφρονέουσι, δῆλά τοι γέγονε. νῦν δέ μοι εἰπέ, τίνα εἶδες ἤδη πάντων ἀνθρώπων οὕτω ἐπίσκοπα τοξεύοντα;” Πρηξάσπεα δὲ ὁρῶντα ἄνδρα οὐ φρενήρεα καὶ περὶ ἑωυτῷ δειμαίνοντα εἰπεῖν “δέσποτα, οὐδʼ ἂν αὐτὸν ἔγωγε δοκέω τὸν θεὸν οὕτω ἂν καλῶς βαλεῖν.” τότε μὲν ταῦτα ἐξεργάσατο, ἑτέρωθι δὲ Περσέων ὁμοίους τοῖσι πρώτοισι δυώδεκα ἐπʼ οὐδεμιῇ αἰτίῃ ἀξιοχρέῳ ἑλὼν ζώοντας ἐπὶ κεφαλὴν κατώρυξε.
3.36. ταῦτα δέ μιν ποιεῦντα ἐδικαίωσε Κροῖσος ὁ Λυδὸς νουθετῆσαι τοῖσιδε τοῖσι ἔπεσι. “ὦ βασιλεῦ, μὴ πάντα ἡλικίῃ καὶ θυμῷ ἐπίτραπε, ἀλλʼ ἴσχε καὶ καταλάμβανε σεωυτόν· ἀγαθόν τι πρόνοον εἶναι, σοφὸν δὲ ἡ προμηθίη. σὺ δὲ κτείνεις μὲν ἄνδρας σεωυτοῦ πολιήτας ἐπʼ οὐδεμιῇ αἰτίῃ ἀξιοχρέῳ ἑλών, κτείνεις δὲ παῖδας. ἢν δὲ πολλὰ τοιαῦτα ποιέῃς, ὅρα ὅκως μή σευ ἀποστήσονται Πέρσαι. ἐμοὶ δὲ πατὴρ σὸς Κῦρος ἐνετέλλετο πολλὰ κελεύων σε νουθετέειν καὶ ὑποτίθεσθαι ὅ τι ἂν εὑρίσκω ἀγαθόν.” ὃ μὲν δὴ εὐνοίην φαίνων συνεβούλευέ οἱ ταῦτα· ὃ δʼ ἀμείβετο τοῖσιδε. “σὺ καὶ ἐμοὶ τολμᾷς συμβουλεύειν, ὃς χρηστῶς μὲν τὴν σεωυτοῦ πατρίδα ἐπετρόπευσας, εὖ δὲ τῷ πατρὶ τῷ ἐμῷ συνεβούλευσας, κελεύων αὐτὸν Ἀράξεα ποταμὸν διαβάντα ἰέναι ἐπὶ Μασσαγέτας, βουλομένων ἐκείνων διαβαίνειν ἐς τὴν ἡμετέρην, καὶ ἀπὸ μὲν σεωυτὸν ὤλεσας τῆς σεωυτοῦ πατρίδος κακῶς προστάς, ἀπὸ δὲ ὤλεσας Κῦρον πειθόμενον σοί, ἀλλʼ οὔτι χαίρων, ἐπεί τοι καὶ πάλαι ἐς σὲ προφάσιός τευ ἐδεόμην ἐπιλαβέσθαι.” ταῦτα δὲ εἴπας ἐλάμβανε τὸ τόξον ὡς κατατοξεύσων αὐτόν, Κροῖσος δὲ ἀναδραμὼν ἔθεε ἔξω. ὁ δὲ ἐπείτε τοξεῦσαι οὐκ εἶχε, ἐνετείλατο τοῖσι θεράπουσι λαβόντας μιν ἀποκτεῖναι. οἱ δὲ θεράποντες ἐπιστάμενοι τὸν τρόπον αὐτοῦ κατακρύπτουσι τὸν Κροῖσον ἐπὶ τῷδε τῷ λόγῳ ὥστε, εἰ μὲν μεταμελήσῃ τῷ Καμβύσῃ καὶ ἐπιζητέῃ τὸν Κροῖσον, οἳ δὲ ἐκφήναντες αὐτὸν δῶρα λάμψονται ζωάγρια Κροίσου, ἢν δὲ μὴ μεταμέληται μηδὲ ποθέῃ μιν, τότε καταχρᾶσθαι. ἐπόθησέ τε δὴ ὁ Καμβύσης τὸν Κροῖσον οὐ πολλῷ μετέπειτα χρόνῳ ὕστερον, καὶ οἱ θεράποντες μαθόντες τοῦτο ἐπηγγέλλοντο αὐτῷ ὡς περιείη. Καμβύσης δὲ Κροίσῳ μὲν συνήδεσθαι ἔφη περιεόντι, ἐκείνους μέντοι τοὺς περιποιήσαντας οὐ καταπροΐξεσθαι ἀλλʼ ἀποκτενέειν· καὶ ἐποίησε ταῦτα.
3.37. ὃ μὲν δὴ τοιαῦτα πολλὰ ἐς Πέρσας τε καὶ τοὺς συμμάχους ἐξεμαίνετο, μένων ἐν Μέμφι καὶ θήκας τε παλαιὰς ἀνοίγων καὶ σκεπτόμενος τοὺς νεκρούς. ὣς δὲ δὴ καὶ ἐς τοῦ Ἡφαίστου τὸ ἱρὸν ἦλθε καὶ πολλὰ τῷ ἀγάλματι κατεγέλασε. ἔστι γὰρ τοῦ Ἡφαίστου τὤγαλμα τοῖσι Φοινικηίοισι Παταΐκοισι ἐμφερέστατον, τοὺς οἱ Φοίνικες ἐν τῇσι πρῴρῃσι τῶν τριηρέων περιάγουσι. ὃς δὲ τούτους μὴ ὄπωπε, ὧδε σημανέω· πυγμαίου ἀνδρὸς μίμησις ἐστί. ἐσῆλθε δὲ καὶ ἐς τῶν Καβείρων τὸ ἱρόν, ἐς τὸ οὐ θεμιτόν ἐστι ἐσιέναι ἄλλον γε ἢ τὸν ἱρέα· ταῦτα δὲ τὰ ἀγάλματα καὶ ἐνέπρησε πολλὰ κατασκώψας. ἔστι δὲ καὶ ταῦτα ὅμοια τοῖσι τοῦ Ἡφαίστου· τούτου δὲ σφέας παῖδας λέγουσι εἶναι.
3.38. πανταχῇ ὦν μοι δῆλα ἐστὶ ὅτι ἐμάνη μεγάλως ὁ Καμβύσης· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἱροῖσί τε καὶ νομαίοισι ἐπεχείρησε καταγελᾶν. εἰ γάρ τις προθείη πᾶσι ἀνθρώποισι ἐκλέξασθαι κελεύων νόμους τοὺς καλλίστους ἐκ τῶν πάντων νόμων, διασκεψάμενοι ἂν ἑλοίατο ἕκαστοι τοὺς ἑωυτῶν· οὕτω νομίζουσι πολλόν τι καλλίστους τοὺς ἑωυτῶν νόμους ἕκαστοι εἶναι. οὔκων οἰκός ἐστι ἄλλον γε ἢ μαινόμενον ἄνδρα γέλωτα τὰ τοιαῦτα τίθεσθαι· ὡς δὲ οὕτω νενομίκασι τὰ περὶ τοὺς νόμους πάντες ἄνθρωποι, πολλοῖσί τε καὶ ἄλλοισι τεκμηρίοισι πάρεστι σταθμώσασθαι, ἐν δὲ δὴ καὶ τῷδε. Δαρεῖος ἐπὶ τῆς ἑωυτοῦ ἀρχῆς καλέσας Ἑλλήνων τοὺς παρεόντας εἴρετο ἐπὶ κόσῳ ἂν χρήματι βουλοίατο τοὺς πατέρας ἀποθνήσκοντας κατασιτέεσθαι· οἳ δὲ ἐπʼ οὐδενὶ ἔφασαν ἔρδειν ἂν τοῦτο. Δαρεῖος δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα καλέσας Ἰνδῶν τοὺς καλεομένους Καλλατίας, οἳ τοὺς γονέας κατεσθίουσι, εἴρετο, παρεόντων τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ διʼ ἑρμηνέος μανθανόντων τὰ λεγόμενα, ἐπὶ τίνι χρήματι δεξαίατʼ ἂν τελευτῶντας τοὺς πατέρας κατακαίειν πυρί· οἳ δὲ ἀμβώσαντες μέγα εὐφημέειν μιν ἐκέλευον. οὕτω μέν νυν ταῦτα νενόμισται, καὶ ὀρθῶς μοι δοκέει Πίνδαρος ποιῆσαι νόμον πάντων βασιλέα φήσας εἶναι.
3.39. Καμβύσεω δὲ ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον στρατευομένου ἐποιήσαντο καὶ Λακεδαιμόνιοι στρατηίην ἐπὶ Σάμον τε καὶ Πολυκράτεα τὸν Αἰάκεος· ὃς ἔσχε Σάμον ἐπαναστάς, καὶ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα τριχῇ δασάμενος τὴν πόλιν 1 τοῖσι ἀδελφεοῖσι Πανταγνώτῳ καὶ Συλοσῶντι ἔνειμε, μετὰ δὲ τὸν μὲν αὐτῶν ἀποκτείνας τὸν δὲ νεώτερον Συλοσῶντα ἐξελάσας ἔσχε πᾶσαν Σάμον, σχὼν δὲ ξεινίην Ἀμάσι τῷ Αἰγύπτου βασιλέι συνεθήκατο, πέμπων τε δῶρα καὶ δεκόμενος ἄλλα παρʼ ἐκείνου. ἐν χρόνῳ δὲ ὀλίγῳ αὐτίκα τοῦ Πολυκράτεος τὰ πρήγματα ηὔξετο καὶ ἦν βεβωμένα ἀνά τε τὴν Ἰωνίην καὶ τὴν ἄλλην Ἑλλάδα· ὅκου γὰρ ἰθύσειε στρατεύεσθαι, πάντα οἱ ἐχώρεε εὐτυχέως. ἔκτητο δὲ πεντηκοντέρους τε ἑκατὸν καὶ χιλίους τοξότας, ἔφερε δὲ καὶ ἦγε πάντας διακρίνων οὐδένα· τῷ γὰρ φίλῳ ἔφη χαριεῖσθαι μᾶλλον ἀποδιδοὺς τὰ ἔλαβε ἢ ἀρχὴν μηδὲ λαβών. συχνὰς μὲν δὴ τῶν νήσων ἀραιρήκεε, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ τῆς ἠπείρου ἄστεα· ἐν δὲ δὴ καὶ Λεσβίους πανστρατιῇ βοηθέοντας Μιλησίοισι ναυμαχίῃ κρατήσας εἷλε, οἳ τὴν τάφρον περὶ τὸ τεῖχος τὸ ἐν Σάμῳ πᾶσαν δεδεμένοι ὤρυξαν. 3.40. καί κως τὸν Ἄμασιν εὐτυχέων μεγάλως ὁ Πολυκράτης οὐκ ἐλάνθανε, ἀλλά οἱ τοῦτʼ ἦν ἐπιμελές. πολλῷ δὲ ἔτι πλεῦνός οἱ εὐτυχίης γινομένης γράψας ἐς βυβλίον τάδε ἐπέστειλε ἐς Σάμον. “Ἄμασις Πολυκράτεϊ ὧδε λέγει. ἡδὺ μὲν πυνθάνεσθαι ἄνδρα φίλον καὶ ξεῖνον εὖ πρήσσοντα· ἐμοὶ δὲ αἱ σαὶ μεγάλαι εὐτυχίαι οὐκ ἀρέσκουσι, τὸ θεῖον ἐπισταμένῳ ὡς ἔστι φθονερόν· καί κως βούλομαι καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ τῶν ἂν κήδωμαι τὸ μέν τι εὐτυχέειν τῶν πρηγμάτων τὸ δὲ προσπταίειν, καὶ οὕτω διαφέρειν τὸν αἰῶνα ἐναλλὰξ πρήσσων ἢ εὐτυχέειν τὰ πάντα. οὐδένα γάρ κω λόγῳ οἶδα ἀκούσας ὅστις ἐς τέλος οὐ κακῶς ἐτελεύτησε πρόρριζος, εὐτυχέων τὰ πάντα. σύ νυν ἐμοὶ πειθόμενος ποίησον πρὸς τὰς εὐτυχίας τοιάδε· φροντίσας τὸ ἂν εὕρῃς ἐόν τοι πλείστου ἄξιον καὶ ἐπʼ ᾧ σὺ ἀπολομένῳ μάλιστα τὴν ψυχὴν ἀλγήσεις, τοῦτο ἀπόβαλε οὕτω ὅκως μηκέτι ἥξει ἐς ἀνθρώπους· ἤν τε μὴ ἐναλλὰξ ἤδη τὠπὸ τούτου αἱ εὐτυχίαι τοι τῇσι πάθῃσι προσπίπτωσι, τρόπῳ τῷ ἐξ ἐμεῦ ὑποκειμένῳ ἀκέο.” 3.41. ταῦτα ἐπιλεξάμενος ὁ Πολυκράτης καὶ νόῳ λαβὼν ὥς οἱ εὖ ὑπετίθετο Ἄμασις, ἐδίζητο ἐπʼ ᾧ ἂν μάλιστα τὴν ψυχὴν ἀσηθείη ἀπολομένῳ τῶν κειμηλίων, διζήμενος δὲ εὕρισκε τόδε. ἦν οἱ σφρηγὶς τὴν ἐφόρεε χρυσόδετος, σμαράγδου μὲν λίθου ἐοῦσα, ἔργον δὲ ἦν Θεοδώρου τοῦ Τηλεκλέος Σαμίου. ἐπεὶ ὦν ταύτην οἱ ἐδόκεε ἀποβαλεῖν, ἐποίεε τοιάδε· πεντηκόντερον πληρώσας ἀνδρῶν ἐσέβη ἐς αὐτήν, μετὰ δὲ ἀναγαγεῖν ἐκέλευε ἐς τὸ πέλαγος· ὡς δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς νήσου ἑκὰς ἐγένετο, περιελόμενος τὴν σφρηγῖδα πάντων ὁρώντων τῶν συμπλόων ῥίπτει ἐς τὸ πέλαγος. τοῦτο δὲ ποιήσας ἀπέπλεε, ἀπικόμενος δὲ ἐς τὰ οἰκία συμφορῇ ἐχρᾶτο. 3.42. πέμπτῃ δὲ ἢ ἕκτῃ ἡμέρῃ ἀπὸ τούτων τάδε οἱ συνήνεικε γενέσθαι. ἀνὴρ ἁλιεὺς λαβὼν ἰχθὺν μέγαν τε καὶ καλὸν ἠξίου μιν Πολυκράτεϊ δῶρον δοθῆναι· φέρων δὴ ἐπὶ τὰς θύρας Πολυκράτεϊ ἔφη ἐθέλειν ἐλθεῖν ἐς ὄψιν, χωρήσαντος δέ οἱ τούτου ἔλεγε διδοὺς τὸν ἰχθύν “ὦ βασιλεῦ, ἐγὼ τόνδε ἑλὼν οὐκ ἐδικαίωσα φέρειν ἐς ἀγορήν, καίπερ ἐὼν ἀποχειροβίοτος, ἀλλά μοι ἐδόκεε σεῦ τε εἶναι ἄξιος καὶ τῆς σῆς ἀρχῆς· σοὶ δή μιν φέρων δίδωμι.” ὁ δὲ ἡσθεὶς τοῖσι ἔπεσι ἀμείβεται τοῖσιδε. “κάρτα τε εὖ ἐποίησας καὶ χάρις διπλῆ τῶν τε λόγων καὶ τοῦ δώρου, καί σε ἐπὶ δεῖπνον καλέομεν.” ὃ μὲν δὴ ἁλιεὺς μέγα ποιεύμενος ταῦτα ἤιε ἐς τὰ οἰκία, τὸν δὲ ἰχθὺν τάμνοντες οἱ θεράποντες εὑρίσκουσι ἐν τῇ νηδύι αὐτοῦ ἐνεοῦσαν τὴν Πολυκράτεος σφρηγῖδα. ὡς δὲ εἶδόν τε καὶ ἔλαβον τάχιστα, ἔφερον κεχαρηκότες παρὰ τὸν Πολυκράτεα, διδόντες δέ οἱ τὴν σφρηγῖδα ἔλεγον ὅτεῳ τρόπῳ εὑρέθη. τὸν δὲ ὡς ἐσῆλθε θεῖον εἶναι τὸ πρῆγμα, γράφει ἐς βυβλίον πάντα τὰ ποιήσαντά μιν οἷα καταλελάβηκε, γράψας δὲ ἐς Αἴγυπτον ἐπέθηκε. 3.43. ἐπιλεξάμενος δὲ ὁ Ἄμασις τὸ βυβλίον τὸ παρὰ τοῦ Πολυκράτεος ἧκον, ἔμαθε ὅτι ἐκκομίσαι τε ἀδύνατον εἴη ἀνθρώπῳ ἄνθρωπον ἐκ τοῦ μέλλοντος γίνεσθαι πρήγματος, καὶ ὅτι οὐκ εὖ τελευτήσειν μέλλοι Πολυκράτης εὐτυχέων τὰ πάντα, ὃς καὶ τὰ ἀποβάλλει εὑρίσκει. πέμψας δέ οἱ κήρυκα ἐς Σάμον διαλύεσθαι ἔφη τὴν ξεινίην. τοῦδε δὲ εἵνεκεν ταῦτα ἐποίεε, ἵνα μὴ συντυχίης δεινῆς τε καὶ μεγάλης Πολυκράτεα καταλαβούσης αὐτὸς ἀλγήσειε τὴν ψυχὴν ὡς περὶ ξείνου ἀνδρός.
3.61. Καμβύσῃ δὲ τῷ Κύρου χρονίζοντι περὶ Αἴγυπτον καὶ παραφρονήσαντι ἐπανιστέαται ἄνδρες Μάγοι δύο ἀδελφεοί, τῶν τὸν ἕτερον καταλελοίπεε τῶν οἰκίων μελεδωνὸν ὁ Καμβύσης. οὗτος δὴ ὦν οἱ ἐπανέστη μαθών τε τὸν Σμέρδιος θάνατον ὡς κρύπτοιτο γενόμενος, καὶ ὡς ὀλίγοι εἴησαν οἱ ἐπιστάμενοι αὐτὸν Περσέων, οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ περιεόντα μιν εἰδείησαν. πρὸς ταῦτα βουλεύσας τάδε ἐπεχείρησε τοῖσι βασιληίοισι. ἦν οἱ ἀδελφεός, τὸν εἶπά οἱ συνεπαναστῆναι, οἰκὼς μάλιστα τὸ εἶδος Σμέρδι τῷ Κύρου, τὸν ὁ Καμβύσης ἐόντα ἑωυτοῦ ἀδελφεὸν ἀπέκτεινε· ἦν τε δὴ ὅμοιος εἶδος τῷ Σμέρδι καὶ δὴ καὶ οὔνομα τὠυτὸ εἶχε Σμέρδιν. τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα ἀναγνώσας ὁ Μάγος Πατιζείθης ὥς οἱ αὐτὸς πάντα διαπρήξει, εἷσε ἄγων ἐς τὸν βασιλήιον θρόνον. ποιήσας δὲ τοῦτο κήρυκας τῇ τε ἄλλῃ διέπεμπε καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐς Αἴγυπτον προερέοντα τῷ στρατῷ ὡς Σμέρδιος τοῦ Κύρου ἀκουστέα εἴη τοῦ λοιποῦ ἀλλʼ οὐ Καμβύσεω. 3.62. οἵ τε δὴ ὦν ἄλλοι κήρυκες προηγόρευον ταῦτα καὶ δὴ καὶ ὁ ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον ταχθείς, εὕρισκε γὰρ Καμβύσεα καὶ τὸν στρατὸν ἐόντα τῆς Συρίης ἐν Ἀγβατάνοισι, προηγόρευε στὰς ἐς μέσον τὰ ἐντεταλμένα ἐκ τοῦ Μάγου. Καμβύσης δὲ ἀκούσας ταῦτα ἐκ τοῦ κήρυκος καὶ ἐλπίσας μιν λέγειν ἀληθέα αὐτός τε προδεδόσθαι ἐκ Πρηξάσπεος ʽπεμφθέντα γὰρ αὐτὸν ὡς ἀποκτενέοντα Σμέρδιν οὐ ποιῆσαι ταῦτἀ, βλέψας ἐς τὸν Πρηξάσπεα εἶπε “Πρήξασπες, οὕτω μοι διεπρήξαο τό τοι προσέθηκα πρῆγμα;” ὁ δὲ εἶπε “ὦ δέσποτα, οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα ἀληθέα, ὅκως κοτὲ σοὶ Σμέρδις ἀδελφεὸς σὸς ἐπανέστηκε, οὐδὲ ὅκως τι ἐξ ἐκείνου τοῦ ἀνδρὸς νεῖκός τοι ἔσται ἢ μέγα ἢ σμικρόν· ἐγὼ γὰρ αὐτός, ποιήσας τὰ σύ με ἐκέλευες, ἔθαψά μιν χερσὶ τῇσι ἐμεωυτοῦ. εἰ μέν νυν οἱ τεθνεῶτες ἀνεστᾶσι, προσδέκεό τοι καὶ Ἀστυάγεα τὸν Μῆδον ἐπαναστήσεσθαι· εἰ δʼ ἔστι ὥσπερ πρὸ τοῦ, οὐ μή τί τοι ἔκ γε ἐκείνου νεώτερον ἀναβλάστῃ. νῦν ὦν μοι δοκέει μεταδιώξαντας τὸν κήρυκα ἐξετάζειν εἰρωτεῦντας παρʼ ὅτευ ἥκων προαγορεύει ἡμῖν Σμέρδιος βασιλέος ἀκούειν.” 3.63. ταῦτα εἴπαντος Πρηξάσπεος, ἤρεσε γὰρ Καμβύσῃ, αὐτίκα μεταδίωκτος γενόμενος ὁ κῆρυξ ἧκε· ἀπιγμένον δέ μιν εἴρετο ὁ Πρηξάσπης τάδε. “ὤνθρωπε, φὴς γὰρ ἥκειν παρὰ Σμέρδιος τοῦ Κύρου ἄγγελος· νῦν ὦν εἴπας τὴν ἀληθείην ἄπιθι χαίρων, κότερα αὐτός τοι Σμέρδις φαινόμενος ἐς ὄψιν ἐνετέλλετο ταῦτα ἢ τῶν τις ἐκείνου ὑπηρετέων.” ὅδὲ εἶπε “ἐγὼ Σμέρδιν μὲν τὸν Κύρου, ἐξ ὅτευ βασιλεὺς Καμβύσης ἤλασε ἐς Αἴγυπτον, οὔκω ὄπωπα· ὁ δέ μοι Μάγος τὸν Καμβύσης ἐπίτροπον τῶν οἰκίων ἀπέδεξε, οὗτος ταῦτα ἐνετείλατο, φὰς Σμέρδιν τὸν Κύρου εἶναι τὸν ταῦτα ἐπιθέμενον εἶπαι πρὸς ὑμέας.” ὃ μὲν δή σφι ἔλεγε οὐδὲν ἐπικατεψευσμένος, Καμβύσης δὲ εἶπε “Πρήξασπες, σὺ μὲν οἷα ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς ποιήσας τὸ κελευόμενον αἰτίην ἐκπέφευγας· ἐμοὶ δὲ τίς ἂν εἴη Περσέων ὁ ἐπανεστεὼς ἐπιβατεύων τοῦ Σμέρδιος οὐνόματος;” ὁ δὲ εἶπε “ἐγώ μοι δοκέω συνιέναι τὸ γεγονὸς τοῦτο, ὦ βασιλεῦ· οἱ Μάγοι εἰσί τοι οἱ ἐπανεστεῶτες, τόν τε ἔλιπες μελεδωνὸν τῶν οἰκίων, Πατιζείθης, καὶ ὁ τούτου ἀδελφεὸς Σμέρδις.” 3.64. ἐνθαῦτα ἀκούσαντα Καμβύσεα τὸ Σμέρδιος οὔνομα ἔτυψε ἡ ἀληθείη τῶν τε λόγων καὶ τοῦ ἐνυπνίου· ὃς ἐδόκεε ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ ἀπαγγεῖλαι τινά οἱ ὡς Σμέρδις ἱζόμενος ἐς τὸν βασιλήιον θρόνον ψαύσειε τῇ κεφαλῇ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. μαθὼν δὲ ὡς μάτην ἀπολωλεκὼς εἴη τὸν ἀδελφεόν, ἀπέκλαιε Σμέρδιν· ἀποκλαύσας δὲ καὶ περιημεκτήσας τῇ ἁπάσῃ συμφορῇ ἀναθρώσκει ἐπὶ τὸν ἵππον, ἐν νόῳ ἔχων τὴν ταχίστην ἐς Σοῦσα στρατεύεσθαι ἐπὶ τὸν Μάγον. καί οἱ ἀναθρώσκοντι ἐπὶ τὸν ἵππον τοῦ κολεοῦ τοῦ ξίφεος ὁ μύκης ἀποπίπτει, γυμνωθὲν δὲ τὸ ξίφος παίει τὸν μηρόν· τρωματισθεὶς δὲ κατὰ τοῦτο τῇ αὐτὸς πρότερον τὸν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων θεὸν Ἆπιν ἔπληξε, ὥς οἱ καιρίῃ ἔδοξε τετύφθαι, εἴρετο ὁ Καμβύσης ὅ τι τῇ πόλι οὔνομα εἴη· οἳ δὲ εἶπαν ὅτι Ἀγβάτανα. τῷ δὲ ἔτι πρότερον ἐκέχρηστο ἐκ Βουτοῦς πόλιος ἐν Ἀγβατάνοισι τελευτήσειν τὸν βίον. ὃ μὲν δὴ ἐν τοῖσι Μηδικοῖσι Ἀγβατάνοισι ἐδόκεε τελευτήσειν γηραιός, ἐν τοῖσί οἱ ἦν τὰ πάντα πρήγματα· τὸ δὲ χρηστήριον ἐν τοῖσι ἐν Συρίῃ Ἀγβατάνοισι ἔλεγε ἄρα. καὶ δὴ ὡς τότε ἐπειρόμενος ἐπύθετο τῆς πόλιος τὸ οὔνομα, ὑπὸ τῆς συμφορῆς τῆς τε ἐκ τοῦ Μάγου ἐκπεπληγμένος καὶ τοῦ τρώματος ἐσωφρόνησε, συλλαβὼν δὲ τὸ θεοπρόπιον εἶπε “ἐνθαῦτα Καμβύσεα τὸν Κύρου ἐστὶ πεπρωμένον τελευτᾶν.” 3.65. τότε μὲν τοσαῦτα. ἡμέρῃσι δὲ ὕστερον ὡς εἴκοσι μεταπεμψάμενος Περσέων τῶν παρεόντων τοὺς λογιμωτάτους ἔλεγέ σφι τάδε. “ὦ Πέρσαι, καταλελάβηκέ με, τὸ πάντων μάλιστα ἔκρυπτον πρηγμάτων, τοῦτο ἐς ὑμέας ἐκφῆναι. ἐγὼ γὰρ ἐὼν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ εἶδον ὄψιν ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ, τὴν μηδαμὰ ὄφελον ἰδεῖν· ἐδόκεον δέ μοι ἄγγελον ἐλθόντα ἐξ οἴκου ἀγγέλλειν ὡς Σμέρδις ἱζόμενος ἐς τὸν βασιλήιον θρόνον ψαύσειε τῇ κεφαλῇ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. δείσας δὲ μὴ ἀπαιρεθέω τὴν ἀρχὴν πρὸς τοῦ ἀδελφεοῦ, ἐποίησα ταχύτερα ἢ σοφώτερα· ἐν τῇ γὰρ ἀνθρωπηίῃ φύσι οὐκ ἐνῆν ἄρα τὸ μέλλον γίνεσθαι ἀποτρέπειν. ἐγὼ δὲ ὁ μάταιος Πρηξάσπεα ἀποπέμπω ἐς Σοῦσα ἀποκτενέοντα Σμέρδιν. ἐξεργασθέντος δὲ κακοῦ τοσούτου ἀδεῶς διαιτώμην, οὐδαμὰ ἐπιλεξάμενος μή κοτέ τίς μοι Σμέρδιος ὑπαραιρημένου ἄλλος ἐπανασταίη ἀνθρώπων. παντὸς δὲ τοῦ μέλλοντος ἔσεσθαι ἁμαρτὼν ἀδελφεοκτόνος τε οὐδὲν δέον γέγονα καὶ τῆς βασιληίης οὐδὲν ἧσσον ἐστέρημαι· Σμέρδις γὰρ δὴ ἦν ὁ Μάγος τόν μοι ὁ δαίμων προέφαινε ἐν τῇ ὄψι ἐπαναστήσεσθαι. τὸ μὲν δὴ ἔργον ἐξέργασταί μοι, καὶ Σμέρδιν τὸν Κύρου μηκέτι ὑμῖν ἐόντα λογίζεσθε· οἱ δὲ ὑμῖν Μάγοι κρατέουσι τῶν βασιληίων, τόν τε ἔλιπον ἐπίτροπον τῶν οἰκίων καὶ ὁ ἐκείνου ἀδελφεὸς Σμέρδις. τὸν μέν νυν μάλιστα χρῆν ἐμεῦ αἰσχρὰ πρὸς τῶν Μάγων πεπονθότος τιμωρέειν ἐμοί, οὗτος μὲν ἀνοσίῳ μόρῳ τετελεύτηκε ὑπὸ τῶν ἑωυτοῦ οἰκηιοτάτων· τούτου δὲ μηκέτι ἐόντος, δεύτερα τῶν λοιπῶν ὑμῖν ὦ Πέρσαι γίνεταί μοι ἀναγκαιότατον ἐντέλλεσθαι τὰ θέλω μοι γενέσθαι τελευτῶν τὸν βίον· καὶ δὴ ὑμῖν τάδε ἐπισκήπτω θεοὺς τοὺς βασιληίους ἐπικαλέων καὶ πᾶσι ὑμῖν καὶ μάλιστα Ἀχαιμενιδέων τοῖσι παρεοῦσι, μὴ περιιδεῖν τὴν ἡγεμονίην αὖτις ἐς Μήδους περιελθοῦσαν, ἀλλʼ εἴτε δόλῳ ἔχουσι αὐτὴν κτησάμενοι, δόλῳ ἀπαιρεθῆναι ὑπὸ ὑμέων, εἴτε καὶ σθένεϊ τεῷ κατεργασάμενοι, σθένεϊ κατὰ τὸ καρτερὸν ἀνασώσασθαι. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ποιεῦσι ὑμῖν γῆ τε καρπὸν ἐκφέροι καὶ γυναῖκές τε καὶ ποῖμναι τίκτοιεν, ἐοῦσι ἐς τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον ἐλευθέροισι· μὴ δὲ ἀνασωσαμένοισι τὴν ἀρχὴν μηδʼ ἐπιχειρήσασι ἀνασώζειν τὰ ἐναντία τούτοισι ἀρῶμαι ὑμῖν γενέσθαι, καὶ πρὸς ἔτι τούτοισι τὸ τέλος Περσέων ἑκάστῳ ἐπιγενέσθαι οἷον ἐμοὶ ἐπιγέγονε.” ἅμα τε εἴπας ταῦτα ὁ Καμβύσης ἀπέκλαιε πᾶσαν τὴν ἑωυτοῦ πρῆξιν. 3.66. πέρσαι δὲ ὡς τὸν βασιλέα εἶδον ἀνακλαύσαντα πάντες τά τε ἐσθῆτος ἐχόμενα εἶχον, ταῦτα κατηρείκοντο καὶ οἰμωγῇ ἀφθόνῳ διεχρέωντο. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ὡς ἐσφακέλισέ τε τὸ ὀστέον καὶ ὁ μηρὸς τάχιστα ἐσάπη, ἀπήνεικε Καμβύσεα τὸν Κύρου, βασιλεύσαντα μὲν τὰ πάντα ἑπτὰ ἔτεα καὶ πέντε μῆνας, ἄπαιδα δὲ τὸ παράπαν ἐόντα ἔρσενος καὶ θήλεος γόνου. Περσέων δὲ τοῖσι παρεοῦσι ἀπιστίη πολλὴ ὑπεκέχυτο τοὺς Μάγους ἔχειν τὰ πρήγματα, ἀλλʼ ἠπιστέατο ἐπὶ διαβολῇ εἰπεῖν Καμβύσεα τὰ εἶπε περὶ τοῦ Σμέρδιος θανάτου, ἵνα οἱ ἐκπολεμωθῇ πᾶν τὸ Περσικόν.
3.82. Μεγάβυζος μὲν δὴ ταύτην γνώμην ἐσέφερε· τρίτος δὲ Δαρεῖος ἀπεδείκνυτο γνώμην, λέγων “ἐμοὶ δὲ τὰ μὲν εἶπε Μεγάβυζος ἐς τὸ πλῆθος ἔχοντα δοκέει ὀρθῶς λέξαι, τὰ δὲ ἐς ὀλιγαρχίην οὐκ ὀρθῶς. τριῶν γὰρ προκειμένων καὶ πάντων τῷ λόγῳ ἀρίστων ἐόντων, δήμου τε ἀρίστου καὶ ὀλιγαρχίης καὶ μουνάρχου, πολλῷ τοῦτο προέχειν λέγω. ἀνδρὸς γὰρ ἑνὸς τοῦ ἀρίστου οὐδὲν ἄμεινον ἂν φανείη· γνώμῃ γὰρ τοιαύτῃ χρεώμενος ἐπιτροπεύοι ἂν ἀμωμήτως τοῦ πλήθεος, σιγῷτό τε ἂν βουλεύματα ἐπὶ δυσμενέας ἄνδρας οὕτω μάλιστα. ἐν δὲ ὀλιγαρχίῃ πολλοῖσι ἀρετὴν ἐπασκέουσι ἐς τὸ κοινὸν ἔχθεα ἴδια ἰσχυρὰ φιλέει ἐγγίνεσθαι· αὐτὸς γὰρ ἕκαστος βουλόμενος κορυφαῖος εἶναι γνώμῃσί τε νικᾶν ἐς ἔχθεα μεγάλα ἀλλήλοισι ἀπικνέονται, ἐξ ὧν στάσιες ἐγγίνονται, ἐκ δὲ τῶν στασίων φόνος· ἐκ δὲ τοῦ φόνου ἀπέβη ἐς μουναρχίην, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ διέδεξε ὅσῳ ἐστὶ τοῦτο ἄριστον. δήμου τε αὖ ἄρχοντος ἀδύνατα μὴ οὐ κακότητα ἐγγίνεσθαι· κακότητος τοίνυν ἐγγινομένης ἐς τὰ κοινὰ ἔχθεα μὲν οὐκ ἐγγίνεται τοῖσι κακοῖσι, φιλίαι δὲ ἰσχυραί· οἱ γὰρ κακοῦντες τὰ κοινὰ συγκύψαντες ποιεῦσι. τοῦτο δὲ τοιοῦτο γίνεται ἐς ὃ ἂν προστάς τις τοῦ δήμου τοὺς τοιούτους παύσῃ. ἐκ δὲ αὐτῶν θωμάζεται οὗτος δὴ ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου, θωμαζόμενος δὲ ἀνʼ ὦν ἐφάνη μούναρχος ἐών, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ δηλοῖ καὶ οὗτος ὡς ἡ μουναρχίη κράτιστον. ἑνὶ δὲ ἔπεϊ πάντα συλλαβόντα εἰπεῖν, κόθεν ἡμῖν ἡ ἐλευθερίη ἐγένετο καὶ τεῦ δόντος; κότερα παρὰ τοῦ δήμου ἢ ὀλιγαρχίης ἢ μουνάρχου; ἔχω τοίνυν γνώμην ἡμέας ἐλευθερωθέντας διὰ ἕνα ἄνδρα τὸ τοιοῦτο περιστέλλειν, χωρίς τε τούτου πατρίους νόμους μὴ λύειν ἔχοντας εὖ· οὐ γὰρ ἄμεινον.”
3.108. λέγουσι δὲ καὶ τόδε Ἀράβιοι, ὡς πᾶσα ἂν γῆ ἐπίμπλατο τῶν ὀφίων τούτων, εἰ μὴ γίνεσθαι κατʼ αὐτοὺς οἷόν τι κατὰ τὰς ἐχίδνας ἠπιστάμην γίνεσθαι. καί κως τοῦ θείου ἡ προνοίη, ὥσπερ καὶ οἰκός ἐστι, ἐοῦσα σοφή, ὅσα μὲν 1 ψυχήν τε δειλὰ καὶ ἐδώδιμα, ταῦτα μὲν πάντα πολύγονα πεποίηκε, ἵνα μὴ ἐπιλίπῃ κατεσθιόμενα, ὅσα δὲ σχέτλια καὶ ἀνιηρά, ὀλιγόγονα. τοῦτο μέν, ὅτι ὁ λαγὸς ὑπὸ παντὸς θηρεύεται θηρίου καὶ ὄρνιθος καὶ ἀνθρώπου, οὕτω δή τι πολύγονον ἐστί· ἐπικυΐσκεται μοῦνον πάντων θηρίων, καὶ τὸ μὲν δασὺ τῶν τέκνων ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ τὸ δὲ ψιλόν, τὸ δὲ ἄρτι ἐν τῇσι μήτρῃσι πλάσσεται, τὸ δὲ ἀναιρέεται. τοῦτο μὲν δὴ τοιοῦτο ἐστί· ἡ δὲ δὴ λέαινα ἐὸν ἰσχυρότατον καὶ θρασύτατον ἅπαξ ἐν τῷ βίῳ τίκτει ἕν· τίκτουσα γὰρ συνεκβάλλει τῷ τέκνῳ τὰς μήτρας. τὸ δὲ αἴτιον τούτου τόδε ἐστί· ἐπεὰν ὁ σκύμνος ἐν τῇ μητρὶ ἐὼν ἄρχηται διακινεόμενος, ὁ δὲ ἔχων ὄνυχας θηρίων πολλὸν πάντων ὀξυτάτους ἀμύσσει τὰς μήτρας, αὐξόμενός τε δὴ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἐσικνέεται καταγράφων· πέλας τε δὴ ὁ τόκος ἐστί, καὶ τὸ παράπαν λείπεται αὐτέων ὑγιὲς οὐδέν.
3.114. ἀποκλινομένης δὲ μεσαμβρίης παρήκει πρὸς δύνοντα ἥλιον ἡ Αἰθιοπίη χώρη ἐσχάτη τῶν οἰκεομενέων· αὕτη δὲ χρυσόν τε φέρει πολλὸν καὶ ἐλέφαντας ἀμφιλαφέας καὶ δένδρεα πάντα ἄγρια καὶ ἔβενον καὶ ἄνδρας μεγίστους καὶ καλλίστους καὶ μακροβιωτάτους.
3.124. ὁ δὲ πολλὰ μὲν τῶν μαντίων ἀπαγορευόντων πολλὰ δὲ τῶν φίλων ἐστέλλετο αὐτόσε, πρὸς δὲ καὶ ἰδούσης τῆς θυγατρὸς ὄψιν ἐνυπνίου τοιήνδε· ἐδόκεε οἷ τὸν πατέρα ἐν τῷ ἠέρι μετέωρον ἐόντα λοῦσθαι μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ Διός, χρίεσθαι δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου. ταύτην ἰδοῦσα τὴν ὄψιν παντοίη ἐγίνετο μὴ ἀποδημῆσαι τὸν Πολυκράτεα παρὰ τὸν Ὀροίτεα, καὶ δὴ καὶ ἰόντος αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν πεντηκόντερον ἐπεφημίζετο. ὁ δέ οἱ ἠπείλησε, ἢν σῶς ἀπονοστήσῃ, πολλόν μιν χρόνον παρθενεύεσθαι. ἣ δὲ ἠρήσατο ἐπιτελέα ταῦτα γενέσθαι· βούλεσθαι γὰρ παρθενεύεσθαι πλέω χρόνον ἢ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐστερῆσθαι.
3.125. Πολυκράτης δὲ πάσης συμβουλίης ἀλογήσας ἔπλεε παρὰ τὸν Ὀροίτεα, ἅμα ἀγόμενος ἄλλους τε πολλοὺς τῶν ἑταίρων, ἐν δὲ δὴ καὶ Δημοκήδεα τὸν Καλλιφῶντος Κροτωνιήτην ἄνδρα, ἰητρόν τε ἐόντα καὶ τὴν τέχνην ἀσκέοντα ἄριστα τῶν κατʼ ἑωυτόν. ἀπικόμενος δὲ ἐς τὴν Μαγνησίην ὁ Πολυκράτης διεφθάρη κακῶς, οὔτε ἑωυτοῦ ἀξίως οὔτε τῶν ἑωυτοῦ φρονημάτων· ὅτι γὰρ μὴ οἱ Συρηκοσίων γενόμενοι τύραννοι οὐδὲ εἷς τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλληνικῶν τυράννων ἄξιος ἐστὶ Πολυκράτεϊ μεγαλοπρεπείην συμβληθῆναι. ἀποκτείνας δέ μιν οὐκ ἀξίως ἀπηγήσιος Ὀροίτης ἀνεσταύρωσε· τῶν δέ οἱ ἑπομένων ὅσοι μὲν ἦσαν Σάμιοι, ἀπῆκε, κελεύων σφέας ἑωυτῷ χάριν εἰδέναι ἐόντας ἐλευθέρους, ὅσοι δὲ ἦσαν ξεῖνοί τε καὶ δοῦλοι τῶν ἑπομένων, ἐν ἀνδραπόδων λόγῳ ποιεύμενος εἶχε. Πολυκράτης δὲ ἀνακρεμάμενος ἐπετέλεε πᾶσαν τὴν ὄψιν τῆς θυγατρός· ἐλοῦτο μὲν γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ Διὸς ὅκως ὕοι, ἐχρίετο δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου, ἀνιεὶς αὐτὸς ἐκ τοῦ σώματος ἰκμάδα.
3.133. ἐν χρόνῳ δὲ ὀλίγῳ μετὰ ταῦτα τάδε ἄλλα συνήνεικε γενέσθαι. Ἀτόσσῃ τῇ Κύρου μὲν θυγατρὶ Δαρείου δὲ γυναικὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ μαστοῦ ἔφυ φῦμα, μετὰ δὲ ἐκραγὲν ἐνέμετο πρόσω. ὅσον μὲν δὴ χρόνον ἦν ἔλασσον, ἣ δὲ κρύπτουσα καὶ αἰσχυνομένη ἔφραζε οὐδενί· ἐπείτε δὲ ἐν κακῷ ἦν, μετεπέμψατο τὸν Δημοκήδεα καί οἱ ἐπέδεξε. ὁ δὲ φὰς ὑγιέα ποιήσειν ἐξορκοῖ μιν ἦ μέν οἱ ἀντυπουργήσειν ἐκείνην τοῦτο τὸ ἂν αὐτῆς δεηθῇ· δεήσεσθαι δὲ οὐδενὸς τῶν ὅσα ἐς αἰσχύνην ἐστὶ φέροντα.
3.139. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Σάμον βασιλεὺς Δαρεῖος αἱρέει, πολίων πασέων πρώτην Ἑλληνίδων καὶ βαρβάρων, διὰ τοιήνδε τινὰ αἰτίην. Καμβύσεω τοῦ Κύρου στρατευομένου ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον ἄλλοι τε συχνοὶ ἐς τὴν Αἴγυπτον ἀπίκοντο Ἑλλήνων, οἳ μέν, ὡς οἰκός, κατʼ ἐμπορίην στρατευόμενοι, οἳ δὲ τινὲς καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς χώρης θεηταί· τῶν ἦν καὶ Συλοσῶν ὁ Αἰάκεος, Πολυκράτεός τε ἐὼν ἀδελφεὸς καὶ φεύγων ἐκ Σάμου. τοῦτον τὸν Συλοσῶντα κατέλαβε εὐτυχίη τις τοιήδε. λαβὼν χλανίδα καὶ περιβαλόμενος πυρρὴν ἠγόραζε ἐν τῇ Μέμφι· ἰδὼν δὲ αὐτὸν Δαρεῖος, δορυφόρος τε ἐὼν Καμβύσεω καὶ λόγου οὐδενός κω μεγάλου, ἐπεθύμησε τῆς χλανίδος καὶ αὐτὴν προσελθὼν ὠνέετο. ὁ δὲ Συλοσῶν ὁρέων τὸν Δαρεῖον μεγάλως ἐπιθυμέοντα τῆς χλανίδος, θείῃ τύχῃ χρεώμενος λέγει “ἐγὼ ταύτην πωλέω μὲν οὐδενὸς χρήματος, δίδωμι δὲ ἄλλως, εἴ περ οὕτω δεῖ γενέσθαι πάντως τοι.” αἰνέσας ταῦτα ὁ Δαρεῖος παραλαμβάνει τὸ εἷμα.
3.149. τὴν δὲ Σάμον σαγηνεύσαντες 1 οἱ Πέρσαι παρέδοσαν Συλοσῶντι ἔρημον ἐοῦσαν ἀνδρῶν. ὑστέρῳ μέντοι χρόνῳ καὶ συγκατοίκισε αὐτὴν ὁ στρατηγὸς Ὀτάνης ἔκ τε ὄψιος ὀνείρου καὶ νούσου ἥ μιν κατέλαβε νοσῆσαι τὰ αἰδοῖα.
4.26. νόμοισι δὲ Ἰσσηδόνες τοῖσιδε λέγονται χρᾶσθαι. ἐπεὰν ἀνδρὶ ἀποθάνῃ πατήρ, οἱ προσήκοντες πάντες προσάγουσι πρόβατα, καὶ ἔπειτα ταῦτα θύσαντες καὶ καταταμόντες τὰ κρέα κατατάμνουσι καὶ τὸν τοῦ δεκομένου τεθνεῶτα γονέα, ἀναμίξαντες δὲ πάντα τὰ κρέα δαῖτα προτίθενται· τὴν δὲ κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ ψιλώσαντες καὶ ἐκκαθήραντες καταχρυσοῦσι καὶ ἔπειτα ἅτε ἀγάλματι χρέωνται, θυσίας μεγάλας ἐπετείους ἐπιτελέοντες. παῖς δὲ πατρὶ τοῦτο ποιέει, κατά περ Ἕλληνες τὰ γενέσια. ἄλλως δὲ δίκαιοι καὶ οὗτοι λέγονται εἶναι, ἰσοκρατέες δὲ ὁμοίως αἱ γυναῖκες τοῖσι ἀνδράσι.
4.39. αὕτη μέν νυν ἡ ἑτέρη τῶν ἀκτέων, ἡ δὲ δὴ ἑτέρη ἀπὸ Περσέων ἀρξαμένη παρατέταται ἐς τὴν Ἐρυθρὴν θάλασσαν, ἥ τε Περσικὴ καὶ ἀπὸ ταύτης ἐκδεκομένη ἡ Ἀσσυρίη καὶ ἀπὸ Ἀσσυρίης ἡ Ἀραβίη· λήγει δὲ αὕτη, οὐ λήγουσα εἰ μὴ νόμῳ, ἐς τὸν κόλπον τὸν Ἀράβιον, ἐς τὸν Δαρεῖος ἐκ τοῦ Νείλου διώρυχα ἐσήγαγε. μέχρι μέν νυν Φοινίκης ἀπὸ Περσέων χῶρος πλατὺς καὶ πολλός ἐστι· τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ Φοινίκης παρήκει διὰ τῆσδε τῆς θαλάσσης ἡ ἀκτὴ αὕτη παρά τε Συρίην τὴν Παλαιστίνην καὶ Αἴγυπτον, ἐς τὴν τελευτᾷ· ἐν τῇ ἔθνεα ἐστὶ τρία μοῦνα.
4.44. τῆς δὲ Ἀσίης τὰ πολλὰ ὑπὸ Δαρείου ἐξευρέθη, ὃς βουλόμενος Ἰνδὸν ποταμόν, ὃς κροκοδείλους δεύτερος οὗτος ποταμῶν πάντων παρέχεται, τοῦτον τὸν ποταμὸν εἰδέναι τῇ ἐς θάλασσαν ἐκδιδοῖ, πέμπει πλοίοισι ἄλλους τε τοῖσι ἐπίστευε τὴν ἀληθείην ἐρέειν καὶ δὴ καὶ Σκύλακα ἄνδρα Καρυανδέα. οἳ δὲ ὁρμηθέντες ἐκ Κασπατύρου τε πόλιος καὶ τῆς Πακτυικῆς γῆς ἔπλεον κατὰ ποταμὸν πρὸς ἠῶ τε καὶ ἡλίου ἀνατολὰς ἐς θάλασσαν, διὰ θαλάσσης δὲ πρὸς ἑσπέρην πλέοντες τριηκοστῷ μηνὶ ἀπικνέονται ἐς τοῦτον τὸν χῶρον ὅθεν ὁ Αἰγυπτίων βασιλεὺς τοὺς Φοίνικας τοὺς πρότερον εἶπα ἀπέστειλε περιπλώειν Λιβύην. μετὰ δὲ τούτους περιπλώσαντας Ἰνδούς τε κατεστρέψατο Δαρεῖος καὶ τῇ θαλάσσῃ ταύτῃ ἐχρᾶτο. οὕτω καὶ τῆς Ἀσίης, πλὴν τὰ πρὸς ἥλιον ἀνίσχοντα, τὰ ἄλλα ἀνεύρηται ὃμοια παρεχομένη τῇ Λιβύῃ.
4.76. ξεινικοῖσι δὲ νομαίοισι καὶ οὗτοι φεύγουσι αἰνῶς χρᾶσθαι, μήτε τεῶν ἄλλων, Ἑλληνικοῖσι δὲ καὶ ἥκιστα, ὡς διέδεξαν Ἀνάχαρσις τε καὶ δεύτερα αὖτις Σκύλης. τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ Ἀνάχαρσις ἐπείτε γῆν πολλὴν θεωρήσας καὶ ἀποδεξάμενος κατʼ αὐτὴν σοφίην πολλὴν ἐκομίζετο ἐς ἤθεα τὰ Σκυθέων, πλέων διʼ Ἑλλησπόντου προσίσχει ἐς Κύζικον. καὶ εὗρε γὰρ τῇ μητρὶ τῶν θεῶν ἀνάγοντας τοὺς Κυζικηνοὺς ὁρτὴν μεγαλοπρεπέως κάρτα, εὔξατο τῇ μητρὶ ὁ Ἀνάχαρσις, ἢν σῶς καὶ ὑγιὴς ἀπονοστήσῃ ἐς ἑωυτοῦ, θύσειν τε κατὰ ταὐτὰ κατὰ ὥρα τοὺς Κυζικηνοὺς ποιεῦντας καὶ παννυχίδα στήσειν. ὡς δὲ ἀπίκετο ἐς τὴν Σκυθικήν καταδὺς ἐς τὴν καλεομένην Ὑλαίην ʽἡ δʼ ἔστι μὲν παρὰ τὸν Ἀχιλλήιον δρόμον, τυγχάνει δὲ πᾶσα ἐοῦσα δενδρέων παντοίων πλέἠ, ἐς ταύτην δὴ καταδὺς ὁ Ἀνάχαρσις τὴν ὁρτὴν ἐπετέλεε πᾶσαν τῇ θεῷ, τύμπανον τε ἔχων καὶ ἐκδησάμενος ἀγάλματα. καὶ τῶν τις Σκυθέων καταφρασθεὶς αὐτὸν ταῦτα ποιεῦντα ἐσήμηνε τῷ βασιλέι Σαυλίω· ὁ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπικόμενος ὡς εἶδε τὸν Ἀνάχαρσιν ποιεῦντα ταῦτα, τοξεύσας αὐτὸν ἀπέκτεινε. καὶ νῦν ἤν τις εἴρηται περὶ Ἀναχάρσιος, οὐ φασί μιν Σκύθαι γινώσκειν, διὰ τοῦτο ὅτι ἐξεδήμησέ τε ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ ξεινικοῖσι ἔθεσι διεχρήσατο. ὡς δʼ ἐγὼ ἤκουσα Τύμνεω τοῦ Ἀριαπείθεος ἐπιτρόπου, εἶναι αὐτὸν Ἰδανθύρσου τοῦ Σκυθέων βασιλέος πάτρων, παῖδα δὲ εἶναι Γνούρου τοῦ Λύκου τοῦ Σπαργαπείθεος. εἰ ὦν ταύτης ἦν τῆς οἰκίης ὁ Ἀνάχαρσις, ἴστω ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφεοῦ ἀποθανών· Ἰδάνθυρσος γὰρ ἦν παῖς Σαυλίου, Σαύλιος δὲ ἦν ὁ ἀποκτείνας Ἀνάχαρσιν. 4.77. καίτοι τινὰ ἤδη ἤκουσα λόγον ἄλλον ὑπὸ Πελοποννησίων λεγόμενον, ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ Σκυθέων βασιλέος Ἀνάχαρσις ἀποπεμφθεὶς τῆς Ἑλλάδος μαθητὴς γένοιτο, ὀπίσω τε ἀπονοστήσας φαίη πρὸς τὸν ἀποπέμψαντα Ἕλληνας πάντας ἀσχόλους εἶναι ἐς πᾶσαν σοφίην πλὴν Λακεδαιμονίων, τούτοισι δὲ εἶναι μούνοισι σωφρόνως δοῦναι τε καὶ δέξασθαι λόγον. ἀλλʼ οὗτος μὲν ὁ λόγος ἄλλως πέπλασται ὑπʼ αὐτῶν Ἑλλήνων, ὁ δʼ ὧν ἀνὴρ ὥσπερ πρότερον εἰρέθη διεφθάρη.
4.79. ἐπείτε δὲ ἔδεέ οἱ κακῶς γενέσθαι, ἐγίνετο ἀπὸ προφάσιος τοιῆσδε. ἐπεθύμησε Διονύσῳ Βακχείῳ τελεσθῆναι· μέλλοντι δέ οἱ ἐς χεῖρας ἄγεσθαι τὴν τελετὴν ἐγένετο φάσμα μέγιστον. ἦν οἱ ἐν Βορυσθενεϊτέων τῇ πόλι οἰκίης μεγάλης καὶ πολυτελέος περιβολή, τῆς καὶ ὀλίγῳ τι πρότερον τούτων μνήμην εἶχον, τὴν πέριξ λευκοῦ λίθου σφίγγες τε καὶ γρῦπες ἕστασαν· ἐς ταύτην ὁ θεὸς ἐνέσκηψε βέλος. καὶ ἣ μὲν κατεκάη πᾶσα, Σκύλης δὲ οὐδὲν τούτου εἵνεκα ἧσσον ἐπετέλεσε τὴν τελετήν. Σκύθαι δὲ τοῦ βακχεύειν πέρι Ἕλλησι ὀνειδίζουσι· οὐ γὰρ φασὶ οἰκὸς εἶναι θεὸν ἐξευρίσκειν τοῦτον ὅστις μαίνεσθαι ἐνάγει ἀνθρώπους. ἐπείτε δὲ ἐτελέσθη τῷ Βακχείῳ ὁ Σκύλης, διεπρήστευσε τῶν τις Βορυσθενειτέων πρὸς τοὺς Σκύθας λέγων “ἡμῖν γὰρ καταγελᾶτε, ὦ Σκύθαι, ὅτι βακχεύομεν καὶ ἡμέας ὁ θεὸς λαμβάνει· νῦν οὗτος ὁ δαίμων καὶ τὸν ὑμέτερον βασιλέα λελάβηκε, καὶ βακχεύει τε καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ μαίνεται. εἰ δέ μοι ἀπιστέετε, ἕπεσθε, καὶ ὑμῖν ἐγὼ δέξω.” εἵποντο τῶν Σκύθεων οἱ προεστεῶτες, καὶ αὐτοὺς ἀναγαγὼν ὁ Βορυσθενεΐτης λάθρῃ ἐπὶ πύργον κατεῖσε. ἐπείτε δὲ παρήιε σὺν τῷ θιάσῳ ὁ Σκύλης καὶ εἶδόν μιν βακχεύοντα οἱ Σκύθαι, κάρτα συμφορὴν μεγάλην ἐποιήσαντο, ἐξελθόντες δὲ ἐσήμαινον πάσῃ τῇ στρατιῇ τὰ ἴδοιεν. 4.80. ὡς δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐξήλαυνε ὁ Σκύλης ἐς ἤθεα τὰ ἑωυτοῦ, οἱ Σκύθαι προστησάμενοι τὸν ἀδελφεὸν αὐτοῦ Ὀκταμασάδην, γεγονότα ἐκ τῆς Τήρεω θυγατρός, ἐπανιστέατο τῷ Σκύλῃ. ὁ δὲ μαθὼν τὸ γινόμενον ἐπʼ ἑωυτῷ καὶ τὴν αἰτίην διʼ ἣν ἐποιέετο, καταφεύγει ἐς τὴν Θρηίκην. πυθόμενος δὲ ὁ Ὀκταμασάδης ταῦτα ἐστρατεύετο ἐπὶ τὴν Θρηίκην. ἐπείτε δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ Ἴστρῳ ἐγένετο, ἠντίασάν μιν οἱ Θρήικες, μελλόντων δὲ αὐτῶν συνάψειν ἔπεμψε Σιτάλκης παρὰ τὸν Ὀκταμασάδην λέγων τοιάδε. “τι δεῖ ἡμέας ἀλλήλων πειρηθῆναι; εἶς μέν μευ τῆς ἀδελφεῆς παῖς, ἔχεις δέ μευ ἀδελφεόν. σὺ δέ μοι ἀπόδος τοῦτον, καὶ ἐγὼ σοὶ τὸν σὸν Σκύλην παραδίδωμι· στρατιῇ δὲ μήτε σὺ κινδυνεύσῃς μήτʼ ἐγώ.” ταῦτά οἱ πέμψας ὁ Σιτάλκης ἐπεκηρυκεύετο· ἦν γὰρ παρὰ τῷ Ὀκταμασάδη ἀδελφεὸς Σιτάλκεω πεφευγώς. ὁ δὲ Ὀκταμασάδης καταινέει ταῦτα, ἐκδοὺς δὲ τὸν ἑωυτοῦ μήτρωα Σιτάλκη ἔλαβε τὸν ἀδελφεὸν Σκύλην. καὶ Σιτάλκης μὲν παραλαβὼν τὸν ἀδελφεὸν ἀπήγετο, Σκύλεω δὲ Ὀκταμασάδης αὐτοῦ ταύτῃ ἀπέταμε τὴν κεφαλήν. οὕτω μὲν περιστέλλουσι τὰ σφέτερα νόμαια Σκύθαι, τοῖσι δὲ παρακτωμένοισι ξεινικοὺς νόμους τοιαῦτα ἐπιτίμια διδοῦσι.
4.127. πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ Σκυθέων βασιλεὺς Ἰδάνθυρσος λέγει τάδε. “οὕτω τὸ ἐμὸν ἔχει, ὦ Πέρσα. ἐγὼ οὐδένα κω ἀνθρώπων δείσας ἔφυγον οὔτε πρότερον οὔτε νῦν σὲ φεύγω, οὐδέ τι νεώτερον εἰμὶ ποιήσας νῦν ἢ καὶ ἐν εἰρήνη ἐώθεα ποιέειν. ὅ τι δὲ οὐκ αὐτίκα μάχομαι τοι, ἐγὼ καὶ τοῦτο σημανέω. ἡμῖν οὔτε ἄστεα οὔτε γῆ πεφυτευμένη ἐστί, τῶν πέρι δείσαντες μὴ ἁλῷ, ἢ καρῇ ταχύτερον ἂν ὑμῖν συμμίσγοιμεν ἐς μάχην. εἰ δὲ δέοι πάντως ἐς τοῦτο κατὰ τάχος ἀπικνέεσθαι, τυγχάνουσι ἡμῖν ἐόντες τάφοι πατρώιοι· φέρετε, τούτους ἀνευρόντες συγχέειν πειρᾶσθε αὐτούς, καὶ γνώσεσθε τότε εἴτε ὑμῖν μαχησόμεθα περὶ τῶν τάφων εἴτε καὶ οὐ μαχησόμεθα. πρότερον δέ, ἢν μὴ ἡμέας λόγος αἱρέῃ, οὐ συμμίξομεν τοι. ἀμφὶ μὲν μάχῃ τοσαῦτα εἰρήσθω, δεσπότας δὲ ἐμοὺς ἐγὼ Δία τε νομίζω τὸν ἐμὸν πρόγονον καὶ Ἱστίην τὴν Σκυθέων βασίλειαν μούνους εἶναι. σοὶ δὲ ἀντὶ μὲν δώρων γῆς τε καὶ ὕδατος δῶρα πέμψω τοιαῦτα οἷα σοὶ πρέπει ἐλθεῖν, ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ ὅτι δεσπότης ἔφησας εἶναι ἐμός, κλαίειν λέγω.” τοῦτο ἐστὶ ἡ ἀπὸ Σκυθέων ῥῆσις. 1
4.146. χρόνου δὲ οὐ πολλοῦ διεξελθόντος αὐτίκα οἱ Μινύαι ἐξύβρισαν, τῆς τε βασιληίης μεταιτέοντες καὶ ἄλλα ποιέοντες οὐκ ὅσια. τοῖσι ὦν Λακεδαιμονίοισι ἔδοξε αὐτοὺς ἀποκτεῖναι, συλλαβόντες δὲ σφέας κατέβαλον ἐς ἑρκτήν. κτείνουσι δὲ τοὺς ἂν κτείνωσι Λακεδαιμόνιοι νυκτός, μετʼ ἡμέρην δὲ οὐδένα. ἐπεὶ ὦν ἔμελλον σφέας καταχρήσασθαι, παραιτήσαντο αἱ γυναῖκες τῶν Μινυέων, ἐοῦσαι ἀσταί τε καὶ τῶν πρώτων Σπαρτιητέων θυγατέρες, ἐσελθεῖν τε ἐς τὴν ἑρκτὴν καὶ ἐς λόγους ἐλθεῖν ἑκάστη τῷ ἑωυτῆς ἀνδρί. οἳ δὲ σφέας παρῆκαν, οὐδένα δόλον δοκέοντες ἐξ αὐτέων ἔσεσθαι. αἳ δὲ ἐπείτε ἐσῆλθον, ποιέουσι τοιάδε· πᾶσαν τὴν εἶχον ἐσθῆτα παραδοῦσαι τοῖσι ἀνδράσι αὐταὶ τὴν τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἔλαβον, οἱ δὲ Μινύαι ἐνδύντες τὴν γυναικηίην ἐσθῆτα ἅτε γυναῖκες ἐξήισαν ἔξω, ἐκφυγόντες δὲ τρόπῳ τοιούτῳ ἵζοντο αὖτις ἐς τὸ Τηΰγετον. 4.147. τὸν δὲ αὐτὸν τοῦτον χρόνον Θήρας ὁ Αὐτεσίωνος τοῦ Τισαμενοῦ τοῦ Θερσάνδρου τοῦ Πολυνείκεος ἔστελλε ἐς ἀποικίην ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος· ἦν δὲ ὁ Θήρας οὗτος, γένος ἐὼν Καδμεῖος, τῆς μητρὸς ἀδελφεὸς τοῖσι Ἀριστοδήμου παισὶ Εὐρυσθένεϊ καὶ Προκλές. ἐόντων δὲ ἔτι τῶν παίδων τούτων νηπίων ἐπιτροπαίην εἶχε ὁ Θήρας τὴν ἐν Σπάρτῃ βασιληίην. αὐξηθέντων δὲ τῶν ἀδελφιδέων καὶ παραλαβόντων τὴν ἀρχήν, οὕτω δὴ ὁ Θήρας δεινὸν ποιεύμενος ἄρχεσθαι ὑπʼ ἄλλων ἐπείτε ἐγεύσατο ἀρχῆς, οὐκ ἔφη μένειν ἐν τῇ Λακεδαίμονι ἀλλʼ ἀποπλεύσεσθαι ἐς τοὺς συγγενέας. ἦσαν δὲ ἐν τῇ νῦν Θήρῃ καλεομένη νήσῳ, πρότερον δὲ Καλλίστῃ τῇ αὐτῇ ταύτῃ, ἀπόγονοι Μεμβλιάρου τοῦ Ποικίλεω ἀνδρὸς Φοίνικος. Κάδμος γὰρ ὁ Ἀγήνορος Εὐρώπην διζήμενος προσέσχε ἐς τὴν νῦν Θήρην καλεομένην· προσσχόντι δὲ εἴτε δή οἱ ἡ χώρη ἤρεσε, εἴτε καὶ ἄλλως ἠθέλησε ποιῆσαι τοῦτο· καταλείπει γὰρ ἐν τῇ νήσῳ ταύτῃ ἄλλους τε τῶν Φοινίκων καὶ δὴ καὶ τῶν ἑωυτοῦ συγγενέων Μεμβλίαρον. οὗτοι ἐνέμοντο τὴν Καλλίστην καλεομένην ἐπὶ γενεάς, πρὶν ἤ Θήραν ἐλθεῖν ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος, ὀκτὼ ἀνδρῶν. 4.148. ἐπὶ τούτους δὴ ὦν ὁ Θήρας λεὼν ἔχων ἀπὸ τῶν φυλέων ἔστελλε, συνοικήσων τούτοισι καὶ οὐδαμῶς ἐξελῶν αὐτοὺς ἀλλὰ κάρτα οἰκηιούμενος. ἐπείτε δὲ καὶ οἱ Μινύαι ἐκδράντες ἐκ τῆς ἑρκτῆς ἵζοντο ἐς τὸ Τηΰγετον, τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων βουλευομένων σφέας ἀπολλύναι παραιτέεται ὁ Θήρας, ὅκως μήτε φόνος γένηται, αὐτός τε ὑπεδέκετο σφέας ἐξάξειν ἐκ τῆς χώρης. συγχωρησάντων δὲ τῇ γνώμῃ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων, τρισὶ τριηκοντέροισι ἐς τοὺς Μεμβιάρου ἀπογόνους ἔπλωσε, οὔτι πάντας ἄγων τοὺς Μινύας ἀλλʼ ὀλίγους τινάς. οἱ γὰρ πλεῦνες αὐτῶν ἐτράποντο ἐς τοὺς Παρωρεάτας καὶ Καύκωνας, τούτους δὲ ἐξελάσαντες ἐκ τῆς χώρης σφέας αὐτοὺς ἓξ μοίρας διεῖλον, καὶ ἔπειτα ἔκτισαν πόλιας τάσδε ἐν αὐτοῖσι, Λέπρεον Μάκιστον Φρίξας Πύργον Ἔπιον Νούδιον. τουτέων δὲ τὰς πλεῦνας ἐπʼ ἐμέο Ἠλεῖοι ἐπόρθησαν. τῇ δὲ νήσῳ ἐπὶ τοῦ οἰκιστέω Θήρα ἡ ἐπωνυμίη ἐγένετο.
5.9. τὸ δὲ πρὸς βορέω τῆς χώρης ἔτι ταύτης οὐδεὶς ἔχει φράσαι τὸ ἀτρεκὲς οἵτινες εἰσὶ ἄνθρωποι οἰκέοντες αὐτήν, ἀλλὰ τὰ πέρην ἤδη τοῦ Ἴστρου ἔρημος χώρη φαίνεται ἐοῦσα καὶ ἄπειρος. μούνους δὲ δύναμαι πυθέσθαι οἰκέοντας πέρην τοῦ Ἴστρου ἀνθρώπους τοῖσι οὔνομα εἶναι Σιγύννας, ἐσθῆτι δὲ χρεωμένους Μηδικῇ· τοὺς δὲ ἵππους αὐτῶν εἶναι λασίους ἅπαν τὸ σῶμα ἐπὶ πέντε δακτύλους τὸ βάθος τῶν τριχῶν, μικροὺς δὲ καὶ σιμοὺς καὶ ἀδυνάτους ἄνδρας φέρειν, ζευγνυμένους δὲ ὑπʼ ἅρματα εἶναι ὀξυτάτους· ἁρματηλατέειν δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους. κατήκειν δὲ τούτων τοὺς οὔρους ἀγχοῦ Ἐνετῶν τῶν ἐν τῷ Ἀδρίῃ. εἶναι δὲ Μήδων σφέας ἀποίκους λέγουσι. ὅκως δὲ οὗτοι Μήδων ἄποικοι γεγόνασι, ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ ἔχω ἐπιφράσασθαι, γένοιτο δʼ ἂν πᾶν ἐν τῷ μακρῷ χρόνῳ. Σιγύννας δʼ ὦν καλέουσι Δίγυες οἱ ἄνω ὑπὲρ Μασσαλίης οἰκέοντες τοὺς καπήλους, Κύπριοι δὲ τὰ δόρατα.
5.49. ἀπικνέεται δὲ ὦν ὁ Ἀρισταγόρης ὁ Μιλήτου τύραννος ἐς τὴν Σπάρτην Κλεομένεος ἔχοντος τὴν ἀρχήν· τῷ δὴ ἐς λόγους ἤιε, ὡς Λακεδαιμόνιοι λέγουσι, ἔχων χάλκεον πίνακα ἐν τῷ γῆς ἁπάσης περίοδος ἐνετέτμητο καὶ θάλασσά τε πᾶσα καὶ ποταμοὶ πάντες. ἀπικνεόμενος δὲ ἐς λόγους ὁ Ἀρισταγόρης ἔλεγε πρὸς αὐτὸν τάδε. “Κλεόμενες, σπουδὴν μὲν τὴν ἐμὴν μὴ θωμάσῃς τῆς ἐνθαῦτα ἀπίξιος· τὰ γὰρ κατήκοντα ἐστὶ τοιαῦτα· Ἰώνων παῖδας δούλους εἶναι ἀντʼ ἐλευθέρων ὄνειδος καὶ ἄλγος μέγιστον μὲν αὐτοῖσι ἡμῖν, ἔτι δὲ τῶν λοιπῶν ὑμῖν, ὅσῳ προέστατε τῆς Ἑλλάδος. νῦν ὦν πρὸς θεῶν τῶν Ἑλληνίων ῥύσασθε Ἴωνας ἐκ δουλοσύνης ἄνδρας ὁμαίμονας. εὐπετέως δὲ ὑμῖν ταῦτα οἷά τε χωρέειν ἐστί· οὔτε γὰρ οἱ βάρβαροι ἄλκιμοι εἰσί, ὑμεῖς τε τὰ ἐς τὸν πόλεμον ἐς τὰ μέγιστα ἀνήκετε ἀρετῆς πέρι, ἥ τε μάχη αὐτῶν ἐστὶ τοιήδε, τόξα καὶ αἰχμὴ βραχέα· ἀναξυρίδας δὲ ἔχοντες ἔρχονται ἐς τὰς μάχας καὶ κυρβασίας ἐπὶ τῇσι κεφαλῇσι. οὕτω εὐπετέες χειρωθῆναι εἰσί. ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἀγαθὰ τοῖσι τὴν ἤπειρον ἐκείνην νεμομένοισι ὅσα οὐδὲ τοῖσι συνάπασι ἄλλοισι, ἀπὸ χρυσοῦ ἀρξαμένοισι, ἄργυρος καὶ χαλκὸς καὶ ἐσθὴς ποικίλη καὶ ὑποζύγιά τε καὶ ἀνδράποδα· τὰ θυμῷ βουλόμενοι αὐτοὶ ἂν ἔχοιτε. κατοίκηνται δὲ ἀλλήλων ἐχόμενοι ὡς ἐγὼ φράσω, Ἰώνων μὲν τῶνδε οἵδε Λυδοί, οἰκέοντές τε χώρην ἀγαθὴν καὶ πολυαργυρώτατοι ἐόντες.” δεικνὺς δὲ ἔλεγε ταῦτα ἐς τῆς γῆς τὴν περίοδον, τὴν ἐφέρετο ἐν τῷ πίνακι ἐντετμημένην. “Λυδῶν δέ” ἔφη λέγων ὁ Ἀρισταγόρης “οἵδε ἔχονται Φρύγες οἱ πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ, πολυπροβατώτατοί τε ἐόντες πάντων τῶν ἐγὼ οἶδα καὶ πολυκαρπότατοι. Φρυγῶν δὲ ἔχονται Καππαδόκαι, τοὺς ἡμεῖς Συρίους καλέομεν. τούτοισι δὲ πρόσουροι Κίλικες, κατήκοντες ἐπὶ θάλασσαν τήνδε, ἐν τῇ ἥδε Κύπρος νῆσος κέεται· οἳ πεντακόσια τάλαντα βασιλέι τὸν ἐπέτειον φόρον ἐπιτελεῦσι. Κιλίκων δὲ τῶνδε ἔχονται Ἀρμένιοι οἵδε, καὶ οὗτοι ἐόντες πολυπρόβατοι, Ἀρμενίων δὲ Ματιηνοὶ χώρην τήνδε ἔχοντες. ἔχεται δὲ τούτων γῆ ἥδε Κισσίη, ἐν τῇ δὴ παρὰ ποταμὸν τόνδε Χοάσπην κείμενα ἐστὶ τὰ Σοῦσα ταῦτα, ἔνθα βασιλεύς τε μέγας δίαιταν ποιέεται, καὶ τῶν χρημάτων οἱ θησαυροὶ ἐνθαῦτα εἰσί· ἑλόντες δὲ ταύτην τὴν πόλιν θαρσέοντες ἤδη τῷ Διὶ πλούτου πέρι ἐρίζετε. ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν χώρης ἄρα οὐ πολλῆς οὐδὲ οὕτω χρηστῆς καὶ οὔρων σμικρῶν χρεόν ἐστι ὑμέας μάχας ἀναβάλλεσθαι πρός τε Μεσσηνίους ἐόντας ἰσοπαλέας καὶ Ἀρκάδας τε καὶ Ἀργείους, τοῖσι οὔτε χρυσοῦ ἐχόμενον ἐστι οὐδὲν οὔτε ἀργύρου, τῶν πέρι καί τινα ἐνάγει προθυμίη μαχόμενον ἀποθνήσκειν· παρέχον δὲ τῆς Ἀσίης πάσης ἄρχειν εὐπετέως, ἄλλο τι αἱρήσεσθε;” Ἀρισταγόρης μὲν ταῦτα ἔλεξε, Κλεομένης δὲ ἀμείβετο τοῖσιδε. “ὦ ξεῖνε Μιλήσιε, ἀναβάλλομαί τοι ἐς τρίτην ἡμέρην ὑποκρινέεσθαι.”
5.62. ἡ μὲν δὴ ὄψις τοῦ Ἱππάρχου ἐνυπνίου καὶ οἱ Γεφυραῖοι ὅθεν ἐγεγόνεσαν, τῶν ἦσαν οἱ Ἱππάρχου φονέες, ἀπήγηταί μοι· δεῖ δὲ πρὸς τούτοισι ἔτι ἀναλαβεῖν τὸν κατʼ ἀρχὰς ἤια λέξων λόγον, ὡς τυράννων ἐλευθερώθησαν Ἀθηναῖοι. Ἱππίεω τυραννεύοντος καὶ ἐμπικραινομένου Ἀθηναίοισι διὰ τὸν Ἱππάρχου θάνατον, Ἀλκμεωνίδαι γένος ἐόντες Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ φεύγοντες Πεισιστρατίδας, ἐπείτε σφι ἅμα τοῖσι ἄλλοισι Ἀθηναίων φυγάσι πειρωμένοισι κατὰ τὸ ἰσχυρὸν οὐ προεχώρεε κάτοδος, ἀλλὰ προσέπταιον μεγάλως πειρώμενοι κατιέναι τε καὶ ἐλευθεροῦν τὰς Ἀθήνας, Λειψύδριον τὸ ὑπὲρ Παιονίης τειχίσαντες, ἐνθαῦτα οἱ Ἀλκμεωνίδαι πᾶν ἐπὶ τοῖσι Πεισιστρατίδῃσι μηχανώμενοι παρʼ Ἀμφικτυόνων τὸν νηὸν μισθοῦνται τὸν ἐν Δελφοῖσι, τὸν νῦν ἐόντα τότε δὲ οὔκω, τοῦτον ἐξοικοδομῆσαι. οἷα δὲ χρημάτων εὖ ἥκοντες καὶ ἐόντες ἄνδρες δόκιμοι ἀνέκαθεν ἔτι, τόν τε νηὸν ἐξεργάσαντο τοῦ παραδείγματος κάλλιον τά τε ἄλλα καὶ συγκειμένου σφι πωρίνου λίθου ποιέειν τὸν νηόν, Παρίου τὰ ἔμπροσθε αὐτοῦ ἐξεποίησαν.
6.61. ταῦτα μὲν δὴ οὕτω γίνεται. τότε δὲ τὸν Κλεομένεα ἐόντα ἐν τῇ Αἰγίνῃ καὶ κοινὰ τῇ Ἑλλάδι ἀγαθὰ προεργαζόμενον ὁ Δημάρητος διέβαλε, οὐκ Αἰγινητέων οὕτω κηδόμενος ὡς φθόνῳ καὶ ἄγῃ χρεώμενος. Κλεομένης δὲ νοστήσας ἀπʼ Αἰγίνης ἐβούλευε τὸν Δημάρητον παῦσαι τῆς βασιληίης, διὰ πρῆγμα τοιόνδε ἐπίβασιν ἐς αὐτὸν ποιεύμενος. Ἀρίστωνι βασιλεύοντι ἐν Σπάρτῃ καὶ γήμαντι γυναῖκας δύο παῖδες οὐκ ἐγίνοντο. καὶ οὐ γὰρ συνεγινώσκετο αὐτὸς τούτων εἶναι αἴτιος, γαμέει τρίτην γυναῖκα· ὧδε δὲ γαμέει. ἦν οἱ φίλος τῶν Σπαρτιητέων ἀνήρ, τῷ προσέκειτο τῶν ἀστῶν μάλιστα ὁ Ἀρίστων. τούτῳ τῷ ἀνδρὶ ἐτύγχανε ἐοῦσα γυνὴ καλλίστη μακρῷ τῶν ἐν Σπάρτῃ γυναικῶν, καὶ ταῦτα μέντοι καλλίστη ἐξ αἰσχίστης γενομένη. ἐοῦσαν γάρ μιν τὸ εἶδος φλαύρην ἡ τροφὸς αὐτῆς, οἷα ἀνθρώπων τε ὀλβίων θυγατέρα καὶ δυσειδέα ἐοῦσαν, πρὸς δὲ καὶ ὁρῶσα τοὺς γονέας συμφορὴν τὸ εἶδος αὐτῆς ποιευμένους, ταῦτα ἕκαστα μαθοῦσα ἐπιφράζεται τοιάδε· ἐφόρεε αὐτὴν ἀνὰ πᾶσαν ἡμέρην ἐς τὸ τῆς Ἑλένης ἱρόν. τὸ δʼ ἐστὶ ἐν τῇ Θεράπνῃ καλεομένῃ ὕπερθε τοῦ Φοιβηίου ἱροῦ. ὅκως δὲ ἐνείκειε ἡ τροφός, πρός τε τὤγαλμα ἵστα καὶ ἐλίσσετο τὴν θεὸν ἀπαλλάξαι τῆς δυσμορφίης τὸ παιδίον. καὶ δή κοτε ἀπιούσῃ ἐκ τοῦ ἱροῦ τῇ τροφῷ γυναῖκα λέγεται ἐπιφανῆναι, ἐπιφανεῖσαν δὲ ἐπειρέσθαι μιν ὅ τι φέρει ἐν τῇ ἀγκάλῃ, καὶ τὴν φράσαι ὡς παιδίον φορέει, τὴν δὲ κελεῦσαί οἱ δέξαι, τὴν δὲ οὐ φάναι· ἀπειρῆσθαι γάρ οἱ ἐκ τῶν γειναμένων μηδενὶ ἐπιδεικνύναι· τὴν δὲ πάντως ἑωυτῇ κελεύειν ἐπιδέξαι. ὁρῶσαν δὲ τὴν γυναῖκα περὶ πολλοῦ ποιευμένην ἰδέσθαι, οὕτω δὴ τὴν τροφὸν δέξαι τὸ παιδίον· τὴν δὲ καταψῶσαν τοῦ παιδίου τὴν κεφαλὴν εἶπαι ὡς καλλιστεύσει πασέων τῶν ἐν Σπάρτῃ γυναικῶν. ἀπὸ μὲν δὴ ταύτης τῆς ἡμέρης μεταπεσεῖν τὸ εἶδος. γαμέει δὲ δή μιν ἐς γάμου ὥρην ἀπικομένην Ἄγητος ὁ Ἀλκείδεω, οὗτος δὴ ὁ τοῦ Ἀρίστωνος φίλος. 6.62. τὸν δὲ Ἀρίστωνα ἔκνιζε ἄρα τῆς γυναικὸς ταύτης ὁ ἔρως· μηχανᾶται δὴ τοιάδε· αὐτός τε τῷ ἑταίρῳ, τοῦ ἦν ἡ γυνὴ αὕτη, ὑποδέκεται δωτίνην δώσειν τῶν ἑωυτοῦ πάντων ἕν, τὸ ἂν αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος ἕληται, καὶ τὸν ἑταῖρον ἑωυτῷ ἐκέλευε ὡσαύτως τὴν ὁμοίην διδόναι· ὁ δὲ οὐδὲν φοβηθεὶς ἀμφὶ τῇ γυναικί, ὁρέων ἐοῦσαν καὶ Ἀρίστωνι γυναῖκα, καταινέει ταῦτα· ἐπὶ τούτοισι δὲ ὅρκους ἐπήλασαν. μετὰ δὲ αὐτός τε ὁ Ἀρίστων ἔδωκε τοῦτο, ὅ τι δὴ ἦν, τὸ εἵλετο τῶν κειμηλίων τῶν Ἀρίστωνος ὁ Ἄγητος, καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν ὁμοίην ζητέων φέρεσθαι παρʼ ἐκείνου, ἐνθαῦτα δὴ τοῦ ἑταίρου τὴν γυναῖκα ἐπειρᾶτο ἀπάγεσθαι. ὁ δὲ πλὴν τούτου μούνου τὰ ἄλλα ἔφη καταινέσαι· ἀναγκαζόμενος μέντοι τῷ τε ὅρκῳ καὶ τῆς ἀπάτης τῇ παραγωγῇ ἀπιεῖ ἀπάγεσθαι. 6.63. οὕτω μὲν δὴ τὴν τρίτην ἐσηγάγετο γυναῖκα ὁ Ἀρίστων, τὴν δευτέρην ἀποπεμψάμενος. ἐν δέ οἱ χρόνῳ ἐλάσσονι καὶ οὐ πληρώσασα τοὺς δέκα μῆνας ἡ γυνὴ αὕτη τίκτει τοῦτον δὴ τὸν Δημάρητον. καί τίς οἱ τῶν οἰκετέων ἐν θώκῳ κατημένῳ μετὰ τῶν ἐφόρων ἐξαγγέλλει ὥς οἱ παῖς γέγονε. ὁ δὲ ἐπιστάμενός τε τὸν χρόνον τῷ ἠγάγετο τὴν γυναῖκα καὶ ἐπὶ δακτύλων συμβαλλόμενος τοὺς μῆνας, εἶπε ἀπομόσας “οὐκ ἂν ἐμὸς εἴη.” τοῦτο ἤκουσαν μὲν οἱ ἔφοροι, πρῆγμα μέντοι οὐδὲν ἐποιήσαντο τὸ παραυτίκα. ὁ δὲ παῖς ηὔξετο, καὶ τῷ Ἀρίστωνι τὸ εἰρημένον μετέμελε· παῖδα γὰρ τὸν Δημάρητον ἐς τὰ μάλιστά οἱ ἐνόμισε εἶναι. Δημάρητον δὲ αὐτῷ οὔνομα ἔθετο διὰ τόδε· πρότερον τούτων πανδημεὶ Σπαρτιῆται Ἀρίστωνι, ὡς ἀνδρὶ εὐδοκιμέοντι διὰ πάντων δὴ τῶν βασιλέων τῶν ἐν Σπάρτῃ γενομένων, ἀρὴν ἐποιήσαντο παῖδα γενέσθαι. 6.64. διὰ τοῦτο μέν οἱ τὸ οὔνομα Δημάρητος ἐτέθη· χρόνου δὲ προϊόντος Ἀρίστων μὲν ἀπέθανε, Δημάρητος δὲ ἔσχε τὴν βασιληίην. ἔδεε δέ, ὡς ἔοικε, ἀνάπυστα γενόμενα ταῦτα καταπαῦσαι Δημάρητον τῆς βασιληίης διὰ τὰ 1 Κλεομένεϊ διεβλήθη μεγάλως πρότερόν τε ὁ Δημάρητος ἀπαγαγὼν τὴν στρατιὴν ἐξ Ἐλευσῖνος, καὶ δὴ καὶ τότε ἐπʼ Αἰγινητέων τοὺς μηδίσαντας διαβάντος Κλεομένεος.
6.75. μαθόντες δὲ Κλεομένεα Λακεδαιμόνιοι ταῦτα πρήσσοντα, κατῆγον αὐτὸν δείσαντες ἐπὶ τοῖσι αὐτοῖσι ἐς Σπάρτην τοῖσι καὶ πρότερον ἦρχε. κατελθόντα δὲ αὐτὸν αὐτίκα ὑπέλαβε μανίη νοῦσος, ἐόντα καὶ πρότερον ὑπομαργότερον· ὅκως γὰρ τεῷ ἐντύχοι Σπαρτιητέων, ἐνέχραυε ἐς τὸ πρόσωπον τὸ σκῆπτρον. ποιέοντα δὲ αὐτὸν ταῦτα καὶ παραφρονήσαντα ἔδησαν οἱ προσήκοντες ἐν ξύλω· ὁ δὲ δεθεὶς τὸν φύλακον μουνωθέντα ἰδὼν τῶν ἄλλων αἰτέει μάχαιραν· οὐ βουλομένου δὲ τὰ πρῶτα τοῦ φυλάκου διδόναι ἀπείλεε τά μιν αὖτις ποιήσει, ἐς ὁ δείσας τὰς ἀπειλὰς ὁ φύλακος ʽἦν γὰρ τῶν τις εἱλωτέων’ διδοῖ οἱ μάχαιραν. Κλεομένης δὲ παραλαβὼν τὸν σίδηρον ἄρχετο ἐκ τῶν κνημέων ἑωυτὸν λωβώμενος· ἐπιτάμνων γὰρ κατὰ μῆκος τὰς σάρκας προέβαινε ἐκ τῶν κνημέων ἐς τοὺς μηρούς, ἐκ δὲ τῶν μηρῶν ἔς τε τὰ ἰσχία καὶ τὰς λαπάρας, ἐς ὃ ἐς τὴν γαστέρα ἀπίκετο, καὶ ταύτην καταχορδεύων ἀπέθανε τρόπῳ τοιούτῳ, ὡς μὲν οἱ πολλοὶ λέγουσι Ἐλλήνων, ὅτι τὴν Πυθίην ἀνέγνωσε τὰ περὶ Δημαρήτου λέγειν γενόμενα, ὡς δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι μοῦνοι λέγουσι, διότι ἐς Ἐλευσῖνα ἐσβαλὼν ἔκειρε τὸ τέμενος τῶν θεῶν, ὡς δὲ Ἀργεῖοι, ὅτι ἐξ ἱροῦ αὐτῶν τοῦ Ἄργου Ἀργείων τοὺς καταφυγόντας ἐκ τῆς μάχης καταγινέων κατέκοπτε καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ ἄλσος ἐν ἀλογίῃ ἔχων ἐνέπρησε. 6.76. Κλεομένεϊ γὰρ μαντευομένῳ ἐν Δελφοῖσι ἐχρήσθη Ἄργος αἱρήσειν· ἐπείτε δὲ Σπαρτιήτας ἄγων ἀπίκετο ἐπὶ ποταμὸν Ἐρασῖνον, ὃς λέγεται ῥέειν ἐκ τῆς Στυμφαλίδος λίμνης· τὴν γὰρ δὴ λίμνην ταύτην ἐς χάσμα ἀφανὲς ἐκδιδοῦσαν ἀναφαίνεσθαι ἐν Ἄργεϊ, τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ τὸ ὕδωρ ἤδη τοῦτο ὑπʼ Ἀργείων Ἐρασῖνον καλέεσθαι· ἀπικόμενος δʼ ὦν ὁ Κλεομένης ἐπὶ τὸν ποταμὸν τοῦτον ἐσφαγιάζετο αὐτῷ· καὶ οὐ γὰρ ἐκαλλιέρεε οὐδαμῶς διαβαίνειν μιν, ἄγασθαι μὲν ἔφη τοῦ Ἐρασίνου οὐ προδιδόντος τοὺς πολιήτας, Ἀργείους μέντοι οὐδʼ ὣς χαιρήσειν. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐξαναχωρήσας τὴν στρατιὴν κατήγαγε ἐς Θυρέην, σφαγιασάμενος δὲ τῇ θαλάσσῃ ταῦρον πλοίοισι σφέας ἤγαγε ἔς τε τὴν Τιρυνθίην χώρην καὶ Ναυπλίην.
6.78. μαθὼν δὲ ὁ Κλεομένης ποιεῦντας τοὺς Ἀργείους ὁκοῖόν τι ὁ σφέτερος κῆρυξ σημήνειε, παραγγέλλει σφι, ὅταν σημήνῃ ὁ κῆρυξ ποιέεσθαι ἄριστον, τότε ἀναλαβόντας τὰ ὅπλα χωρέειν ἐς τοὺς Ἀργείους. ταῦτα καὶ ἐγένετο ἐπιτελέα ἐκ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων· ἄριστον γὰρ ποιευμένοισι τοῖσι Ἀργείοισι ἐκ τοῦ κηρύγματος ἐπεκέατο, καὶ πολλοὺς μὲν ἐφόνευσαν αὐτῶν, πολλῷ δέ τι πλεῦνας ἐς τὸ ἄλσος τοῦ Ἄργου καταφυγόντας περιιζόμενοι ἐφύλασσον. 6.79. ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ ὁ Κλεομένης ἐποίεε τοιόνδε. ἔχων αὐτομόλους ἄνδρας καὶ πυνθανόμενος τούτων, ἐξεκάλεε πέμπων κήρυκα ὀνομαστὶ λέγων τῶν Ἀργείων τοὺς ἐν τῷ ἱρῷ ἀπεργμένους, ἐξεκάλεε δὲ φὰς αὐτῶν ἔχειν τὰ ἄποινα. ἄποινα δὲ ἐστὶ Πελοποννησίοισι δύο μνέαι τεταγμέναι κατʼ ἄνδρα αἰχμάλωτον ἐκτίνειν. κατὰ πεντήκοντα δὴ ὦν τῶν Ἀργείων ὡς ἑκάστους ἐκκαλεύμενος ὁ Κλεομένης ἔκτεινε. ταῦτα δέ κως γινόμενα ἐλελήθεε τοὺς λοιποὺς τοὺς ἐν τῷ τεμένεϊ· ἅτε γὰρ πυκνοῦ ἐόντος τοῦ ἄλσεος, οὐκ ὥρων οἱ ἐντὸς τοὺς ἐκτὸς ὅ τι ἔπρησσον, πρίν γε δὴ αὐτῶν τις ἀναβὰς ἐπὶ δένδρον κατεῖδε τὸ ποιεύμενον. οὔκων δὴ ἔτι καλεόμενοι ἐξήισαν. 6.80. ἐνθαῦτα δὴ ὁ Κλεομένης ἐκέλευε πάντα τινὰ τῶν εἱλωτέων περινέειν ὕλῃ τὸ ἄλσος, τῶν δὲ πειθομένων ἐνέπρησε τὸ ἄλσος. καιομένου δὲ ἤδη ἐπείρετο τῶν τινα αὐτομόλων τίνος εἴη θεῶν τὸ ἄλσος· ὁ δὲ ἔφη Ἄργου εἶναι. ὁ δὲ ὡς ἤκουσε, ἀναστενάξας μέγα εἶπε “ὦ Ἄπολλον χρηστήριε, ἦ μεγάλως με ἠπάτηκας φάμενος Ἄργος αἱρήσειν· συμβάλλομαι δʼ ἐξήκειν μοι τὸ χρηστήριον.” 6.81. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ὁ Κλεομένης τὴν μὲν πλέω στρατιὴν ἀπῆκε ἀπιέναι ἐς Σπάρτην, χιλίους δὲ αὐτὸς λαβὼν τοὺς ἀριστέας ἤιε ἐς τὸ Ἥραιον θύσων· βουλόμενον δὲ αὐτὸν θύειν ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ ὁ ἱρεὺς ἀπηγόρευε, φὰς οὐκ ὅσιον εἶναι ξείνῳ αὐτόθι θύειν. ὁ δὲ Κλεομένης τὸν ἱρέα ἐκέλευε τοὺς εἵλωτας ἀπὸ τοῦ βωμοῦ ἀπάγοντας μαστιγῶσαι, καὶ αὐτὸς ἔθυσε· ποιήσας δὲ ταῦτα ἀπήιε ἐς τὴν Σπάρτην. 6.82. νοστήσαντα δέ μιν ὑπῆγον οἱ ἐχθροὶ ὑπὸ τοὺς ἐφόρους, φάμενοί μιν δωροδοκήσαντα οὐκ ἑλεῖν τὸ Ἄργος, παρεὸν εὐπετέως μιν ἑλεῖν. ὁ δέ σφι ἔλεξε, οὔτε εἰ ψευδόμενος οὔτε εἰ ἀληθέα λέγων, ἔχω σαφηνέως εἶπαι, ἔλεξε δʼ ὦν φάμενος, ἐπείτε δὴ τὸ τοῦ Ἄργου ἱρὸν εἷλον, δοκέειν οἱ ἐξεληλυθέναι τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ χρησμόν· πρὸς ὦν ταῦτα οὐ δικαιοῦν πειρᾶν τῆς πόλιος, πρίν γε δὴ ἱροῖσι χρήσηται καὶ μάθῃ εἴτε οἱ ὁ θεὸς παραδιδοῖ εἴτε ἐμποδὼν ἕστηκε· καλλιερευμένῳ δὲ ἐν τῷ Ἡραίῳ ἐκ τοῦ ἀγάλματος τῶν στηθέων φλόγα πυρὸς ἐκλάμψαι, μαθεῖν δὲ αὐτὸς οὕτω τὴν ἀτρεκείην, ὅτι οὐκ αἱρέει τὸ Ἄργος· εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τῆς κεφαλῆς τοῦ ἀγάλματος ἐξέλαμψε, αἱρέειν ἂν κατʼ ἄκρης τὴν πόλιν, ἐκ τῶν στηθέων δὲ λάμψαντος πᾶν οἱ πεποιῆσθαι ὅσον ὁ θεὸς ἐβούλετο γενέσθαι. ταῦτα λέγων πιστά τε καὶ οἰκότα ἐδόκεε Σπαρτιήτῃσι λέγειν, καὶ διέφυγε πολλὸν τοὺς διώκοντας.
6.84. Ἀργεῖοι μέν νυν διὰ ταῦτα Κλεομένεα φασὶ μανέντα ἀπολέσθαι κακῶς· αὐτοὶ δὲ Σπαρτιῆται φασὶ ἐκ δαιμονίου μὲν οὐδενὸς μανῆναι Κλεομένεα, Σκύθῃσι δὲ ὁμιλήσαντά μιν ἀκρητοπότην γενέσθαι καὶ ἐκ τούτου μανῆναι. Σκύθας γὰρ τοὺς νομάδας, ἐπείτε σφι Δαρεῖον ἐμβαλεῖν ἐς τὴν χώρην, μετὰ ταῦτα μεμονέναι μιν τίσασθαι, πέμψαντας δὲ ἐς Σπάρτην συμμαχίην τε ποιέεσθαι καὶ συντίθεσθαι ὡς χρεὸν εἴη αὐτοὺς μὲν τοὺς Σκύθας παρὰ Φᾶσιν ποταμὸν πειρᾶν ἐς τὴν Μηδικὴν ἐσβάλλειν, σφέας δὲ τοὺς Σπαρτιήτας κελεύειν ἐξ Ἐφέσου ὁρμωμένους ἀναβαίνειν καὶ ἔπειτα ἐς τὠυτὸ ἀπαντᾶν. Κλεομένεα δὲ λέγουσι ἡκόντων τῶν Σκυθέων ἐπὶ ταῦτα ὁμιλέειν σφι μεζόνως, ὁμιλέοντα δὲ μᾶλλον τοῦ ἱκνεομένου μαθεῖν τὴν ἀκρητοποσίην παρʼ αὐτῶν· ἐκ τούτου δὲ μανῆναί μιν νομίζουσι Σπαρτιῆται. ἔκ τε τόσου, ὡς αὐτοὶ λέγουσι, ἐπεὰν ζωρότερον βούλωνται πιεῖν, Ἐπισκύθισον λέγουσι. οὕτω δὴ Σπαρτιῆται τὰ περὶ Κλεομένεα λέγουσι· ἐμοὶ δὲ δοκέει τίσιν ταύτην ὁ Κλεομένης Δημαρήτῳ ἐκτῖσαι.
6.86. οἱ μὲν δὴ Μιλήσιοι συμφορὴν ποιησάμενοι ἀπαλλάσσοντο ὡς ἀπεστερημένοι τῶν χρημάτων, Γλαῦκος δὲ ἐπορεύετο ἐς Δελφοὺς χρησόμενος τῷ χρηστηρίῳ. ἐπειρωτῶντα δὲ αὐτὸν τὸ χρηστήριον εἰ ὅρκῳ τὰ χρήματα ληίσηται, ἡ Πυθίη μετέρχεται τοῖσιδε τοῖσι ἔπεσι. “ γλαῦκʼ Ἐπικυδείδη, τὸ μὲν αὐτίκα κέρδιον οὕτω ὅρκῳ νικῆσαι καὶ χρήματα ληίσσασθαι. ὄμνυ, ἐπεὶ θάνατός γε καὶ εὔορκον μένει ἄνδρα. ἀλλʼ ὅρκου πάις ἐστίν, ἀνώνυμος, οὐδʼ ἔπι χεῖρες οὐδὲ πόδες· κραιπνὸς δὲ μετέρχεται, εἰς ὅ κε πᾶσαν συμμάρψας ὀλέσῃ γενεὴν καὶ οἶκον ἅπαντα. ἀνδρὸς δʼ εὐόρκου γενεὴ μετόπισθεν ἀμείνων. ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ Γλαῦκος συγγνώμην τὸν θεὸν παραιτέετο αὐτῷ ἴσχειν τῶν ῥηθέντων. ἡ δὲ Πυθίη ἔφη τὸ πειρηθῆναι τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὸ ποιῆσαι ἴσον δύνασθαι.”
6.86. οὐ φαμένων δὲ ἀποδώσειν τῶν Ἀθηναίων, ἔλεξέ σφι Λευτυχίδης τάδε. “ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι, ποιέετε μὲν ὁκότερα βούλεσθε αὐτοί· καὶ γὰρ ἀποδιδόντες ποιέετε ὅσια, καὶ μὴ ἀποδιδόντες τὰ ἐναντία τούτων· ὁκοῖον μέντοι τι ἐν τῇ Σπάρτῃ συνηνείχθη γενέσθαι περὶ παρακαταθήκης, βούλομαι ὑμῖν εἶπαι. λέγομεν ἡμεῖς οἱ Σπαρτιῆται γενέσθαι ἐν τῇ Λακεδαίμονι κατὰ τρίτην γενεὴν τὴν ἀπʼ ἐμέο Γλαῦκον Ἐπικύδεος παῖδα· τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα φαμὲν τά τε ἄλλα πάντα περιήκειν τὰ πρῶτα, καὶ δὴ καὶ ἀκούειν ἄριστα δικαιοσύνης πέρι πάντων ὅσοι τὴν Λακεδαίμονα τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον οἴκεον. συνενειχθῆναι δέ οἱ ἐν χρόνῳ ἱκνευμένῳ τάδε λέγομεν. ἄνδρα Μιλήσιον ἀπικόμενον ἐς Σπάρτην βούλεσθαί οἱ ἐλθεῖν ἐς λόγους προϊσχόμενον τοιάδε. “εἰμὶ μὲν Μιλήσιος, ἥκω δὲ τῆς σῆς Γλαῦκε βουλόμενος δικαιοσύνης ἀπολαῦσαι. ὡς γὰρ δὴ ἀνὰ πᾶσαν μὲν τὴν ἄλλην Ἑλλάδα, ἐν δὲ καὶ περὶ Ἰωνίην τῆς σῆς δικαιοσύνης ἦν λόγος πολλός, ἐμεωυτῷ λόγους ἐδίδουν καὶ ὅτι ἐπικίνδυνος ἐστὶ αἰεί κοτε ἡ Ἰωνίη, ἡ δὲ Πελοπόννησος ἀσφαλέως ἱδρυμένη, καὶ διότι χρήματα οὐδαμὰ τοὺς αὐτούς ἐστι ὁρᾶν ἔχοντας. ταῦτά τε ὦν ἐπιλεγομένῳ καὶ βουλευομένῳ ἔδοξέ μοι τὰ ἡμίσεα πάσης τῆς οὐσίης ἐξαργυρώσαντα θέσθαι παρὰ σέ, εὖ ἐξεπισταμένῳ ὥς μοι κείμενα ἔσται παρὰ σοὶ σόα. σὺ δή μοι καὶ τὰ χρήματα δέξαι καὶ τάδε τὰ σύμβολα σῶζε λαβών· ὃς δʼ ἂν ἔχων ταῦτα ἀπαιτέῃ, τούτῳ ἀποδοῦναι.” ”
6.86. ὡς δὲ ἀπικόμενος Λευτυχίδης ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας ἀπαίτεε τὴν παραθήκην, οἱ δʼ Ἀθηναῖοι προφάσιας εἷλκον οὐ βουλόμενοι ἀποδοῦναι, φάντες δύο σφέας ἐόντας βασιλέας παραθέσθαι καὶ οὐ δικαιοῦν τῷ ἑτέρῳ ἄνευ τοῦ ἑτέρου ἀποδιδόναι·
6.86. “Γλαῦκος μὲν δὴ μεταπεμψάμενος τοὺς Μιλησίους ξείνους ἀποδιδοῖ σφι τὰ χρήματα. τοῦ δὲ εἵνεκα ὁ λόγος ὅδε ὦ Ἀθηναῖοι ὁρμήθη λέγεσθαι ἐς ὑμέας, εἰρήσεται· Γλαύκου νῦν οὔτε τι ἀπόγονον ἐστὶ οὐδὲν οὔτʼ ἱστίη οὐδεμία νομιζομένη εἶναι Γλαύκου, ἐκτέτριπταί τε πρόρριζος ἐκ Σπάρτης. οὕτω ἀγαθὸν μηδὲ διανοέεσθαι περὶ παρακαταθήκης ἄλλο γε ἢ ἀπαιτεόντων ἀποδιδόναι.”
6.86. “ὁ μὲν δὴ ἀπὸ Μιλήτου ἥκων ξεῖνος τοσαῦτα ἔλεξε, Γλαῦκος δὲ ἐδέξατο τὴν παρακαταθήκην ἐπὶ τῷ εἰρημένῳ λόγῳ. χρόνου δὲ πολλοῦ διελθόντος ἦλθον ἐς Σπάρτην τούτου τοῦ παραθεμένου τὰ χρήματα οἱ παῖδες, ἐλθόντες δὲ ἐς λόγους τῷ Γλαύκῳ καὶ ἀποδεικνύντες τὰ σύμβολα ἀπαίτεον τὰ χρήματα· ὁ δὲ διωθέετο ἀντυποκρινόμενος τοιάδε. “οὔτε μέμνημαι τὸ πρῆγμα οὔτε με περιφέρει οὐδὲν εἰδέναι τούτων τῶν ὑμεῖς λέγετε, βούλομαί τε ἀναμνησθεὶς ποιέειν πᾶν τὸ δίκαιον· καὶ γὰρ εἰ ἔλαβον, ὀρθῶς ἀποδοῦναι, καὶ εἴ γε ἀρχὴν μὴ ἔλαβον, νόμοισι τοῖσι Ἑλλήνων χρήσομαι ἐς ὑμέας. ταῦτα ὦν ὑμῖν ἀναβάλλομαι κυρώσειν ἐς τέταρτον μῆνα ἀπὸ τοῦδε.” ”
6.107. οὗτοι μέν νυν τὴν πανσέληνον ἔμενον. τοῖσι δὲ βαρβάροισι κατηγέετο Ἱππίης ὁ Πεισιστράτου ἐς τὸν Μαραθῶνα, τῆς παροιχομένης νυκτὸς ὄψιν ἰδὼν τοιήνδε· ἐδόκεε ὁ Ἱππίης τῇ μητρὶ τῇ ἑωυτοῦ συνευνηθῆναι. συνεβάλετο ὦν ἐκ τοῦ ὀνείρου κατελθὼν ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας καὶ ἀνασωσάμενος τὴν ἀρχὴν τελευτήσειν ἐν τῇ ἑωυτοῦ γηραιός. ἐκ μὲν δὴ τῆς ὄψιος συνεβάλετο ταῦτα, τότε δὲ κατηγεόμενος τοῦτο μὲν τὰ ἀνδράποδα τὰ ἐξ Ἐρετρίης ἀπέβησε ἐς τὴν νῆσον τὴν Στυρέων, καλεομένην δὲ Αἰγλείην, τοῦτο δὲ καταγομένας ἐς τὸν Μαραθῶνα τὰς νέας ὅρμιζε οὗτος, ἐκβάντας τε ἐς γῆν τοὺς βαρβάρους διέτασσε. καί οἱ ταῦτα διέποντι ἐπῆλθε πταρεῖν τε καὶ βῆξαι μεζόνως ἢ ὡς ἐώθεε· οἷα δέ οἱ πρεσβυτέρῳ ἐόντι τῶν ὀδόντων οἱ πλεῦνες ἐσείοντο· τούτων ὦν ἕνα τῶν ὀδόντων ἐκβάλλει ὑπὸ βίης βήξας· ἐκπεσόντος δὲ ἐς τὴν ψάμμον αὐτοῦ ἐποιέετο σπουδὴν πολλὴν ἐξευρεῖν. ὡς δὲ οὐκ ἐφαίνετό οἱ ὁ ὀδών, ἀναστενάξας εἶπε πρὸς τοὺς παραστάτας “ἡ γῆ ἥδε οὐκ ἡμετέρη ἐστί, οὐδέ μιν δυνησόμεθα ὑποχειρίην ποιήσασθαι· ὁκόσον δέ τι μοι μέρος μετῆν, ὁ ὀδὼν μετέχει.”
6.118. Δᾶτις δὲ πορευόμενος ἅμα τῷ στρατῷ ἐς τὴν Ἀσίην, ἐπείτε ἐγένετο ἐν Μυκόνῳ, εἶδε ὄψιν ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ. καὶ ἥτις μὲν ἦν ἡ ὄψις, οὐ λέγεται· ὁ δέ, ὡς ἡμέρη τάχιστα ἐπέλαμψε, ζήτησιν ἐποιέετο τῶν νεῶν, εὑρὼν δὲ ἐν νηὶ Φοινίσσῃ ἄγαλμα Ἀπόλλωνος κεχρυσωμένον ἐπυνθάνετο ὁκόθεν σεσυλημένον εἴη, πυθόμενος δὲ ἐξ οὗ ἦν ἱροῦ, ἔπλεε τῇ ἑωυτοῦ νηὶ ἐς Δῆλον· καὶ ἀπίκατο γὰρ τηνικαῦτα οἱ Δήλιοι ὀπίσω ἐς τὴν νῆσον, κατατίθεταί τε ἐς τὸ ἱρὸν τὸ ἄγαλμα καὶ ἐντέλλεται τοῖσι Δηλίοισι ἀπαγαγεῖν τὸ ἄγαλμα ἐς Δήλιον τὸ Θηβαίων· τὸ δʼ ἔστι ἐπὶ θαλάσσῃ Χαλκίδος καταντίον. Δᾶτις μὲν δὴ ταῦτα ἐντειλάμενος ἀπέπλεε, τὸν δὲ ἀνδριάντα τοῦτον Δήλιοι οὐκ ἀπήγαγον, ἀλλά μιν διʼ ἐτέων εἴκοσι Θηβαῖοι αὐτοὶ ἐκ θεοπροπίου ἐκομίσαντο ἐπὶ Δήλιον.
6.134. ἐς μὲν δὴ τοσοῦτο τοῦ λόγου οἱ πάντες Ἕλληνες λέγουσι, τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ αὐτοὶ Πάριοι γενέσθαι ὧδε λέγουσι. Μιλτιάδῃ ἀπορέοντι ἐλθεῖν ἐς λόγους αἰχμάλωτον γυναῖκα, ἐοῦσαν μὲν Παρίην γένος, οὔνομα δέ οἱ εἶναι Τιμοῦν, εἶναι δὲ ὑποζάκορον τῶν χθονίων θεῶν· ταύτην ἐλθοῦσαν ἐς ὄψιν Μιλτιάδεω συμβουλεῦσαι, εἰ περὶ πολλοῦ ποιέεται Πάρον ἑλεῖν, τὰ ἂν αὐτὴ ὑποθῆται, ταῦτα ποιέειν. μετὰ δὲ τὴν μὲν ὑποθέσθαι, τὸν δὲ διερχόμενον ἐπὶ τὸν κολωνὸν τὸν πρὸ τῆς πόλιος ἐόντα ἕρκος θεσμοφόρου Δήμητρος ὑπερθορεῖν, οὐ δυνάμενον τὰς θύρας ἀνοῖξαι, ὑπερθορόντα δὲ ἰέναι ἐπὶ τὸ μέγαρον ὅ τι δὴ ποιήσοντα ἐντός, εἴτε κινήσοντά τι τῶν ἀκινήτων εἴτε ὅ τι δή κοτε πρήξοντα· πρὸς τῇσι θύρῃσί τε γενέσθαι καὶ πρόκατε φρίκης αὐτὸν ὑπελθούσης ὀπίσω τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν ἵεσθαι, καταθρώσκοντα δὲ τὴν αἱμασιὴν τὸν μηρὸν σπασθῆναι· οἳ δὲ αὐτὸν τὸ γόνυ προσπταῖσαι λέγουσι. 6.135. Μιλτιάδης μέν νυν φλαύρως ἔχων ἀπέπλεε ὀπίσω, οὔτε χρήματα Ἀθηναίοισι ἄγων οὔτε Πάρον προσκτησάμενος, ἀλλὰ πολιορκήσας τε ἓξ καὶ εἴκοσι ἡμέρας καὶ δηιώσας τὴν νῆσον. Πάριοι δὲ πυθόμενοι ὡς ἡ ὑποζάκορος τῶν θεῶν Τιμὼ Μιλτιάδῃ κατηγήσατο, βουλόμενοί μιν ἀντὶ τούτων τιμωρήσασθαι, θεοπρόπους πέμπουσι ἐς Δελφούς ὥς σφεας ἡσυχίη τῆς πολιορκίης ἔσχε· ἔπεμπον δὲ ἐπειρησομένους εἰ καταχρήσωνται τὴν ὑποζάκορον τῶν θεῶν τὴν ἐξηγησαμένην τοῖσι ἐχθροῖσι τῆς πατρίδος ἅλωσιν καὶ τὰ ἐς ἔρσενα γόνον ἄρρητα ἱρὰ ἐκφήνασαν Μιλτιάδῃ. ἡ δὲ Πυθίη οὐκ ἔα, φᾶσα οὐ Τιμοῦν εἶναι τὴν αἰτίην τούτων, ἀλλὰ δεῖν γὰρ Μιλτιάδεα τελευτᾶν μὴ εὖ, φανῆναί οἱ τῶν κακῶν κατηγεμόνα. 6.136. παρίοισι μὲν δὴ ταῦτα ἡ Πυθίη ἔχρησε· Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ ἐκ Πάρου Μιλτιάδεα ἀπονοστήσαντα ἔσχον ἐν στόμασι οἵ τε ἄλλοι καὶ μάλιστα Ξάνθιππος ὁ Ἀρίφρονος, ὃς θανάτου ὑπαγαγὼν ὑπὸ τὸν δῆμον Μιλτιάδεα ἐδίωκε τῆς Ἀθηναίων ἀπάτης εἵνεκεν. Μιλτιάδης δὲ αὐτὸς μὲν παρεὼν οὐκ ἀπελογέετο· ἦν γὰρ ἀδύνατος ὥστε σηπομένου τοῦ μηροῦ· προκειμένου δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐν κλίνῃ ὑπεραπελογέοντο οἱ φίλοι, τῆς μάχης τε τῆς ἐν Μαραθῶνι γενομένης πολλὰ ἐπιμεμνημένοι καὶ τὴν Λήμνου αἵρεσιν, ὡς ἑλὼν Λῆμνόν τε καὶ τισάμενος τοὺς Πελασγοὺς παρέδωκε Ἀθηναίοισι. προσγενομένου δὲ τοῦ δήμου αὐτῷ κατὰ τὴν ἀπόλυσιν τοῦ θανάτου, ζημιώσαντος δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἀδικίην πεντήκοντα ταλάντοισι, Μιλτιάδης μὲν μετὰ ταῦτα σφακελίσαντός τε τοῦ μηροῦ καὶ σαπέντος τελευτᾷ, τὰ δὲ πεντήκοντα τάλαντα ἐξέτισε ὁ παῖς αὐτοῦ Κίμων.
7.12. ταῦτα μὲν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτο ἐλέγετο. μετὰ δὲ εὐφρόνη τε ἐγίνετο καὶ Ξέρξην ἔκνιζε ἡ Ἀρταβάνου γνώμη· νυκτὶ δὲ βουλὴν διδοὺς πάγχυ εὕρισκέ οἱ οὐ πρῆγμα εἶναι στρατεύεσθαι ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα. δεδογμένων δέ οἱ αὖτις τούτων κατύπνωσε, καὶ δή κου ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ εἶδε ὄψιν τοιήνδε, ὡς λέγεται ὑπὸ Περσέων· ἐδόκεε ὁ Ξέρξης ἄνδρα οἱ ἐπιστάντα μέγαν τε καὶ εὐειδέα εἰπεῖν “μετὰ δὴ βουλεύεαι, ὦ Πέρσα, στράτευμα μὴ ἄγειν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα, προείπας ἁλίζειν Πέρσας στρατόν; οὔτε ὦν μεταβουλευόμενος ποιέεις εὖ οὔτε ὁ συγγνωσόμενός τοι πάρα· ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ τῆς ἡμέρης ἐβουλεύσαο ποιέειν, ταύτην ἴθι τῶν ὁδῶν.” 7.13. τὸν μὲν ταῦτα εἰπόντα ἐδόκεε ὁ Ξέρξης ἀποπτάσθαι, ἡμέρης δὲ ἐπιλαμψάσης ὀνείρου μὲν τούτου λόγον οὐδένα ἐποιέετο, ὁ δὲ Περσέων συναλίσας τοὺς καὶ πρότερον συνέλεξε, ἔλεξέ σφι τάδε. “ἄνδρες Πέρσαι, συγγνώμην μοι ἔχετε ὅτι ἀγχίστροφα βουλεύομαι· φρενῶν τε γὰρ ἐς τὰ ἐμεωυτοῦ πρῶτα οὔκω ἀνήκω, καὶ οἱ παρηγορεόμενοι ἐκεῖνα ποιέειν οὐδένα χρόνον μευ ἀπέχονται. ἀκούσαντι μέντοι μοι τῆς Ἀρταβάνου γνώμης παραυτίκα μὲν ἡ νεότης ἐπέζεσε, ὥστε ἀεικέστερα ἀπορρῖψαι ἔπεα ἐς ἄνδρα πρεσβύτερον ἢ χρεόν· νῦν μέντοι συγγνοὺς χρήσομαι τῇ ἐκείνου γνώμῃ. ὡς ὦν μεταδεδογμένον μοι μὴ στρατεύεσθαι ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα, ἥσυχοι ἔστε.” 7.14. Πέρσαι μὲν ὡς ἤκουσαν ταῦτα, κεχαρηκότες προσεκύνεον. νυκτὸς δὲ γενομένης αὖτις τὠυτὸ ὄνειρον τῷ Ξέρξῃ κατυπνωμένῳ ἔλεγε ἐπιστάν “ὦ παῖ Δαρείου, καὶ δὴ φαίνεαι ἐν Πέρσῃσί τε ἀπειπάμενος τὴν στρατηλασίην καὶ τὰ ἐμὰ ἔπεα ἐν οὐδενὶ ποιησάμενος λόγῳ ὡς παρʼ οὐδενὸς ἀκούσας; εὖ νυν τόδʼ ἴσθι· ἤν περ μὴ αὐτίκα στρατηλατέῃς, τάδε τοι ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀνασχήσει· ὡς καὶ μέγας καὶ πολλὸς ἐγένεο ἐν ὀλίγῳ χρόνῳ, οὕτω καὶ ταπεινὸς ὀπίσω κατὰ τάχος ἔσεαι.” 7.15. Ξέρξης μὲν περιδεὴς γενόμενος τῇ ὄψι ἀνά τε ἔδραμε ἐκ τῆς κοίτης καὶ πέμπει ἄγγελον ἐπὶ Ἀρτάβανον καλέοντα· ἀπικομένῳ δέ οἱ ἔλεγε Ξέρξης τάδε. “Ἀρτάβανε, ἐγὼ τὸ παραυτίκα μὲν οὐκ ἐσωφρόνεον εἴπας ἐς σὲ μάταια ἔπεα χρηστῆς εἵνεκα συμβουλίης· μετὰ μέντοι οὐ πολλὸν χρόνον μετέγνων, ἔγνων δὲ ταῦτα μοι ποιητέα ἐόντα τὰ σὺ ὑπεθήκαο. οὔκων δυνατός τοι εἰμὶ ταῦτα βουλόμενος ποιέειν· τετραμμένῳ γὰρ δὴ καὶ μετεγνωκότι ἐπιφοιτέον ὄνειρον φαντάζεταί μοι οὐδαμῶς συνεπαινέον ποιέειν με ταῦτα· νῦν δὲ καὶ διαπειλῆσαν οἴχεται. εἰ ὦν θεός ἐστι ὁ ἐπιπέμπων καί οἱ πάντως ἐν ἡδονῇ ἐστι γενέσθαι στρατηλασίην ἐπὶ Ἑλλάδα, ἐπιπτήσεται καὶ σοὶ τὠυτὸ τοῦτο ὄνειρον, ὁμοίως καὶ ἐμοὶ ἐντελλόμενον. εὑρίσκω δὲ ὧδʼ ἂν γινόμενα ταῦτα, εἰ λάβοις τὴν ἐμὴν σκευὴν πᾶσαν καὶ ἐνδὺς μετὰ τοῦτο ἵζοιο ἐς τὸν ἐμὸν θρόνον, καὶ ἔπειτα ἐν κοίτῃ τῇ ἐμῇ κατυπνώσειας.” 7.16. Ξέρξης μὲν ταῦτά οἱ ἔλεγε· Ἀρτάβανος δὲ οὐ πρώτῳ κελεύσματι πειθόμενος, οἷα οὐκ ἀξιεύμενος ἐς τὸν βασιλήιον θρόνον ἵζεσθαι, τέλος ὡς ἠναγκάζετο εἴπας τάδε ἐποίεε τὸ κελευόμενον. 7.16. “εἰ δὲ ἄρα μή ἐστι τοῦτο τοιοῦτο οἷον ἐγὼ διαιρέω, ἀλλά τι τοῦ θείου μετέχον, σὺ πᾶν αὐτὸ συλλαβὼν εἴρηκας· φανήτω γὰρ δὴ καὶ ἐμοὶ ὡς καὶ σοὶ διακελευόμενον. φανῆναι δὲ οὐδὲν μᾶλλόν μοι ὀφείλει ἔχοντι τὴν ἐσθῆτα ἢ οὐ καὶ τὴν ἐμήν, οὐδέ τι μᾶλλον ἐν κοίτῃ τῇ σῇ ἀναπαυομένῳ ἢ οὐ καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐμῇ, εἴ πέρ γε καὶ ἄλλως ἐθέλει φανῆναι. οὐ γὰρ δὴ ἐς τοσοῦτό γε εὐηθείης ἀνήκει τοῦτο, ὅ τι δή κοτε ἐστί, τὸ ἐπιφαινόμενόν τοι ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ, ὥστε δόξει ἐμὲ ὁρῶν σὲ εἶναι, τῇ σῇ ἐσθῆτι τεκμαιρόμενον. εἰ δὲ ἐμὲ μὲν ἐν οὐδενὶ λόγῳ ποιήσεται οὐδὲ ἀξιώσει ἐπιφανῆναι, οὔτε ἢν τὴν ἐμὴν ἐσθῆτα ἔχω οὔτε ἢν τὴν σήν, οὐδὲ ἐπιφοιτήσει, τοῦτο ἤδη μαθητέον ἔσται. εἰ γὰρ δὴ ἐπιφοιτήσει γε συνεχέως, φαίην ἂν καὶ αὐτὸς θεῖον εἶναι. εἰ δέ τοι οὕτω δεδόκηται γίνεσθαι καὶ οὐκ οἶά τε αὐτὸ παρατρέψαι, ἀλλʼ ἤδη δεῖ ἐμὲ ἐν κοίτῃ σῇ κατυπνῶσαι, φέρε, τούτων ἐξ ἐμεῦ ἐπιτελευμένων φανήτω καὶ ἐμοί. μέχρι δὲ τούτου τῇ παρεούσῃ γνώμῃ χρήσομαι.” 7.16. “ἴσον ἐκεῖνο ὦ βασιλεῦ παρʼ ἐμοὶ κέκριται, φρονέειν τε εὖ καὶ τῷ λέγοντι χρηστὰ ἐθέλειν πείθεσθαι· τά σε καὶ ἀμφότερα περιήκοντα ἀνθρώπων κακῶν ὁμιλίαι σφάλλουσι, κατά περ τὴν πάντων χρησιμωτάτην ἀνθρώποισι θάλασσαν πνεύματα φασὶ ἀνέμων ἐμπίπτοντα οὐ περιορᾶν φύσι τῇ ἑωυτῆς χρᾶσθαι. ἐμὲ δὲ ἀκούσαντα πρὸς σεῦ κακῶς οὐ τοσοῦτο ἔδακε λύπη ὅσον γνωμέων δύο προκειμενέων Πέρσῃσι, τῆς μὲν ὕβριν αὐξανούσης, τῆς δὲ καταπαυούσης καὶ λεγούσης ὡς κακὸν εἴη διδάσκειν τὴν ψυχὴν πλέον τι δίζησθαι αἰεὶ ἔχειν τοῦ παρεόντος, τοιουτέων προκειμενέων γνωμέων ὅτι τὴν σφαλερωτέρην σεωυτῷ τε καὶ Πέρσῃσι ἀναιρέο.” 7.16. “νῦν ὦν, ἐπειδὴ τέτραψαι ἐπὶ τὴν ἀμείνω, φῄς τοι μετιέντι τὸν ἐπʼ Ἕλληνας στόλον ἐπιφοιτᾶν ὄνειρον θεοῦ τινος πομπῇ, οὐκ ἐῶντά σε καταλύειν τὸν στόλον. ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ταῦτα ἐστι, ὦ παῖ, θεῖα. ἐνύπνια γὰρ τὰ ἐς ἀνθρώπους πεπλανημένα τοιαῦτα ἐστὶ οἷά σε ἐγὼ διδάξω, ἔτεσι σεῦ πολλοῖσι πρεσβύτερος ἐών· πεπλανῆσθαι αὗται μάλιστα ἐώθασι αἱ ὄψιες τῶν ὀνειράτων, τά τις ἡμέρης φροντίζει. ἡμεῖς δὲ τὰς πρὸ τοῦ ἡμέρας ταύτην τὴν στρατηλασίην καὶ τὸ κάρτα εἴχομεν μετὰ χεῖρας.” 7.17. τοσαῦτα εἴπας Ἀρτάβανος, ἐλπίζων Ξέρξην ἀποδέξειν λέγοντα οὐδέν, ἐποίεε τὸ κελευόμενον. ἐνδὺς δὲ τὴν Ξέρξεω ἐσθῆτα καὶ ἱζόμενος ἐς τὸν βασιλήιον θρόνον ὡς μετὰ ταῦτα κοῖτον ἐποιέετο, ἦλθέ οἱ κατυπνωμένῳ τὠυτὸ ὄνειρον τὸ καὶ παρὰ Ξέρξην ἐφοίτα, ὑπερστὰν δὲ τοῦ Ἀρταβάνου εἶπε· “ἆρα σὺ δὴ κεῖνος εἶς ὁ ἀποσπεύδων Ξέρξην στρατεύεσθαι ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα ὡς δὴ κηδόμενος αὐτοῦ ; ἀλλʼ οὔτε ἐς τὸ μετέπειτα οὔτε ἐς τὸ παραυτίκα νῦν καταπροΐξεαι ἀποτρέπων τὸ χρεὸν γενέσθαι. Ξέρξην δὲ τὰ δεῖ ἀνηκουστέοντα παθεῖν, αὐτῷ ἐκείνῳ δεδήλωται.” 7.18. ταῦτά τε ἐδόκεε Ἀρτάβανος τὸ ὄνειρον ἀπειλέειν καὶ θερμοῖσι σιδηρίοισι ἐκκαίειν αὐτοῦ μέλλειν τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς. καὶ ὃς ἀμβώσας μέγα ἀναθρώσκει, καὶ παριζόμενος Ξέρξῃ, ὡς τὴν ὄψιν οἱ τοῦ ἐνυπνίου διεξῆλθε ἀπηγεόμενος, δεύτερά οἱ λέγει τάδε. “ἐγὼ μέν, ὦ βασιλεῦ, οἶα ἄνθρωπος ἰδὼν ἤδη πολλά τε καὶ μεγάλα πεσόντα πρήγματα ὑπὸ ἡσσόνων, οὐκ ἔων σε τὰ πάντα τῇ ἡλικίῃ εἴκειν, ἐπιστάμενος ὡς κακὸν εἴη τὸ πολλῶν ἐπιθυμέειν, μεμνημένος μὲν τὸν ἐπὶ Μασσαγέτας Κύρου στόλον ὡς ἔπρηξε, μεμνημένος δὲ καὶ τὸν ἐπʼ Αἰθίοπας τὸν Καμβύσεω, συστρατευόμενος δὲ καὶ Δαρείῳ ἐπὶ Σκύθας. ἐπιστάμενος ταῦτα γνώμην εἶχον ἀτρεμίζοντά σε μακαριστὸν εἶναι πρὸς πάντων ἀνθρώπων. ἐπεὶ δὲ δαιμονίη τις γίνεται ὁρμή, καὶ Ἕλληνας, ὡς οἶκε, καταλαμβάνει τις φθορὴ θεήλατος, ἐγὼ μὲν καὶ αὐτὸς τρέπομαι καὶ τὴν γνώμην μετατίθεμαι, σὺ δὲ σήμηνον μὲν Πέρσῃσι τὰ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ πεμπόμενα, χρᾶσθαι δὲ κέλευε τοῖσι ἐκ σέο πρώτοισι προειρημένοισι ἐς τὴν παρασκευήν, ποίεε δὲ οὕτω ὅκως τοῦ θεοῦ παραδιδόντος τῶν σῶν ἐνδεήσει μηδέν.” τούτων δὲ λεχθέντων, ἐνθαῦτα ἐπαερθέντες τῇ ὄψι, ὡς ἡμέρη ἐγένετο τάχιστα, Ξέρξης τε ὑπερετίθετο ταῦτα Πέρσῃσι, καὶ Ἀρτάβανος, ὃς πρότερον ἀποσπεύδων μοῦνος ἐφαίνετο, τότε ἐπισπεύδων φανερὸς ἦν.
7.27. ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ πόλι ὑποκατήμενος Πύθιος ὁ Ἄτους ἀνὴρ Λυδὸς ἐξείνισε τὴν βασιλέος στρατιὴν πᾶσαν ξεινίοισι μεγίστοισι καὶ αὐτὸν Ξέρξην, χρήματά τε ἐπαγγέλλετο βουλόμενος ἐς τὸν πόλεμον παρέχειν. ἐπαγγελλομένου δὲ χρήματα Πυθίου, εἴρετο Ξέρξης Περσέων τοὺς παρεόντας τίς τε ἐὼν ἀνδρῶν Πύθιος καὶ κόσα χρήματα ἐκτημένος ἐπαγγέλλοιτο ταῦτα. οἳ δὲ εἶπαν “ὦ βασιλεῦ, οὗτος ἐστὶ ὅς τοι τὸν πατέρα Δαρεῖον ἐδωρήσατο τῇ πλατανίστῳ τῇ χρυσέῃ καὶ τῇ ἀμπέλῳ· ὃς καὶ νῦν ἐστι πρῶτος ἀνθρώπων πλούτῳ τῶν ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν μετὰ σέ.” 7.28. θωμάσας δὲ τῶν ἐπέων τὸ τελευταῖον Ξέρξης αὐτὸς δεύτερα εἴρετο Πύθιον ὁκόσα οἱ εἴη χρήματα. ὁ δὲ εἶπε “ὦ βασιλεῦ, οὔτε σε ἀποκρύψω οὔτε σκήψομαι τὸ μὴ εἰδέναι τὴν ἐμεωυτοῦ οὐσίην, ἀλλʼ ἐπιστάμενός τοι ἀτρεκέως καταλέξω. ἐπείτε γὰρ τάχιστά σε ἐπυθόμην ἐπὶ θάλασσαν καταβαίνοντα τὴν Ἑλληνίδα, βουλόμενός τοι δοῦναι ἐς τὸν πόλεμον χρήματα ἐξεμάνθανον, καὶ εὗρον λογιζόμενος ἀργυρίου μὲν δύο χιλιάδας ἐούσας μοι ταλάντων, χρυσίου δὲ τετρακοσίας μυριάδας στατήρων Δαρεικῶν ἐπιδεούσας ἑπτὰ χιλιάδων. καὶ τούτοισί σε ἐγὼ δωρέομαι, αὐτῷ δέ μοι ἀπὸ ἀνδραπόδων τε καὶ γεωπέδων ἀρκέων ἐστὶ βίος.” 7.29. ὃ μὲν ταῦτα ἔλεγε, Ξέρξης δὲ ἡσθεὶς τοῖσι εἰρημένοισι εἶπε “ξεῖνε Λυδέ, ἐγὼ ἐπείτε ἐξῆλθον τὴν Περσίδα χώρην, οὐδενὶ ἀνδρὶ συνέμιξα ἐς τόδε ὅστις ἠθέλησε ξείνια προθεῖναι στρατῷ τῷ ἐμῷ, οὐδὲ ὅστις ἐς ὄψιν τὴν ἐμὴν καταστὰς αὐτεπάγγελτος ἐς τὸν πόλεμον ἐμοὶ ἠθέλησε συμβαλέσθαι χρήματα, ἔξω σεῦ. σὺ δὲ καὶ ἐξείνισας μεγάλως στρατὸν τὸν ἐμὸν καὶ χρήματα μεγάλα ἐπαγγέλλεαι. σοὶ ὦν ἐγὼ ἀντὶ αὐτῶν γέρεα τοιάδε δίδωμι· ξεῖνόν τέ σε ποιεῦμαι ἐμὸν καὶ τὰς τετρακοσίας μυριάδας τοι τῶν στατήρων ἀποπλήσω παρʼ ἐμεωυτοῦ δοὺς τὰς ἑπτὰ χιλιάδας, ἵνα μή τοι ἐπιδεέες ἔωσι αἱ τετρακόσιαι μυριάδες ἑπτὰ χιλιάδων, ἀλλὰ ᾖ τοι ἀπαρτιλογίη ὑπʼ ἐμέο πεπληρωμένη. ἔκτησό τε αὐτὸς τά περ αὐτὸς ἐκτήσαο, ἐπίστασό τε εἶναι αἰεὶ τοιοῦτος· οὐ γάρ τοι ταῦτα ποιεῦντι οὔτε ἐς τὸ παρεὸν οὔτε ἐς χρόνον μεταμελήσει.”
7.35. ὡς δʼ ἐπύθετο Ξέρξης, δεινὰ ποιεύμενος τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον ἐκέλευσε τριηκοσίας ἐπικέσθαι μάστιγι πληγὰς καὶ κατεῖναι ἐς τὸ πέλαγος πεδέων ζεῦγος. ἤδη δὲ ἤκουσα ὡς καὶ στιγέας ἅμα τούτοισι ἀπέπεμψε στίξοντας τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον. ἐνετέλλετο δὲ ὦν ῥαπίζοντας λέγειν βάρβαρά τε καὶ ἀτάσθαλα· “ὦ πικρὸν ὕδωρ, δεσπότης τοι δίκην ἐπιτιθεῖ τήνδε, ὅτι μιν ἠδίκησας οὐδὲν πρὸς ἐκείνου ἄδικον παθόν. καὶ βασιλεὺς μὲν Ξέρξης διαβήσεταί σε, ἤν τε σύ γε βούλῃ ἤν τε μή· σοὶ δὲ κατὰ δίκην ἄρα οὐδεὶς ἀνθρώπων θύει ὡς ἐόντι καὶ θολερῷ καὶ ἁλμυρῷ ποταμῷ.” τήν τε δὴ θάλασσαν ἐνετέλλετο τούτοισι ζημιοῦν καὶ τῶν ἐπεστεώτων τῇ ζεύξι τοῦ Ἑλλησπόντου ἀποταμεῖν τὰς κεφαλάς.
7.39. κάρτα τε ἐθυμώθη ὁ Ξέρξης καὶ ἀμείβετο τοῖσιδε. “ὦ κακὲ ἄνθρωπε, σὺ ἐτόλμησας, ἐμεῦ στρατευομένου αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ ἄγοντος παῖδας ἐμοὺς καὶ ἀδελφεοὺς καὶ οἰκηίους καὶ φίλους, μνήσασθαι περὶ σέο παιδός, ἐὼν ἐμὸς δοῦλος, τὸν χρῆν πανοικίῃ αὐτῇ τῇ γυναικὶ συνέπεσθαι ; εὖ νυν τόδʼ ἐξεπίστασο, ὡς ἐν τοῖσι ὠσὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἰκέει ὁ θυμός, ὃς χρηστὰ μὲν ἀκούσας τέρψιος ἐμπιπλεῖ τὸ σῶμα, ὑπεναντία δὲ τούτοισι ἀκούσας ἀνοιδέει. ὅτε μέν νυν χρηστὰ ποιήσας ἕτερα τοιαῦτα ἐπηγγέλλεο, εὐεργεσίῃσι βασιλέα οὐ καυχήσεαι ὑπερβαλέσθαι· ἐπείτε δὲ ἐς τὸ ἀναιδέστερον ἐτράπευ, τὴν μὲν ἀξίην οὐ λάμψεαι, ἐλάσσω δὲ τῆς ἀξίης. σὲ μὲν γὰρ καὶ τοὺς τέσσερας τῶν παίδων ῥύεται τὰ ξείνια· τοῦ δὲ ἑνός, τοῦ περιέχεαι μάλιστα, τῇ ψυχῇ ζημιώσεαι.” ὡς δὲ ταῦτα ὑπεκρίνατο, αὐτίκα ἐκέλευε τοῖσι προσετέτακτο ταῦτα πρήσσειν, τῶν Πυθίου παίδων ἐξευρόντας τὸν πρεσβύτατον μέσον διαταμεῖν, διαταμόντας δὲ τὰ ἡμίτομα διαθεῖναι τὸ μὲν ἐπὶ δεξιὰ τῆς ὁδοῦ τὸ δʼ ἐπʼ ἀριστερά, καὶ ταύτῃ διεξιέναι τὸν στρατόν.
7.69. Ἀράβιοι δὲ ζειρὰς ὑπεζωσμένοι ἦσαν, τόξα δέ παλίντονα εἶχον πρὸς δεξιά, μακρά. Αἰθίοπες δὲ παρδαλέας τε καὶ λεοντέας ἐναμμένοι, τόξα δὲ εἶχον ἐκ φοίνικος σπάθης πεποιημένα, μακρά, τετραπηχέων οὐκ ἐλάσσω, ἐπὶ δὲ καλαμίνους ὀιστοὺς μικρούς· ἀντὶ δὲ σιδήρου ἐπῆν λίθος ὀξὺς πεποιημένος, τῷ καὶ τὰς σφρηγῖδας γλύφουσι· πρὸς δὲ αἰχμὰς εἶχον, ἐπὶ δὲ κέρας δορκάδος ἐπῆν ὀξὺ πεποιημένον τρόπον λόγχης· εἶχον δὲ καὶ ῥόπαλα τυλωτά. τοῦ δὲ σώματος τὸ μὲν ἥμισυ ἐξηλείφοντο γύψῳ ἰόντες ἐς μάχην, τὸ δὲ ἄλλο ἥμισυ μίλτῳ. Ἀραβίων δὲ καὶ Αἰθιόπων τῶν ὑπὲρ Αἰγύπτου οἰκημένων ἦρχε Ἀρσάμης ὁ Δαρείου καὶ Ἀρτυστώνης τῆς Κύρου θυγατρός, τὴν μάλιστα στέρξας τῶν γυναικῶν Δαρεῖος εἰκὼ χρυσέην σφυρήλατον ἐποιήσατο.
7.114. φαρμακεύσαντες δὲ ταῦτα ἐς τὸν ποταμὸν καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ πρὸς τούτοισι ἐν Ἐννέα ὁδοῖσι τῇσι Ἠδωνῶν ἐπορεύοντο κατὰ τὰς γεφύρας, τὸν Στρυμόνα εὑρόντες ἐζευγμένον. Ἐννέα δὲ ὁδοὺς πυνθανόμενοι τὸν χῶρον τοῦτον καλέεσθαι, τοσούτους ἐν αὐτῷ παῖδάς τε καὶ παρθένους ἀνδρῶν τῶν ἐπιχωρίων ζώοντας κατώρυσσον. Περσικὸν δὲ τὸ ζώοντας κατορύσσειν, ἐπεὶ καὶ Ἄμηστριν τὴν Ξέρξεω γυναῖκα πυνθάνομαι γηράσασαν δὶς ἑπτὰ Περσέων παῖδας ἐόντων ἐπιφανέων ἀνδρῶν ὑπὲρ ἑωυτῆς τῷ ὑπὸ γῆν λεγομένῳ εἶναι θεῷ ἀντιχαρίζεσθαι κατορύσσουσαν.
7.117. ἐν Ἀκάνθῳ δὲ ἐόντος Ξέρξεω συνήνεικε ὑπὸ νούσου ἀποθανεῖν τὸν ἐπεστεῶτα τῆς διώρυχος Ἀρταχαίην, δόκιμον ἐόντα παρὰ Ξέρξῃ καὶ γένος Ἀχαιμενίδην, μεγάθεΐ τε μέγιστον ἐόντα Περσέων ʽἀπὸ γὰρ πέντε πηχέων βασιληίων ἀπέλειπε τέσσερας δακτύλουσ̓ φωνέοντά τε μέγιστον ἀνθρώπων, ὥστε Ξέρξην συμφορὴν ποιησάμενον μεγάλην ἐξενεῖκαί τε αὐτὸν κάλλιστα καὶ θάψαι· ἐτυμβοχόεε δὲ πᾶσα ἡ στρατιή. τούτῳ δὲ τῷ Ἀρταχαίῃ θύουσι Ἀκάνθιοι ἐκ θεοπροπίου ὡς ἥρωι, ἐπονομάζοντες τὸ οὔνομα.
7.136. ταῦτα μὲν Ὑδάρνεα ἀμείψαντο. ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ ὡς ἀνέβησαν ἐς Σοῦσα καὶ βασιλέι ἐς ὄψιν ἦλθον, πρῶτα μὲν τῶν δορυφόρων κελευόντων καὶ ἀνάγκην σφι προσφερόντων προσκυνέειν βασιλέα προσπίπτοντας, οὐκ ἔφασαν ὠθεόμενοι ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ κεφαλὴν ποιήσειν ταῦτα οὐδαμά· οὔτε γὰρ σφίσι ἐν νόμῳ εἶναι ἄνθρωπον προσκυνέειν οὔτε κατὰ ταῦτα ἥκειν. ὡς δὲ ἀπεμαχέσαντο τοῦτο, δεύτερά σφι λέγουσι τάδε καὶ λόγου τοιοῦδε ἐχόμενα “ὦ βασιλεῦ Μήδων, ἔπεμψαν ἡμέας Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἀντὶ τῶν ἐν Σπάρτῃ ἀπολομένων κηρύκων ποινὴν ἐκείνων τίσοντας,” λέγουσι δὲ αὐτοῖσι ταῦτα Ξέρξης ὑπὸ μεγαλοφροσύνης οὐκ ἔφη ὅμοιος ἔσεσθαι Λακεδαιμονίοισι· κείνους μὲν γὰρ συγχέαι τὰ πάντων ἀνθρώπων νόμιμα ἀποκτείναντας κήρυκας, αὐτὸς δὲ τὰ ἐκείνοισι ἐπιπλήσσει ταῦτα οὐ ποιήσειν, οὐδὲ ἀνταποκτείνας ἐκείνους ἀπολύσειν Λακεδαιμονίους τῆς αἰτίης.
8.51. ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς διαβάσιος τοῦ Ἑλλησπόντου, ἔνθεν πορεύεσθαι ἤρξαντο οἱ βάρβαροι, ἕνα αὐτοῦ διατρίψαντες μῆνα ἐν τῷ διέβαινον ἐς τὴν Εὐρώπην, ἐν τρισὶ ἑτέροισι μησὶ ἐγένοντο ἐν τῇ Ἀττικῇ, Καλλιάδεω ἄρχοντος Ἀθηναίοισι. καὶ αἱρέουσι ἔρημον τὸ ἄστυ, καί τινας ὀλίγους εὑρίσκουσι τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἐν τῷ ἱρῷ ἐόντας, ταμίας τε τοῦ ἱροῦ καὶ πένητας ἀνθρώπους, οἳ φραξάμενοι τὴν ἀκρόπολιν θύρῃσί τε καὶ ξύλοισι ἠμύνοντο τοὺς ἐπιόντας, ἅμα μὲν ὑπʼ ἀσθενείης βίου οὐκ ἐκχωρήσαντες ἐς Σαλαμῖνα, πρὸς δὲ αὐτοὶ δοκέοντες ἐξευρηκέναι τὸ μαντήιον τὸ ἡ Πυθίη σφι ἔχρησε, τὸ ξύλινον τεῖχος ἀνάλωτον ἔσεσθαι· αὐτὸ δὴ τοῦτο εἶναι τὸ κρησφύγετον κατὰ τὸ μαντήιον καὶ οὐ τὰς νέας. 8.52. οἱ δὲ Πέρσαι ἱζόμενοι ἐπὶ τὸν καταντίον τῆς ἀκροπόλιος ὄχθον, τὸν Ἀθηναῖοι καλέουσι Ἀρήιον πάγον, ἐπολιόρκεον τρόπον τοιόνδε· ὅκως στυππεῖον περὶ τοὺς ὀιστοὺς περιθέντες ἅψειαν, ἐτόξευον ἐς τὸ φράγμα. ἐνθαῦτα Ἀθηναίων οἱ πολιορκεόμενοι ὅμως ἠμύνοντο, καίπερ ἐς τὸ ἔσχατον κακοῦ ἀπιγμένοι καὶ τοῦ φράγματος προδεδωκότος· οὐδὲ λόγους τῶν Πεισιστρατιδέων προσφερόντων περὶ ὁμολογίης ἐνεδέκοντο, ἀμυνόμενοι δὲ ἄλλα τε ἀντεμηχανῶντο καὶ δὴ καὶ προσιόντων τῶν βαρβάρων πρὸς τὰς πύλας ὀλοιτρόχους ἀπίεσαν, ὥστε Ξέρξην ἐπὶ χρόνον συχνὸν ἀπορίῃσι ἐνέχεσθαι οὐ δυνάμενον σφέας ἑλεῖν. 8.53. χρόνῳ δʼ ἐκ τῶν ἀπόρων ἐφάνη δή τις ἔξοδος τοῖσι βαρβάροισι· ἔδεε γὰρ κατὰ τὸ θεοπρόπιον πᾶσαν τὴν Ἀττικὴν τὴν ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ γενέσθαι ὑπὸ Πέρσῃσι. ἔμπροσθε ὦν πρὸ τῆς ἀκροπόλιος, ὄπισθε δὲ τῶν πυλέων καὶ τῆς ἀνόδου, τῇ δὴ οὔτε τις ἐφύλασσε οὔτʼ ἂν ἤλπισε μή κοτέ τις κατὰ ταῦτα ἀναβαίη ἀνθρώπων, ταύτῃ ἀνέβησαν τινὲς κατὰ τὸ ἱρὸν τῆς Κέκροπος θυγατρὸς Ἀγλαύρου, καίτοι περ ἀποκρήμνου ἐόντος τοῦ χώρου. ὡς δὲ εἶδον αὐτοὺς ἀναβεβηκότας οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἐπὶ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν, οἳ μὲν ἐρρίπτεον ἑωυτοὺς κατὰ τοῦ τείχεος κάτω καὶ διεφθείροντο, οἳ δὲ ἐς τὸ μέγαρον κατέφευγον. τῶν δὲ Περσέων οἱ ἀναβεβηκότες πρῶτον μὲν ἐτράποντο πρὸς τὰς πύλας, ταύτας δὲ ἀνοίξαντες τοὺς ἱκέτας ἐφόνευον· ἐπεὶ δέ σφι πάντες κατέστρωντο, τὸ ἱρὸν συλήσαντες ἐνέπρησαν πᾶσαν τὴν ἀκρόπολιν. 8.54. σχὼν δὲ παντελέως τὰς Ἀθήνας Ξέρξης ἀπέπεμψε ἐς Σοῦσα ἄγγελον ἱππέα Ἀρταβάνῳ ἀγγελέοντα τὴν παρεοῦσάν σφι εὐπρηξίην. ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς πέμψιος τοῦ κήρυκος δευτέρῃ ἡμέρῃ συγκαλέσας Ἀθηναίων τοὺς φυγάδας, ἑωυτῷ δὲ ἑπομένους, ἐκέλευε τρόπῳ τῷ σφετέρῳ θῦσαι τὰ ἱρὰ ἀναβάντας ἐς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν, εἴτε δὴ ὦν ὄψιν τινὰ ἰδὼν ἐνυπνίου ἐνετέλλετο ταῦτα, εἴτε καὶ ἐνθύμιόν οἱ ἐγένετο ἐμπρήσαντι τὸ ἱρόν. οἱ δὲ φυγάδες τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἐποίησαν τὰ ἐντεταλμένα. 8.55. τοῦ δὲ εἵνεκεν τούτων ἐπεμνήσθην, φράσω. ἔστι ἐν τῇ ἀκροπόλι ταύτῃ Ἐρεχθέος τοῦ γηγενέος λεγομένου εἶναι νηός, ἐν τῷ ἐλαίη τε καὶ θάλασσα ἔνι, τὰ λόγος παρὰ Ἀθηναίων Ποσειδέωνά τε καὶ Ἀθηναίην ἐρίσαντας περὶ τῆς χώρης μαρτύρια θέσθαι. ταύτην ὦν τὴν ἐλαίην ἅμα τῷ ἄλλῳ ἱρῷ κατέλαβε ἐμπρησθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων· δευτέρῃ δὲ ἡμέρῃ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐμπρήσιος Ἀθηναίων οἱ θύειν ὑπὸ βασιλέος κελευόμενοι ὡς ἀνέβησαν ἐς τὸ ἱρόν, ὥρων βλαστὸν ἐκ τοῦ στελέχεος ὅσον τε πηχυαῖον ἀναδεδραμηκότα. οὗτοι μέν νυν ταῦτα ἔφρασαν.
8.99. ἡ μὲν δὴ πρώτη ἐς Σοῦσα ἀγγελίη ἀπικομένη, ὡς ἔχοι Ἀθήνας Ξέρξης, ἔτερψε οὕτω δή τι Περσέων τοὺς ὑπολειφθέντας ὡς τάς τε ὁδοὺς μυρσίνῃ πάσας ἐστόρεσαν καὶ ἐθυμίων θυμιήματα καὶ αὐτοὶ ἦσαν ἐν θυσίῃσί τε καὶ εὐπαθείῃσι. ἡ δὲ δευτέρη σφι ἀγγελίη ἐπεσελθοῦσα συνέχεε οὕτω ὥστε τοὺς κιθῶνας κατερρήξαντο πάντες, βοῇ τε καὶ οἰμωγῇ ἐχρέωντο ἀπλέτῳ, Μαρδόνιον ἐν αἰτίῃ τιθέντες. οὐκ οὕτω δὲ περὶ τῶν νεῶν ἀχθόμενοι ταῦτα οἱ Πέρσαι ἐποίευν ὡς περὶ αὐτῷ Ξέρξῃ δειμαίνοντες.
8.109. ὡς δὲ ἔμαθε ὅτι οὐ πείσει τούς γε πολλοὺς πλέειν ἐς τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον ὁ Θεμιστοκλέης, μεταβαλὼν πρὸς τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ʽοὗτοι γὰρ μάλιστα ἐκπεφευγότων περιημέκτεον, ὁρμέατό τε ἐς τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον πλέειν καὶ ἐπὶ σφέων αὐτῶν βαλόμενοι, εἰ οἱ ἄλλοι μὴ βουλοίατὀ ἔλεγέ σφι τάδε. “καὶ αὐτὸς ἤδη πολλοῖσι παρεγενόμην καὶ πολλῷ πλέω ἀκήκοα τοιάδε γενέσθαι, ἄνδρας ἐς ἀναγκαίην ἀπειληθέντας νενικημένους ἀναμάχεσθαί τε καὶ ἀναλαμβάνειν τὴν προτέρην κακότητα. ἡμεῖς δέ, εὕρημα γὰρ εὑρήκαμεν ἡμέας τε αὐτοὺς καὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα, νέφος τοσοῦτο ἀνθρώπων ἀνωσάμενοι, μὴ διώκωμεν ἄνδρας φεύγοντας. τάδε γὰρ οὐκ ἡμεῖς κατεργασάμεθα, ἀλλὰ θεοί τε καὶ ἥρωες, οἳ ἐφθόνησαν ἄνδρα ἕνα τῆς τε Ἀσίης καὶ τῆς Εὐρώπης βασιλεῦσαι ἐόντα ἀνόσιόν τε καὶ ἀτάσθαλον· ὃς τά τε ἱρὰ καὶ τὰ ἴδια ἐν ὁμοίῳ ἐποιέετο, ἐμπιπράς τε καὶ καταβάλλων τῶν θεῶν τὰ ἀγάλματα· ὃς καὶ τὴν θάλασσαν ἀπεμαστίγωσε πέδας τε κατῆκε. ἀλλʼ εὖ γὰρ ἔχει ἐς τὸ παρεὸν ἡμῖν, νῦν μὲν ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι καταμείναντας ἡμέων τε αὐτῶν ἐπιμεληθῆναι καὶ τῶν οἰκετέων, καὶ τις οἰκίην τε ἀναπλασάσθω καὶ σπόρου ἀνακῶς ἐχέτω, παντελέως ἀπελάσας τὸν βάρβαρον· ἅμα δὲ τῷ ἔαρι καταπλέωμεν ἐπὶ Ἑλλησπόντου καὶ Ἰωνίης.” ταῦτα ἔλεγε ἀποθήκην μέλλων ποιήσασθαι ἐς τὸν Πέρσην, ἵνα ἢν ἄρα τί μιν καταλαμβάνῃ πρὸς Ἀθηναίων πάθος ἔχῃ ἀποστροφήν· τά περ ὦν καὶ ἐγένετο.
8.115. ὃ μὲν δὴ δεξάμενος τὸ ῥηθὲν ἀπαλλάσσετο, Ξέρξης δὲ Μαρδόνιον ἐν Θεσσαλίῃ καταλιπὼν αὐτὸς ἐπορεύετο κατὰ τάχος ἐς τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον, καὶ ἀπικνέεται ἐς τὸν πόρον τῆς διαβάσιος ἐν πέντε καὶ τεσσεράκοντα ἡμέρῃσι, ἀπάγων τῆς στρατιῆς οὐδὲν μέρος ὡς εἰπεῖν. ὅκου δὲ πορευόμενοι γινοίατο καὶ κατʼ οὕστινας ἀνθρώπους, τὸν τούτων καρπὸν ἁρπάζοντες ἐσιτέοντο· εἰ δὲ καρπὸν μηδένα εὕροιεν, οἳ δὲ τὴν ποίην τὴν ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἀναφυομένην καὶ τῶν δενδρέων τὸν φλοιὸν περιλέποντες καὶ τὰ φύλλα καταδρέποντες κατήσθιον, ὁμοίως τῶν τε ἡμέρωι καὶ τῶν ἀγρίων, καὶ ἔλειπον οὐδέν· ταῦτα δʼ ἐποίεον ὑπὸ λιμοῦ. ἐπιλαβὼν δὲ λοιμός τε τὸν στρατὸν καὶ δυσεντερίη κατʼ ὁδὸν ἔφθειρε. τοὺς δὲ καὶ νοσέοντας αὐτῶν κατέλειπε, ἐπιτάσσων τῇσι πόλισι, ἵνα ἑκάστοτε γίνοιτο ἐλαύνων, μελεδαίνειν τε καὶ τρέφειν, ἐν Θεσσαλίῃ τε τινὰς καὶ ἐν Σίρι τῆς Παιονίης καὶ ἐν Μακεδονίῃ. ἔνθα καὶ τὸ ἱρὸν ἅρμα καταλιπὼν τοῦ Διός, ὅτε ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἤλαυνε, ἀπιὼν οὐκ ἀπέλαβε, ἀλλὰ δόντες οἱ Παίονες τοῖσι Θρήιξι ἀπαιτέοντος Ξέρξεω ἔφασαν νεμομένας ἁρπασθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν ἄνω Θρηίκων τῶν περὶ τὰς πηγὰς τοῦ Στρυμόνος οἰκημένων.
8.143. Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ πρὸς μὲν Ἀλέξανδρον ὑπεκρίναντο τάδε. “καὶ αὐτοὶ τοῦτό γε ἐπιστάμεθα ὅτι πολλαπλησίη ἐστὶ τῷ Μήδῳ δύναμις ἤ περ ἡμῖν, ὥστε οὐδὲν δέει τοῦτό γε ὀνειδίζειν. ἀλλʼ ὅμως ἐλευθερίης γλιχόμενοι ἀμυνεύμεθα οὕτω ὅκως ἂν καὶ δυνώμεθα. ὁμολογῆσαι δὲ τῷ βαρβάρῳ μήτε σὺ ἡμέας πειρῶ ἀναπείθειν οὔτε ἡμεῖς πεισόμεθα. νῦν τε ἀπάγγελλε Μαρδονίῳ ὡς Ἀθηναῖοι λέγουσι, ἔστʼ ἂν ὁ ἥλιος τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν ἴῃ τῇ περ καὶ νῦν ἔρχεται, μήκοτε ὁμολογήσειν ἡμέας Ξέρξῃ· ἀλλὰ θεοῖσί τε συμμάχοισι πίσυνοί μιν ἐπέξιμεν ἀμυνόμενοι καὶ τοῖσι ἥρωσι, τῶν ἐκεῖνος οὐδεμίαν ὄπιν ἔχων ἐνέπρησε τούς τε οἴκους καὶ τὰ ἀγάλματα. σύ τε τοῦ λοιποῦ λόγους ἔχων τοιούσδε μὴ ἐπιφαίνεο Ἀθηναίοισι, μηδὲ δοκέων χρηστὰ ὑπουργέειν ἀθέμιστα ἔρδειν παραίνεε· οὐ γάρ σε βουλόμεθα οὐδὲν ἄχαρι πρὸς Ἀθηναίων παθεῖν ἐόντα πρόξεινόν τε καὶ φίλον.”''. None | 1.8. This Candaules, then, fell in love with his own wife, so much so that he believed her to be by far the most beautiful woman in the world; and believing this, he praised her beauty beyond measure to Gyges son of Dascylus, who was his favorite among his bodyguard; for it was to Gyges that he entrusted all his most important secrets. ,After a little while, Candaules, doomed to misfortune, spoke to Gyges thus: “Gyges, I do not think that you believe what I say about the beauty of my wife; men trust their ears less than their eyes: so you must see her naked.” Gyges protested loudly at this. ,“Master,” he said, “what an unsound suggestion, that I should see my mistress naked! When a woman's clothes come off, she dispenses with her modesty, too. ,Men have long ago made wise rules from which one ought to learn; one of these is that one should mind one's own business. As for me, I believe that your queen is the most beautiful of all women, and I ask you not to ask of me what is lawless.” " "
1.12. When they had prepared this plot, and night had fallen, Gyges followed the woman into the chamber (for Gyges was not released, nor was there any means of deliverance, but either he or Candaules must die). She gave him a dagger and hid him behind the same door; ,and presently he stole out and killed Candaules as he slept. Thus he made himself master of the king's wife and sovereignty. He is mentioned in the iambic verses of Archilochus of Parus who lived about the same time. " '
1.21. The Milesians say it happened so. Then, when the Delphic reply was brought to Alyattes, he promptly sent a herald to Miletus, offering to make a truce with Thrasybulus and the Milesians during his rebuilding of the temple. So the envoy went to Miletus . But Thrasybulus, forewarned of the whole matter, and knowing what Alyattes meant to do, devised the following plan: ,he brought together into the marketplace all the food in the city, from private stores and his own, and told the men of Miletus all to drink and celebrate together when he gave the word.
1.26. After the death of Alyattes, his son Croesus, then thirty-five years of age, came to the throne. The first Greeks whom he attacked were the Ephesians. ,These, besieged by him, dedicated their city to Artemis; they did this by attaching a rope to the city wall from the temple of the goddess, which stood seven stades away from the ancient city which was then besieged. ,These were the first whom Croesus attacked; afterwards he made war on the Ionian and Aeolian cities in turn, upon different pretexts: he found graver charges where he could, but sometimes alleged very petty grounds of offense. 1.27. Then, when he had subjugated all the Asiatic Greeks of the mainland and made them tributary to him, he planned to build ships and attack the islanders; ,but when his preparations for shipbuilding were underway, either Bias of Priene or Pittacus of Mytilene (the story is told of both) came to Sardis and, asked by Croesus for news about Hellas, put an end to the shipbuilding by giving the following answer: ,“O King, the islanders are buying ten thousand horse, intending to march to Sardis against you.” Croesus, thinking that he spoke the truth, said: “Would that the gods would put this in the heads of the islanders, to come on horseback against the sons of the Lydians!” Then the other answered and said: ,“O King, you appear to me earnestly to wish to catch the islanders riding horses on the mainland, a natural wish. And what else do you suppose the islanders wished, as soon as they heard that you were building ships to attack them, than to catch Lydians on the seas, so as to be revenged on you for the Greeks who dwell on the mainland, whom you enslaved?” ,Croesus was quite pleased with this conclusion, for he thought the man spoke reasonably and, heeding him, stopped building ships. Thus he made friends with the Ionians inhabiting the islands. 1.28. As time went on, Croesus subjugated almost all the nations west of the Halys ; for except the Cilicians and Lycians, all the rest Croesus held subject under him. These were the Lydians, Phrygians, Mysians, Mariandynians, Chalybes, Paphlagonians, the Thracian Thynians and Bithynians, Carians, Ionians, Dorians, Aeolians, and Pamphylians; 1.29. and after these were subdued and subject to Croesus in addition to the Lydians, all the sages from Hellas who were living at that time, coming in different ways, came to Sardis, which was at the height of its property; and among them came Solon the Athenian, who, after making laws for the Athenians at their request, went abroad for ten years, sailing forth to see the world, he said. This he did so as not to be compelled to repeal any of the laws he had made,,since the Athenians themselves could not do that, for they were bound by solemn oaths to abide for ten years by whatever laws Solon should make. 1.30. So for that reason, and to see the world, Solon went to visit Amasis in Egypt and then to Croesus in Sardis . When he got there, Croesus entertained him in the palace, and on the third or fourth day Croesus told his attendants to show Solon around his treasures, and they pointed out all those things that were great and blest. ,After Solon had seen everything and had thought about it, Croesus found the opportunity to say, “My Athenian guest, we have heard a lot about you because of your wisdom and of your wanderings, how as one who loves learning you have traveled much of the world for the sake of seeing it, so now I desire to ask you who is the most fortunate man you have seen.” ,Croesus asked this question believing that he was the most fortunate of men, but Solon, offering no flattery but keeping to the truth, said, “O King, it is Tellus the Athenian.” ,Croesus was amazed at what he had said and replied sharply, “In what way do you judge Tellus to be the most fortunate?” Solon said, “Tellus was from a prosperous city, and his children were good and noble. He saw children born to them all, and all of these survived. His life was prosperous by our standards, and his death was most glorious: ,when the Athenians were fighting their neighbors in Eleusis, he came to help, routed the enemy, and died very finely. The Athenians buried him at public expense on the spot where he fell and gave him much honor.” 1.31. When Solon had provoked him by saying that the affairs of Tellus were so fortunate, Croesus asked who he thought was next, fully expecting to win second prize. Solon answered, “Cleobis and Biton. ,They were of Argive stock, had enough to live on, and on top of this had great bodily strength. Both had won prizes in the athletic contests, and this story is told about them: there was a festival of Hera in Argos, and their mother absolutely had to be conveyed to the temple by a team of oxen. But their oxen had not come back from the fields in time, so the youths took the yoke upon their own shoulders under constraint of time. They drew the wagon, with their mother riding atop it, traveling five miles until they arrived at the temple. ,When they had done this and had been seen by the entire gathering, their lives came to an excellent end, and in their case the god made clear that for human beings it is a better thing to die than to live. The Argive men stood around the youths and congratulated them on their strength; the Argive women congratulated their mother for having borne such children. ,She was overjoyed at the feat and at the praise, so she stood before the image and prayed that the goddess might grant the best thing for man to her children Cleobis and Biton, who had given great honor to the goddess. ,After this prayer they sacrificed and feasted. The youths then lay down in the temple and went to sleep and never rose again; death held them there. The Argives made and dedicated at Delphi statues of them as being the best of men.” ' "1.32. Thus Solon granted second place in happiness to these men. Croesus was vexed and said, “My Athenian guest, do you so much despise our happiness that you do not even make us worth as much as common men?” Solon replied, “Croesus, you ask me about human affairs, and I know that the divine is entirely grudging and troublesome to us. ,In a long span of time it is possible to see many things that you do not want to, and to suffer them, too. I set the limit of a man's life at seventy years; ,these seventy years have twenty-five thousand, two hundred days, leaving out the intercalary month. But if you make every other year longer by one month, so that the seasons agree opportunely, then there are thirty-five intercalary months during the seventy years, and from these months there are one thousand fifty days. ,Out of all these days in the seventy years, all twenty-six thousand, two hundred and fifty of them, not one brings anything at all like another. So, Croesus, man is entirely chance. ,To me you seem to be very rich and to be king of many people, but I cannot answer your question before I learn that you ended your life well. The very rich man is not more fortunate than the man who has only his daily needs, unless he chances to end his life with all well. Many very rich men are unfortunate, many of moderate means are lucky. ,The man who is very rich but unfortunate surpasses the lucky man in only two ways, while the lucky surpasses the rich but unfortunate in many. The rich man is more capable of fulfilling his appetites and of bearing a great disaster that falls upon him, and it is in these ways that he surpasses the other. The lucky man is not so able to support disaster or appetite as is the rich man, but his luck keeps these things away from him, and he is free from deformity and disease, has no experience of evils, and has fine children and good looks. ,If besides all this he ends his life well, then he is the one whom you seek, the one worthy to be called fortunate. But refrain from calling him fortunate before he dies; call him lucky. ,It is impossible for one who is only human to obtain all these things at the same time, just as no land is self-sufficient in what it produces. Each country has one thing but lacks another; whichever has the most is the best. Just so no human being is self-sufficient; each person has one thing but lacks another. ,Whoever passes through life with the most and then dies agreeably is the one who, in my opinion, O King, deserves to bear this name. It is necessary to see how the end of every affair turns out, for the god promises fortune to many people and then utterly ruins them.” " '1.33. By saying this, Solon did not at all please Croesus, who sent him away without regard for him, but thinking him a great fool, because he ignored the present good and told him to look to the end of every affair. ' "1.34. But after Solon's departure divine retribution fell heavily on Croesus; as I guess, because he supposed himself to be blessed beyond all other men. Directly, as he slept, he had a dream, which showed him the truth of the evil things which were going to happen concerning his son. ,He had two sons, one of whom was ruined, for he was mute, but the other, whose name was Atys, was by far the best in every way of all of his peers. The dream showed this Atys to Croesus, how he would lose him struck and killed by a spear of iron. ,So Croesus, after he awoke and considered, being frightened by the dream, brought in a wife for his son, and although Atys was accustomed to command the Lydian armies, Croesus now would not send him out on any such enterprise, while he took the javelins and spears and all such things that men use for war from the men's apartments and piled them in his store room, lest one should fall on his son from where it hung. " "1.35. Now while Croesus was occupied with the marriage of his son, a Phrygian of the royal house came to Sardis, in great distress and with unclean hands. This man came to Croesus' house, and asked to be purified according to the custom of the country; so Croesus purified him ( ,the Lydians have the same manner of purification as the Greeks), and when he had done everything customary, he asked the Phrygian where he came from and who he was: ,“Friend,” he said, “who are you, and from what place in Phrygia do you come as my suppliant? And what man or woman have you killed?” “O King,” the man answered, “I am the son of Gordias the son of Midas, and my name is Adrastus; I killed my brother accidentally, and I come here banished by my father and deprived of all.” ,Croesus answered, “All of your family are my friends, and you have come to friends, where you shall lack nothing, staying in my house. As for your misfortune, bear it as lightly as possible and you will gain most.” " "1.36. So Adrastus lived in Croesus' house. About this same time a great monster of a boar appeared on the Mysian Olympus, who would come off that mountain and ravage the fields of the Mysians. The Mysians had gone up against him often; but they never did him any harm but were hurt by him themselves. ,At last they sent messengers to Croesus, with this message: “O King, a great monster of a boar has appeared in the land, who is destroying our fields; for all our attempts, we cannot kill him; so now we ask you to send your son and chosen young men and dogs with us, so that we may drive him out of the country.” ,Such was their request, but Croesus remembered the prophecy of his dream and answered them thus: “Do not mention my son again: I will not send him with you. He is newly married, and that is his present concern. But I will send chosen Lydians, and all the huntsmen, and I will tell those who go to be as eager as possible to help you to drive the beast out of the country.” " '1.37. This was his answer, and the Mysians were satisfied with it. But the son of Croesus now entered, having heard what the Mysians had asked for; and when Croesus refused to send his son with them, the young man said, ,“Father, it was once thought very fine and noble for us to go to war and the chase and win renown; but now you have barred me from both of these, although you have seen neither cowardice nor lack of spirit in me. With what face can I now show myself whenever I go to and from the market-place? ,What will the men of the city think of me, and what my newly wedded wife? With what kind of man will she think that she lives? So either let me go to the hunt, or show me by reasoning that what you are doing is best for me.”' "1.38. “My son,” answered Croesus, “I do this not because I have seen cowardice or anything unseemly in you, but the vision of a dream stood over me in my sleep, and told me that you would be short-lived, for you would be killed by a spear of iron. ,It is because of that vision that I hurried your marriage and do not send you on any enterprise that I have in hand, but keep guard over you, so that perhaps I may rob death of you during my lifetime. You are my only son: for that other, since he is ruined, he doesn't exist for me.” " '1.39. “Father,” the youth replied, “no one can blame you for keeping guard over me, when you have seen such a vision; but it is my right to show you what you do not perceive, and why you mistake the meaning of the dream. ,You say that the dream told you that I should be killed by a spear of iron? But has a boar hands? Has it that iron spear which you dread? Had the dream said I should be killed by a tusk or some other thing proper to a boar, you would be right in acting as you act; but no, it was to be by a spear. Therefore, since it is not against men that we are to fight, let me go.” 1.40. Croesus answered, “My son, your judgment concerning the dream has somewhat reassured me; and being reassured by you, I change my thinking and permit you to go to the chase.” ' "1.41. Having said this, Croesus sent for Adrastus the Phrygian and when he came addressed him thus: “Adrastus, when you were struck by ugly misfortune, for which I do not blame you, it was I who cleansed you, and received and still keep you in my house, defraying all your keep. ,Now then, as you owe me a return of good service for the good which I have done you, I ask that you watch over my son as he goes out to the chase. See that no thieving criminals meet you on the way, to do you harm. ,Besides, it is only right that you too should go where you can win renown by your deeds. That is fitting for your father's son; and you are strong enough besides.” " '1.42. “O King,” Adrastus answered, “I would not otherwise have gone into such an arena. One so unfortunate as I should not associate with the prosperous among his peers; nor have I the wish so to do, and for many reasons I would have held back. ,But now, since you urge it and I must please you (since I owe you a return of good service), I am ready to do this; and as for your son, in so far as I can protect him, look for him to come back unharmed.” 1.43. So when Adrastus had answered Croesus thus, they went out provided with chosen young men and dogs. When they came to Mount Olympus, they hunted for the beast and, finding him, formed a circle and threw their spears at him: ,then the guest called Adrastus, the man who had been cleansed of the deed of blood, missed the boar with his spear and hit the son of Croesus. ,So Atys was struck by the spear and fulfilled the prophecy of the dream. One ran to tell Croesus what had happened, and coming to Sardis told the king of the fight and the fate of his son. 1.44. Distraught by the death of his son, Croesus cried out the more vehemently because the killer was one whom he himself had cleansed of blood, ,and in his great and terrible grief at this mischance he called on Zeus by three names—Zeus the Purifier, Zeus of the Hearth, Zeus of Comrades: the first, because he wanted the god to know what evil his guest had done him; the second, because he had received the guest into his house and thus unwittingly entertained the murderer of his son; and the third, because he had found his worst enemy in the man whom he had sent as a protector. 1.45. Soon the Lydians came, bearing the corpse, with the murderer following after. He then came and stood before the body and gave himself up to Croesus, holding out his hands and telling him to kill him over the corpse, mentioning his former misfortune, and that on top of that he had destroyed the one who purified him, and that he was not fit to live. ,On hearing this, Croesus took pity on Adrastus, though his own sorrow was so great, and said to him, “Friend, I have from you the entire penalty, since you sentence yourself to death. But it is not you that I hold the cause of this evil, except in so far as you were the unwilling doer of it, but one of the gods, the same one who told me long ago what was to be.” ,So Croesus buried his own son in such manner as was fitting. But Adrastus, son of Gordias who was son of Midas, this Adrastus, the destroyer of his own brother and of the man who purified him, when the tomb was undisturbed by the presence of men, killed himself there by the sepulcher, seeing clearly now that he was the most heavily afflicted of all whom he knew. 1.46. After the loss of his son, Croesus remained in deep sorrow for two years. After this time, the destruction by Cyrus son of Cambyses of the sovereignty of Astyages son of Cyaxares, and the growth of the power of the Persians, distracted Croesus from his mourning; and he determined, if he could, to forestall the increase of the Persian power before they became great. ,Having thus determined, he at once made inquiries of the Greek and Libyan oracles, sending messengers separately to Delphi, to Abae in Phocia, and to Dodona, while others were despatched to Amphiaraus and Trophonius, and others to Branchidae in the Milesian country. ,These are the Greek oracles to which Croesus sent for divination: and he told others to go inquire of Ammon in Libya . His intent in sending was to test the knowledge of the oracles, so that, if they were found to know the truth, he might send again and ask if he should undertake an expedition against the Persians. 1.47. And when he sent to test these shrines he gave the Lydians these instructions: they were to keep track of the time from the day they left Sardis, and on the hundredth day inquire of the oracles what Croesus, king of Lydia, son of Alyattes, was doing then; then they were to write down whatever the oracles answered and bring the reports back to him. ,Now none relate what answer was given by the rest of the oracles. But at Delphi, no sooner had the Lydians entered the hall to inquire of the god and asked the question with which they were entrusted, than the Pythian priestess uttered the following hexameter verses: ,1.59. Now of these two peoples, Croesus learned that the Attic was held in subjection and divided into factions by Pisistratus, son of Hippocrates, who at that time was sovereign over the Athenians. This Hippocrates was still a private man when a great marvel happened to him when he was at Olympia to see the games: when he had offered the sacrifice, the vessels, standing there full of meat and water, boiled without fire until they boiled over. ,Chilon the Lacedaemonian, who happened to be there and who saw this marvel, advised Hippocrates not to take to his house a wife who could bear children, but if he had one already, then to send her away, and if he had a son, to disown him. ,Hippocrates refused to follow the advice of Chilon; and afterward there was born to him this Pisistratus, who, when there was a feud between the Athenians of the coast under Megacles son of Alcmeon and the Athenians of the plain under Lycurgus son of Aristolaides, raised up a third faction, as he coveted the sovereign power. He collected partisans and pretended to champion the uplanders, and the following was his plan. ,Wounding himself and his mules, he drove his wagon into the marketplace, with a story that he had escaped from his enemies, who would have killed him (so he said) as he was driving into the country. So he implored the people to give him a guard: and indeed he had won a reputation in his command of the army against the Megarians, when he had taken Nisaea and performed other great exploits. ,Taken in, the Athenian people gave him a guard of chosen citizens, whom Pisistratus made clubmen instead of spearmen: for the retinue that followed him carried wooden clubs. ,These rose with Pisistratus and took the Acropolis; and Pisistratus ruled the Athenians, disturbing in no way the order of offices nor changing the laws, but governing the city according to its established constitution and arranging all things fairly and well.
1.65. So Croesus learned that at that time such problems were oppressing the Athenians, but that the Lacedaemonians had escaped from the great evils and had mastered the Tegeans in war. In the kingship of Leon and Hegesicles at Sparta, the Lacedaemonians were successful in all their other wars but met disaster only against the Tegeans. ,Before this they had been the worst-governed of nearly all the Hellenes and had had no dealings with strangers, but they changed to good government in this way: Lycurgus, a man of reputation among the Spartans, went to the oracle at Delphi . As soon as he entered the hall, the priestess said in hexameter: ,1.69. Croesus, then, aware of all this, sent messengers to Sparta with gifts to ask for an alliance, having instructed them what to say. They came and said: ,“Croesus, King of Lydia and other nations, has sent us with this message: ‘Lacedaemonians, the god has declared that I should make the Greek my friend; now, therefore, since I learn that you are the leaders of Hellas, I invite you, as the oracle bids; I would like to be your friend and ally, without deceit or guile.’” ,Croesus proposed this through his messengers; and the Lacedaemonians, who had already heard of the oracle given to Croesus, welcomed the coming of the Lydians and swore to be his friends and allies; and indeed they were obliged by certain benefits which they had received before from the king. ,For the Lacedaemonians had sent to Sardis to buy gold, intending to use it for the statue of Apollo which now stands on Thornax in Laconia ; and Croesus, when they offered to buy it, made them a free gift of it. 1.70. For this reason, and because he had chosen them as his friends before all the other Greeks, the Lacedaemonians accepted the alliance. So they declared themselves ready to serve him when he should require, and moreover they made a bowl of bronze, engraved around the rim outside with figures, and large enough to hold twenty-seven hundred gallons, and brought it with the intention of making a gift in return to Croesus. ,This bowl never reached Sardis, for which two reasons are given: the Lacedaemonians say that when the bowl was near Samos on its way to Sardis, the Samians descended upon them in warships and carried it off; ,but the Samians themselves say that the Lacedaemonians who were bringing the bowl, coming too late, and learning that Sardis and Croesus were taken, sold it in Samos to certain private men, who set it up in the the temple of Hera. And it may be that the sellers of the bowl, when they returned to Sparta, said that they had been robbed of it by the Samians. Such are the tales about the bowl. 1.71. Croesus, mistaking the meaning of the oracle, invaded Cappadocia, expecting to destroy Cyrus and the Persian power. ,But while he was preparing to march against the Persians, a certain Lydian, who was already held to be a wise man, and who, from the advice which he now gave, won a great name among the Lydians, advised him as follows (his name was Sandanis): “O King, you are getting ready to march against men who wear trousers of leather and whose complete wardrobe is of leather, and who eat not what they like but what they have; for their land is stony. ,Further, they do not use wine, but drink water, have no figs to eat, or anything else that is good. Now if you conquer them, of what will you deprive them, since they have nothing? But if on the other hand you are conquered, then look how many good things you will lose; for once they have tasted of our blessings they will cling so tightly to them that nothing will pry them away. ,For myself, then, I thank the gods that they do not put it in the heads of the Persians to march against the Lydians.” Sandanis spoke thus but he did not persuade Croesus. Indeed, before they conquered the Lydians, the Persians had no luxury and no comforts. 1.72. Now the Cappadocians are called by the Greeks Syrians, and these Syrians before the Persian rule were subjects of the Medes, and, at this time, of Cyrus. ,For the boundary of the Median and Lydian empires was the river Halys, which flows from the Armenian mountains first through Cilicia and afterwards between the Matieni on the right and the Phrygians on the other hand; then, passing these and still flowing north, it separates the Cappadocian Syrians on the right from the Paphlagonians on the left. ,Thus the Halys river cuts off nearly the whole of the lower part of Asia from the Cyprian to the Euxine sea . Here is the narrowest neck of all this land; the length of the journey across for a man traveling unencumbered is five days.' "1.73. The reasons for Croesus' expedition against Cappadocia were these: he desired to gain territory in addition to his own, and (these were the chief causes) he trusted the oracle and wished to avenge Astyages on Cyrus; for Cyrus, son of Cambyses, had conquered Astyages and held him in subjection. ,Now Astyages, son of Cyaxares and the king of Media, was Croesus' brother-in-law: and this is how he came to be so. ,A tribe of wandering Scythians separated itself from the rest, and escaped into Median territory. This was then ruled by Cyaxares, son of Phraortes, son of Deioces. Cyaxares at first treated the Scythians kindly, as suppliants for his mercy; and, as he had a high regard for them, he entrusted boys to their tutelage to be taught their language and the skill of archery. ,As time went on, it happened that the Scythians, who were accustomed to go hunting and always to bring something back, once had taken nothing, and when they returned empty-handed, Cyaxares treated them very roughly and contemptuously (being, as appears from this, prone to anger). ,The Scythians, feeling themselves wronged by the treatment they had from Cyaxares, planned to take one of the boys who were their pupils and cut him in pieces; then, dressing the flesh as they were accustomed to dress the animals which they killed, to bring and give it to Cyaxares as if it were the spoils of the hunt; and after that, to make their way with all speed to Alyattes son of Sadyattes at Sardis . All this they did. ,Cyaxares and the guests who ate with him dined on the boy's flesh, and the Scythians, having done as they planned, fled to Alyattes for protection." "1.74. After this, since Alyattes would not give up the Scythians to Cyaxares at his demand, there was war between the Lydians and the Medes for five years; each won many victories over the other, and once they fought a battle by night. ,They were still warring with equal success, when it happened, at an encounter which occurred in the sixth year, that during the battle the day was suddenly turned to night. Thales of Miletus had foretold this loss of daylight to the Ionians, fixing it within the year in which the change did indeed happen. ,So when the Lydians and Medes saw the day turned to night, they stopped fighting, and both were the more eager to make peace. Those who reconciled them were Syennesis the Cilician and Labynetus the Babylonian; ,they brought it about that there should be a sworn agreement and a compact of marriage between them: they judged that Alyattes should give his daughter Aryenis to Astyages, son of Cyaxares; for without strong constraint agreements will not keep their force. ,These nations make sworn compacts as do the Greeks; and besides, when they cut the skin of their arms, they lick each other's blood. " "1.75. Cyrus had subjugated this Astyages, then, Cyrus' own mother's father, for the reason which I shall presently disclose. ,Having this reason to quarrel with Cyrus, Croesus sent to ask the oracles if he should march against the Persians; and when a deceptive answer came he thought it to be favorable to him, and so led his army into the Persian territory. ,When he came to the river Halys, he transported his army across it—by the bridges which were there then, as I maintain; but the general belief of the Greeks is that Thales of Miletus got the army across. ,The story is that, as Croesus did not know how his army could pass the river (as the aforesaid bridges did not yet exist then), Thales, who was in the encampment, made the river, which flowed on the left of the army, also flow on the right, in the following way. ,Starting from a point on the river upstream from the camp, he dug a deep semi-circular trench, so that the stream, turned from its ancient course, would flow in the trench to the rear of the camp and, passing it, would issue into its former bed, with the result that as soon as the river was thus divided into two, both channels could be forded. ,Some even say that the ancient channel dried up altogether. But I do not believe this; for in that case, how did they pass the river when they were returning? " '1.76. Passing over with his army, Croesus then came to the part of Cappadocia called Pteria (it is the strongest part of this country and lies on the line of the city of Sinope on the Euxine sea ), where he encamped and devastated the farms of the Syrians; ,and he took and enslaved the city of the Pterians, and took all the places around it also, and drove the Syrians from their homes, though they had done him no harm. Cyrus, mustering his army, advanced to oppose Croesus, gathering to him all those who lived along the way. ,But before beginning his march, he sent heralds to the Ionians to try to draw them away from Croesus. The Ionians would not be prevailed on; but when Cyrus arrived and encamped face to face with Croesus, there in the Pterian country the armies had a trial of strength. ,The fighting was fierce, many on both sides fell, and at nightfall they disengaged with neither side victorious. The two sides contended thus. ' "1.77. Croesus was not content with the size of his force, for his army that had engaged was far smaller than that of Cyrus; therefore, when on the day after the battle Cyrus did not try attacking again, he marched away to Sardis, intending to summon the Egyptians in accordance with their treaty ,(for before making an alliance with the Lacedaemonians he had made one also with Amasis king of Egypt ), and to send for the Babylonians also (for with these too he had made an alliance, Labynetus at this time being their sovereign), ,and to summon the Lacedaemonians to join him at a fixed time. He had in mind to muster all these forces and assemble his own army, then to wait until the winter was over and march against the Persians at the beginning of spring. ,With such an intention, as soon as he returned to Sardis, he sent heralds to all his allies, summoning them to assemble at Sardis in five months' time; and as for the soldiers whom he had with him, who had fought with the Persians, all of them who were mercenaries he discharged, never thinking that after a contest so equal Cyrus would march against Sardis . " '1.78. This was how Croesus reasoned. Meanwhile, snakes began to swarm in the outer part of the city; and when they appeared the horses, leaving their accustomed pasture, devoured them. When Croesus saw this he thought it a portent, and so it was. ,He at once sent to the homes of the Telmessian interpreters, to inquire concerning it; but though his messengers came and learned from the Telmessians what the portent meant, they could not bring back word to Croesus, for he was a prisoner before they could make their voyage back to Sardis . ,Nonetheless, this was the judgment of the Telmessians: that Croesus must expect a foreign army to attack his country, and that when it came, it would subjugate the inhabitants of the land: for the snake, they said, was the offspring of the land, but the horse was an enemy and a foreigner. This was the answer which the Telmessians gave Croesus, knowing as yet nothing of the fate of Sardis and of the king himself; but when they gave it, Croesus was already taken. ' "1.79. When Croesus marched away after the battle in the Pterian country, Cyrus, learning that Croesus had gone intending to disband his army, deliberated and perceived that it would be opportune for him to march quickly against Sardis, before the power of the Lydians could be assembled again. ,This he decided, and this he did immediately; he marched his army into Lydia and so came himself to bring the news of it to Croesus. All had turned out contrary to Croesus' expectation, and he was in a great quandary; nevertheless, he led out the Lydians to battle. ,Now at this time there was no nation in Asia more valiant or warlike than the Lydian. It was their custom to fight on horseback, carrying long spears, and they were skillful at managing horses. " "
1.80. So the armies met in the plain, wide and bare, that is before the city of Sardis : the Hyllus and other rivers flow across it and run violently together into the greatest of them, which is called Hermus (this flows from the mountain sacred to the Mother Dindymene and empties into the sea near the city of Phocaea ). ,When Cyrus saw the Lydians maneuvering their battle-lines here, he was afraid of their cavalry, and therefore at the urging of one Harpagus, a Mede, he did as I shall describe. Assembling all the camels that followed his army bearing food and baggage, he took off their burdens and mounted men upon them equipped like cavalrymen; having equipped them, he ordered them to advance before his army against Croesus' cavalry; he directed the infantry to follow the camels, and placed all his cavalry behind the infantry. ,When they were all in order, he commanded them to kill all the other Lydians who came in their way, and spare none, but not to kill Croesus himself, even if he should defend himself against capture. ,Such was his command. The reason for his posting the camels to face the cavalry was this: horses fear camels and can endure neither the sight nor the smell of them; this then was the intention of his maneuver, that Croesus' cavalry, on which the Lydian relied to distinguish himself, might be of no use. ,So when battle was joined, as soon as the horses smelled and saw the camels they turned to flight, and all Croesus' hope was lost. ,Nevertheless the Lydians were no cowards; when they saw what was happening, they leaped from their horses and fought the Persians on foot. Many of both armies fell; at length the Lydians were routed and driven within their city wall, where they were besieged by the Persians. " "
1.81. So then they were besieged. But Croesus, supposing that the siege would last a long time, again sent messengers from the city to his allies; whereas the former envoys had been sent to summon them to muster at Sardis in five months' time, these were to announce that Croesus was besieged and to plead for help as quickly as possible. " '
1.82. So he sent to the Lacedaemonians as well as to the rest of the allies. Now at this very time the Spartans themselves were feuding with the Argives over the country called Thyrea; ,for this was a part of the Argive territory which the Lacedaemonians had cut off and occupied. (All the land towards the west, as far as Malea, belonged then to the Argives, and not only the mainland, but the island of Cythera and the other islands.) ,The Argives came out to save their territory from being cut off, then after debate the two armies agreed that three hundred of each side should fight, and whichever party won would possess the land. The rest of each army was to go away to its own country and not be present at the battle, since, if the armies remained on the field, the men of either party might render assistance to their comrades if they saw them losing. ,Having agreed, the armies drew off, and picked men of each side remained and fought. Neither could gain advantage in the battle; at last, only three out of the six hundred were left, Alcenor and Chromios of the Argives, Othryades of the Lacedaemonians: these three were left alive at nightfall. ,Then the two Argives, believing themselves victors, ran to Argos ; but Othryades the Lacedaemonian, after stripping the Argive dead and taking the arms to his camp, waited at his position. On the second day both armies came to learn the issue. ,For a while both claimed the victory, the Argives arguing that more of their men had survived, the Lacedaemonians showing that the Argives had fled, while their man had stood his ground and stripped the enemy dead. ,At last from arguing they fell to fighting; many of both sides fell, but the Lacedaemonians gained the victory. The Argives, who before had worn their hair long by fixed custom, shaved their heads ever after and made a law, with a curse added to it, that no Argive grow his hair, and no Argive woman wear gold, until they recovered Thyreae; ,and the Lacedaemonians made a contrary law, that they wear their hair long ever after; for until now they had not worn it so. Othryades, the lone survivor of the three hundred, was ashamed, it is said, to return to Sparta after all the men of his company had been killed, and killed himself on the spot at Thyreae.
1.83. The Sardian herald came after this had happened to the Spartans to ask for their help for Croesus, now besieged; nonetheless, when they heard the herald, they prepared to send help; but when they were already equipped and their ships ready, a second message came that the fortification of the Lydians was taken and Croesus a prisoner. Then, though very sorry indeed, they ceased their efforts.
1.84. This is how Sardis was taken. When Croesus had been besieged for fourteen days, Cyrus sent horsemen around in his army to promise to reward whoever first mounted the wall. ,After this the army made an assault, but with no success. Then, when all the others were stopped, a certain Mardian called Hyroeades attempted to mount by a part of the acropolis where no guard had been set, since no one feared that it could be taken by an attack made here. ,For here the height on which the acropolis stood is sheer and unlikely to be assaulted; this was the only place where Meles the former king of Sardis had not carried the lion which his concubine had borne him, the Telmessians having declared that if this lion were carried around the walls, Sardis could never be taken. Meles then carried the lion around the rest of the wall of the acropolis where it could be assaulted, but neglected this place, because the height was sheer and defied attack. It is on the side of the city which faces towards Tmolus. ,The day before, then, Hyroeades, this Mardian, had seen one of the Lydians come down by this part of the acropolis after a helmet that had fallen down, and fetch it; he took note of this and considered it. ,And now he climbed up himself, and other Persians after him. Many ascended, and thus Sardis was taken and all the city sacked.
1.85. I will now relate what happened to Croesus himself. He had a son, whom I have already mentioned, fine in other respects, but mute. Now in his days of prosperity past Croesus had done all that he could for his son; and besides resorting to other devices he had sent to Delphi to inquire of the oracle concerning him. ,The Pythian priestess answered him thus: 1.86. The Persians gained Sardis and took Croesus prisoner. Croesus had ruled fourteen years and been besieged fourteen days. Fulfilling the oracle, he had destroyed his own great empire. The Persians took him and brought him to Cyrus, ,who erected a pyre and mounted Croesus atop it, bound in chains, with twice seven sons of the Lydians beside him. Cyrus may have intended to sacrifice him as a victory-offering to some god, or he may have wished to fulfill a vow, or perhaps he had heard that Croesus was pious and put him atop the pyre to find out if some divinity would deliver him from being burned alive. ,So Cyrus did this. As Croesus stood on the pyre, even though he was in such a wretched position it occurred to him that Solon had spoken with god's help when he had said that no one among the living is fortunate. When this occurred to him, he heaved a deep sigh and groaned aloud after long silence, calling out three times the name “Solon.” ,Cyrus heard and ordered the interpreters to ask Croesus who he was invoking. They approached and asked, but Croesus kept quiet at their questioning, until finally they forced him and he said, “I would prefer to great wealth his coming into discourse with all despots.” Since what he said was unintelligible, they again asked what he had said, ,persistently harassing him. He explained that first Solon the Athenian had come and seen all his fortune and spoken as if he despised it. Now everything had turned out for him as Solon had said, speaking no more of him than of every human being, especially those who think themselves fortunate. While Croesus was relating all this, the pyre had been lit and the edges were on fire. ,When Cyrus heard from the interpreters what Croesus said, he relented and considered that he, a human being, was burning alive another human being, one his equal in good fortune. In addition, he feared retribution, reflecting how there is nothing stable in human affairs. He ordered that the blazing fire be extinguished as quickly as possible, and that Croesus and those with him be taken down, but despite their efforts they could not master the fire. " "
1.87. Then the Lydians say that Croesus understood Cyrus' change of heart, and when he saw everyone trying to extinguish the fire but unable to check it, he invoked Apollo, crying out that if Apollo had ever been given any pleasing gift by him, let him offer help and deliver him from the present evil. ,Thus he in tears invoked the god, and suddenly out of a clear and windless sky clouds gathered, a storm broke, and it rained violently, extinguishing the pyre. Thus Cyrus perceived that Croesus was dear to god and a good man. He had him brought down from the pyre and asked, ,“Croesus, what man persuaded you to wage war against my land and become my enemy instead of my friend?” He replied, “O King, I acted thus for your good fortune, but for my own ill fortune. The god of the Hellenes is responsible for these things, inciting me to wage war. ,No one is so foolish as to choose war over peace. In peace sons bury their fathers, in war fathers bury their sons. But I suppose it was dear to the divinity that this be so.” " '
1.88. Croesus said this, and Cyrus freed him and made him sit near and was very considerate to him, and both he and all that were with him were astonished when they looked at Croesus. He for his part was silent, deep in thought. ,Presently he turned and said (for he saw the Persians sacking the city of the Lydians), “O King, am I to say to you what is in my mind now, or keep silent?” When Cyrus urged him to speak up boldly, Croesus asked, ,“The multitude there, what is it at which they are so busily engaged?” “They are plundering your city,” said Cyrus, “and carrying off your possessions.” “No,” Croesus answered, “not my city, and not my possessions; for I no longer have any share of all this; it is your wealth that they are pillaging.”
1.89. Cyrus thought about what Croesus had said and, telling the rest to withdraw, asked Croesus what fault he saw in what was being done. “Since the gods have made me your slave,” replied the Lydian, “it is right that if I have any further insight I should point it out to you. ,The Persians being by nature violent men are poor; so if you let them seize and hold great possessions, you may expect that he who has got most will revolt against you. Therefore do this, if you like what I say. ,Have men of your guard watch all the gates; let them take the spoil from those who are carrying it out, and say that it must be paid as a tithe to Zeus. Thus you shall not be hated by them for taking their wealth by force, and they, recognizing that you act justly, will give up the spoil willingly.” ' "1.90. When Cyrus heard this, he was exceedingly pleased, for he believed the advice good; and praising him greatly, and telling his guard to act as Croesus had advised, he said: “Croesus, now that you, a king, are determined to act and to speak with integrity, ask me directly for whatever favor you like.” ,“Master,” said Croesus, “you will most gratify me if you will let me send these chains of mine to that god of the Greeks whom I especially honored and to ask him if it is his way to deceive those who serve him well.” When Cyrus asked him what grudge against the god led him to make this request, ,Croesus repeated to him the story of all his own aspirations, and the answers of the oracles, and more particularly his offerings, and how the oracle had encouraged him to attack the Persians; and so saying he once more insistently pled that he be allowed to reproach the god for this. At this Cyrus smiled, and replied, “This I will grant you, Croesus, and whatever other favor you may ever ask me.” ,When Croesus heard this, he sent Lydians to Delphi, telling them to lay his chains on the doorstep of the temple, and to ask the god if he were not ashamed to have persuaded Croesus to attack the Persians, telling him that he would destroy Cyrus' power; of which power (they were to say, showing the chains) these were the first-fruits. They should ask this; and further, if it were the way of the Greek gods to be ungrateful. " "1.91. When the Lydians came, and spoke as they had been instructed, the priestess (it is said) made the following reply. “No one may escape his lot, not even a god. Croesus has paid for the sin of his ancestor of the fifth generation before, who was led by the guile of a woman to kill his master, though he was one of the guard of the Heraclidae, and who took to himself the royal state of that master, to which he had no right. ,And it was the wish of Loxias that the evil lot of Sardis fall in the lifetime of Croesus' sons, not in his own; but he could not deflect the Fates. ,Yet as far as they gave in, he did accomplish his wish and favor Croesus: for he delayed the taking of Sardis for three years. And let Croesus know this: that although he is now taken, it is by so many years later than the destined hour. And further, Loxias saved Croesus from burning. ,But as to the oracle that was given to him, Croesus is wrong to complain concerning it. For Loxias declared to him that if he led an army against the Persians, he would destroy a great empire. Therefore he ought, if he had wanted to plan well, to have sent and asked whether the god spoke of Croesus' or of Cyrus' empire. But he did not understood what was spoken, or make further inquiry: for which now let him blame himself. ,When he asked that last question of the oracle and Loxias gave him that answer concerning the mule, even that Croesus did not understand. For that mule was in fact Cyrus, who was the son of two parents not of the same people, of whom the mother was better and the father inferior: ,for she was a Mede and the daughter of Astyages king of the Medes; but he was a Persian and a subject of the Medes and although in all respects her inferior he married this lady of his.” This was the answer of the priestess to the Lydians. They carried it to Sardis and told Croesus, and when he heard it, he confessed that the sin was not the god's, but his. And this is the story of Croesus' rule, and of the first overthrow of Ionia . " '
1.107. Afterwards, Cyaxares died after a reign of forty years (among which I count the years of the Scythian domination) and his son Astyages inherited the sovereignty. Astyages had a daughter, whom he called Mandane: he dreamed that she urinated so much that she filled his city and flooded all of Asia . He communicated this vision to those of the Magi who interpreted dreams, and when he heard what they told him he was terrified; ,and presently, when Mandane was of marriageable age, he feared the vision too much to give her to any Mede worthy to marry into his family, but married her to a Persian called Cambyses, a man whom he knew to be wellborn and of a quiet temper: for Astyages held Cambyses to be much lower than a Mede of middle rank. ' "1.108. But during the first year that Mandane was married to Cambyses, Astyages saw a second vision. He dreamed that a vine grew out of the genitals of this daughter, and that the vine covered the whole of Asia . ,Having seen this vision, and communicated it to the interpreters of dreams, he sent to the Persians for his daughter, who was about to give birth, and when she arrived kept her guarded, meaning to kill whatever child she bore: for the interpreters declared that the meaning of his dream was that his daughter's offspring would rule in his place. ,Anxious to prevent this, Astyages, when Cyrus was born, summoned Harpagus, a man of his household who was his most faithful servant among the Medes and was administrator of all that was his, and he said: ,“Harpagus, whatever business I turn over to you, do not mishandle it, and do not leave me out of account and, giving others preference, trip over your own feet afterwards. Take the child that Mandane bore, and carry him to your house, and kill him; and then bury him however you like.” ,“O King,” Harpagus answered, “never yet have you noticed anything displeasing in your man; and I shall be careful in the future, too, not to err in what concerns you. If it is your will that this be done, then my concern ought to be to attend to it scrupulously.” " '
1.153. When the herald had proclaimed this, Cyrus is said to have asked the Greeks who were present who and how many in number these Lacedaemonians were who made this declaration. When he was told, he said to the Spartan herald, “I never yet feared men who set apart a place in the middle of their city where they perjure themselves and deceive each other. They, if I keep my health, shall talk of their own misfortunes, not those of the Ionians.” ,He uttered this threat against all the Greeks, because they have markets and buy and sell there; for the Persians themselves were not used to resorting to markets at all, nor do they even have a market of any kind. ,Presently, entrusting Sardis to a Persian called Tabalus, and instructing Pactyes, a Lydian, to take charge of the gold of Croesus and the Lydians, he himself marched away to Ecbatana, taking Croesus with him, and at first taking no notice of the Ionians. ,For he had Babylon on his hands and the Bactrian nation and the Sacae and Egyptians; he meant to lead the army against these himself, and to send another commander against the Ionians.
1.159. When they came to Branchidae, Aristodicus, speaking for all, put this question to the oracle: “Lord, Pactyes the Lydian has come to us a suppliant fleeing a violent death at the hands of the Persians; and they demand him of us, telling the men of Cyme to surrender him. ,But we, as much as we fear the Persian power, have not dared give up this suppliant of ours until it is clearly made known to us by you whether we are to do this or not.” Thus Aristodicus inquired; and the god again gave the same answer, that Pactyes should be surrendered to the Persians. ,With that Aristodicus did as he had already decided; he went around the temple, and took away the sparrows and all the families of nesting birds that were in it. But while he was doing so, a voice (they say) came out of the inner shrine calling to Aristodicus, and saying, “Vilest of men, how dare you do this? Will you rob my temple of those that take refuge with me?” ,Then Aristodicus had his answer ready: “Lord,” he said, “will you save your own suppliants, yet tell the men of Cyme to deliver up theirs?” But the god replied, “Yes, I do command them, so that you may perish all the sooner for your impiety, and never again come to inquire of my oracle about giving up those that seek refuge with you.”' "
1.181. These walls are the city's outer armor; within them there is another encircling wall, nearly as strong as the other, but narrower. ,In the middle of one division of the city stands the royal palace, surrounded by a high and strong wall; and in the middle of the other is still to this day the sacred enclosure of Zeus Belus, a square of four hundred and forty yards each way, with gates of bronze. ,In the center of this sacred enclosure a solid tower has been built, two hundred and twenty yards long and broad; a second tower rises from this and from it yet another, until at last there are eight. ,The way up them mounts spirally outside the height of the towers; about halfway up is a resting place, with seats for repose, where those who ascend sit down and rest. ,In the last tower there is a great shrine; and in it stands a great and well-covered couch, and a golden table nearby. But no image has been set up in the shrine, nor does any human creature lie there for the night, except one native woman, chosen from all women by the god, as the Chaldaeans say, who are priests of this god. " '1.182. These same Chaldaeans say (though I do not believe them) that the god himself is accustomed to visit the shrine and rest on the couch, as in Thebes of Egypt, as the Egyptians say ,(for there too a woman sleeps in the temple of Theban Zeus, and neither the Egyptian nor the Babylonian woman, it is said, has intercourse with men), and as does the prophetess of the god at Patara in Lycia, whenever she is appointed; for there is not always a place of divination there; but when she is appointed she is shut up in the temple during the night. ' "1.183. In the Babylonian temple there is another shrine below, where there is a great golden image of Zeus, sitting at a great golden table, and the footstool and the chair are also gold; the gold of the whole was said by the Chaldeans to be eight hundred talents' weight. ,Outside the temple is a golden altar. There is also another great altar, on which are sacrificed the full-grown of the flocks; only nurslings may be sacrificed on the golden altar, but on the greater altar the Chaldeans even offer a thousand talents' weight of frankincense yearly, when they keep the festival of this god; and in the days of Cyrus there was still in this sacred enclosure a statue of solid gold twenty feet high. ,I myself have not seen it, but I relate what is told by the Chaldeans. Darius son of Hystaspes proposed to take this statue but dared not; Xerxes his son took it, and killed the priest who warned him not to move the statue. Such is the furniture of this temple, and there are many private offerings besides. " '
1.187. There was a trick, too, that this same queen contrived. She had a tomb made for herself and set high over the very gate of that entrance of the city which was used most, with writing engraved on the tomb, which read: ,“If any king of Babylon in the future is in need of money, let him open this tomb and take as much as he likes: but let him not open it unless he is in need; for it will be the worse for him.” ,This tomb remained untouched until the kingship fell to Darius. He thought it a very strange thing that he should never use this gate, or take the money when it lay there and the writing itself invited him to. ,The reason he did not use the gate was that the dead body would be over his head as he passed through. ,After opening the tomb, he found no money there, only the dead body, with writing which read: “If you were ever satisfied with what you had and did not disgrace yourself seeking more, you would not have opened the coffins of the dead.” Such a woman, it is recorded, was this queen.
1.199. The foulest Babylonian custom is that which compels every woman of the land to sit in the temple of Aphrodite and have intercourse with some stranger once in her life. Many women who are rich and proud and disdain to mingle with the rest, drive to the temple in covered carriages drawn by teams, and stand there with a great retinue of attendants. ,But most sit down in the sacred plot of Aphrodite, with crowns of cord on their heads; there is a great multitude of women coming and going; passages marked by line run every way through the crowd, by which the men pass and make their choice. ,Once a woman has taken her place there, she does not go away to her home before some stranger has cast money into her lap, and had intercourse with her outside the temple; but while he casts the money, he must say, “I invite you in the name of Mylitta” (that is the Assyrian name for Aphrodite). ,It does not matter what sum the money is; the woman will never refuse, for that would be a sin, the money being by this act made sacred. So she follows the first man who casts it and rejects no one. After their intercourse, having discharged her sacred duty to the goddess, she goes away to her home; and thereafter there is no bribe however great that will get her. ,So then the women that are fair and tall are soon free to depart, but the uncomely have long to wait because they cannot fulfill the law; for some of them remain for three years, or four. There is a custom like this in some parts of Cyprus .
1.204. This sea called Caspian is hemmed in to the west by the Caucasus : towards the east and the sunrise there stretches from its shores a boundless plain as far as the eye can see. The greater part of this wide plain is the country of the Massagetae, against whom Cyrus was eager to lead his army. ,For there were many weighty reasons that impelled and encouraged him to do so: first, his birth, because of which he seemed to be something more than mortal; and next, his victories in his wars: for no nation that Cyrus undertook to attack could escape from him. ' "
1.206. But while he was busy at this, Tomyris sent a herald to him with this message: “O king of the Medes, stop hurrying on what you are hurrying on, for you cannot know whether the completion of this work will be for your advantage. Stop, and be king of your own country; and endure seeing us ruling those whom we rule. ,But if you will not take this advice, and will do anything rather than remain at peace, then if you so greatly desire to try the strength of the Massagetae, stop your present work of bridging the river, and let us withdraw three days' journey from the Araxes; and when that is done, cross into our country. ,Or if you prefer to receive us into your country, then withdraw yourself as I have said.” Hearing this, Cyrus called together the leading Persians and laid the matter before them, asking them to advise him which he should do. They all spoke to the same end, urging him to let Tomyris and her army enter his country. " "1.207. But Croesus the Lydian, who was present, was displeased by their advice and spoke against it. “O King,” he said, “you have before now heard from me that since Zeus has given me to you I will turn aside to the best of my ability whatever misadventure I see threatening your house. And disaster has been my teacher. ,Now, if you think that you and the army that you lead are immortal, I have no business giving you advice; but if you know that you and those whom you rule are only men, then I must first teach you this: men's fortunes are on a wheel, which in its turning does not allow the same man to prosper forever. ,So, if that is the case, I am not of the same opinion about the business in hand as these other counsellors of yours. This is the danger if we agree to let the enemy enter your country: if you lose the battle, you lose your empire also, for it is plain that if the Massagetae win they will not retreat but will march against your provinces. ,And if you conquer them, it is a lesser victory than if you crossed into their country and routed the Massagetae and pursued them; for I weigh your chances against theirs, and suppose that when you have beaten your adversaries you will march for the seat of Tomyris' power. ,And besides what I have shown, it would be a shameful thing and not to be endured if Cyrus the son of Cambyses should yield and give ground before a woman. Now then, it occurs to me that we should cross and go forward as far as they draw back, and that then we should endeavor to overcome them by doing as I shall show. ,As I understand, the Massagetae have no experience of the good things of Persia, and have never fared well as to what is greatly desirable. Therefore, I advise you to cut up the meat of many of your sheep and goats into generous portions for these men, and to cook it and serve it as a feast in our camp, providing many bowls of unmixed wine and all kinds of food. ,Then let your army withdraw to the river again, leaving behind that part of it which is of least value. For if I am not mistaken in my judgment, when the Massagetae see so many good things they will give themselves over to feasting on them; and it will be up to us then to accomplish great things.” " '1.208. So these opinions clashed; and Cyrus set aside his former plan and chose that of Croesus; consequently, he told Tomyris to draw her army off, for he would cross (he said) and attack her; so she withdrew as she had promised before. Then he entrusted Croesus to the care of his own son Cambyses, to whom he would leave his sovereignty, telling Cambyses to honor Croesus and treat him well if the crossing of the river against the Massagetae should not go well. With these instructions, he sent the two back to Persia, and he and his army crossed the river. ' "1.209. After he had crossed the Araxes, he dreamed that night while sleeping in the country of the Massagetae that he saw the eldest of Hystapes' sons with wings on his shoulders, the one wing overshadowing Asia and the other Europe . ,Hystaspes son of Arsames was an Achaemenid, and Darius was the eldest of his sons, then about twenty years old; this Darius had been left behind in Persia, not yet being of an age to go on campaign. ,So when Cyrus awoke he considered his vision, and because it seemed to him to be of great importance, he sent for Hystaspes and said to him privately, “Hystaspes, I have caught your son plotting against me and my sovereignty; and I will tell you how I know this for certain. ,The gods care for me and show me beforehand all that is coming. Now then, I have seen in a dream in the past night your eldest son with wings on his shoulders, overshadowing Asia with the one and Europe with the other. ,From this vision, there is no way that he is not plotting against me. Therefore hurry back to Persia, and see that when I come back after subjecting this country you bring your son before me to be questioned about this.” " '
1.210. Cyrus said this, thinking that Darius was plotting against him; but in fact, heaven was showing him that he himself was to die in the land where he was and Darius inherit his kingdom. ,So then Hystaspes replied with this: “O King, may there not be any Persian born who would plot against you! But if there is, may he perish suddenly; for you have made the Persians free men instead of slaves and rulers of all instead of subjects of any. ,But if your vision does indeed signify that my son is planning revolution, I give him to you to treat as you like.” ' "
1.211. After having given this answer and crossed the Araxes, Hystaspes went to Persia to watch his son for Cyrus; and Cyrus, advancing a day's journey from the Araxes, acted according to Croesus' advice. ,Cyrus and the sound portion of the Persian army marched back to the Araxes, leaving behind those that were useless; a third of the Massagetae forces attacked those of the army who were left behind and destroyed them despite resistance; then, when they had overcome their enemies, seeing the banquet spread they sat down and feasted, and after they had had their fill of food and wine, they fell asleep. ,Then the Persians attacked them, killing many and taking many more alive, among whom was the son of Tomyris the queen, Spargapises by name, the leader of the Massagetae. " '
1.212. When Tomyris heard what had happened to her army and her son, she sent a herald to Cyrus with this message: ,“Cyrus who can never get enough blood, do not be elated by what you have done; it is nothing to be proud of if, by the fruit of the vine—with which you Persians fill yourselves and rage so violently that evil words rise in a flood to your lips when the wine enters your bodies—if, by tricking him with this drug, you got the better of my son, and not by force of arms in battle. ,Now, then, take a word of good advice from me: give me back my son and leave this country unpunished, even though you have savaged a third of the Massagetae army. But if you will not, then I swear to you by the sun, lord of the Massagetae, that I shall give even you who can never get enough of it your fill of blood.”
1.213. Cyrus dismissed this warning when it was repeated to him. But Spargapises, the son of the queen Tomyris, after the wine wore off and he recognized his evil plight, asked Cyrus to be freed from his bonds; and this was granted him; but as soon as he was freed and had the use of his hands, he did away with himself. ' "
1.214. Such was the end of Spargapises. Tomyris, when Cyrus would not listen to her, collected all her forces and engaged him. This fight I judge to have been the fiercest ever fought by men that were not Greek; and indeed I have learned that this was so. ,For first (it is said) they shot arrows at each other from a distance; then, when their arrows were all spent, they rushed at each other and fought with their spears and swords; and for a long time they stood fighting and neither would give ground; but at last the Massagetae got the upper hand. ,The greater part of the Persian army was destroyed there on the spot, and Cyrus himself fell there, after having reigned for one year short of thirty years. ,Tomyris filled a skin with human blood, and searched among the Persian dead for Cyrus' body; and when she found it, she pushed his head into the skin, and insulted the dead man in these words: ,“Though I am alive and have defeated you in battle, you have destroyed me, taking my son by guile; but just as I threatened, I give you your fill of blood.” Many stories are told of Cyrus' death; this, that I have told, is the most credible. " '
2.12. As for Egypt, then, I credit those who say it, and myself very much believe it to be the case; for I have seen that Egypt projects into the sea beyond the neighboring land, and shells are exposed to view on the mountains, and things are coated with salt, so that even the pyramids show it, and the only sandy mountain in Egypt is that which is above Memphis ; ,besides, Egypt is like neither the neighboring land of Arabia nor Libya, not even like Syria (for Syrians inhabit the seaboard of Arabia ); it is a land of black and crumbling earth, as if it were alluvial deposit carried down the river from Aethiopia; ,but we know that the soil of Libya is redder and somewhat sandy, and Arabia and Syria are lands of clay and stones.
2.38. They believe that bulls belong to Epaphus, and for this reason scrutinize them as follows; if they see even one black hair on them, the bull is considered impure. ,One of the priests, appointed to the task, examines the beast, making it stand and lie, and drawing out its tongue, to determine whether it is clean of the stated signs which I shall indicate hereafter. He looks also to the hairs of the tail, to see if they grow naturally. ,If it is clean in all these respects, the priest marks it by wrapping papyrus around the horns, then smears it with sealing-earth and stamps it with his ring; and after this they lead the bull away. But the penalty is death for sacrificing a bull that the priest has not marked. Such is the manner of approving the beast; I will now describe how it is sacrificed. 2.39. After leading the marked beast to the altar where they will sacrifice it, they kindle a fire; then they pour wine on the altar over the victim and call upon the god; then they cut its throat, and having done so sever the head from the body. ,They flay the carcass of the victim, then invoke many curses on its head, which they carry away. Where there is a market, and Greek traders in it, the head is taken to the market and sold; where there are no Greeks, it is thrown into the river. ,The imprecation which they utter over the heads is that whatever ill threatens those who sacrifice, or the whole of Egypt, fall upon that head. ,In respect of the heads of sacrificed beasts and the libation of wine, the practice of all Egyptians is the same in all sacrifices; and from this ordice no Egyptian will taste of the head of anything that had life.
2.45. And the Greeks say many other ill-considered things, too; among them, this is a silly story which they tell about Heracles: that when he came to Egypt, the Egyptians crowned him and led him out in a procession to sacrifice him to Zeus; and for a while (they say) he followed quietly, but when they started in on him at the altar, he resisted and killed them all. ,Now it seems to me that by this story the Greeks show themselves altogether ignorant of the character and customs of the Egyptians; for how should they sacrifice men when they are forbidden to sacrifice even beasts, except swine and bulls and bull-calves, if they are unblemished, and geese? ,And furthermore, as Heracles was alone, and, still, only a man, as they say, how is it natural that he should kill many myriads? In talking so much about this, may I keep the goodwill of gods and heroes!
2.53. But whence each of the gods came to be, or whether all had always been, and how they appeared in form, they did not know until yesterday or the day before, so to speak; ,for I suppose Hesiod and Homer flourished not more than four hundred years earlier than I; and these are the ones who taught the Greeks the descent of the gods, and gave the gods their names, and determined their spheres and functions, and described their outward forms. ,But the poets who are said to have been earlier than these men were, in my opinion, later. The earlier part of all this is what the priestesses of Dodona tell; the later, that which concerns Hesiod and Homer, is what I myself say.
2.64. Furthermore, it was the Egyptians who first made it a matter of religious observance not to have intercourse with women in temples or to enter a temple after such intercourse without washing. Nearly all other peoples are less careful in this matter than are the Egyptians and Greeks, and consider a man to be like any other animal; ,for beasts and birds (they say) are seen to mate both in the temples and in the sacred precincts; now were this displeasing to the god, the beasts would not do so. This is the reason given by others for practices which I, for my part, dislike;
2.83. As to the art of divination among them, it belongs to no man, but to some of the gods; there are in their country oracles of Heracles, Apollo, Athena, Artemis, Ares, and Zeus, and of Leto (the most honored of all) in the town of Buto . Nevertheless, they have several ways of divination, not just one. 2.84. The practice of medicine is so specialized among them that each physician is a healer of one disease and no more. All the country is full of physicians, some of the eye, some of the teeth, some of what pertains to the belly, and some of internal diseases. ' "
2.91. The Egyptians shun using Greek customs, and (generally speaking) the customs of all other peoples as well. Yet, though the rest are wary of this, there is a great city called Khemmis, in the Theban district, near the New City. ,In this city is a square temple of Perseus son of Danae, in a grove of palm trees. Before this temple stand great stone columns; and at the entrance, two great stone statues. In the outer court there is a shrine with an image of Perseus standing in it. ,The people of this Khemmis say that Perseus is seen often up and down this land, and often within the temple, and that the sandal he wears, which is four feet long, keeps turning up, and that when it does turn up, all Egypt prospers. ,This is what they say; and their doings in honor of Perseus are Greek, inasmuch as they celebrate games that include every form of contest, and offer animals and cloaks and skins as prizes. ,When I asked why Perseus appeared only to them, and why, unlike all other Egyptians, they celebrate games, they told me that Perseus was by lineage of their city; for Danaus and Lynceus, who travelled to Greece, were of Khemmis ; and they traced descent from these down to Perseus. ,They told how he came to Khemmis, too, when he came to Egypt for the reason alleged by the Greeks as well—namely, to bring the Gorgon's head from Libya —and recognized all his relatives; and how he had heard the name of Khemmis from his mother before he came to Egypt . It was at his bidding, they said, that they celebrated the games." "
2.102. Leaving the latter aside, then, I shall speak of the king who came after them, whose name was Sesostris . ,This king, the priests said, set out with a fleet of long ships from the Arabian Gulf and subjugated all those living by the Red Sea, until he came to a sea which was too shallow for his vessels. ,After returning from there back to Egypt, he gathered a great army (according to the account of the priests) and marched over the mainland, subjugating every nation to which he came. ,When those that he met were valiant men and strove hard for freedom, he set up pillars in their land, the inscription on which showed his own name and his country's, and how he had overcome them with his own power; ,but when the cities had made no resistance and been easily taken, then he put an inscription on the pillars just as he had done where the nations were brave; but he also drew on them the private parts of a woman, wishing to show clearly that the people were cowardly. " '2.103. He marched over the country doing this until he had crossed over from Asia to Europe and defeated the Scythians and Thracians. Thus far and no farther, I think, the Egyptian army went; for the pillars can be seen standing in their country, but in none beyond it. ,From there, he turned around and went back home; and when he came to the Phasis river, that King, Sesostris, may have detached some part of his army and left it there to live in the country (for I cannot speak with exact knowledge), or it may be that some of his soldiers grew weary of his wanderings, and stayed by the Phasis. ' "2.104. For it is plain to see that the Colchians are Egyptians; and what I say, I myself noted before I heard it from others. When it occurred to me, I inquired of both peoples; and the Colchians remembered the Egyptians better than the Egyptians remembered the Colchians; ,the Egyptians said that they considered the Colchians part of Sesostris' army. I myself guessed it, partly because they are dark-skinned and woolly-haired; though that indeed counts for nothing, since other peoples are, too; but my better proof was that the Colchians and Egyptians and Ethiopians are the only nations that have from the first practised circumcision. ,The Phoenicians and the Syrians of Palestine acknowledge that they learned the custom from the Egyptians, and the Syrians of the valleys of the Thermodon and the Parthenius, as well as their neighbors the Macrones, say that they learned it lately from the Colchians. These are the only nations that circumcise, and it is seen that they do just as the Egyptians. ,But as to the Egyptians and Ethiopians themselves, I cannot say which nation learned it from the other; for it is evidently a very ancient custom. That the others learned it through traffic with Egypt, I consider clearly proved by this: that Phoenicians who traffic with Hellas cease to imitate the Egyptians in this matter and do not circumcise their children. " '2.105. Listen to something else about the Colchians, in which they are like the Egyptians: they and the Egyptians alone work linen and have the same way of working it, a way peculiar to themselves; and they are alike in all their way of life, and in their speech. Linen has two names: the Colchian kind is called by the Greeks Sardonian ; that which comes from Egypt is called Egyptian.
2.111. When Sesostris died, he was succeeded in the kingship (the priests said) by his son Pheros . This king waged no wars, and chanced to become blind, for the following reason: the Nile came down in such a flood as there had never been, rising to a height of thirty feet, and the water that flowed over the fields was roughened by a strong wind; ,then, it is said, the king was so audacious as to seize a spear and hurl it into the midst of the river eddies. Right after this, he came down with a disease of the eyes, and became blind. When he had been blind for ten years, an oracle from the city of Buto declared to him that the term of his punishment was drawing to an end, and that he would regain his sight by washing his eyes with the urine of a woman who had never had intercourse with any man but her own husband. ,Pheros tried his own wife first; and, as he remained blind, all women, one after another. When he at last recovered his sight, he took all the women whom he had tried, except the one who had made him see again, and gathered them into one town, the one which is now called “Red Clay”; having concentrated them together there, he burnt them and the town; ,but the woman by whose means he had recovered his sight, he married. Most worthy of mention among the many offerings which he dedicated in all the noteworthy temples for his deliverance from blindness are the two marvellous stone obelisks which he set up in the temple of the Sun. Each of these is made of a single block, and is over one hundred and sixty-six feet high and thirteen feet thick. ' "2.112. Pheros was succeeded (they said) by a man of Memphis, whose name in the Greek tongue was Proteus. This Proteus has a very attractive and well-appointed temple precinct at Memphis, south of the temple of Hephaestus. ,Around the precinct live Phoenicians of Tyre, and the whole place is called the Camp of the Tyrians. There is in the precinct of Proteus a temple called the temple of the Stranger Aphrodite; I guess this is a temple of Helen, daughter of Tyndarus, partly because I have heard the story of Helen's abiding with Proteus, and partly because it bears the name of the Foreign Aphrodite: for no other of Aphrodite's temples is called by that name. " "2.113. When I inquired of the priests, they told me that this was the story of Helen. After carrying off Helen from Sparta, Alexandrus sailed away for his own country; violent winds caught him in the Aegean and drove him into the Egyptian sea; and from there (as the wind did not let up) he came to Egypt, to the mouth of the Nile called the Canopic mouth, and to the Salters'. ,Now there was (and still is) on the coast a temple of Heracles; if a servant of any man takes refuge there and is branded with certain sacred marks, delivering himself to the god, he may not be touched. This law continues today the same as it has always been from the first. ,Hearing of the temple law, some of Alexandrus' servants ran away from him, threw themselves on the mercy of the god, and brought an accusation against Alexandrus meaning to injure him, telling the whole story of Helen and the wrong done Menelaus. They laid this accusation before the priests and the warden of the Nile mouth, whose name was Thonis. " "2.114. When Thonis heard it, he sent this message the quickest way to Proteus at Memphis : ,“A stranger has come, a Trojan, who has committed an impiety in Hellas . After defrauding his guest-friend, he has come bringing the man's wife and a very great deal of wealth, driven to your country by the wind. Are we to let him sail away untouched, or are we to take away what he has come with?” ,Proteus sent back this message: “Whoever this is who has acted impiously against his guest-friend, seize him and bring him to me, that I may know what he will say.” " "2.115. Hearing this, Thonis seized Alexandrus and detained his ships there, and then brought him with Helen and all the wealth, and the suppliants too, to Memphis . ,When all had arrived, Proteus asked Alexandrus who he was and whence he sailed; Alexandrus told him his lineage and the name of his country, and about his voyage, whence he sailed. ,Then Proteus asked him where he had got Helen; when Alexandrus was evasive in his story and did not tell the truth, the men who had taken refuge with the temple confuted him, and related the whole story of the wrong. ,Finally, Proteus declared the following judgment to them, saying, “If I did not make it a point never to kill a stranger who has been caught by the wind and driven to my coasts, I would have punished you on behalf of the Greek, you most vile man. You committed the gravest impiety after you had had your guest-friend's hospitality: you had your guest-friend's wife. ,And as if this were not enough, you got her to fly with you and went off with her. And not just with her, either, but you plundered your guest-friend's wealth and brought it, too. ,Now, then, since I make it a point not to kill strangers, I shall not let you take away this woman and the wealth, but I shall watch them for the Greek stranger, until he come and take them away; but as for you and your sailors, I warn you to leave my country for another within three days, and if you do not, I will declare war on you.”" '2.116. This, the priests said, was how Helen came to Proteus. And, in my opinion, Homer knew this story, too; but seeing that it was not so well suited to epic poetry as the tale of which he made use, he rejected it, showing that he knew it. ,This is apparent from the passage in the
2.122. They said that later this king went down alive to what the Greeks call Hades and there played dice with Demeter, and after winning some and losing some, came back with a gift from her of a golden hand towel. ,From the descent of Rhampsinitus, when he came back, they said that the Egyptians celebrate a festival, which I know that they celebrate to this day, but whether this is why they celebrate, I cannot say. ,On the day of the festival, the priests weave a cloth and bind it as a headband on the eyes of one of their number, whom they then lead, wearing the cloth, into a road that goes to the temple of Demeter; they themselves go back, but this priest with his eyes bandaged is guided (they say) by two wolves to Demeter's temple, a distance of three miles from the city, and led back again from the temple by the wolves to the same place. " '
2.123. These Egyptian stories are for the benefit of whoever believes such tales: my rule in this history is that I record what is said by all as I have heard it. The Egyptians say that Demeter and Dionysus are the rulers of the lower world. ,The Egyptians were the first who maintained the following doctrine, too, that the human soul is immortal, and at the death of the body enters into some other living thing then coming to birth; and after passing through all creatures of land, sea, and air, it enters once more into a human body at birth, a cycle which it completes in three thousand years. ,There are Greeks who have used this doctrine, some earlier and some later, as if it were their own; I know their names, but do not record them. ' "
2.129. The next king of Egypt, they said, was Kheops' son Mycerinus. Disliking his father's doings, he opened the temples and let the people, ground down to the depth of misery, go to their business and their sacrifices; and he was the most just judge among all the kings. ,This is why he is praised above all the rulers of Egypt ; for not only were his judgments just, but Mycerinus would give any who were not satisfied with the judgment a present out of his own estate to compensate him for his loss. ,Though mild toward his people and conducting himself as he did, yet he suffered calamities, the first of which was the death of his daughter, the only child of his household. Deeply grieved over this misfortune, he wanted to give her a burial somewhat more sumptuous than ordinary; he therefore made a hollow cow's image of gilded wood and placed the body of his dead daughter therein. " '
2.133. After what happened to his daughter, the following happened next to this king: an oracle came to him from the city of Buto, announcing that he had just six years to live and was to die in the seventh. ,The king took this badly, and sent back to the oracle a message of reproach, blaming the god that his father and his uncle, though they had shut up the temples, and disregarded the gods, and destroyed men, had lived for a long time, but that he who was pious was going to die so soon. ,But a second oracle came announcing that for this very reason his life was hastening to a close: he had done what was contrary to fate; Egypt should have been afflicted for a hundred and fifty years, and the two kings before him knew this, but not he. ,Hearing this, Mycerinus knew that his doom was fixed. Therefore, he had many lamps made, and would light these at nightfall and drink and enjoy himself, not letting up day or night, roaming to the marsh country and the groves and wherever he heard of the likeliest places of pleasure. ,This was his recourse, so that by turning night into day he might make his six years into twelve and so prove the oracle false.
2.137. After him reigned a blind man called Anysis, of the town of that name. In his reign Egypt was invaded by Sabacos king of Ethiopia and a great army of Ethiopians. ,The blind man fled to the marshes, and the Ethiopian ruled Egypt for fifty years, during which he distinguished himself for the following: ,he would never put to death any Egyptian wrongdoer but sentenced all, according to the severity of their offenses, to raise embankments in their native towns. Thus the towns came to stand yet higher than before; ,for after first being built on embankments made by the excavators of the canals in the reign of Sesostris, they were yet further raised in the reign of the Ethiopian. ,of the towns in Egypt that were raised, in my opinion, Bubastis is especially prominent, where there is also a temple of Bubastis, a building most worthy of note. Other temples are greater and more costly, but none more pleasing to the eye than this. Bubastis is, in the Greek language, Artemis.
2.139. Now the departure of the Ethiopian (they said) came about in this way. After seeing in a dream one who stood over him and urged him to gather together all the Priests in Egypt and cut them in half, he fled from the country. ,Seeing this vision, he said, he supposed it to be a manifestation sent to him by the gods, so that he might commit sacrilege and so be punished by gods or men; he would not (he said) do so, but otherwise, for the time foretold for his rule over Egypt was now fulfilled, after which he was to depart: ,for when he was still in Ethiopia, the oracles that are consulted by the people of that country told him that he was fated to reign fifty years over Egypt . Seeing that this time was now completed and that he was troubled by what he saw in his dream, Sabacos departed from Egypt of his own volition. ' "
2.141. The next king was the priest of Hephaestus whose name was Sethos. He despised and had no regard for the warrior Egyptians, thinking he would never need them; besides otherwise dishonoring them, he took away the chosen lands which had been given to them, twelve fields to each man, in the reign of former kings. ,So when presently king Sanacharib came against Egypt, with a great force of Arabians and Assyrians, the warrior Egyptians would not march against him. ,The priest, in this quandary, went into the temple shrine and there before the god's image bitterly lamented over what he expected to suffer. Sleep came on him while he was lamenting, and it seemed to him the god stood over him and told him to take heart, that he would come to no harm encountering the power of Arabia : “I shall send you champions,” said the god. ,So he trusted the vision, and together with those Egyptians who would follow him camped at Pelusium, where the road comes into Egypt ; and none of the warriors would go with him, but only merchants and craftsmen and traders. ,Their enemies came there, too, and during the night were overrun by a horde of field mice that gnawed quivers and bows and the handles of shields, with the result that many were killed fleeing unarmed the next day. ,And to this day a stone statue of the Egyptian king stands in Hephaestus' temple, with a mouse in his hand, and an inscription to this effect: “Look at me, and believe.” " '
2.150. Furthermore, the natives said that this lake drains underground into the Libyan Syrtis, and extends under the mountains that are above Memphis, having the inland country on its west. ,When I could not see anywhere the earth taken from the digging of this lake, since this was curious to me, I asked those who live nearest the lake where the stuff was that had been dug out. They told me where it had been carried, and I readily believed them, for I had heard of a similar thing happening in the Assyrian city of Ninus . ,Sardanapallus king of Ninus had great wealth, which he kept in an underground treasury. Some thieves plotted to carry it off; they surveyed their course and dug an underground way from their own house to the palace, carrying the earth taken out of the passage dug by night to the Tigris, which runs past Ninus, until at last they accomplished their end. ,This, I was told, had happened when the Egyptian lake was dug, except that the work went on not by night but by day. The Egyptians bore the earth dug out by them to the Nile, to be caught and scattered (as was to be expected) by the river. Thus is this lake said to have been dug.
2.152. This Psammetichus had formerly been in exile in Syria, where he had fled from Sabacos the Ethiopian, who killed his father Necos; then, when the Ethiopian departed because of what he saw in a dream, the Egyptians of the district of Saïs brought him back from Syria . ,Psammetichus was king for the second time when he found himself driven away into the marshes by the eleven kings because of the helmet. ,Believing, therefore, that he had been abused by them, he meant to be avenged on those who had expelled him. He sent to inquire in the town of Buto, where the most infallible oracle in Egypt is; the oracle answered that he would have vengeance when he saw men of bronze coming from the sea. ,Psammetichus did not in the least believe that men of bronze would come to aid him. But after a short time, Ionians and Carians, voyaging for plunder, were forced to put in on the coast of Egypt, where they disembarked in their armor of bronze; and an Egyptian came into the marsh country and brought news to Psammetichus (for he had never before seen armored men) that men of bronze had come from the sea and were foraging in the plain. ,Psammetichus saw in this the fulfillment of the oracle; he made friends with the Ionians and Carians, and promised them great rewards if they would join him and, having won them over, deposed the eleven kings with these allies and those Egyptians who volunteered.
2.155. I have often mentioned the Egyptian oracle, and shall give an account of this, as it deserves. This oracle is sacred to Leto, and is situated in a great city by the Sebennytic arm of the Nile, on the way up from the sea. ,Buto is the name of the city where this oracle is; I have already mentioned it. In Buto there is a temple of Apollo and Artemis. The shrine of Leto where the oracle is, is itself very great, and its outer court is sixty feet high. ,But what caused me the most wonder among the things apparent there I shall mention. In this precinct is the shrine of Leto, the height and length of whose walls is all made of a single stone slab; each wall has an equal length and height; namely, seventy feet. Another slab makes the surface of the roof, the cornice of which is seven feet broad. 2.156. Thus, then, the shrine is the most marvellous of all the things that I saw in this temple; but of things of second rank, the most wondrous is the island called Khemmis . ,This lies in a deep and wide lake near the temple at Buto, and the Egyptians say that it floats. I never saw it float, or move at all, and I thought it a marvellous tale, that an island should truly float. ,However that may be, there is a great shrine of Apollo on it, and three altars stand there; many palm trees grow on the island, and other trees too, some yielding fruit and some not. ,This is the story that the Egyptians tell to explain why the island moves: that on this island that did not move before, Leto, one of the eight gods who first came to be, who was living at Buto where this oracle of hers is, taking charge of Apollo from Isis, hid him for safety in this island which is now said to float, when Typhon came hunting through the world, keen to find the son of Osiris. ,Apollo and Artemis were (they say) children of Dionysus and Isis, and Leto was made their nurse and preserver; in Egyptian, Apollo is Horus, Demeter Isis, Artemis Bubastis. ,It was from this legend and no other that Aeschylus son of Euphorion took a notion which is in no poet before him: that Artemis was the daughter of Demeter. For this reason the island was made to float. So they say.
2.161. Psammis reigned over Egypt for only six years; he invaded Ethiopia, and immediately thereafter died, and Apries the son of Psammis reigned in his place. ,He was more fortunate than any former king (except his great-grandfather Psammetichus) during his rule of twenty-five years, during which he sent an army against Sidon and fought at sea with the king of Tyre . ,But when it was fated that evil should overtake him, the cause of it was something that I will now deal with briefly, and at greater length in the Libyan part of this history. ,Apries sent a great force against Cyrene and suffered a great defeat. The Egyptians blamed him for this and rebelled against him; for they thought that Apries had knowingly sent his men to their doom, so that after their perishing in this way he might be the more secure in his rule over the rest of the Egyptians. Bitterly angered by this, those who returned home and the friends of the slain openly revolted. ' "2.162. Hearing of this, Apries sent Amasis to dissuade them. When Amasis came up with the Egyptians, he exhorted them to desist; but as he spoke an Egyptian came behind him and put a helmet on his head, saying it was the token of royalty. ,And Amasis showed that this was not displeasing to him, for after being made king by the rebel Egyptians he prepared to march against Apries. ,When Apries heard of it, he sent against Amasis an esteemed Egyptian named Patarbemis, one of his own court, instructing him to take the rebel alive and bring him into his presence. When Patarbemis came and summoned Amasis, Amasis (who was on horseback) rose up and farted, telling the messenger to take that back to Apries. ,But when in spite of this Patarbemis insisted that Amasis obey the king's summons and go to him, Amasis answered that he had long been preparing to do just that, and Apries would find him above reproach, for he would present himself, and bring others. ,Hearing this, Patarbemis could not mistake Amasis; he saw his preparations and hastened to depart, the more quickly to make known to the king what was going on. When Apries saw him return without Amasis, he did not stop to reflect, but in his rage and fury had Patarbemis' ears and nose cut off. ,The rest of the Egyptians, who were until now Apries' friends, seeing this outrage done to the man who was most prominent among them, changed sides without delay and offered themselves to Amasis. " "2.163. Learning of this, too, Apries armed his guard and marched against the Egyptians; he had a bodyguard of Carians and Ionians, thirty thousand of them, and his royal palace was in the city of Saïs, a great and marvellous palace. ,Apries' men marched against the Egyptians, and so did Amasis' men against the foreigners. So they both came to Momemphis and were going to make trial of one another. " "
2.169. When Apries with his guards and Amasis with the whole force of Egyptians came to the town of Momemphis, they engaged; and though the foreigners fought well, they were vastly outnumbered, and therefore were beaten. ,Apries, they say, supposed that not even a god could depose him from his throne, so firmly did he think he was established; and now, defeated in battle and taken captive, he was brought to Saïs, to the royal dwelling which belonged to him once but now belonged to Amasis. ,There, he was kept alive for a while in the palace and well treated by Amasis. But presently the Egyptians complained that there was no justice in keeping alive one who was their own and their king's bitterest enemy; whereupon Amasis gave Apries up to them, and they strangled him and then buried him in the burial-place of his fathers. ,This is in the temple of Athena, very near to the sanctuary, on the left of the entrance. The people of Saïs buried within the temple precinct all kings who were natives of their district. ,The tomb of Amasis is farther from the sanctuary than the tomb of Apries and his ancestors; yet it, too, is within the temple court; it is a great colonnade of stone, richly adorned, the pillars made in the form of palm trees. In this colonnade are two portals, and the place where the coffin lies is within their doors. " "
3.1. Cyrus' son Cambyses was leading an army of his subjects, Ionian and Aeolian Greeks among them, against this Amasis for the following reason. Cambyses had sent a herald to Egypt asking Amasis for his daughter; he asked on the advice of an Egyptian, who advised it out of resentment against Amasis, that out of all the Egyptian physicians Amasis had dragged him away from his wife and children and sent him up to Persia when Cyrus sent to Amasis asking for the best eye-doctor in Egypt . ,Out of resentment, the Egyptian by his advice induced Cambyses to ask Amasis for his daughter, so that Amasis would either be wretched if he gave her, or hated by Cambyses if he did not. Amasis, intimidated by the power of Persia and frightened, could neither give his daughter nor refuse her; for he knew well that Cambyses was not going to take her as his wife but as his concubine. ,After considering the matter, he did as follows. There was a daughter of the former king Apries, all that was left of that family, quite tall and pretty, and her name was Nitetis; this girl Amasis adorned with clothes and gold and sent to Cambyses as his own daughter. ,But after a time, as he embraced her addressing her as the daughter of Amasis, the girl said to him, “O King, you do not understand how you have been made a fool of by Amasis, who dressed me in finery and sent me to you as his own daughter, when I am in fact the daughter of Apries, the ruler Amasis revolted from with the Egyptians and killed.” ,This speech and this crime that occurred turned Cyrus' son Cambyses, furiously angry, against Egypt . So the Persians say. " "
3.3. The following story, incredible to me, is also told: that one of the Persian women who came to visit Cyrus' wives, and saw the tall and attractive children who stood by Cassandane, expressed her admiration in extravagant terms. Then Cassandane, Cyrus' wife, said, ,“Although I am the mother of such children, Cyrus dishonors me and honors his new woman from Egypt .” So she spoke in her bitterness against Nitetis; and Cambyses, the eldest of her sons, said, ,“Then, mother, when I am grown up, I will turn all Egypt upside down.” When he said this, he was about ten years old, and the women were amazed; but he kept it in mind, and it was thus that when he grew up and became king, he made the campaign against Egypt . " "3.4. It so happened, too, that something else occurred contributing to this campaign. There was among Amasis' mercenaries a man who was a Halicarnassian by birth, a clever man and a good soldier, whose name was Phanes. ,This Phanes had some grudge against Amasis, and fled from Egypt aboard ship, hoping to talk to Cambyses. Since he was a man much admired among the mercenaries and had an exact knowledge of all Egyptian matters, Amasis was anxious to catch him, and sent a trireme with his most trusted eunuch to pursue him. This eunuch caught him in Lycia but never brought him back to Egypt, for Phanes was too clever for him. ,He made his guards drunk and so escaped to Persia . There he found Cambyses prepared to set out against Egypt, but in doubt as to his march, how he should cross the waterless desert; so Phanes showed him what was Amasis' condition and how he should march; as to this, he advised Cambyses to send and ask the king of the Arabians for a safe passage. " '
3.8. There are no men who respect pledges more than the Arabians. This is how they give them: a man stands between the two pledging parties, and with a sharp stone cuts the palms of their hands, near the thumb; then he takes a piece of wood from the cloak of each and smears with their blood seven stones that lie between them, meanwhile calling on Dionysus and the Heavenly Aphrodite; ,after this is done, the one who has given his pledge commends the stranger (or his countryman if the other be one) to his friends, and his friends hold themselves bound to honor the pledge. ,They believe in no other gods except Dionysus and the Heavenly Aphrodite; and they say that they wear their hair as Dionysus does his, cutting it round the head and shaving the temples. They call Dionysus, Orotalt; and Aphrodite, Alilat.' "3.9. When, then, the Arabian had made the pledge to the messengers who had come from Cambyses, he devised the following expedient: he filled camel-skins with water and loaded all his camels with these; then he drove them into the waterless land and there awaited Cambyses' army. ,This is the most credible of the stories told; but I must relate the less credible tale also, since they tell it. There is a great river in Arabia called Corys, emptying into the sea called Red. ,From this river (it is said) the king of the Arabians brought water by an aqueduct made of sewn oxhides and other hides and extensive enough to reach to the dry country; and he had great tanks dug in that country to try to receive and keep the water. ,It is a twelve days' journey from the river to that desert. By three aqueducts (they say) he brought the water to three different places. " "
3.14. On the tenth day after the surrender of the walled city of Memphis, Cambyses took Psammenitus king of Egypt, who had reigned for six months, and confined him in the outer part of the city with other Egyptians, to insult him; having confined him there, he tried Psammenitus' spirit, as I shall show. ,He dressed the daughter of the king as a slave and sent her out with a pitcher to fetch water, together with other girls from the families of the leading men, dressed like the daughter of the king. ,So when the girls went out before their fathers' eyes crying and lamenting, all the rest answered with cries and weeping, seeing their children abused; but Psammenitus, having seen with his own eyes and learned all, bowed himself to the ground. ,After the water-carriers had passed by, Cambyses next made Psammenitus' son go out before him with two thousand Egyptians of the same age, all with ropes bound round their necks and bridle-bits in their mouths; ,they were led out to be punished for those Mytileneans who had perished with their boat at Memphis ; for such was the judgment of the royal judges, that every man's death be paid for by the deaths of ten noble Egyptians. ,When Psammenitus saw them passing and perceived that his son was being led out to die, and all the Egyptians who sat with him wept and showed their affliction, he did as he had done at the sight of his daughter. ,After these too had gone out, it happened that there was one of his companions, a man past his prime, who had lost all his possessions, and had only what a poor man might have, and begged of the army; this man now went out before Psammenitus son of Amasis and the Egyptians confined in the outer part of the city. When Psammenitus saw him, he broke into loud weeping, striking his head and calling on his companion by name. ,Now there were men set to watch Psammenitus, who told Cambyses all that he did as each went forth. Wondering at what the king did, Cambyses made this inquiry of him by a messenger: ,“Psammenitus, Lord Cambyses wants to know why, seeing your daughter abused and your son going to his death, you did not cry out or weep, yet you showed such feeling for the beggar, who (as Cambyses learns from others) is not one of your kindred?” So the messenger inquired. Psammenitus answered: ,0“Son of Cyrus, my private grief was too great for weeping; but the unhappiness of my companion deserves tears—a man fallen from abundance and prosperity to beggary come to the threshold of old age.” When the messenger reported this, Cambyses and his court, it is said, thought the answer good. ,1And, the Egyptians say, Croesus wept (for it happened that he too had come with Cambyses to Egypt ) and the Persians that were there wept; Cambyses himself felt some pity, and he ordered that Psammenitus' son be spared from those that were to be executed, and that Psammenitus himself be brought in from the outer part of the city and brought before him. " '
3.16. From Memphis Cambyses went to the city Sais, anxious to do exactly what he did do. Entering the house of Amasis, he had the body of Amasis carried outside from its place of burial; and when this had been done, he gave orders to scourge it and pull out the hair and pierce it with goads, and to desecrate it in every way. ,When they were weary of doing this (for the body, being embalmed, remained whole and did not fall to pieces), Cambyses gave orders to burn it, a sacrilegious command; for the Persians hold fire to be a god; ,therefore neither nation thinks it right to burn the dead, the Persians for the reason given, as they say it is wrong to give the dead body of a man to a god; while the Egyptians believe fire to be a living beast that devours all that it catches, and when sated with its meal dies together with that on which it feeds. ,Now it is by no means their custom to give the dead to beasts; and this is why they embalm the corpse, that it may not lie and feed worms. Thus what Cambyses commanded was contrary to the custom of both peoples. ,The Egyptians say, however, that it was not Amasis to whom this was done, but another Egyptian of the same age as Amasis, whom the Persians abused thinking that they were abusing Amasis. ,For their story is that Amasis learned from an oracle what was to be done to him after his death, and so to escape this fate buried this dead man, the one that was scourged, near the door inside his own vault, and ordered his son that he himself should be laid in the farthest corner of the vault. ,I think that these commands of Amasis, regarding the burial-place and the man, were never given at all, and that the Egyptians believe in them in vain.
3.17. After this Cambyses planned three expeditions, against the Carchedonians, against the Ammonians, and against the “long-lived” Ethiopians, who inhabit that part of Libya that is on the southern sea. ,He decided after consideration to send his fleet against the Carthaginians and a part of his land army against the Ammonians; to Ethiopia he would first send spies, to see what truth there was in the story of a Table of the Sun in that country, and to spy out all else besides, under the pretext of bringing gifts for the Ethiopian king. ' "
3.18. Now the Table of the Sun is said to be something of this kind: there is a meadow outside the city, filled with the boiled flesh of all four-footed things; here during the night the men of authority among the townsmen are careful to set out the meat, and all day whoever wishes comes and feasts on it. These meats, say the people of the country, are ever produced by the earth of itself. Such is the story of the Sun's Table. " '
3.19. When Cambyses determined to send the spies, he sent for those Fish-eaters from the city of Elephantine who understood the Ethiopian language. ,While they were fetching them, he ordered his fleet to sail against Carthage . But the Phoenicians said they would not do it; for they were bound, they said, by strong oaths, and if they sailed against their own progeny they would be doing an impious thing; and the Phoenicians being unwilling, the rest were inadequate fighters. ,Thus the Carthaginians escaped being enslaved by the Persians; for Cambyses would not use force with the Phoenicians, seeing that they had willingly surrendered to the Persians, and the whole fleet drew its strength from them. The Cyprians too had come of their own accord to aid the Persians against Egypt . ' "3.20. When the Fish-eaters arrived from Elephantine at Cambyses' summons, he sent them to Ethiopia, with orders what to say, and bearing as gifts a red cloak and a twisted gold necklace and bracelets and an alabaster box of incense and an earthenware jar of palm wine. These Ethiopians, to whom Cambyses sent them, are said to be the tallest and most handsome of all men. ,Their way of choosing kings is different from that of all others, as (it is said) are all their laws; they consider that man worthy to be their king whom they judge to be tallest and to have strength proportional to his stature. " '3.21. When the Fish-eaters arrived among these men, they gave the gifts to their king and said: “Cambyses, the king of the Persians, wishing to become your friend and ally, sent us with orders to address ourselves to you; and he offers you as gifts these things which he enjoys using himself.” ,But the Ethiopian, perceiving that they had come as spies, spoke thus to them: “It is not because he values my friendship that the Persian King sends you with gifts, nor do you speak the truth (for you have come to spy on my realm), nor is that man just; for were he just, he would not have coveted a land other than his own, nor would he try to lead into slavery men by whom he has not been injured. Now, give him this bow, and this message: ,‘The King of the Ethiopians advises the King of the Persians to bring overwhelming odds to attack the long-lived Ethiopians when the Persians can draw a bow of this length as easily as I do; but until then, to thank the gods who do not incite the sons of the Ethiopians to add other land to their own.’” 3.22. So speaking he unstrung the bow and gave it to the men who had come. Then, taking the red cloak, he asked what it was and how it was made; and when the Fish-eaters told him the truth about the color and the process of dyeing, he said that both the men and their garments were full of deceit. ,Next he inquired about the twisted gold necklace and the bracelets; and when the Fish-eaters told him how they were made, the king smiled, and, thinking them to be fetters, said: “We have stronger chains than these.” ,Thirdly he inquired about the incense; and when they described making and applying it, he made the same reply as about the cloak. But when he came to the wine and asked about its making, he was vastly pleased with the drink, and asked further what food their king ate, and what was the greatest age to which a Persian lived. ,They told him their king ate bread, showing him how wheat grew; and said that the full age to which a man might hope to live was eighty years. Then, said the Ethiopian, it was no wonder that they lived so few years, if they ate dung; they would not even have been able to live that many unless they were refreshed by the drink—signifying to the Fish-eaters the wine—for in this, he said, the Persians excelled the Ethiopians. 3.23. The Fish-eaters then in turn asking of the Ethiopian length of life and diet, he said that most of them attained to a hundred and twenty years, and some even to more; their food was boiled meat and their drink milk. ,The spies showed wonder at the tale of years; whereupon he led them, it is said, to a spring, by washing in which they grew sleeker, as though it were of oil; and it smelled of violets. ,So light, the spies said, was this water, that nothing would float on it, neither wood nor anything lighter than wood, but all sank to the bottom. If this water is truly such as they say, it is likely that their constant use of it makes the people long-lived. ,When they left the spring, the king led them to a prison where all the men were bound with fetters of gold. Among these Ethiopians there is nothing so scarce and so precious as bronze. Then, having seen the prison, they saw what is called the Table of the Sun. 3.24. Last after this they viewed the Ethiopian coffins; these are said to be made of alabaster, as I shall describe: ,they cause the dead body to shrink, either as the Egyptians do or in some other way, then cover it with gypsum and paint it all as far as possible in the likeness of the living man; ,then they set it within a hollow pillar of alabaster, which they dig in abundance from the ground, and it is easily worked; the body can be seen in the pillar through the alabaster, no evil stench nor anything unpleasant proceeding from it, and showing clearly all its parts, as if it were the man himself. ,The nearest of kin keep the pillar in their house for a year, giving it of the first-fruits and offering it sacrifices; after which they bring the pillars out and set them round about the city. 3.25. Having seen everything, the spies departed again. When they reported all this, Cambyses was angry, and marched at once against the Ethiopians, neither giving directions for any provision of food nor considering that he was about to lead his army to the ends of the earth; ,being not in his right mind but mad, however, he marched at once on hearing from the Fish-eaters, ordering the Greeks who were with him to await him where they were, and taking with him all his land army. ,When he came in his march to Thebes , he detached about fifty thousand men from his army, and directed them to enslave the Ammonians and burn the oracle of Zeus; and he himself went on towards Ethiopia with the rest of his host. ,But before his army had accomplished the fifth part of their journey they had come to an end of all there was in the way of provision, and after the food was gone, they ate the beasts of burden until there was none of these left either. ,Now had Cambyses, when he perceived this, changed his mind and led his army back again, he would have been a wise man at last after his first fault; but as it was, he went ever forward, taking account of nothing. ,While his soldiers could get anything from the earth, they kept themselves alive by eating grass; but when they came to the sandy desert, some did a terrible thing, taking by lot one man out of ten and eating him. ,Hearing this, Cambyses feared their becoming cannibals, and so gave up his expedition against the Ethiopians and marched back to Thebes , with the loss of many of his army; from Thebes he came down to Memphis, and sent the Greeks to sail away.
3.27. When Cambyses was back at Memphis, there appeared in Egypt that Apis whom the Greeks call Epaphus; at whose epiphany the Egyptians put on their best clothing and held a festival. ,Seeing the Egyptians so doing, Cambyses was fully persuaded that these signs of joy were for his misfortunes, and summoned the rulers of Memphis ; when they came before him, he asked them why the Egyptians behaved so at the moment he returned with so many of his army lost, though they had done nothing like it when he was before at Memphis . ,The rulers told him that a god, wont to appear after long intervals of time, had now appeared to them; and that all Egypt rejoiced and made holiday whenever he so appeared. At this Cambyses said that they lied, and he punished them with death for their lie. 3.28. Having put them to death, he next summoned the priests before him. When they gave him the same account, he said that if a tame god had come to the Egyptians he would know it; and with no more words he bade the priests bring Apis. So they went to fetch and bring him. ,This Apis, or Epaphus, is a calf born of a cow that can never conceive again. By what the Egyptians say, the cow is made pregt by a light from heaven, and thereafter gives birth to Apis. ,The marks of this calf called Apis are these: he is black, and has on his forehead a three-cornered white spot, and the likeness of an eagle on his back; the hairs of the tail are double, and there is a knot under the tongue. ' "3.29. When the priests led Apis in, Cambyses—for he was all but mad—drew his dagger and, meaning to stab the calf in the belly, stuck the thigh; then laughing he said to the priests: ,“Simpletons, are these your gods, creatures of flesh and blood that can feel weapons of iron? That is a god worthy of the Egyptians. But for you, you shall suffer for making me your laughing-stock.” So saying he bade those, whose business it was, to scourge the priests well, and to kill any other Egyptian whom they found holiday-making. ,So the Egyptian festival ended, and the priests were punished, and Apis lay in the temple and died of the wound in the thigh. When he was dead of the wound, the priests buried him without Cambyses' knowledge. " '
3.30. But Cambyses, the Egyptians say, owing to this wrongful act immediately went mad, although even before he had not been sensible. His first evil act was to destroy his full brother Smerdis, whom he had sent away from Egypt to Persia out of jealousy, because Smerdis alone could draw the bow brought from the Ethiopian by the Fish-eaters as far as two fingerbreadths, but no other Persian could draw it. ,Smerdis having gone to Persia, Cambyses saw in a dream a vision, in which it seemed to him that a messenger came from Persia and told him that Smerdis sitting on the royal throne touched heaven with his head. ,Fearing therefore for himself, lest his brother might slay him and so be king, he sent Prexaspes, the most trusted of his Persians, to Persia to kill him. Prexaspes went up to Susa and killed Smerdis; some say that he took Smerdis out hunting, others that he brought him to the Red Sea and there drowned him. ' "
3.31. This, they say, was the first of Cambyses' evil acts; next, he destroyed his full sister, who had come with him to Egypt, and whom he had taken to wife. ,He married her in this way (for before this, it had by no means been customary for Persians to marry their sisters): Cambyses was infatuated with one of his sisters and when he wanted to marry her, because his intention was contrary to usage, he summoned the royal judges and inquired whether there were any law enjoining one, that so desired, to marry his sister. ,These royal judges are men chosen out from the Persians to function until they die or are detected in some injustice; it is they who decide suits in Persia and interpret the laws of the land; all matters are referred to them. ,These then replied to Cambyses with an answer which was both just and prudent, namely, that they could find no law enjoining a brother to marry his sister; but that they had found a law permitting the King of Persia to do whatever he liked. ,Thus, although they feared Cambyses they did not break the law, and, to save themselves from death for keeping it, they found another law abetting one who wished to marry sisters. ,So Cambyses married the object of his desire; yet not long afterwards he took another sister as well. It was the younger of these who had come with him to Egypt, and whom he now killed. " "
3.32. There are two tales of her death, as there are of the death of Smerdis. The Greeks say that Cambyses had set a lion cub to fight a puppy, and that this woman was watching too; and that as the puppy was losing, its brother broke its leash and came to help, and the two dogs together got the better of the cub. ,Cambyses, they say, was pleased with the sight, but the woman wept as she sat by. Cambyses perceiving it asked why she wept, and she said that when she saw the puppy help its brother she had wept, recalling Smerdis and knowing that there would be no avenger for him. ,For saying this, according to the Greek story, she was killed by Cambyses. But the Egyptian tale is that as the two sat at table the woman took a lettuce and plucked off the leaves, then asked her husband whether he preferred the look of it with or without leaves. “With the leaves,” he said; whereupon she answered: ,“Yet you have stripped Cyrus' house as bare as this lettuce.” Angered at this, they say, he sprang upon her, who was great with child, and she miscarried and died of the hurt he gave her. " "
3.33. Such were Cambyses' mad acts to his own household, whether they were done because of Apis or grew from some of the many troubles that are wont to beset men; for indeed he is said to have been afflicted from his birth with that grievous disease which some call “sacred.” It is not unlikely then that when his body was grievously afflicted his mind too should be diseased. " "
3.34. I will now relate his mad dealings with the rest of Persia . He said, as they report, to Prexaspes—whom he held in particular honor, who brought him all his messages, whose son held the very honorable office of Cambyses' cup-bearer—thus, I say, he spoke to Prexaspes: ,“What manner of man, Prexaspes, do the Persians think me to be, and how do they speak of me?” “Sire,” said Prexaspes, “for all else they greatly praise you, but they say that you love wine too well.” ,So he reported of the Persians. The king angrily replied: “If the Persians now say that it is my fondness for wine that drives me to frenzy and madness, then it would seem that their former saying also was a lie.” ,For it is said that before this, while some Persians and Croesus were sitting with him, Cambyses asked what manner of man they thought him to be in comparison with Cyrus his father; and they answered, “Cambyses was the better man; for he had all of Cyrus' possessions and had won Egypt and the sea besides.” ,So said the Persians; but Croesus, who was present, and was dissatisfied with their judgment, spoke thus to Cambyses: “To me, son of Cyrus, you do not seem to be the equal of your father; for you have as yet no son such as he left after him in you.” This pleased Cambyses, and he praised Croesus' judgment. " "
3.35. Remembering this, then, he said to Prexaspes in his anger: “Judge then if the Persians speak the truth, or rather are themselves out of their minds when they speak of me so. ,Yonder stands your son in the porch; now if I shoot and pierce his heart, that will prove the Persians to be wrong; if I miss, then say that they are right and that I am out of my senses.” ,So saying, he strung his bow and hit the boy, and gave orders to open the fallen body and examine the wound: and the arrow being found in the heart, Cambyses laughed in great glee and said to the boy's father: ,“It is plain, Prexaspes, that I am in my right mind and the Persians mad; now tell me: what man in the world did you ever see that shot so true to the mark?” Prexaspes, it is said, replied (for he saw that Cambyses was mad, and he feared for his own life), “Master, I think that not even the god himself could shoot so true.” ,Thus did Cambyses then; at another time he took twelve Persians, equal to the noblest in the land, convicted them of some minor offense, and buried them alive up to the neck. " "
3.36. For these acts Croesus the Lydian thought fit to take him to task, and addressed him thus: “Sire, do not sacrifice everything to youth and temper, but restrain and control yourself; prudence is a good thing, forethought is wise. But you kill men of your own country whom you have convicted of some minor offense, and you kill boys. ,If you do so often, beware lest the Persians revolt from you. As for me, your father Cyrus earnestly begged me to counsel you and to give you such advice as I think to be good.” Croesus gave him this counsel out of goodwill; but Cambyses answered: ,“It is very well that you should even dare to counsel me; you, who governed your own country so well, and gave fine advice to my father—telling him, when the Massagetae were willing to cross over into our lands, to pass the Araxes and attack them; thus you worked your own ruin by misgoverning your country and Cyrus', who trusted you. But you shall regret it; I have long waited for an occasion to deal with you.” ,With that Cambyses took his bow to shoot him dead; but Croesus leapt up and ran out; and Cambyses, being unable to shoot him, ordered his attendants to catch and kill him. ,They, knowing Cambyses' mood, hid Croesus; intending to reveal him and receive gifts for saving his life, if Cambyses should repent and ask for Croesus, but if he should not repent nor wish Croesus back, then to kill the Lydian. ,Not long after this Cambyses did wish Croesus back, and the attendants, understanding this, told him that Croesus was alive still. Cambyses said that he was glad of it; but that they, who had saved Croesus, should not escape with impunity, but be killed; and this was done. " '
3.37. Cambyses committed many such mad acts against the Persians and his allies; he stayed at Memphis, and there opened ancient coffins and examined the dead bodies. ,Thus too he entered the temple of Hephaestus and jeered at the image there. This image of Hephaestus is most like the Phoenician Pataici, which the Phoenicians carry on the prows of their triremes. I will describe it for anyone who has not seen these figures: it is the likeness of a dwarf. ,Also he entered the temple of the Cabeiri, into which no one may enter save the priest; the images here he even burnt, with bitter mockery. These also are like the images of Hephaestus, and are said to be his sons. ' "
3.38. I hold it then in every way proved that Cambyses was quite insane; or he would never have set himself to deride religion and custom. For if it were proposed to all nations to choose which seemed best of all customs, each, after examination, would place its own first; so well is each convinced that its own are by far the best. ,It is not therefore to be supposed that anyone, except a madman, would turn such things to ridicule. I will give this one proof among many from which it may be inferred that all men hold this belief about their customs. ,When Darius was king, he summoned the Greeks who were with him and asked them for what price they would eat their fathers' dead bodies. They answered that there was no price for which they would do it. ,Then Darius summoned those Indians who are called Callatiae, who eat their parents, and asked them (the Greeks being present and understanding through interpreters what was said) what would make them willing to burn their fathers at death. The Indians cried aloud, that he should not speak of so horrid an act. So firmly rooted are these beliefs; and it is, I think, rightly said in Pindar's poem that custom is lord of all." "
3.39. While Cambyses was attacking Egypt, the Lacedaemonians too were making war upon Samos and upon Aeaces' son Polycrates, who had revolted and won Samos . ,And first, dividing the city into three parts, he gave a share in the government to his brothers Pantagnotus and Syloson; but presently he put one of them to death, banished the younger, Syloson, and so made himself lord of all Samos ; then he made a treaty with Amasis king of Egypt, sending to him and receiving from him gifts. ,Very soon after this, Polycrates grew to such power that he was famous in Ionia and all other Greek lands; for all his military affairs succeeded. He had a hundred fifty-oared ships, and a thousand archers. ,And he pillaged every place, indiscriminately; for he said that he would get more thanks if he gave a friend back what he had taken than if he never took it at all. He had taken many of the islands, and many of the mainland cities. Among others, he conquered the Lesbians; they had brought all their force to aid the Milesians, and Polycrates defeated them in a sea-fight; it was they who, being his captives, dug all the trench around the acropolis of Samos . " "3.40. Now Amasis was somehow aware of Polycrates' great good fortune; and as this continued to increase greatly, he wrote this letter and sent it to Samos : “Amasis addresses Polycrates as follows. ,It is pleasant to learn that a friend and ally is doing well. But I do not like these great successes of yours; for I know the gods, how jealous they are, and I desire somehow that both I and those for whom I care succeed in some affairs, fail in others, and thus pass life faring differently by turns, rather than succeed at everything. ,For from all I have heard I know of no man whom continual good fortune did not bring in the end to evil, and utter destruction. Therefore if you will be ruled by me do this regarding your successes: ,consider what you hold most precious and what you will be sorriest to lose, and cast it away so that it shall never again be seen among men; then, if after this the successes that come to you are not mixed with mischances, strive to mend the matter as I have counselled you.” " "3.41. Reading this, and perceiving that Amasis' advice was good, Polycrates considered which of his treasures it would most grieve his soul to lose, and came to this conclusion: he wore a seal set in gold, an emerald, crafted by Theodorus son of Telecles of Samos ; ,being resolved to cast this away, he embarked in a fifty-oared ship with its crew, and told them to put out to sea; and when he was far from the island, he took off the seal-ring in sight of all that were on the ship and cast it into the sea. This done, he sailed back and went to his house, where he grieved for the loss. " "3.42. But on the fifth or sixth day from this it happened that a fisherman, who had taken a fine and great fish, and desired to make a gift of it to Polycrates, brought it to the door and said that he wished to see Polycrates. This being granted, he gave the fish, saying: ,“O King, when I caught this fish, I thought best not to take it to market, although I am a man who lives by his hands, but it seemed to me worthy of you and your greatness; and so I bring and offer it to you.” Polycrates was pleased with what the fisherman said; “You have done very well,” he answered, “and I give you double thanks, for your words and for the gift; and I invite you to dine with me.” ,Proud of this honor, the fisherman went home; but the servants, cutting up the fish, found in its belly Polycrates' seal-ring. ,As soon as they saw and seized it, they brought it with joy to Polycrates, and giving the ring to him told him how it had been found. Polycrates saw the hand of heaven in this matter; he wrote a letter and sent it to Egypt, telling all that he had done, and what had happened to him. " "3.43. When Amasis had read Polycrates' letter, he perceived that no man could save another from his destiny, and that Polycrates, being so continually fortunate that he even found what he cast away, must come to an evil end. ,So he sent a herald to Samos to renounce his friendship, determined that when some great and terrible mischance overtook Polycrates he himself might not have to sadden his heart for a friend. " "
3.61. Now after Cambyses, son of Cyrus, had lost his mind, while he was still in Egypt, two Magus brothers rebelled against him. One of them had been left by Cambyses as steward of his house; this man now revolted from him, perceiving that the death of Smerdis was kept secret, and that few knew of it, most believing him to be still alive. ,Therefore he plotted to gain the royal power: he had a brother, his partner, as I said, in rebellion; this brother was in appearance very like Cyrus' son Smerdis, whom Cambyses, his brother, had killed; nor was he like him in appearance only, but he bore the same name too, Smerdis. ,Patizeithes the Magus persuaded this man that he would manage everything for him; he brought his brother and set him on the royal throne; then he sent heralds to all parts, one of whom was to go to Egypt and proclaim to the army that henceforth they must obey not Cambyses but Smerdis, the son of Cyrus. " '3.62. So this proclamation was made everywhere. The herald appointed to go to Egypt, finding Cambyses and his army at Ecbatana in Syria, came out before them all and proclaimed the message given him by the Magus. ,When Cambyses heard what the herald said, he supposed that it was the truth, and that Prexaspes, when sent to kill Smerdis, had not done it but had played Cambyses false; and he said, fixing his eyes on Prexaspes, “Is it thus, Prexaspes, that you carried out my instructions?” ,“No,” said Prexaspes, “this is not true, sire, that your brother Smerdis has rebelled against you; he cannot have any quarrel with you, small or great; I myself did as you instructed, and I buried him with my own hands. ,If then the dead can rise, you may expect to see Astyages the Mede rise up against you; but if things are as usual, assuredly no harm to you will arise from Smerdis. Now then this is my opinion, that we pursue this herald and interrogate him, to learn from whom he comes with his proclamation that we must obey Smerdis as our king.” ' "3.63. Cambyses liked Prexaspes' advice; the herald was pursued at once and brought; and when he came, Prexaspes put this question to him: “Fellow, you say that your message is from Cyrus' son Smerdis; tell me this now, and you may go away unpunished: was it Smerdis who appeared to you and gave you this charge, or was it one of his servants?” ,“Since King Cambyses marched to Egypt,” answered the herald, “I have never seen Smerdis the son of Cyrus; the Magus whom Cambyses made overseer of his house gave me the message, saying that it was the will of Smerdis, son of Cyrus, that I should make it known to you.” ,So spoke the herald, telling the whole truth; and Cambyses said, “Prexaspes, having done what you were told like a good man you are free of blame; but who can this Persian be who rebels against me and usurps the name of Smerdis?” ,Prexaspes replied, “I think, sire, that I understand what has been done here; the rebels are the Magi, Patizeithes whom you left steward of your house, and his brother Smerdis.” " '3.64. The truth of the words and of a dream struck Cambyses the moment he heard the name Smerdis; for he had dreamt that a message had come to him that Smerdis sitting on the royal throne touched heaven with his head; ,and perceiving that he had killed his brother without cause, he wept bitterly for Smerdis. Having wept, and grieved by all his misfortune, he sprang upon his horse, with intent to march at once to Susa against the Magus. ,As he sprang upon his horse, the cap fell off the sheath of his sword, and the naked blade pierced his thigh, wounding him in the same place where he had once wounded the Egyptian god Apis; and believing the wound to be mortal, Cambyses asked what was the name of the town where he was. ,They told him it was Ecbatana . Now a prophecy had before this come to him from Buto, that he would end his life at Ecbatana ; Cambyses supposed this to signify that he would die in old age at the Median Ecbatana, his capital city; but as the event proved, the oracle prophesied his death at Ecbatana of Syria . ,So when he now inquired and learned the name of the town, the shock of his wound, and of the misfortune that came to him from the Magus, brought him to his senses; he understood the prophecy and said: “Here Cambyses son of Cyrus is to die.” ' "3.65. At this time he said no more. But about twenty days later, he sent for the most prominent of the Persians that were about him, and thus addressed them: “Persians, I have to make known to you something which I kept most strictly concealed. ,When I was in Egypt I had a dream, which I wish I had not had; it seemed to me that a messenger came from home to tell me that Smerdis sitting on the royal throne touched heaven with his head. ,Then I feared that my brother would take away my sovereignty from me, and I acted with more haste than wisdom; for it is not in the power of human nature to run away from what is to be; but I, blind as I was, sent Prexaspes to Susa to kill Smerdis. When that great wrong was done I lived without fear, for I never thought that when Smerdis was removed another man might rise against me. ,But I mistook altogether what was to be; I have killed my brother when there was no need, and I have lost my kingdom none the less; for it was the Magus Smerdis that the divinity forewarned in the dream would revolt. ,Now he has been done for by me, and I would have you believe that Smerdis Cyrus' son no longer lives; the Magi rule the kingdom, the one that I left caretaker of my house, and his brother Smerdis. So then, the man is dead of an unholy destiny at the hands of his relations who ought to have been my avenger for the disgrace I have suffered from the Magi; ,and as he is no longer alive, necessity constrains me to charge you, men of Persia, in his place, with the last desire of my life. In the name of the gods of my royal house I charge all of you, but chiefly those Achaemenids that are here, not to let the sovereignty fall again into Median hands; if they have it after getting it by trickery, take it back through trickery of your own; if they have got it away by force, then by force all the stronger get it back. ,And if you do this, may your land bring forth fruit, and your women and your flocks and herds be blessed with offspring, remaining free for all time; but if you do not get the kingdom back or attempt to get it back, then I pray things turn out the opposite for you, and on top of this, that every Persian meet an end such as mine.” With that Cambyses wept bitterly for all that had happened to him. " "3.66. When the Persians saw their king weep, they all tore the clothing which they wore and wailed loud and long. ,But when after this the bone rotted and the thigh rapidly putrefied, it carried off Cambyses son of Cyrus, who had reigned in all seven years and five months, but was altogether childless, without male or female issue. ,To the Persians who were present it was quite incredible that the Magi were masters of the kingdom; they believed that Cambyses' intent was to deceive them with his story of Smerdis' death, so that all Persia might be embroiled in a war against him. " "
3.82. Such was the judgment of Megabyzus. Darius was the third to express his opinion. “It seems to me,” he said, “that Megabyzus speaks well concerning democracy but not concerning oligarchy. For if the three are proposed and all are at their best for the sake of argument, the best democracy and oligarchy and monarchy, I hold that monarchy is by far the most excellent. ,One could describe nothing better than the rule of the one best man; using the best judgment, he will govern the multitude with perfect wisdom, and best conceal plans made for the defeat of enemies. ,But in an oligarchy, the desire of many to do the state good service often produces bitter hate among them; for because each one wishes to be first and to make his opinions prevail, violent hate is the outcome, from which comes faction and from faction killing, and from killing it reverts to monarchy, and by this is shown how much better monarchy is. ,Then again, when the people rule it is impossible that wickedness will not occur; and when wickedness towards the state occurs, hatred does not result among the wicked, but strong alliances; for those that want to do the state harm conspire to do it together. This goes on until one of the people rises to stop such men. He therefore becomes the people's idol, and being their idol is made their monarch; and thus he also proves that monarchy is best. ,But (to conclude the whole matter in one word) tell me, where did freedom come from for us and who gave it, from the people or an oligarchy or a single ruler? I believe, therefore, that we who were liberated through one man should maintain such a government, and, besides this, that we should not alter our ancestral ways that are good; that would not be better.” " '
3.108. The Arabians also say that the whole country would be full of these snakes if the same thing did not occur among them that I believe occurs among vipers. ,Somehow the forethought of God (just as is reasonable) being wise has made all creatures prolific that are timid and edible, so that they do not become extinct through being eaten, whereas few young are born to hardy and vexatious creatures. ,On the one hand, because the hare is hunted by every beast and bird and man, therefore it is quite prolific; alone of all creatures it conceives during pregcy; some of the unborn young are hairy, some still naked, some are still forming in the womb while others are just conceived. ,On the one hand there is this sort of thing, but on the other hand the lioness, that is so powerful and so bold, once in her life bears one cub; for in the act of bearing she casts her uterus out with her cub. The explanation of this is that when the cub first begins to stir in the mother, its claws, much sharper than those of any other creature, tear the uterus, and the more it grows the more it scratches and tears, so that when the hour of birth is near seldom is any of the uterus left intact.
3.114. Where south inclines westwards, the part of the world stretching farthest towards the sunset is Ethiopia ; this produces gold in abundance, and huge elephants, and all sorts of wild trees, and ebony, and the tallest and handsomest and longest-lived people.
3.124. Polycrates then prepared to visit Oroetes, despite the strong dissuasion of his diviners and friends, and a vision seen by his daughter in a dream; she dreamt that she saw her father in the air overhead being washed by Zeus and anointed by Helios; ,after this vision she used all means to persuade him not to go on this journey to Oroetes; even as he went to his fifty-oared ship she prophesied evil for him. When Polycrates threatened her that if he came back safe, she would long remain unmarried, she answered with a prayer that his threat might be fulfilled: for she would rather, she said, long remain unmarried than lose her father. ' "
3.125. But Polycrates would listen to no advice. He sailed to meet Oroetes, with a great retinue of followers, among whom was Democedes, son of Calliphon, a man of Croton and the most skillful physician of his time. ,But no sooner had Polycrates come to Magnesia than he was horribly murdered in a way unworthy of him and of his aims; for, except for the sovereigns of Syracuse, no sovereign of Greek race is fit to be compared with Polycrates for magnificence. ,Having killed him in some way not fit to be told, Oroetes then crucified him; as for those who had accompanied him, he let the Samians go, telling them to thank him that they were free; those who were not Samians, or were servants of Polycrates' followers, he kept for slaves. ,And Polycrates hanging in the air fulfilled his daughter's vision in every detail; for he was washed by Zeus when it rained, and he was anointed by Helios as he exuded sweat from his body. " '
3.133. A short time after this, something else occurred; there was a swelling on the breast of Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus and wife of Darius, which broke and spread further. As long as it was small, she hid it out of shame and told no one; but when it got bad, she sent for Democedes and showed it to him. ,He said he would cure her, but made her swear that she would repay him by granting whatever he asked of her, and said that he would ask nothing shameful. ' "
3.139. After this, King Darius conquered Samos, the greatest of all city states, Greek or barbarian, the reason for his conquest being this: when Cambyses, son of Cyrus, invaded Egypt, many Greeks came with the army, some to trade, as was natural, and some to see the country itself; among them was Syloson, son of Aeaces, who was Polycrates' brother and in exile from Samos . ,This Syloson had a stroke of good luck. He was in the market at Memphis wearing a red cloak, when Darius, at that time one of Cambyses' guard and as yet a man of no great importance, saw him, and coveting the cloak came and tried to buy it. ,When Syloson saw Darius' eagerness, by good luck he said, “I will not sell this for any money, but I give it to you free if you must have it so much.” Extolling this, Darius accepted the garment. " '
3.149. As for Samos, the Persians swept it clear and turned it over uninhabited to Syloson. But afterwards Otanes, the Persian general, helped to settle the land, prompted by a dream and a disease that he contracted in his genitals. ' "
4.26. It is said to be the custom of the Issedones that, whenever a man's father dies, all the nearest of kin bring beasts of the flock and, having killed these and cut up the flesh, they also cut up the dead father of their host, and set out all the flesh mixed together for a feast. ,As for his head, they strip it bare and clean and gild it, and keep it for a sacred relic, to which they offer solemn sacrifice yearly. Every son does this for his father, just like the Greeks in their festivals in honor of the dead. In other respects, these are said to be a law-abiding people, too, and the women to have equal power with the men. " '
4.39. This is the first peninsula. But the second, beginning with Persia, stretches to the Red Sea, and is Persian land; and next, the neighboring land of Assyria; and after Assyria, Arabia; this peninsula ends (not truly but only by common consent) at the Arabian Gulf, to which Darius brought a canal from the Nile. ,Now from the Persian country to Phoenicia there is a wide and vast tract of land; and from Phoenicia this peninsula runs beside our sea by way of the Syrian Palestine and Egypt, which is at the end of it; in this peninsula there are just three nations.
4.44. But as to Asia, most of it was discovered by Darius. There is a river, Indus, second of all rivers in the production of crocodiles. Darius, desiring to know where this Indus empties into the sea, sent ships manned by Scylax, a man of Caryanda, and others whose word he trusted; ,these set out from the city of Caspatyrus and the Pactyic country, and sailed down the river toward the east and the sunrise until they came to the sea; and voyaging over the sea west, they came in the thirtieth month to that place from which the Egyptian king sent the above-mentioned Phoenicians to sail around Libya. ,After this circumnavigation, Darius subjugated the Indians and made use of this sea. Thus it was discovered that Asia, except the parts toward the rising sun, was in other respects like Libya. ' "
4.76. But as regards foreign customs, the Scythians (like others) very much shun practising those of any other country, and particularly of Hellas, as was proved in the case of Anacharsis and also of Scyles. ,For when Anacharsis was coming back to the Scythian country after having seen much of the world in his travels and given many examples of his wisdom, he sailed through the Hellespont and put in at Cyzicus; ,where, finding the Cyzicenes celebrating the feast of the Mother of the Gods with great ceremony, he vowed to this same Mother that if he returned to his own country safe and sound he would sacrifice to her as he saw the Cyzicenes doing, and establish a nightly rite of worship. ,So when he came to Scythia, he hid himself in the country called Woodland (which is beside the Race of Achilles, and is all overgrown with every kind of timber); hidden there, Anacharsis celebrated the goddess' ritual with exactness, carrying a small drum and hanging images about himself. ,Then some Scythian saw him doing this and told the king, Saulius; who, coming to the place himself and seeing Anacharsis performing these rites, shot an arrow at him and killed him. And now the Scythians, if they are asked about Anacharsis, say they have no knowledge of him; this is because he left his country for Hellas and followed the customs of strangers. ,But according to what I heard from Tymnes, the deputy for Ariapithes, Anacharsis was an uncle of Idanthyrsus king of Scythia, and he was the son of Gnurus, son of Lycus, son of Spargapithes. Now if Anacharsis was truly of this family, then let him know he was slain by his own brother; for Idanthyrsus was the son of Saulius, and it was Saulius who killed Anacharsis. " '4.77. It is true that I have heard another story told by the Peloponnesians; namely, that Anacharsis had been sent by the king of Scythia and had been a student of the ways of Hellas, and after his return told the king who sent him that all Greeks were keen for every kind of learning, except the Lacedaemonians; but that these were the only Greeks who spoke and listened with discretion. ,But this is a tale pointlessly invented by the Greeks themselves; and be this as it may, the man was put to death as I have said.
4.79. But when things had to turn out badly for him, they did so for this reason: he conceived a desire to be initiated into the rites of the Bacchic Dionysus; and when he was about to begin the sacred mysteries, he saw the greatest vision. ,He had in the city of the Borysthenites a spacious house, grand and costly (the same house I just mentioned), all surrounded by sphinxes and griffins worked in white marble; this house was struck by a thunderbolt. And though the house burnt to the ground, Scyles none the less performed the rite to the end. ,Now the Scythians reproach the Greeks for this Bacchic revelling, saying that it is not reasonable to set up a god who leads men to madness. ,So when Scyles had been initiated into the Bacchic rite, some one of the Borysthenites scoffed at the Scythians: “You laugh at us, Scythians, because we play the Bacchant and the god possesses us; but now this deity has possessed your own king, so that he plays the Bacchant and is maddened by the god. If you will not believe me, follow me now and I will show him to you.” ,The leading men among the Scythians followed him, and the Borysthenite brought them up secretly onto a tower; from which, when Scyles passed by with his company of worshippers, they saw him playing the Bacchant; thinking it a great misfortune, they left the city and told the whole army what they had seen. ' "4.80. After this Scyles rode off to his own place; but the Scythians rebelled against him, setting up his brother Octamasades, son of the daughter of Teres, for their king. ,Scyles, learning what had happened concerning him and the reason why it had happened, fled into Thrace; and when Octamasades heard this he led his army there. But when he was beside the Ister, the Thracians barred his way; and when the armies were about to engage, Sitalces sent this message to Octamasades: ,“Why should we try each other's strength? You are my sister's son, and you have my brother with you; give him back to me, and I will give up your Scyles to you; and let us not endanger our armies.” ,Such was the offer Sitalces sent to him; for Sitalces' brother had fled from him and was with Octamasades. The Scythian agreed to this, and took his brother Scyles, giving up his own uncle to Sitalces. ,Sitalces then took his brother and carried him away, but Octamasades beheaded Scyles on the spot. This is how closely the Scythians guard their customs, and these are the penalties they inflict on those who add foreign customs to their own. " '
4.127. Idanthyrsus the Scythian king replied: “It is like this with me, Persian: I never ran from any man before out of fear, and I am not running from you now; I am not doing any differently now than I am used to doing in time of peace, too. ,As to why I do not fight with you at once, I will tell you why. We Scythians have no towns or cultivated land, out of fear for which, that the one might be taken or the other wasted, we would engage you sooner in battle. But if all you want is to come to that quickly, we have the graves of our fathers. ,Come on, find these and try to destroy them: you shall know then whether we will fight you for the graves or whether we will not fight. Until then, unless we have reason, we will not engage with you. ,As to fighting, enough; as to masters, I acknowledge Zeus my forefather and Hestia queen of the Scythians only. As for you, instead of gifts of earth and water I shall send such as ought to come to you; and for your boast that you are my master, I say ‘Weep!’” Such is the proverbial “Scythian speech.” ' "
4.146. But in no time these Minyae became imperious, demanding an equal right to the kingship, and doing other impious things; ,hence the Lacedaemonians resolved to kill them, and they seized them and cast them into prison. (When the Lacedaemonians execute, they do it by night, never by day.) ,Now when they were about to kill the prisoners, the wives of the Minyae, who were natives of the country, daughters of leading Spartans, asked permission to enter the prison and each converse with her husband; the Lacedamonians granted this, not expecting that there would be any treachery from them. ,But when the wives came into the prison, they gave their husbands all their own garments, and themselves put on the men's clothing; so the Minyae passed out in the guise of women dressed in women's clothing; and thus escaping, once more camped on Teügetum. " "4.147. Now, about this same time, Theras, a descendant of Polynices through Thersander, Tisamenus, and Autesion, was preparing to lead out colonists from Lacedaemon. ,This Theras was of the line of Cadmus and was an uncle on their mother's side to Aristodemus' sons Eurysthenes and Procles; and while these boys were yet children he held the royal power of Sparta as regent; ,but when his nephews grew up and became kings, then Theras could not endure to be a subject when he had had a taste of supreme power, and said he would no longer stay in Lacedaemon but would sail away to his family. ,On the island now called Thera, but then Calliste, there were descendants of Membliarus the son of Poeciles, a Phoenician; for Cadmus son of Agenor had put in at the place now called Thera during his search for Europa; and having put in, either because the land pleased him, or because for some other reason he desired to do so, he left on this island his own relation Membliarus together with other Phoenicians. ,These dwelt on the island of Calliste for eight generations before Theras came from Lacedaemon. " '4.148. It was these that Theras was preparing to join, taking with him a company of people from the tribes; his intention was to settle among the people of Calliste and not drive them out but claim them as in fact his own people. ,So when the Minyae escaped from prison and camped on Teügetum, and the Lacedaemonians were planning to put them to death, Theras interceded for their lives, that there might be no killing, promising to lead them out of the country himself. ,The Lacedaemonians consented to this, and Theras sailed with three thirty-oared ships to join the descendants of Membliarus, taking with him not all the Minyae but only a few; ,for the greater part of them made their way to the lands of the Paroreatae and Caucones, and after having driven these out of their own country, they divided themselves into six companies and established the cities of Lepreum, Macistus, Phrixae, Pyrgus, Epium, and Nudium in the land they had won; most of these were in my time taken and sacked by the Eleans. As for the island Calliste, it was called Thera after its colonist. ' "
5.9. As for the region which lies north of this country, none can tell with certainty what men dwell there, but what lies beyond the Ister is a desolate and infinitely large tract of land. I can learn of no men dwelling beyond the Ister save certain that are called Sigynnae and wear Median dress. ,Their horses are said to be covered all over with shaggy hair five fingers' breadth long, and to be small, blunt-nosed, and unable to bear men on their backs, but very swift when yoked to chariots. It is for this reason that driving chariots is the usage of the country. These men's borders, it is said, reach almost as far as the Eneti on the Adriatic Sea. ,They call themselves colonists from Media. How this has come about I myself cannot understand, but all is possible in the long passage of time. However that may be, we know that the Ligyes who dwell inland of Massalia use the word “sigynnae” for hucksters, and the Cyprians use it for spears. " "
5.49. It was in the reign of Cleomenes that Aristagoras the tyrant of Miletus came to Sparta. When he had an audience with the king, as the Lacedaemonians report, he brought with him a bronze tablet on which the map of all the earth was engraved, and all the sea and all the rivers. ,Having been admitted to converse with Cleomenes, Aristagoras spoke thus to him: “Do not wonder, Cleomenes, that I have been so eager to come here, for our present situation is such that the sons of the Ionians are slaves and not free men, which is shameful and grievous particularly to ourselves but also, of all others, to you, inasmuch as you are the leaders of Hellas. ,Now, therefore, we entreat you by the gods of Hellas to save your Ionian kinsmen from slavery. This is a thing which you can easily achieve, for the strangers are not valiant men while your valor in war is preeminent. As for their manner of fighting, they carry bows and short spears, and they go to battle with trousers on their legs and turbans on their heads. ,Accordingly, they are easy to overcome. Furthermore, the inhabitants of that continent have more good things than all other men together, gold first but also silver, bronze, colored cloth, beasts of burden, and slaves. All this you can have to your heart's desire. ,The lands in which they dwell lie next to each other, as I shall show: next to the Ionians are the Lydians, who inhabit a good land and have great store of silver.” (This he said pointing to the map of the earth which he had brought engraved on the tablet.) “Next to the Lydians,” said Aristagoras, “you see the Phrygians to the east, men that of all known to me are the richest in flocks and in the fruits of the earth. ,Close by them are the Cappadocians, whom we call Syrians, and their neighbors are the Cilicians, whose land reaches to the sea over there, in which you see the island of Cyprus lying. The yearly tribute which they pay to the king is five hundred talents. Next to the Cilicians, are the Armenians, another people rich in flocks, and after the Armenians, the Matieni, whose country I show you. ,Adjoining these you see the Cissian land, in which, on the Choaspes, lies that Susa where the great king lives and where the storehouses of his wealth are located. Take that city, and you need not fear to challenge Zeus for riches. ,You should suspend your war, then, for strips of land of no great worth—for that fight with with Messenians, who are matched in strength with you, and Arcadians and Argives, men who have nothing in the way of gold or silver (for which things many are spurred by zeal to fight and die). Yet when you can readily be masters of all Asia, will you refuse to attempt it?” ,Thus spoke Aristagoras, and Cleomenes replied: “Milesian, my guest, wait till the third day for my answer.” " "
5.62. I have told both of the vision of Hipparchus' dream and of the first origin of the Gephyreans, to whom the slayers of Hipparchus belonged. Now I must go further and return to the story which I began to tell, namely how the Athenians were freed from their tyrants. ,Hippias, their tyrant, was growing ever more bitter in enmity against the Athenians because of Hipparchus' death, and the Alcmeonidae, a family of Athenian stock banished by the sons of Pisistratus, attempted with the rest of the exiled Athenians to make their way back by force and free Athens. They were not successful in their return and suffered instead a great reverse. After fortifying Lipsydrium north of Paeonia, they, in their desire to use all devices against the sons of Pisistratus, hired themselves to the Amphictyons for the building of the temple at Delphi which exists now but was not there yet then. ,Since they were wealthy and like their fathers men of reputation, they made the temple more beautiful than the model showed. In particular, whereas they had agreed to build the temple of tufa, they made its front of Parian marble. " "
6.61. While Cleomenes was in Aegina working for the common good of Hellas, Demaratus slandered him, not out of care for the Aeginetans, but out of jealousy and envy. Once Cleomenes returned home from Aegina, he planned to remove Demaratus from his kingship, using the following affair as a pretext against him: Ariston, king of Sparta, had married twice but had no children. ,He did not admit that he himself was responsible, so he married a third time. This is how it came about: he had among the Spartans a friend to whom he was especially attached. This man's wife was by far the most beautiful woman in Sparta, but she who was now most beautiful had once been the ugliest. ,Her nurse considered her inferior looks and how she was of wealthy people yet unattractive, and, seeing how the parents felt her appearance to be a great misfortune, she contrived to carry the child every day to the sacred precinct of Helen, which is in the place called Therapne, beyond the sacred precinct of Phoebus. Every time the nurse carried the child there, she set her beside the image and beseeched the goddess to release the child from her ugliness. ,Once as she was leaving the sacred precinct, it is said that a woman appeared to her and asked her what she was carrying in her arms. The nurse said she was carrying a child and the woman bade her show it to her, but she refused, saying that the parents had forbidden her to show it to anyone. But the woman strongly bade her show it to her, ,and when the nurse saw how important it was to her, she showed her the child. The woman stroked the child's head and said that she would be the most beautiful woman in all Sparta. From that day her looks changed, and when she reached the time for marriage, Agetus son of Alcidas married her. This man was Ariston's friend. " '6.62. So love for this woman pricked Ariston, and he contrived as follows: He promised to give to his comrade any one thing out of all he owned, whatever Agetus might choose, and he bade his comrade make him the same promise. Agetus had no fear about his wife, seeing that Ariston was already married, so he agreed and they took oaths on these terms. ,Ariston gave Agetus whatever it was that he chose out of all his treasures, and then, seeking equal recompense from him, tried to take the wife of his comrade. Agetus said that he had agreed to anything but that, but he was forced by his oath and by the deceitful trick to let his wife be taken. ' "6.63. In this way Ariston married his third wife, after divorcing the second one. But his new wife gave birth to Demaratus too soon, before ten lunar months had passed. ,When one of his servants announced to him as he sat in council with the ephors that he had a son, Ariston, knowing the time of the marriage, counted up the months on his fingers and swore on oath, “It's not mine.” The ephors heard this but did not make anything of it. When the boy grew up, Ariston regretted having said that, for he firmly believed Demaratus to be his own son. ,He named him Demaratus because before his birth all the Spartan populace had prayed that Ariston, the man most highly esteemed out of all the kings of Sparta, might have a son. Thus he was named Demaratus, which means “answer to the people's prayer.” " '6.64. Time passed and Ariston died, so Demaratus held the kingship. But it seems that these matters had to become known and cause Demaratus to lose his kingship. He had already fallen out with Cleomenes when he had brought the army back from Eleusis, and now they were even more at odds when Cleomenes crossed over after the Aeginetans who were Medizing.
6.75. When the Lacedaemonians learned that Cleomenes was doing this, they took fright and brought him back to Sparta to rule on the same terms as before. Cleomenes had already been not entirely in his right mind, and on his return from exile a mad sickness fell upon him: any Spartan that he happened to meet he would hit in the face with his staff. ,For doing this, and because he was out of his mind, his relatives bound him in the stocks. When he was in the stocks and saw that his guard was left alone, he demanded a dagger; the guard at first refused to give it, but Cleomenes threatened what he would do to him when he was freed, until the guard, who was a helot, was frightened by the threats and gave him the dagger. ,Cleomenes took the weapon and set about slashing himself from his shins upwards; from the shin to the thigh he cut his flesh lengthways, then from the thigh to the hip and the sides, until he reached the belly, and cut it into strips; thus he died, as most of the Greeks say, because he persuaded the Pythian priestess to tell the tale of Demaratus. The Athenians alone say it was because he invaded Eleusis and laid waste the precinct of the gods. The Argives say it was because when Argives had taken refuge after the battle in their temple of Argus he brought them out and cut them down, then paid no heed to the sacred grove and set it on fire. 6.76. As Cleomenes was seeking divination at Delphi, the oracle responded that he would take Argos. When he came with Spartans to the river Erasinus, which is said to flow from the Stymphalian lake (this lake issues into a cleft out of sight and reappears at Argos, and from that place onwards the stream is called by the Argives Erasinus)—when Cleomenes came to this river he offered sacrifices to it. ,The omens were in no way favorable for his crossing, so he said that he honored the Erasinus for not betraying its countrymen, but even so the Argives would not go unscathed. Then he withdrew and led his army seaward to Thyrea, where he sacrificed a bull to the sea and carried his men on shipboard to the region of Tiryns and to Nauplia. ' "
6.78. When Cleomenes saw that the Argives did whatever was signalled by his herald, he commanded that when the herald cried the signal for breakfast, they should then put on their armor and attack the Argives. ,The Lacedaemonians performed this command, and when they assaulted the Argives they caught them at breakfast in obedience to the herald's signal; they killed many of them, and far more fled for refuge into the grove of Argus, which the Lacedaemonians encamped around and guarded. " "6.79. Then Cleomenes' plan was this: He had with him some deserters from whom he learned the names, then he sent a herald calling by name the Argives that were shut up in the sacred precinct and inviting them to come out, saying that he had their ransom. (Among the Peloponnesians there is a fixed ransom of two minae to be paid for every prisoner.) So Cleomenes invited about fifty Argives to come out one after another and murdered them. ,Somehow the rest of the men in the temple precinct did not know this was happening, for the grove was thick and those inside could not see how those outside were faring, until one of them climbed a tree and saw what was being done. Thereafter they would not come out at the herald's call. " '6.80. Then Cleomenes bade all the helots pile wood about the grove; they obeyed, and he burnt the grove. When the fire was now burning, he asked of one of the deserters to what god the grove belonged; the man said it was of Argos. When he heard that, he groaned aloud, “Apollo, god of oracles, you have gravely deceived me by saying that I would take Argos; this, I guess, is the fulfillment of that prophecy.” 6.81. Then Cleomenes sent most of his army back to Sparta, while he himself took a thousand of the best warriors and went to the temple of Hera to sacrifice. When he wished to sacrifice at the altar the priest forbade him, saying that it was not holy for a stranger to sacrifice there. Cleomenes ordered the helots to carry the priest away from the altar and whip him, and he performed the sacrifice. After doing this, he returned to Sparta. ' "6.82. But after his return his enemies brought him before the ephors, saying that he had been bribed not to take Argos when he might have easily taken it. Cleomenes alleged (whether falsely or truly, I cannot rightly say; but this he alleged in his speech) that he had supposed the god's oracle to be fulfilled by his taking of the temple of Argus; therefore he had thought it best not to make any attempt on the city before he had learned from the sacrifices whether the god would deliver it to him or withstand him; ,when he was taking omens in Hera's temple a flame of fire had shone forth from the breast of the image, and so he learned the truth of the matter, that he would not take Argos. If the flame had come out of the head of the image, he would have taken the city from head to foot utterly; but its coming from the breast signified that he had done as much as the god willed to happen. This plea of his seemed to the Spartans to be credible and reasonable, and he far outdistanced the pursuit of his accusers. " "
6.84. The Argives say this was the reason Cleomenes went mad and met an evil end; the Spartans themselves say that Cleomenes' madness arose from no divine agent, but that by consorting with Scythians he became a drinker of strong wine, and the madness came from this. ,The nomadic Scythians, after Darius had invaded their land, were eager for revenge, so they sent to Sparta and made an alliance. They agreed that the Scythians would attempt to invade Media by way of the river Phasis, and they urged the Spartans to set out and march inland from Ephesus and meet the Scythians. ,They say that when the Scythians had come for this purpose, Cleomenes kept rather close company with them, and by consorting with them more than was fitting he learned from them to drink strong wine. The Spartans consider him to have gone mad from this. Ever since, as they themselves say, whenever they desire a strong drink they call for “a Scythian cup.” Such is the Spartan story of Cleomenes; but to my thinking it was for what he did to Demaratus that he was punished thus." '
6.86. When Leutychides came to Athens and demanded back the hostages, the Athenians were unwilling to give them back and made excuses, saying that two kings had given them the trust and they deemed it wrong to restore it to one without the other. ,When the Athenians refused to give them back, Leutychides said to them: “Men of Athens, do whichever thing you desire. If you give them back, you do righteously; if you do not give them back, you do the opposite. But I want to tell you the story of what happened at Sparta in the matter of a trust. ,We Spartans say that three generations ago there was at Lacedaemon one Glaucus, the son of Epicydes. We say that this man added to his other excellences a reputation for justice above all men who at that time dwelt in Lacedaemon. ,But we say that at the fitting time this befell him: There came to Sparta a certain man of Miletus, who desired to have a talk with Glaucus and made him this offer: ‘I am a Milesian, and I have come to have the benefit of your justice, Glaucus. ,Since there is much talk about your justice throughout all the rest of Hellas, and even in Ionia, I considered the fact that Ionia is always in danger while the Peloponnese is securely established, and nowhere in Ionia are the same men seen continuing in possession of wealth. ,Considering and taking counsel concerning these matters, I resolved to turn half of my property into silver and deposit it with you, being well assured that it will lie safe for me in your keeping. Accept the money for me, and take and keep these tokens; restore the money to whoever comes with the same tokens and demands it back.’ ,Thus spoke the stranger who had come from Miletus, and Glaucus received the trust according to the agreement. After a long time had passed, the sons of the man who had deposited the money came to Sparta; they spoke with Glaucus, showing him the tokens and demanding the money back. ,But Glaucus put them off and answered in turn: ‘I do not remember the matter, and nothing of what you say carries my mind back. Let me think; I wish to do all that is just. If I took the money, I will duly restore it; if I never took it at all, I will deal with you according to the customs of the Greeks. I will put off making my decision for you until the fourth month from this day.’ ,So the Milesians went away in sorrow, as men robbed of their possessions; but Glaucus journeyed to Delphi to question the oracle. When he asked the oracle whether he should seize the money under oath, the Pythian priestess threatened him in these verses: ,6.107. So they waited for the full moon, while the foreigners were guided to Marathon by Hippias son of Pisistratus. The previous night Hippias had a dream in which he slept with his mother. ,He supposed from the dream that he would return from exile to Athens, recover his rule, and end his days an old man in his own country. Thus he reckoned from the dream. Then as guide he unloaded the slaves from Eretria onto the island of the Styrians called Aegilia, and brought to anchor the ships that had put ashore at Marathon, then marshalled the foreigners who had disembarked onto land. ,As he was tending to this, he happened to sneeze and cough more violently than usual. Since he was an elderly man, most of his teeth were loose, and he lost one of them by the force of his cough. It fell into the sand and he expended much effort in looking for it, but the tooth could not be found. ,He groaned aloud and said to those standing by him: “This land is not ours and we will not be able to subdue it. My tooth holds whatever share of it was mine.”
6.118. Datis journeyed with his army to Asia, and when he arrived at Myconos he saw a vision in his sleep. What that vision was is not told, but as soon as day broke Datis made a search of his ships. He found in a Phoenician ship a gilded image of Apollo, and asked where this plunder had been taken. Learning from what temple it had come, he sailed in his own ship to Delos. ,The Delians had now returned to their island, and Datis set the image in the temple, instructing the Delians to carry it away to Theban Delium, on the coast opposite Chalcis. ,Datis gave this order and sailed away, but the Delians never carried that statue away; twenty years later the Thebans brought it to Delium by command of an oracle.
6.134. All the Greeks tell the same story up to this point; after this the Parians themselves say that the following happened: as Miltiades was in a quandary, a captive woman named Timo, Parian by birth and an under-priestess of the goddesses of the dead, came to talk with him. ,Coming before Miltiades, she advised him, if taking Paros was very important to him, to do whatever she suggested. Then, following her advice, he passed through to the hill in front of the city and jumped over the fence of the precinct of Demeter the Lawgiver, since he was unable to open the door. After leaping over, he went to the shrine, whether to move something that should not be moved, or with some other intention. When he was right at the doors, he was immediately seized with panic and hurried back by the same route; leaping down from the wall he twisted his thigh, but some say he hit his knee. ' "6.135. So Miltiades sailed back home in a sorry condition, neither bringing money for the Athenians nor having won Paros; he had besieged the town for twenty-six days and ravaged the island. ,The Parians learned that Timo the under-priestess of the goddesses had been Miltiades' guide and desired to punish her for this. Since they now had respite from the siege, they sent messengers to Delphi to ask if they should put the under-priestess to death for guiding their enemies to the capture of her native country, and for revealing to Miltiades the rites that no male should know. ,But the Pythian priestess forbade them, saying that Timo was not responsible: Miltiades was doomed to make a bad end, and an apparition had led him in these evils. " "6.136. Such was the priestess' reply to the Parians. The Athenians had much to say about Miltiades on his return from Paros, especially Xanthippus son of Ariphron, who prosecuted Miltiades before the people for deceiving the Athenians and called for the death penalty. ,Miltiades was present but could not speak in his own defense, since his thigh was festering; he was laid before the court on a couch, and his friends spoke for him, often mentioning the fight at Marathon and the conquest of Lemnos: how Miltiades had punished the Pelasgians and taken Lemnos, delivering it to the Athenians. ,The people took his side as far as not condemning him to death, but they fined him fifty talents for his wrongdoing. Miltiades later died of gangrene and rot in his thigh, and the fifty talents were paid by his son Cimon. " '
7.12. The discussion went that far; then night came, and Xerxes was pricked by the advice of Artabanus. Thinking it over at night, he saw clearly that to send an army against Hellas was not his affair. He made this second resolve and fell asleep; then (so the Persians say) in the night he saw this vision: It seemed to Xerxes that a tall and handsome man stood over him and said, ,“Are you then changing your mind, Persian, and will not lead the expedition against Hellas, although you have proclaimed the mustering of the army? It is not good for you to change your mind, and there will be no one here to pardon you for it; let your course be along the path you resolved upon yesterday.” ' "7.13. So the vision spoke, and seemed to Xerxes to vanish away. When day dawned, the king took no account of this dream, and he assembled the Persians whom he had before gathered together and addressed them thus: ,“Persians, forgive me for turning and twisting in my purpose; I am not yet come to the fullness of my wisdom, and I am never free from people who exhort me to do as I said. It is true that when I heard Artabanus' opinion my youthful spirit immediately boiled up, and I burst out with an unseemly and wrongful answer to one older than myself; but now I see my fault and will follow his judgment. ,Be at peace, since I have changed my mind about marching against Hellas.” " "7.14. When the Persians heard that, they rejoiced and made obeisance to him. But when night came on, the same vision stood again over Xerxes as he slept, and said, “Son of Darius, have you then plainly renounced your army's march among the Persians, and made my words of no account, as though you had not heard them? Know for certain that, if you do not lead out your army immediately, this will be the outcome of it: as you became great and mighty in a short time, so in a moment will you be brought low again.” " '7.15. Greatly frightened by the vision, Xerxes leapt up from his bed, and sent a messenger to summon Artabanus. When he came, Xerxes said, “Artabanus, for a moment I was of unsound mind, and I answered your good advice with foolish words; but after no long time I repented, and saw that it was right for me to follow your advice. ,Yet, though I desire to, I cannot do it; ever since I turned back and repented, a vision keeps coming to haunt my sight, and it will not allow me to do as you advise; just now it has threatened me and gone. ,Now if a god is sending the vision, and it is his full pleasure that there this expedition against Hellas take place, that same dream will hover about you and give you the same command it gives me. I believe that this is most likely to happen, if you take all my apparel and sit wearing it upon my throne, and then lie down to sleep in my bed.” ' "7.16. Xerxes said this, but Artabanus would not obey the first command, thinking it was not right for him to sit on the royal throne; at last he was compelled and did as he was bid, saying first: ,“O king, I judge it of equal worth whether a man is wise or is willing to obey good advice; to both of these you have attained, but the company of bad men trips you up; just as they say that sea, of all things the most serviceable to men, is hindered from following its nature by the blasts of winds that fall upon it. ,It was not that I heard harsh words from you that stung me so much as that, when two opinions were laid before the Persians, one tending to the increase of pride, the other to its abatement, showing how evil a thing it is to teach the heart continual desire of more than it has, of these two opinions you preferred that one which was more fraught with danger to yourself and to the Persians. ,Now when you have turned to the better opinion, you say that, while intending to abandon the expedition against the Greeks, you are haunted by a dream sent by some god, which forbids you to disband the expedition. ,But this is none of heaven's working, my son. The roving dreams that visit men are of such nature as I shall teach you, since I am many years older than you. Those visions that rove about us in dreams are for the most part the thoughts of the day; and in these recent days we have been very busy with this expedition. ,But if this is not as I determine and it has something divine to it, then you have spoken the conclusion of the matter; let it appear to me just as it has to you, and utter its command. If it really wishes to appear, it should do so to me no more by virtue of my wearing your dress instead of mine, and my sleeping in your bed rather than in my own. ,Whatever it is that appears to you in your sleep, surely it has not come to such folly as to infer from your dress that I am you when it sees me. We now must learn if it will take no account of me and not deign to appear and haunt me, whether I am wearing your robes or my own, but will come to you; if it comes continually, I myself would say that it is something divine. ,If you are determined that this must be done and there is no averting it, and I must lie down to sleep in your bed, so be it; this duty I will fulfill, and let the vision appear also to me. But until then I will keep my present opinion.” " "7.17. So spoke Artabanus and did as he was bid, hoping to prove Xerxes' words vain; he put on Xerxes' robes and sat on the king's throne. Then while he slept there came to him in his sleep the same dream that had haunted Xerxes; it stood over him and spoke thus: ,“Are you the one who dissuades Xerxes from marching against Hellas, because you care for him? Neither in the future nor now will you escape with impunity for striving to turn aside what must be. To Xerxes himself it has been declared what will befall him if he disobeys.” " "7.18. With this threat (so it seemed to Artabanus) the vision was about to burn his eyes with hot irons. He leapt up with a loud cry, then sat by Xerxes and told him the whole story of what he had seen in his dream, and next he said: ,“O King, since I have seen, as much as a man may, how the greater has often been brought low by the lesser, I forbade you to always give rein to your youthful spirit, knowing how evil a thing it is to have many desires, and remembering the end of Cyrus' expedition against the Massagetae and of Cambyses' against the Ethiopians, and I myself marched with Darius against the Scythians. ,Knowing this, I judged that you had only to remain in peace for all men to deem you fortunate. But since there is some divine motivation, and it seems that the gods mark Hellas for destruction, I myself change and correct my judgment. Now declare the gods' message to the Persians, and bid them obey your first command for all due preparation. Do this, so that nothing on your part be lacking to the fulfillment of the gods' commission.” ,After this was said, they were incited by the vision, and when daylight came Xerxes imparted all this to the Persians. Artabanus now openly encouraged that course which he alone had before openly discouraged." "
7.27. In this city Pythius son of Atys, a Lydian, sat awaiting them; he entertained Xerxes himself and all the king's army with the greatest hospitality, and declared himself willing to provide money for the war. ,When Pythius offered the money, Xerxes asked the Persians present who this Pythius was and how much wealth he possessed in making the offer. They said, “O king, this is the one who gave your father Darius the gift of a golden plane-tree and vine; he is now the richest man we know of after you.” " '7.28. Xerxes marvelled at this last saying and next himself asked Pythius how much wealth he had. “O king,” said Pythius, “I will not conceal the quantity of my property from you, nor pretend that I do not know; I know and will tell you the exact truth. ,As soon as I learned that you were coming down to the Greek sea, I wanted to give you money for the war, so I inquired into the matter, and my reckoning showed me that I had two thousand talents of silver, and four million Daric staters of gold, lacking seven thousand. ,All this I freely give to you; for myself, I have a sufficient livelihood from my slaves and my farms.” 7.29. Thus he spoke. Xerxes was pleased with what he said and replied: “My Lydian friend, since I came out of Persia I have so far met with no man who was willing to give hospitality to my army, nor who came into my presence unsummoned and offered to furnish money for the war, besides you. ,But you have entertained my army nobly and offer me great sums. In return for this I give you these privileges: I make you my friend, and out of my own wealth I give you the seven thousand staters which will complete your total of four million, so that your four million not lack the seven thousand and the even number be reached by my completing it. ,Remain in possession of what you now possess, and be mindful to be always such as you are; neither for the present nor in time will you regret what you now do.”
7.35. When Xerxes heard of this, he was very angry and commanded that the Hellespont be whipped with three hundred lashes, and a pair of fetters be thrown into the sea. I have even heard that he sent branders with them to brand the Hellespont. ,He commanded them while they whipped to utter words outlandish and presumptuous, “Bitter water, our master thus punishes you, because you did him wrong though he had done you none. Xerxes the king will pass over you, whether you want it or not; in accordance with justice no one offers you sacrifice, for you are a turbid and briny river.” ,He commanded that the sea receive these punishments and that the overseers of the bridge over the Hellespont be beheaded. ' "
7.39. Xerxes became very angry and thus replied: “Villain, you see me marching against Hellas myself, and taking with me my sons and brothers and relations and friends; do you, my slave, who should have followed me with all your household and your very wife, speak to me of your son? Be well assured of this, that a man's spirit dwells in his ears; when it hears good words it fills the whole body with delight, but when it hears the opposite it swells with anger. ,When you did me good service and promised more, you will never boast that you outdid your king in the matter of benefits; and now that you have turned aside to the way of shamelessness, you will receive a lesser requital than you merit. You and four of your sons are saved by your hospitality; but you shall be punished by the life of that one you most desire to keep.” ,With that reply, he immediately ordered those who were assigned to do these things to find the eldest of Pythius sons and cut him in half, then to set one half of his body on the right side of the road and the other on the left, so that the army would pass between them. " "
7.69. The Arabians wore mantles girded up, and carried at their right side long bows curving backwards. The Ethiopians were wrapped in skins of leopards and lions, and carried bows made of palmwood strips, no less than four cubits long, and short arrows pointed not with iron but with a sharpened stone that they use to carve seals; furthermore, they had spears pointed with a gazelle's horn sharpened like a lance, and also studded clubs. ,When they went into battle they painted half their bodies with gypsum and the other half with vermilion. The Arabians and the Ethiopians who dwell above Egypt had as commander Arsames, the son of Darius and Artystone daughter of Cyrus, whom Darius loved best of his wives; he had an image made of her of hammered gold. " "
7.114. After using these enchantments and many others besides on the river, they passed over it at the Nine Ways in Edonian country, by the bridges which they found thrown across the Strymon. When they learned that Nine Ways was the name of the place, they buried alive that number of boys and maidens, children of the local people. ,To bury people alive is a Persian custom; I have learned by inquiry that when Xerxes' wife Amestris reached old age, she buried twice seven sons of notable Persians as an offering on her own behalf to the fabled god beneath the earth. " "
7.117. While Xerxes was at Acanthus, it happened that Artachaees, overseer of the digging of the canal, died of an illness. He was high in Xerxes' favor, an Achaemenid by lineage, and the tallest man in Persia, lacking four finger-breadths of five royal cubits in stature, and his voice was the loudest on earth. For this reason Xerxes mourned him greatly and gave him a funeral and burial of great pomp, and the whole army poured libations on his tomb. ,The Acanthians hold Artachaees a hero, and sacrifice to him, calling upon his name. This they do at the command of an oracle. " "
7.136. This was their answer to Hydarnes. From there they came to Susa, into the king's presence, and when the guards commanded and would have compelled them to fall down and bow to the king, they said they would never do that. This they would refuse even if they were thrust down headlong, for it was not their custom, said they, to bow to mortal men, nor was that the purpose of their coming. Having averted that, they next said, ,“The Lacedaemonians have sent us, O king of the Medes, in requital for the slaying of your heralds at Sparta, to make atonement for their death,” and more to that effect. To this Xerxes, with great magimity, replied that he would not imitate the Lacedaemonians. “You,” said he, “made havoc of all human law by slaying heralds, but I will not do that for which I censure you, nor by putting you in turn to death will I set the Lacedaemonians free from this guilt.” " '
8.51. Since the crossing of the Hellespont, where the barbarians began their journey, they had spent one month there crossing into Europe and in three more months were in Attica, when Calliades was archon at Athens. ,When they took the town it was deserted, but in the sacred precinct they found a few Athenians, stewards of the sacred precinct and poor people, who defended themselves against the assault by fencing the acropolis with doors and logs. They had not withdrawn to Salamis not only because of poverty but also because they thought they had discovered the meaning of the oracle the Pythia had given, namely that the wooden wall would be impregnable. They believed that according to the oracle this, not the ships, was the refuge. 8.52. The Persians took up a position on the hill opposite the acropolis, which the Athenians call the Areopagus, and besieged them in this way: they wrapped arrows in tar and set them on fire, and then shot them at the barricade. Still the besieged Athenians defended themselves, although they had come to the utmost danger and their barricade had failed them. ,When the Pisistratids proposed terms of surrender, they would not listen but contrived defenses such as rolling down boulders onto the barbarians when they came near the gates. For a long time Xerxes was at a loss, unable to capture them. ' "8.53. In time a way out of their difficulties was revealed to the barbarians, since according to the oracle all the mainland of Attica had to become subject to the Persians. In front of the acropolis, and behind the gates and the ascent, was a place where no one was on guard, since no one thought any man could go up that way. Here some men climbed up, near the sacred precinct of Cecrops' daughter Aglaurus, although the place was a sheer cliff. ,When the Athenians saw that they had ascended to the acropolis, some threw themselves off the wall and were killed, and others fled into the chamber. The Persians who had come up first turned to the gates, opened them, and murdered the suppliants. When they had levelled everything, they plundered the sacred precinct and set fire to the entire acropolis. " '8.54. So it was that Xerxes took complete possession of Athens, and he sent a horseman to Susa to announce his present success to Artabanus. On the day after the messenger was sent, he called together the Athenian exiles who accompanied him and asked them go up to the acropolis and perform sacrifices in their customary way, an order given because he had been inspired by a dream or because he felt remorse after burning the sacred precinct. The Athenian exiles did as they were commanded. ' "8.55. I will tell why I have mentioned this. In that acropolis is a shrine of Erechtheus, called the “Earthborn,” and in the shrine are an olive tree and a pool of salt water. The story among the Athenians is that they were set there by Poseidon and Athena as tokens when they contended for the land. It happened that the olive tree was burnt by the barbarians with the rest of the sacred precinct, but on the day after its burning, when the Athenians ordered by the king to sacrifice went up to the sacred precinct, they saw a shoot of about a cubit's length sprung from the stump, and they reported this. " '
8.99. When the first message came to Susa, saying that Xerxes had taken Athens, it gave such delight to the Persians who were left at home that they strewed all the roads with myrtle boughs and burnt incense and gave themselves up to sacrificial feasts and jollity. ,The second, however, coming on the heels of the first, so confounded them that they all tore their tunics, and cried and lamented without ceasing, holding Mardonius to blame; it was not so much in grief for their ships that they did this as because they feared for Xerxes himself. ' "
8.109. When Themistocles perceived that he could not persuade the greater part of them to sail to the Hellespont, he turned to the Athenians (for they were the angriest at the Persians' escape, and they were minded to sail to the Hellespont even by themselves, if the rest would not) and addressed them as follows: ,“This I have often seen with my eyes and heard yet more often, namely that beaten men, when they be driven to bay, will rally and retrieve their former mishap. Therefore I say to you,—as it is to a fortunate chance that we owe ourselves and Hellas, and have driven away so mighty a band of enemies—let us not pursue men who flee, ,for it is not we who have won this victory, but the gods and the heroes, who deemed Asia and Europe too great a realm for one man to rule, and that a wicked man and an impious one who dealt alike with temples and bones, burning and overthrowing the images of the gods,—yes, and one who scourged the sea and threw fetters into it. ,But as it is well with us for the moment, let us abide now in Hellas and take thought for ourselves and our households. Let us build our houses again and be diligent in sowing, when we have driven the foreigner completely away. Then when the next spring comes, let us set sail for the Hellespont and Ionia.” ,This he said with intent to have something to his credit with the Persian, so that he might have a place of refuge if ever (as might chance) he should suffer anything at the hands of the Athenians—and just that did in fact happen. " '
8.115. So the herald took that response and departed, but Xerxes left Mardonius in Thessaly. He himself journeyed with all speed to the Hellespont and came in forty-five days to the passage for crossing, bringing back with him as good as none (if one may say so) of his host. ,Wherever and to whatever people they came, they seized and devoured its produce. If they found none, they would eat the grass of the field and strip the bark and pluck the leaves of the trees, garden and wild alike, leaving nothing—such was the degree of their starvation. ,Moreover, pestilence and dysentery broke out among them on their way, from which they died. Some who were sick Xerxes left behind, charging the cities to which he came in his march to care for them and nourish them, some in Thessaly and some in Siris of Paeonia and in Macedonia. ,In Siris he had left the sacred chariot of Zeus when he was marching to Hellas, but on his return he did not get it back again. The Paeonians had given it to the Thracians, and when Xerxes demanded it back, they said that the horses had been carried off from pasture by the Thracians of the hills who dwelt about the headwaters of the Strymon.
8.143. But to Alexander the Athenians replied as follows: “We know of ourselves that the power of the Mede is many times greater than ours. There is no need to taunt us with that. Nevertheless in our zeal for freedom we will defend ourselves to the best of our ability. But as regards agreements with the barbarian, do not attempt to persuade us to enter into them, nor will we consent. ,Now carry this answer back to Mardonius from the Athenians, that as long as the sun holds the course by which he now goes, we will make no agreement with Xerxes. We will fight against him without ceasing, trusting in the aid of the gods and the heroes whom he has disregarded and burnt their houses and their adornments. ,Come no more to Athenians with such a plea, nor under the semblance of rendering us a service, counsel us to act wickedly. For we do not want those who are our friends and protectors to suffer any harm at Athenian hands.” '". None |
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