1. Herodotus, Histories, 1.50, 1.62, 1.65-1.68, 1.86, 1.155, 1.157, 3.28-3.29, 3.64, 3.124-3.125, 4.1, 5.32, 5.36, 5.49-5.51, 5.63, 5.70-5.72, 5.72.1, 5.72.3, 5.74-5.78, 5.90-5.93, 5.90.2, 5.97, 5.97.2-5.97.3, 5.105, 6.57.4, 6.64-6.66, 6.75-6.76, 6.78-6.84, 6.84.3, 6.91, 6.97-6.98, 7.140-7.142, 8.62, 8.77, 8.143, 9.33-9.35, 9.43 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Cleomenes • Cleomenes of Sparta • Cleomenes of Sparta, Impieties of • Cleomenes of Sparta, omens to • Cleomenes of Sparta, oracles to • Cleomenes, Spartan King • Cleomenes, Spartan king • Cleomenes, late-sixth century • Delphic Oracle, to Cleomenes • Kleomenes • Kleomenes of Sparta • Kleomenes, • madness, of Cleomenes
Found in books: Athanassaki and Titchener (2022), Plutarch's Cities, 109, 111; Bianchetti et al. (2015), Brill’s Companion to Ancient Geography: The Inhabited World in Greek and Roman Tradition, 14, 15; Edmonds (2019), Drawing Down the Moon: Magic in the Ancient Greco-Roman World, 216, 230; Eidinow (2007), Oracles, Curses, and Risk Among the Ancient Greeks, 260; Gorman, Gorman (2014), Corrupting Luxury in Ancient Greek Literature. 175, 176; Isaac (2004), The invention of racism in classical antiquity, 273, 289; Johnston and Struck (2005), Mantikê: Studies in Ancient Divination, 188, 218; Kingsley Monti and Rood (2022), The Authoritative Historian: Tradition and Innovation in Ancient Historiography, 140, 142, 143, 220; Lipka (2021), Epiphanies and Dreams in Greek Polytheism: Textual Genres and 'Reality' from Homer to Heliodorus, 146; Meinel (2015), Pollution and Crisis in Greek Tragedy, 22; Mikalson (2003), Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars, 16, 18, 19, 24, 56, 57, 74, 107, 118, 124, 140, 142, 143, 146, 148, 149, 200, 208, 228; Morrison (2020), Apollonius Rhodius, Herodotus and Historiography, 128, 195, 196; Munn (2006), The Mother of the Gods, Athens, and the Tyranny of Asia: A Study of Sovereignty in Ancient Religion. 48, 217, 240, 242, 247, 253; Naiden (2013), Smoke Signals for the Gods: Ancient Greek Sacrifice from the Archaic through Roman Periods, 134, 167, 204, 334, 342; Papazarkadas (2011), Sacred and Public Land in Ancient Athens, 79, 245, 246, 279; Raaflaub Ober and Wallace (2007), Origins of Democracy in Ancient Greece, 64, 77, 93, 103, 104, 147; de Bakker, van den Berg, and Klooster (2022), Emotions and Narrative in Ancient Literature and Beyond, 358, 361, 372
5.72 Κλεομένης δὲ ὡς πέμπων ἐξέβαλλε Κλεισθένεα καὶ τοὺς ἐναγέας, Κλεισθένης μὲν αὐτὸς ὑπεξέσχε, μετὰ δὲ οὐδὲν ἧσσον παρῆν ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας ὁ Κλεομένης οὐ σὺν μεγάλῃ χειρί, ἀπικόμενος δὲ ἀγηλατέει ἑπτακόσια ἐπίστια Ἀθηναίων, τά οἱ ὑπέθετο ὁ Ἰσαγόρης. ταῦτα δὲ ποιήσας δεύτερα τὴν βουλὴν καταλύειν ἐπειρᾶτο, τριηκοσίοισι δὲ τοῖσι Ἰσαγόρεω στασιώτῃσι τὰς ἀρχὰς ἐνεχείριζε. ἀντισταθείσης δὲ τῆς βουλῆς καὶ οὐ βουλομένης πείθεσθαι, ὅ τε Κλεομένης καὶ ὁ Ἰσαγόρης καὶ οἱ στασιῶται αὐτοῦ καταλαμβάνουσι τὴν ἀκρόπολιν. Ἀθηναίων δὲ οἱ λοιποὶ τὰ αὐτὰ φρονήσαντες ἐπολιόρκεον αὐτοὺς ἡμέρας δύο· τῇ δὲ τρίτῃ ὑπόσπονδοι ἐξέρχονται ἐκ τῆς χώρης ὅσοι ἦσαν αὐτῶν Λακεδαιμόνιοι. ἐπετελέετο δὲ τῷ Κλεομένεϊ ἡ φήμη. ὡς γὰρ ἀνέβη ἐς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν μέλλων δὴ αὐτὴν κατασχήσειν, ἤιε ἐς τὸ ἄδυτον τῆς θεοῦ ὡς προσερέων· ἡ δὲ ἱρείη ἐξαναστᾶσα ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου, πρὶν ἢ τὰς θύρας αὐτὸν ἀμεῖψαι, εἶπε “ὦ ξεῖνε Λακεδαιμόνιε, πάλιν χώρεε μηδὲ ἔσιθι ἐς τὸ ἱρόν· οὐ γὰρ θεμιτὸν Δωριεῦσι παριέναι ἐνθαῦτα.” ὁ δὲ εἶπε “ὦ γύναι, ἀλλʼ οὐ Δωριεύς εἰμι ἀλλʼ Ἀχαιός.” ὃ μὲν δὴ τῇ κλεηδόνι οὐδὲν χρεώμενος ἐπεχείρησέ τε καὶ τότε πάλιν ἐξέπιπτε μετὰ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων· τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους Ἀθηναῖοι κατέδησαν τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ, ἐν δὲ αὐτοῖσι καὶ Τιμησίθεον τὸν Δελφόν, τοῦ ἔργα χειρῶν τε καὶ λήματος ἔχοιμʼ ἂν μέγιστα καταλέξαι.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.
1.62 ἐξ Ἐρετρίης δὲ ὁρμηθέντες διὰ ἑνδεκάτου ἔτεος ἀπίκοντο ὀπίσω, καὶ πρῶτον τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἴσχουσι Μαραθῶνα. ἐν δὲ τούτῳ τῷ χώρῳ σφι στρατοπεδευομένοισι οἵ τε ἐκ τοῦ ἄστεος στασιῶται ἀπίκοντο ἄλλοι τε ἐκ τῶν δήμων προσέρρεον, τοῖσι ἡ τυραννὶς πρὸ ἐλευθερίης ἦν ἀσπαστότερον. οὗτοι μὲν δὴ συνηλίζοντο, Ἀθηναίων δὲ οἱ ἐκ τοῦ ἄστεος, ἕως μὲν Πεισίστρατος τὰ χρήματα ἤγειρε, καὶ μεταῦτις ὡς ἔσχε Μαραθῶνα, λόγον οὐδένα εἶχον· ἐπείτε δὲ ἐπύθοντο ἐκ τοῦ Μαραθῶνος αὐτὸν πορεύεσθαι ἐπὶ τὸ ἄστυ, οὕτω δὴ βοηθέουσι ἐπʼ αὐτόν. καὶ οὗτοί τε πανστρατιῇ ἤισαν ἐπὶ τοὺς κατιόντας καὶ οἱ ἀμφὶ Πεισίστρατον, ὡς ὁρμηθέντες ἐκ Μαραθῶνος ἤισαν ἐπὶ τὸ ἄστυ, ἐς τὠυτὸ συνιόντες ἀπικνέονται ἐπὶ Παλληνίδος Ἀθηναίης ἱρόν, καὶ ἀντία ἔθεντο τὰ ὅπλα. ἐνθαῦτα θείῃ πομπῇ χρεώμενος παρίσταται Πεισιστράτῳ Ἀμφίλυτος ὁ Ἀκαρνὰν χρησμολόγος ἀνήρ, ὅς οἱ προσιὼν χρᾷ ἐν ἑξαμέτρῳ τόνῳ τάδε λέγων· ἔρριπται δʼ ὁ βόλος, τὸ δὲ δίκτυον ἐκπεπέτασται, θύννοι δʼ οἰμήσουσι σεληναίης διὰ νυκτός.
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. 1.67 κατὰ μὲν δὴ τὸν πρότερον πόλεμον συνεχέως αἰεὶ κακῶς ἀέθλεον πρὸς τοὺς Τεγεήτας, κατὰ δὲ τὸν κατὰ Κροῖσον χρόνον καὶ τὴν Ἀναξανδρίδεώ τε καὶ Ἀρίστωνος βασιληίην ἐν Λακεδαίμονι ἤδη οἱ Σπαρτιῆται κατυπέρτεροι τῷ πολέμῳ ἐγεγόνεσαν, τρόπῳ τοιῷδε γενόμενοι. ἐπειδὴ αἰεὶ τῷ πολέμῳ ἑσσοῦντο ὑπὸ Τεγεητέων, πέμψαντες θεοπρόπους ἐς Δελφοὺς ἐπειρώτων τίνα ἂν θεῶν ἱλασάμενοι κατύπερθε τῷ πολέμῳ Τεγεητέων γενοίατο. ἡ δὲ Πυθίη σφι ἔχρησε τὰ Ὀρέστεω τοῦ Ἀγαμέμνονος ὀστέα ἐπαγαγομένους. ὡς δὲ ἀνευρεῖν οὐκ οἷοί τε ἐγίνοντο τὴν θήκην τοῦ Ὀρέστεω ἔπεμπον αὖτις τὴν ἐς θεὸν ἐπειρησομένους τὸν χῶρον ἐν τῷ κέοιτο Ὀρέστης. εἰρωτῶσι δὲ ταῦτα τοῖσι θεοπρόποισι λέγει ἡ Πυθίη τάδε. ἔστι τις Ἀρκαδίης Τεγέη λευρῷ ἐνὶ χώρῳ, ἔνθʼ ἄνεμοι πνείουσι δύω κρατερῆς ὑπʼ ἀνάγκης, καὶ τύπος ἀντίτυπος, καὶ πῆμʼ ἐπὶ πήματι κεῖται. ἔνθʼ Ἀγαμεμνονίδην κατέχει φυσίζοος αἶα, τὸν σὺ κομισσάμενος Τεγέης ἐπιτάρροθος ἔσσῃ. ὡς δὲ καὶ ταῦτα ἤκουσαν οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, ἀπεῖχον τῆς ἐξευρέσιος οὐδὲν ἔλασσον, πάντα διζήμενοι, ἐς οὗ δὴ Λίχης τῶν ἀγαθοεργῶν καλεομένων Σπαρτιητέων ἀνεῦρε, οἱ δὲ ἀγαθοεργοὶ εἰσὶ τῶν ἀστῶν, ἐξιόντες ἐκ τῶν ἱππέων αἰεὶ οἱ πρεσβύτατοι, πέντε ἔτεος ἑκάστου· τοὺς δεῖ τοῦτὸν τὸν ἐνιαυτόν, τὸν ἂν ἐξίωσι ἐκ τῶν ἱππέων, Σπαρτιητέων τῷ κοινῷ διαπεμπομένους μὴ ἐλινύειν ἄλλους ἄλλῃ. 1.68 τούτων ὦν τῶν ἀνδρῶν Λίχης ἀνεῦρε ἐν Τεγέῃ καὶ συντυχίῃ χρησάμενος καὶ σοφίῃ. ἐούσης γὰρ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἐπιμιξίης πρὸς τοὺς Τεγεήτας, ἐλθὼν ἐς χαλκήιον ἐθηεῖτο σίδηρον ἐξελαυνόμενον, καὶ ἐν θώματι ἦν ὀρέων τὸ ποιεόμενον. μαθὼν, δέ μιν ὁ χαλκεὺς ἀποθωμάζοντα εἶπε παυσάμενος τοῦ ἔργου “ἦ κου ἄν, ὦ ξεῖνε Λάκων εἴ περ εἶδες τό περ ἐγώ, κάρτα ἂν ἐθώμαζες, ὅκου νῦν οὕτω τυγχάνεις θῶμα ποιεύμενος τὴν ἐργασίην τοῦ σιδήρου. ἐγὼ γὰρ ἐν τῇδε θέλων τῇ αὐλῇ φρέαρ ποιήσασθαι, ὀρύσσων ἐπέτυχον σορῷ ἑπταπήχεϊ· ὑπὸ δὲ ἀπιστίης μὴ μὲν γενέσθαι μηδαμὰ μέζονας ἀνθρώπους τῶν νῦν ἄνοιξα αὐτὴν καὶ εἶδον τὸν νεκρὸν μήκεϊ ἴσον ἐόντα τῇ σορῷ· μετρήσας δὲ συνέχωσα ὀπίσω.” ὃ μὲν δή οἱ ἔλεγε τά περ ὀπώπεε, ὁ δὲ ἐννώσας τὰ λεγόμενα συνεβάλλετο τὸν Ὀρέστεα κατὰ τὸ θεοπρόπιον τοῦτον εἶναι, τῇδε συμβαλλόμενος· τοῦ χαλκέος δύο ὁρέων φύσας τοὺς ἀνέμους εὕρισκε ἐόντας, τὸν δὲ ἄκμονα καὶ τὴν σφῦραν τόν τε τύπον καὶ τὸν ἀντίτυπον, τὸν δὲ ἐξελαυνόμενον σίδηρον τὸ πῆμα ἐπὶ πήματι κείμενον, κατὰ τοιόνδε τι εἰκάζων, ὡς ἐπὶ κακῷ ἀνθρώπου σίδηρος ἀνεύρηται. συμβαλόμενος δὲ ταῦτα καὶ ἀπελθὼν ἐς Σπάρτην ἔφραζε Λακεδαιμονίοσσι πᾶν τὸ πρῆγμα. οἳ δὲ ἐκ λόγου πλαστοῦ ἐπενείκαντὲς οἱ αἰτίην ἐδίωξαν. ὁ δὲ ἀπικόμενος ἐς Τεγέην καὶ φράζων τὴν ἑωυτοῦ συμφορὴν πρὸς τὸν χαλκέα ἐμισθοῦτο παρʼ οὐκ ἐκδιδόντος τὴν αὐλήν· χρόνῳ δὲ ὡς ἀνέγνωσε, ἐνοικίσθη, ἀνορύξας δὲ τὸν τάφον καὶ τὰ ὀστέα συλλέξας οἴχετο φέρων ἐς Σπάρτην. καὶ ἀπὸ τούτου τοῦ χρόνου, ὅκως πειρῴατο ἀλλήλων, πολλῷ κατυπέρτεροι τῷ πολέμῳ ἐγίνοντο οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι· ἤδη δέ σφι καὶ ἡ πολλὴ τῆς Πελοποννήσου ἦν κατεστραμμένη.
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.
1.155 πυθόμενος δὲ κατʼ ὁδὸν ταῦτα ὁ Κῦρος εἶπε πρὸς Κροῖσον τάδε. “Κροῖσε, τί ἔσται τέλος τῶν γινομένων τούτων ἐμοί; οὐ παύσονται Λυδοί, ὡς οἴκασι, πρήγμάτα παρέχοντες καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔχοντες. φροντίζω μὴ ἄριστον ᾖ ἐξανδραποδίσασθαι σφέας. ὁμοίως γὰρ μοι νῦν γε φαίνομαι πεποιηκέναι ὡς εἴ τις πατέρα ἀποκτείνας τῶν παίδων αὐτοῦ φείσατο· ὡς δὲ καὶ ἐγὼ Λυδῶν τὸν μὲν πλέον τι ἢ πατέρα ἐόντα σὲ λαβὼν ἄγω, αὐτοῖσι δὲ Λυδοῖσι τὴν πόλιν παρέδωκα, καὶ ἔπειτα θωμάζω εἰ μοι ἀπεστᾶσι.” ὃ μὲν δὴ τά περ ἐνόεε ἔλεγε, ὃ δʼ ἀμείβετο τοῖσιδε, δείσας μὴ ἀναστάτους ποιήσῃ τὰς Σάρδις. “ὦ βασιλεῦ, τὰ μὲν οἰκότα εἴρηκας, σὺ μέντοι μὴ πάντα θυμῷ χρέο, μηδὲ πόλιν ἀρχαίην ἐξαναστήσῃς ἀναμάρτητον ἐοῦσαν καὶ τῶν πρότερον καὶ τῶν νῦν ἑστεώτων. τὰ μὲν γὰρ πρότερον ἐγώ τε ἔπρηξα καὶ ἐγὼ κεφαλῇ ἀναμάξας φέρω· τὰ δὲ νῦν παρεόντα Πακτύης γὰρ ἐστὶ ὁ ἀδικέων, τῷ σὺ ἐπέτρεψας Σάρδις, οὗτος δότω τοι δίκην. Λυδοῖσι δὲ συγγνώμην ἔχων τάδε αὐτοῖσι ἐπίταξον, ὡς μήτε ἀποστέωσι μήτε δεινοί τοι ἔωσι· ἄπειπε μέν σφι πέμψας ὅπλα ἀρήια μὴ ἐκτῆσθαι, κέλευε δὲ σφέας κιθῶνάς τε ὑποδύνειν τοῖσι εἵμασι καὶ κοθόρνους ὑποδέεσθαι, πρόειπε δʼ αὐτοῖσι κιθαρίζειν τε καὶ ψάλλειν καὶ καπηλεύειν παιδεύειν τοὺς παῖδας. καὶ ταχέως σφέας ὦ βασιλεῦ γυναῖκας ἀντʼ ἀνδρῶν ὄψεαι γεγονότας, ὥστε οὐδὲν δεινοί τοι ἔσονται μὴ ἀποστέωσι.”
1.157 ὃ μὲν δὴ ταῦτα ἐκ τῆς ὁδοῦ ἐντειλάμενος ἀπήλαυνε ἐς ἤθεα τὰ Περσέων, Πακτύης δὲ πυθόμενος ἀγχοῦ εἶναι στρατὸν ἐπʼ ἑωυτὸν ἰόντα δείσας οἴχετο φεύγων ἐς Κύμην. Μαζάρης δὲ ὁ Μῆδος ἐλάσας ἐπὶ τὰς Σάρδις τοῦ Κύρου στρατοῦ μοῖραν ὅσην δή κοτε ἔχων, ὡς οὐκ εὗρε ἔτι ἐόντας τοὺς ἀμφὶ Πακτύην ἐν Σάρδισι, πρῶτα μὲν τοὺς Λυδοὺς ἠνάγκασε τὰς Κύρου ἐντολὰς ἐπιτελέειν, ἐκ τούτου δὲ κελευσμοσύνης Λυδοὶ τὴν πᾶσαν δίαιταν τῆς ζόης μετέβαλον. Μαζάρης δὲ μετὰ τοῦτο ἔπεμπε ἐς τὴν Κύμην ἀγγέλους ἐκδιδόναι κελεύων Πακτύην. οἱ δὲ Κυμαῖοι ἔγνωσαν συμβουλῆς περὶ ἐς θεὸν ἀνοῖσαι τὸν ἐν Βραγχίδῃσι· ἦν γὰρ αὐτόθι μαντήιον ἐκ παλαιοῦ ἱδρυμένον, τῷ Ἴωνές τε πάντες καὶ Αἰολέες ἐώθεσαν χρᾶσθαι. ὁ δὲ χῶρος οὗτος ἐστὶ τῆς Μιλησίης ὑπὲρ Πανόρμου λιμένος.
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.
3.64 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.”
3.124 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.
4.1 μετὰ δὲ τὴν Βαβυλῶνος αἵρεσιν ἐγένετο ἐπὶ Σκύθας αὐτοῦ Δαρείου ἔλασις· ἀνθεύσης γὰρ τῆς Ἀσίης ἀνδράσι καὶ χρημάτων μεγάλων συνιόντων, ἐπεθύμησε ὁ Δαρεῖος τίσασθαι Σκύθας, ὅτι ἐκεῖνοι πρότεροι ἐσβαλόντες ἐς τὴν Μηδικὴν καὶ νικήσαντες μάχῃ τοὺς ἀντιουμένους ὑπῆρξαν ἀδικίης. τῆς γὰρ ἄνω Ἀσίης ἦρξαν, ὡς καὶ πρότερον μοι εἴρηται, Σκύθαι ἔτεα δυῶν δέοντα τριήκοντα. Κιμμερίους γὰρ ἐπιδιώκοντες ἐσέβαλον ἐς τὴν Ἀσίην, καταπαύσαντες τῆς ἀρχῆς Μήδους· οὗτοι γὰρ πρὶν ἢ Σκύθας ἀπικέσθαι ἦρχον τῆς Ἀσίης. τοὺς δὲ Σκύθας ἀποδημήσαντας ὀκτὼ καὶ εἴκοσι ἔτεα καὶ διὰ χρόνου τοσούτου κατιόντας ἐς τὴν σφετέρην ἐξεδέξατο οὐκ ἐλάσσων πόνος τοῦ Μηδικοῦ· εὗρον γὰρ ἀντιουμένην σφίσι στρατιήν οὐκ ὀλίγην. αἱ γὰρ τῶν Σκυθέων γυναῖκες, ὥς σφι οἱ ἄνδρες ἀπῆσαν χρόνον πολλόν, ἐφοίτεον παρὰ τοὺς δούλους.
5.32 ὁ μὲν δὴ Ἀρισταγόρης ὡς ταῦτα ἤκουσε, περιχαρὴς ἐὼν ἀπήιε ἐς Μίλητον. ὁ δὲ Ἀρταφρένης, ὥς οἱ πέμψαντι ἐς Σοῦσα καὶ ὑπερθέντι τὰ ἐκ τοῦ Ἀρισταγόρεω λεγόμενα συνέπαινος καὶ αὐτὸς Δαρεῖος ἐγένετο, παρεσκευάσατο μὲν διηκοσίας τριήρεας, πολλὸν δὲ κάρτα ὅμιλον Περσέων τε καὶ τῶν ἄλλων συμμάχων, στρατηγὸν δὲ τούτων ἀπέδεξε Μεγαβάτην ἄνδρα Πέρσην τῶν Ἀχαιμενιδέων, ἑωυτοῦ τε καὶ Δαρείου ἀνεψιόν, τοῦ Παυσανίης ὁ Κλεομβρότου Λακεδαιμόνιος, εἰ δὴ ἀληθής γε ἐστὶ ὁ λόγος, ὑστέρῳ χρόνῳ τούτων ἡρμόσατο θυγατέρα, ἔρωτα σχὼν τῆς Ἑλλάδος τύραννος γενέσθαι. ἀποδέξας δὲ Μεγαβάτην στρατηγὸν Ἀρταφρένης ἀπέστειλε τὸν στρατὸν παρὰ τὸν Ἀρισταγόρεα.
5.36 Ἱστιαῖος μέν νυν ταῦτα διανοεύμενος ἀπέπεμπε τὸν ἄγγελον, Ἀρισταγόρῃ δὲ συνέπιπτε τοῦ αὐτοῦ χρόνου πάντα ταῦτα συνελθόντα. ἐβουλεύετο ὦν μετὰ τῶν στασιωτέων, ἐκφήνας τήν τε ἑωυτοῦ γνώμην καὶ τὰ παρὰ τοῦ Ἱστιαίου ἀπιγμένα. οἱ μὲν δὴ ἄλλοι πάντες γνώμην κατὰ τὠυτὸ ἐξεφέροντο, κελεύοντες ἀπίστασθαι· Ἑκαταῖος δʼ ὁ λογοποιὸς πρῶτα μὲν οὐκ ἔα πόλεμον βασιλέι τῶν Περσέων ἀναιρέεσθαι, καταλέγων τά τε ἔθνεα πάντα τῶν ἦρχε Δαρεῖος καὶ τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ. ἐπείτε δὲ οὐκ ἔπειθε, δεύτερα συνεβούλευε ποιέειν ὅκως ναυκρατέες τῆς θαλάσσης ἔσονται. ἄλλως μέν νυν οὐδαμῶς ἔφη λέγων ἐνορᾶν ἐσόμενον τοῦτο· ἐπίστασθαι γὰρ τὴν δύναμιν τῶν Μιλησίων ἐοῦσαν ἀσθενέα· εἰ δὲ τὰ χρήματα καταιρεθείη τὰ ἐκ τοῦ ἱροῦ τοῦ ἐν Βραγχίδῃσι, τὰ Κροῖσος ὁ Λυδὸς ἀνέθηκε, πολλὰς εἶχε ἐλπίδας ἐπικρατήσειν τῆς θαλάσσης, καὶ οὕτω αὐτούς τε ἕξειν τοῖσι χρήμασι χρᾶσθαι καὶ τοὺς πολεμίους οὐ συλήσειν αὐτά. τὰ δὲ χρήματα ἦν ταῦτα μεγάλα, ὡς δεδήλωταί μοι ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ τῶν λόγων. αὕτη μὲν δὴ οὐκ ἐνίκα ἡ γνώμη, ἐδόκεε δὲ ὅμως ἀπίστασθαι, ἕνα τε αὐτῶν πλώσαντα ἐς Μυοῦντα ἐς τὸ στρατόπεδον τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς Νάξου ἀπελθόν, ἐὸν ἐνθαῦτα, συλλαμβάνειν πειρᾶσθαι τοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν νεῶν ἐπιπλέοντας στρατηγούς.
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.” 5.50 τότε μὲν ἐς τοσοῦτον ἤλασαν· ἐπείτε δὲ ἡ κυρίη ἡμέρη ἐγένετο τῆς ὑποκρίσιος καὶ ἦλθον ἐς τὸ συγκείμενον, εἴρετο ὁ Κλεομένης τὸν Ἀρισταγόρην ὁκοσέων ἡμερέων ἀπὸ θαλάσσης τῆς Ἰώνων ὁδὸς εἴη παρὰ βασιλέα. ὁ δὲ Ἀρισταγόρης τἆλλα ἐὼν σοφὸς καὶ διαβάλλων ἐκεῖνον εὖ ἐν τούτῳ ἐσφάλη· χρὲον γάρ μιν μὴ λέγειν τὸ ἐόν, βουλόμενόν γε Σπαρτιήτας ἐξαγαγεῖν ἐς τὴν Ἀσίην, λέγει δʼ ὦν τριῶν μηνῶν φὰς εἶναι τὴν ἄνοδον. ὁ δὲ ὑπαρπάσας τὸν ἐπίλοιπον λόγον τὸν ὁ Ἀρισταγόρης ὥρμητο λέγειν περὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ, εἶπε “ὦ ξεῖνε Μιλήσιε, ἀπαλλάσσεο ἐκ Σπάρτης πρὸ δύντος ἡλίου· οὐδένα γὰρ λόγον εὐεπέα λέγεις Λακεδαιμονίοισι, ἐθέλων σφέας ἀπὸ θαλάσσης τριῶν μηνῶν ὁδὸν ἀγαγεῖν.” 5.51 ὁ μὲν Κλεομένης ταῦτα εἴπας ἤιε ἐς τὰ οἰκία, ὁ δὲ Ἀρισταγόρης λαβὼν ἱκετηρίην ἤιε ἐς τοῦ Κλεομένεος, ἐσελθὼν δὲ ἔσω ἅτε ἱκετεύων ἐπακοῦσαι ἐκέλευε τὸν Κλεομένεα ἀποπέμψαντα τὸ παιδίον· προσεστήκεε γὰρ δὴ τῷ Κλεομένεϊ ἡ θυγάτηρ, τῇ οὔνομα ἦν Γοργώ· τοῦτο δέ οἱ καὶ μοῦνον τέκνον ἐτύγχανε ἐὸν ἐτέων ὀκτὼ ἢ ἐννέα ἡλικίην. Κλεομένης δὲ λέγειν μιν ἐκέλευε τὰ βούλεται μηδὲ ἐπισχεῖν τοῦ παιδίου εἵνεκα. ἐνθαῦτα δὴ ὁ Ἀρισταγόρης ἄρχετο ἐκ δέκα ταλάντων ὑπισχνεόμενος, ἤν οἱ ἐπιτελέσῃ τῶν ἐδέετο. ἀνανεύοντος δὲ τοῦ Κλεομένεος προέβαινε τοῖσι χρήμασι ὑπερβάλλων ὁ Ἀρισταγόρης, ἐς οὗ πεντήκοντά τε τάλαντα ὑπεδέδεκτο καὶ τὸ παιδίον ηὐδάξατο “πάτερ, διαφθερέει σε ὁ ξεῖνος, ἢν μὴ ἀποστὰς ἴῃς.” ὅ τε δὴ Κλεομένης ἡσθεὶς τοῦ παιδίου τῇ παραινέσι ἤιε ἐς ἕτερον οἴκημα, καὶ ὁ Ἀρισταγόρης ἀπαλλάσσετο τὸ παράπαν ἐκ τῆς Σπάρτης, οὐδέ οἱ ἐξεγένετο ἐπὶ πλέον ἔτι σημῆναι περὶ τῆς ἀνόδου τῆς παρὰ βασιλέα.
5.63 ὡς ὦν δὴ οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι λέγουσι, οὗτοι οἱ ἄνδρες ἐν Δελφοῖσι κατήμενοι ἀνέπειθον τὴν Πυθίην χρήμασι, ὅκως ἔλθοιεν Σπαρτιητέων ἄνδρες εἴτε ἰδίῳ στόλῳ εἴτε δημοσίῳ χρησόμενοι, προφέρειν σφι τὰς Ἀθήνας ἐλευθεροῦν. Λακεδαιμόνιοι δέ, ὥς σφι αἰεὶ τὠυτὸ πρόφαντον ἐγίνετο, πέμπουσι Ἀγχιμόλιον τὸν Ἀστέρος, ἐόντα τῶν ἀστῶν ἄνδρα δόκιμον, σὺν στρατῷ ἐξελῶντα Πεισιστρατίδας ἐξ Ἀθηνέων ὅμως καὶ ξεινίους σφι ἐόντας τὰ μάλιστα· τὰ γὰρ τοῦ θεοῦ πρεσβύτερα ἐποιεῦντο ἢ τὰ τῶν ἀνδρῶν· πέμπουσι δὲ τούτους κατὰ θάλασσαν πλοίοισι. ὃ μὲν δὴ προσσχὼν ἐς Φάληρον τὴν στρατιὴν ἀπέβησε, οἱ δὲ Πεισιστρατίδαι προπυνθανόμενοι ταῦτα ἐπεκαλέοντο ἐκ Θεσσαλίης ἐπικουρίην· ἐπεποίητο γάρ σφι συμμαχίη πρὸς αὐτούς. Θεσσαλοὶ δέ σφι δεομένοισι ἀπέπεμψαν κοινῇ γνώμῃ χρεώμενοι χιλίην τε ἵππον καὶ τὸν βασιλέα τὸν σφέτερον Κινέην ἄνδρα Κονιαῖον· τοὺς ἐπείτε ἔσχον συμμάχους οἱ Πεισιστρατίδαι, ἐμηχανῶντο τοιάδε· κείραντες τῶν Φαληρέων τὸ πεδίον καὶ ἱππάσιμον ποιήσαντες τοῦτον τὸν χῶρον ἐπῆκαν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ τὴν ἵππον· ἐμπεσοῦσα δὲ διέφθειρε ἄλλους τε πολλοὺς τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸν Ἀγχιμόλιον· τοὺς δὲ περιγενομένους αὐτῶν ἐς τὰς νέας κατεῖρξαν. ὁ μὲν δὴ πρῶτος στόλος ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος οὕτω ἀπήλλαξε, καὶ Ἀγχιμολίου εἰσὶ ταφαὶ τῆς Ἀττικῆς Ἀλωπεκῆσι, ἀγχοῦ τοῦ Ἡρακλείου τοῦ ἐν Κυνοσάργεϊ.
5.70 ἐν τῷ μέρεϊ δὲ ἑσσούμενος ὁ Ἰσαγόρης ἀντιτεχνᾶται τάδε· ἐπικαλέεται Κλεομένεα τὸν Λακεδαιμόνιον γενόμενον ἑωυτῷ ξεῖνον ἀπὸ τῆς Πεισιστρατιδέων πολιορκίης· τὸν δὲ Κλεομένεα εἶχε αἰτίη φοιτᾶν παρὰ τοῦ Ἰσαγόρεω τὴν γυναῖκα. τὰ μὲν δὴ πρῶτα πέμπων ὁ Κλεομένης ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας κήρυκα ἐξέβαλλε Κλεισθένεα καὶ μετʼ αὐτοῦ ἄλλους πολλοὺς Ἀθηναίων, τοὺς ἐναγέας ἐπιλέγων· ταῦτα δὲ πέμπων ἔλεγε ἐκ διδαχῆς τοῦ Ἰσαγόρεω. οἱ μὲν γὰρ Ἀλκμεωνίδαι καὶ οἱ συστασιῶται αὐτῶν εἶχον αἰτίην τοῦ φόνου τούτου, αὐτὸς δὲ οὐ μετεῖχε οὐδʼ οἱ φίλοι αὐτοῦ. 5.71 οἱ δʼ ἐναγέες Ἀθηναίων ὧδε ὠνομάσθησαν. ἦν Κύλων τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἀνὴρ Ὀλυμπιονίκης· οὗτος ἐπὶ τυραννίδι ἐκόμησε, προσποιησάμενος δὲ ἑταιρηίην τῶν ἡλικιωτέων καταλαβεῖν τὴν ἀκρόπολιν ἐπειρήθη, οὐ δυνάμενος δὲ ἐπικρατῆσαι ἱκέτης ἵζετο πρὸς τὸ ἄγαλμα. τούτους ἀνιστᾶσι μὲν οἱ πρυτάνιες τῶν ναυκράρων, οἵ περ ἔνεμον τότε τὰς Ἀθήνας, ὑπεγγύους πλὴν θανάτου· φονεῦσαι δὲ αὐτοὺς αἰτίη ἔχει Ἀλκμεωνίδας. ταῦτα πρὸ τῆς Πεισιστράτου ἡλικίης ἐγένετο. 5.72 Κλεομένης δὲ ὡς πέμπων ἐξέβαλλε Κλεισθένεα καὶ τοὺς ἐναγέας, Κλεισθένης μὲν αὐτὸς ὑπεξέσχε, μετὰ δὲ οὐδὲν ἧσσον παρῆν ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας ὁ Κλεομένης οὐ σὺν μεγάλῃ χειρί, ἀπικόμενος δὲ ἀγηλατέει ἑπτακόσια ἐπίστια Ἀθηναίων, τά οἱ ὑπέθετο ὁ Ἰσαγόρης. ταῦτα δὲ ποιήσας δεύτερα τὴν βουλὴν καταλύειν ἐπειρᾶτο, τριηκοσίοισι δὲ τοῖσι Ἰσαγόρεω στασιώτῃσι τὰς ἀρχὰς ἐνεχείριζε. ἀντισταθείσης δὲ τῆς βουλῆς καὶ οὐ βουλομένης πείθεσθαι, ὅ τε Κλεομένης καὶ ὁ Ἰσαγόρης καὶ οἱ στασιῶται αὐτοῦ καταλαμβάνουσι τὴν ἀκρόπολιν. Ἀθηναίων δὲ οἱ λοιποὶ τὰ αὐτὰ φρονήσαντες ἐπολιόρκεον αὐτοὺς ἡμέρας δύο· τῇ δὲ τρίτῃ ὑπόσπονδοι ἐξέρχονται ἐκ τῆς χώρης ὅσοι ἦσαν αὐτῶν Λακεδαιμόνιοι. ἐπετελέετο δὲ τῷ Κλεομένεϊ ἡ φήμη. ὡς γὰρ ἀνέβη ἐς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν μέλλων δὴ αὐτὴν κατασχήσειν, ἤιε ἐς τὸ ἄδυτον τῆς θεοῦ ὡς προσερέων· ἡ δὲ ἱρείη ἐξαναστᾶσα ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου, πρὶν ἢ τὰς θύρας αὐτὸν ἀμεῖψαι, εἶπε “ὦ ξεῖνε Λακεδαιμόνιε, πάλιν χώρεε μηδὲ ἔσιθι ἐς τὸ ἱρόν· οὐ γὰρ θεμιτὸν Δωριεῦσι παριέναι ἐνθαῦτα.” ὁ δὲ εἶπε “ὦ γύναι, ἀλλʼ οὐ Δωριεύς εἰμι ἀλλʼ Ἀχαιός.” ὃ μὲν δὴ τῇ κλεηδόνι οὐδὲν χρεώμενος ἐπεχείρησέ τε καὶ τότε πάλιν ἐξέπιπτε μετὰ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων· τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους Ἀθηναῖοι κατέδησαν τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ, ἐν δὲ αὐτοῖσι καὶ Τιμησίθεον τὸν Δελφόν, τοῦ ἔργα χειρῶν τε καὶ λήματος ἔχοιμʼ ἂν μέγιστα καταλέξαι.' 5.74 Κλεομένης δὲ ἐπιστάμενος περιυβρίσθαι ἔπεσι καὶ ἔργοισι ὑπʼ Ἀθηναίων συνέλεγε ἐκ πάσης Πελοποννήσου στρατόν, οὐ φράζων ἐς τὸ συλλέγει, τίσασθαι τε ἐθέλων τὸν δῆμον τὸν Ἀθηναίων καὶ Ἰσαγόρην βουλόμενος τύραννον καταστῆσαι· συνεξῆλθε γάρ οἱ οὗτος ἐκ τῆς ἀκροπόλιος. Κλεομένης τε δὴ στόλῳ μεγάλῳ ἐσέβαλε ἐς Ἐλευσῖνα, καὶ οἱ Βοιωτοὶ ἀπὸ συνθήματος Οἰνόην αἱρέουσι καὶ Ὑσιὰς δήμους τοὺς ἐσχάτους τῆς Ἀττικῆς, Χαλκιδέες τε ἐπὶ τὰ ἕτερα ἐσίνοντο ἐπιόντες χώρους τῆς Ἀττικῆς. Ἀθηναῖοι δέ, καίπερ ἀμφιβολίῃ ἐχόμενοι, Βοιωτῶν μὲν καὶ Χαλκιδέων ἐς ὕστερον ἔμελλον μνήμην ποιήσεσθαι, Πελοποννησίοισι δὲ ἐοῦσι ἐν Ἐλευσῖνι ἀντία ἔθεντο τὰ ὅπλα. 5.75 μελλόντων δὲ συνάψειν τὰ στρατόπεδα ἐς μάχην, Κορίνθιοι μὲν πρῶτοι σφίσι αὐτοῖσι δόντες λόγον ὡς οὐ ποιέοιεν δίκαια μετεβάλλοντό τε καὶ ἀπαλλάσσοντο, μετὰ δὲ Δημάρητος ὁ Ἀρίστωνος, ἐὼν καὶ οὗτος βασιλεὺς Σπαρτιητέων καὶ συνεξαγαγών τε τὴν στρατιὴν ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος καὶ οὐκ ἐὼν διάφορος ἐν τῷ πρόσθε χρόνῳ Κλεομένεϊ. ἀπὸ δὲ ταύτης τῆς διχοστασίης ἐτέθη νόμος ἐν Σπάρτῃ μὴ ἐξεῖναι ἕπεσθαι ἀμφοτέρους τοὺς βασιλέας ἐξιούσης στρατιῆς· τέως γὰρ ἀμφότεροι εἵποντο· παραλυομένου δὲ τούτων τοῦ ἑτέρου καταλείπεσθαι καὶ τῶν Τυνδαριδέων τὸν ἕτερον· πρὸ τοῦ γὰρ δὴ καὶ οὗτοι ἀμφότεροι ἐπίκλητοί σφι ἐόντες εἵποντο. τότε δὴ ἐν τῇ Ἐλευσῖνι ὁρῶντες οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν συμμάχων τούς τε βασιλέας τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων οὐκ ὁμολογέοντας καὶ Κορινθίους ἐκλιπόντας τὴν τάξιν, οἴχοντο καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀπαλλασσόμενοι, 5.76 τέταρτον δὴ τοῦτο ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἀπικόμενοι Δωριέες, δίς τε ἐπὶ πολέμῳ ἐσβαλόντες καὶ δὶς ἐπʼ ἀγαθῷ τοῦ πλήθεος τοῦ Ἀθηναίων, πρῶτον μὲν ὅτε καὶ Μέγαρα κατοίκισαν· οὗτος ὁ στόλος ἐπὶ Κόδρου βασιλεύοντος Ἀθηναίων ὀρθῶς ἂν καλέοιτο· δεύτερον δὲ καὶ τρίτον ὅτε ἐπὶ Πεισιστρατιδέων ἐξέλασιν ὁρμηθέντες ἐκ Σπάρτης ἀπίκοντο, τέταρτον δὲ τότε ὅτε ἐς Ἐλευσῖνα Κλεομένης ἄγων Πελοποννησίους ἐσέβαλε. οὕτω τέταρτον τότε Δωριέες ἐσέβαλον ἐς Ἀθήνας. 5.77 διαλυθέντος ὦν τοῦ στόλου τούτου ἀκλεῶς, ἐνθαῦτα Ἀθηναῖοι τίνυσθαι βουλόμενοι πρῶτα στρατηίην ποιεῦνται ἐπὶ Χαλκιδέας. Βοιωτοὶ δὲ τοῖσι Χαλκιδεῦσι βοηθέουσι ἐπὶ τὸν Εὔριπον. Ἀθηναίοισι δὲ ἰδοῦσι τοὺς Βοιωτοὺς ἔδοξε πρότερον τοῖσι Βοιωτοῖσι ἢ τοῖσι Χαλκιδεῦσι ἐπιχειρέειν. συμβάλλουσί τε δὴ τοῖσι Βοιωτοῖσι οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ πολλῷ ἐκράτησαν, κάρτα δὲ πολλοὺς φονεύσαντες ἑπτακοσίους αὐτῶν ἐζώγρησαν. τῆς δὲ αὐτῆς ταύτης ἡμέρης οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι διαβάντες ἐς τὴν Εὔβοιαν συμβάλλουσι καὶ τοῖσι Χαλκιδεῦσι, νικήσαντες δὲ καὶ τούτους τετρακισχιλίους κληρούχους ἐπὶ τῶν ἱπποβοτέων τῇ χώρῃ λείπουσι. οἱ δὲ ἱπποβόται ἐκαλέοντο οἱ παχέες τῶν Χαλκιδέων. ὅσους δὲ καὶ τούτων ἐζώγρησαν, ἅμα τοῖσι Βοιωτῶν ἐζωγρημένοισι εἶχον ἐν φυλακῇ ἐς πέδας δήσαντες· χρόνῳ δὲ ἔλυσαν σφέας δίμνεως ἀποτιμησάμενοι. τὰς δὲ πέδας αὐτῶν, ἐν τῇσι ἐδεδέατο, ἀνεκρέμασαν ἐς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν· αἵ περ ἔτι καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἦσαν περιεοῦσαι, κρεμάμεναι ἐκ τειχέων περιπεφλευσμένων πυρὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ Μήδου, ἀντίον δὲ τοῦ μεγάρου τοῦ πρὸς ἑσπέρην τετραμμένου. καὶ τῶν λύτρων τὴν δεκάτην ἀνέθηκαν ποιησάμενοι τέθριππον χάλκεον· τὸ δὲ ἀριστερῆς χειρὸς ἕστηκε πρῶτον ἐσιόντι ἐς τὰ προπύλαια τὰ ἐν τῇ ἀκροπόλι· ἐπιγέγραπται δέ οἱ τάδε. ἔθνεα Βοιωτῶν καὶ Χαλκιδέων δαμάσαντες παῖδες Ἀθηναίων ἔργμασιν ἐν πολέμου, δεσμῷ ἐν ἀχλυόεντι σιδηρέῳ ἔσβεσαν ὕβριν· τῶν ἵππους δεκάτην Παλλάδι τάσδʼ ἔθεσαν. 5.78 Ἀθηναῖοι μέν νυν ηὔξηντο. δηλοῖ δὲ οὐ κατʼ ἓν μοῦνον ἀλλὰ πανταχῇ ἡ ἰσηγορίη ὡς ἔστι χρῆμα σπουδαῖον, εἰ καὶ Ἀθηναῖοι τυραννευόμενοι μὲν οὐδαμῶν τῶν σφέας περιοικεόντων ἦσαν τὰ πολέμια ἀμείνους, ἀπαλλαχθέντες δὲ τυράννων μακρῷ πρῶτοι ἐγένοντο. δηλοῖ ὦν ταῦτα ὅτι κατεχόμενοι μὲν ἐθελοκάκεον ὡς δεσπότῃ ἐργαζόμενοι, ἐλευθερωθέντων δὲ αὐτὸς ἕκαστος ἑωυτῷ προεθυμέετο κατεργάζεσθαι.
5.90 ἐς τιμωρίην δὲ παρασκευαζομένοισι αὐτοῖσι ἐκ Λακεδαιμονίων πρῆγμα ἐγειρόμενον ἐμπόδιον ἐγένετο. πυθόμενοι γὰρ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τὰ ἐκ τῶν Ἀλκμεωνιδέων ἐς τὴν Πυθίην μεμηχανημένα καὶ τὰ ἐκ τῆς Πυθίης ἐπὶ σφέας τε καὶ τοὺς Πεισιστρατίδας συμφορὴν ἐποιεῦντο διπλῆν, ὅτι τε ἄνδρας ξείνους σφίσι ἐόντας ἐξεληλάκεσαν ἐκ τῆς ἐκείνων, καὶ ὅτι ταῦτα ποιήσασι χάρις οὐδεμία ἐφαίνετο πρὸς Ἀθηναίων. ἔτι τε πρὸς τούτοισι ἐνῆγον σφέας οἱ χρησμοὶ λέγοντες πολλά τε καὶ ἀνάρσια ἔσεσθαι αὐτοῖσι ἐξ Ἀθηναίων, τῶν πρότερον μὲν ἦσαν ἀδαέες, τότε δὲ Κλεομένεος κομίσαντος ἐς Σπάρτην ἐξέμαθον. ἐκτήσατο δὲ ὁ Κλεομένης ἐκ τῆς Ἀθηναίων ἀκροπόλιος τοὺς χρησμούς, τοὺς ἔκτηντο μὲν πρότερον οἱ Πεισιστρατίδαι, ἐξελαυνόμενοι δὲ ἔλιπον ἐν τῷ ἱρῷ, καταλειφθέντας δὲ ὁ Κλεομένης ἀνέλαβε. 5.91 τότε δὲ ὡς ἀνέλαβον οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τοὺς χρησμοὺς καὶ τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ὥρων αὐξομένους καὶ οὐδαμῶς ἑτοίμους ἐόντας πείθεσθαι σφίσι, νόῳ λαβόντες ὡς ἐλεύθερον μὲν ἐὸν τὸ γένος τὸ Ἀττικὸν ἰσόρροπον ἂν τῷ ἑωυτῶν γίνοιτο, κατεχόμενον δὲ ὑπὸ τυραννίδος ἀσθενὲς καὶ πειθαρχέεσθαι ἕτοιμον· μαθόντες δὲ τούτων ἕκαστα μετεπέμποντο Ἱππίην τὸν Πεισιστράτου ἀπὸ Σιγείου τοῦ ἐν Ἑλλησπόντῳ ἐς ὃ καταφεύγουσι οἱ Πεισιστρατίδαι. ἐπείτε δέ σφι Ἱππίης καλεόμενος ἧκε, μεταπεμψάμενοι καὶ τῶν ἄλλων συμμάχων ἀγγέλους ἔλεγόν σφι Σπαρτιῆται τάδε. “ἄνδρες σύμμαχοι, συγγινώσκομεν αὐτοῖσι ἡμῖν οὐ ποιήσασι ὀρθῶς· ἐπαερθέντες γὰρ κιβδήλοισι μαντηίοισι ἄνδρας ξείνους ἐόντας ἡμῖν τὰ μάλιστα καὶ ἀναδεκομένους ὑποχειρίας παρέξειν τὰς Ἀθήνας, τούτους ἐκ τῆς πατρίδος ἐξηλάσαμεν, καὶ ἔπειτα ποιήσαντες ταῦτα δήμῳ ἀχαρίστῳ παρεδώκαμεν τὴν πόλιν· ὃς ἐπείτε διʼ ἡμέας ἐλευθερωθεὶς ἀνέκυψε, ἡμέας μὲν καὶ τὸν βασιλέα ἡμέων περιυβρίσας ἐξέβαλε, δόξαν δὲ φύσας αὐξάνεται, ὥστε ἐκμεμαθήκασι μάλιστα μὲν οἱ περίοικοι αὐτῶν Βοιωτοὶ καὶ Χαλκιδέες, τάχα δέ τις καὶ ἄλλος ἐκμαθήσεται ἁμαρτών. ἐπείτε δὲ ἐκεῖνα ποιήσαντες ἡμάρτομεν, νῦν πειρησόμεθα σφέας ἅμα ὑμῖν ἀπικόμενοι τίσασθαι· αὐτοῦ γὰρ τούτου εἵνεκεν τόνδε τε Ἱππίην μετεπεμψάμεθα καὶ ὑμέας ἀπὸ τῶν πολίων, ἵνα κοινῷ τε λόγῳ καὶ κοινῷ στόλῳ ἐσαγαγόντες αὐτὸν ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας ἀποδῶμεν τὰ καὶ ἀπειλόμεθα.” 5.92 Ἠετίωνι δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα ὁ παῖς ηὐξάνετο, καί οἱ διαφυγόντι τοῦτον τὸν κίνδυνον ἀπὸ τῆς κυψέλης ἐπωνυμίην Κύψελος οὔνομα ἐτέθη. ἀνδρωθέντι δὲ καὶ μαντευομένῳ Κυψέλῳ ἐγένετο ἀμφιδέξιον χρηστήριον ἐν Δελφοῖσι, τῷ πίσυνος γενόμενος ἐπεχείρησέ τε καὶ ἔσχε Κόρινθον. ὁ δὲ χρησμὸς ὅδε ἦν. ὄλβιος οὗτος ἀνὴρ ὃς ἐμὸν δόμον ἐσκαταβαίνει, Κύψελος Ἠετίδης, βασιλεὺς κλειτοῖο Κορίνθου αὐτὸς καὶ παῖδες, παίδων γε μὲν οὐκέτι παῖδες. τὸ μὲν δὴ χρηστήριον τοῦτο ἦν, τυραννεύσας δὲ ὁ Κύψελος τοιοῦτος δή τις ἀνὴρ ἐγένετο· πολλοὺς μὲν Κορινθίων ἐδίωξε, πολλοὺς δὲ χρημάτων ἀπεστέρησε, πολλῷ δέ τι πλείστους τῆς ψυχῆς. 5.92 Κορινθίοισι γὰρ ἦν πόλιος κατάστασις τοιήδε· ἦν ὀλιγαρχίη, καὶ οὗτοι Βακχιάδαι καλεόμενοι ἔνεμον τὴν πόλιν, ἐδίδοσαν δὲ καὶ ἤγοντο ἐξ ἀλλήλων. Ἀμφίονι δὲ ἐόντι τούτων τῶν ἀνδρῶν γίνεται θυγάτηρ χωλή· οὔνομα δέ οἱ ἦν Λάβδα. ταύτην Βακχιαδέων γὰρ οὐδεὶς ἤθελε γῆμαι, ἴσχει Ἠετίων ὁ Ἐχεκράτεος, δήμου μὲν ἐὼν ἐκ Πέτρης, ἀτὰρ τὰ ἀνέκαθεν Λαπίθης τε καὶ Καινείδης. ἐκ δέ οἱ ταύτης τῆς γυναικὸς οὐδʼ ἐξ ἄλλης παῖδες ἐγίνοντο. ἐστάλη ὦν ἐς Δελφοὺς περὶ γόνου. ἐσιόντα δὲ αὐτὸν ἰθέως ἡ Πυθίη προσαγορεύει τοῖσιδε τοῖσι ἔπεσι. Ἠετίων, οὔτις σε τίει πολύτιτον ἐόντα. Λάβδα κύει, τέξει δʼ ὀλοοίτροχον· ἐν δὲ πεσεῖται ἀνδράσι μουνάρχοισι, δικαιώσει δὲ Κόρινθον. ταῦτα χρησθέντα τῷ Ἠετίωνι ἐξαγγέλλεταί κως τοῖσι Βακχιάδῃσι, τοῖσι τὸ μὲν πρότερον γενόμενον χρηστήριον ἐς Κόρινθον ἦν ἄσημον, φέρον τε ἐς τὠυτὸ καὶ τὸ τοῦ Ἠετίωνος καὶ λέγον ὧδε. αἰετὸς ἐν πέτρῃσι κύει, τέξει δὲ λέοντα καρτερὸν ὠμηστήν· πολλῶν δʼ ὑπὸ γούνατα λύσει. ταῦτά νυν εὖ φράζεσθε, Κορίνθιοι, οἳ περὶ καλήν Πειρήνην οἰκεῖτε καὶ ὀφρυόεντα Κόρινθον. 5.92 Περίανδρος δὲ συνιεὶς τὸ ποιηθὲν καὶ νόῳ ἴσχων ὥς οἱ ὑπετίθετο Θρασύβουλος τοὺς ὑπειρόχους τῶν ἀστῶν φονεύειν, ἐνθαῦτα δὴ πᾶσαν κακότητα ἐξέφαινε ἐς τοὺς πολιήτας. ὅσα γὰρ Κύψελος ἀπέλιπε κτείνων τε καὶ διώκων, Περίανδρος σφέα ἀπετέλεσε, μιῇ δὲ ἡμέρῃ ἀπέδυσε πάσας τὰς Κορινθίων γυναῖκας διὰ τὴν ἑωυτοῦ γυναῖκα Μέλισσαν. πέμψαντι γάρ οἱ ἐς Θεσπρωτοὺς ἐπʼ Ἀχέροντα ποταμὸν ἀγγέλους ἐπὶ τὸ νεκυομαντήιον παρακαταθήκης πέρι ξεινικῆς οὔτε σημανέειν ἔφη ἡ Μέλισσα ἐπιφανεῖσα οὔτε κατερέειν ἐν τῷ κέεται χώρῳ ἡ παρακαταθήκη· ῥιγοῦν τε γὰρ καὶ εἶναι γυμνή· τῶν γάρ οἱ συγκατέθαψε ἱματίων ὄφελος εἶναι οὐδὲν οὐ κατακαυθέντων· μαρτύριον δέ οἱ εἶναι ὡς ἀληθέα ταῦτα λέγει, ὅτι ἐπὶ ψυχρὸν τὸν ἰπνὸν Περίανδρος τοὺς ἄρτους ἐπέβαλε. ταῦτα δὲ ὡς ὀπίσω ἀπηγγέλθη τῷ Περιάνδρῳ, πιστὸν γάρ οἱ ἦν τὸ συμβόλαιον ὃς νεκρῷ ἐούσῃ Μελίσσῃ ἐμίγη, ἰθέως δὴ μετὰ τὴν ἀγγελίην κήρυγμα ἐποιήσατο ἐς τὸ Ἥραιον ἐξιέναι πάσας τὰς Κορινθίων γυναῖκας. αἳ μὲν δὴ ὡς ἐς ὁρτὴν ἤισαν κόσμῳ τῷ καλλίστῳ χρεώμεναι, ὃ δʼ ὑποστήσας τοὺς δορυφόρους ἀπέδυσε σφέας πάσας ὁμοίως, τάς τε ἐλευθέρας καὶ τὰς ἀμφιπόλους, συμφορήσας δὲ ἐς ὄρυγμα Μελίσσῃ ἐπευχόμενος κατέκαιε. ταῦτα δέ οἱ ποιήσαντι καὶ τὸ δεύτερον πέμψαντι ἔφρασε τὸ εἴδωλον τὸ Μελίσσης ἐς τὸν κατέθηκε χῶρον τοῦ ξείνου τὴν παρακαταθήκην. τοιοῦτο μὲν ὑμῖν ἐστὶ ἡ τυραννίς, ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, καὶ τοιούτων ἔργων. ἡμέας δὲ τοὺς Κορινθίους τότε αὐτίκα θῶμα μέγα εἶχε ὅτε ὑμέας εἴδομεν μεταπεμπομένους Ἱππίην, νῦν τε δὴ καὶ μεζόνως θωμάζομεν λέγοντας ταῦτα, ἐπιμαρτυρόμεθά τε ἐπικαλεόμενοι ὑμῖν θεοὺς τοὺς Ἑλληνίους μὴ κατιστάναι τυραννίδας ἐς τὰς πόλις. οὔκων παύσεσθε ἀλλὰ πειρήσεσθε παρὰ τὸ δίκαιον κατάγοντες Ἱππίην· ἴστε ὑμῖν Κορινθίους γε οὐ συναινέοντας.” 5.92 ἄρξαντος δὲ τούτου ἐπὶ τριήκοντα ἔτεα καὶ διαπλέξαντος τὸν βίον εὖ, διάδοχός οἱ τῆς τυραννίδος ὁ παῖς Περίανδρος γίνεται. ὁ τοίνυν Περίανδρος κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν ἦν ἠπιώτερος τοῦ πατρός, ἐπείτε δὲ ὡμίλησε διʼ ἀγγέλων Θρασυβούλῳ τῷ Μιλήτου τυράννῳ, πολλῷ ἔτι ἐγένετο Κυψέλου μιαιφονώτερος. πέμψας γὰρ παρὰ Θρασύβουλον κήρυκα ἐπυνθάνετο ὅντινα ἂν τρόπον ἀσφαλέστατον καταστησάμενος τῶν πρηγμάτων κάλλιστα τὴν πόλιν ἐπιτροπεύοι. Θρασύβουλος δὲ τὸν ἐλθόντα παρὰ τοῦ Περιάνδρου ἐξῆγε ἔξω τοῦ ἄστεος, ἐσβὰς δὲ ἐς ἄρουραν ἐσπαρμένην ἅμα τε διεξήιε τὸ λήιον ἐπειρωτῶν τε καὶ ἀναποδίζων τὸν κήρυκα κατὰ τὴν ἀπὸ Κορίνθου ἄπιξιν, καὶ ἐκόλουε αἰεὶ ὅκως τινὰ ἴδοι τῶν ἀσταχύων ὑπερέχοντα, κολούων δὲ ἔρριπτε, ἐς ὃ τοῦ ληίου τὸ κάλλιστόν τε καὶ βαθύτατον διέφθειρε τρόπῳ τοιούτω· διεξελθὼν δὲ τὸ χωρίον καὶ ὑποθέμενος ἔπος οὐδὲν ἀποπέμπει τὸν κήρυκα. νοστήσαντος δὲ τοῦ κήρυκος ἐς τὴν Κόρινθον ἦν πρόθυμος πυνθάνεσθαι τὴν ὑποθήκην ὁ Περίανδρος· ὁ δὲ οὐδέν οἱ ἔφη Θρασύβουλον ὑποθέσθαι, θωμάζειν τε αὐτοῦ παρʼ οἷόν μιν ἄνδρα ἀποπέμψειε, ὡς παραπλῆγά τε καὶ τῶν ἑωυτοῦ σινάμωρον, ἀπηγεόμενος τά περ πρὸς Θρασυβούλου ὀπώπεε. 5.92 ἔδει δὲ ἐκ τοῦ Ἠετίωνος γόνου Κορίνθῳ κακὰ ἀναβλαστεῖν. ἡ Λάβδα γὰρ πάντα ταῦτα ἤκουε ἑστεῶσα πρὸς αὐτῇσι τῇσι θύρῃσι· δείσασα δὲ μή σφι μεταδόξῃ καὶ τὸ δεύτερον λαβόντες τὸ παιδίον ἀποκτείνωσι, φέρουσα κατακρύπτει ἐς τὸ ἀφραστότατόν οἱ ἐφαίνετο εἶναι, ἐς κυψέλην, ἐπισταμένη ὡς εἰ ὑποστρέψαντες ἐς ζήτησιν ἀπικνεοίατο πάντα ἐρευνήσειν μέλλοιεν· τὰ δὴ καὶ ἐγίνετο. ἐλθοῦσι δὲ καὶ διζημένοισι αὐτοῖσι ὡς οὐκ ἐφαίνετο, ἐδόκεε ἀπαλλάσσεσθαι καὶ λέγειν πρὸς τοὺς ἀποπέμψαντας ὡς πάντα ποιήσειαν τὰ ἐκεῖνοι ἐνετείλαντο. οἳ μὲν δὴ ἀπελθόντες ἔλεγον ταῦτα. 5.92 οἳ μὲν ταῦτα ἔλεγον, τῶν δὲ συμμάχων τὸ πλῆθος οὐκ ἐνεδέκετο τοὺς λόγους. οἱ μέν νυν ἄλλοι ἡσυχίην ἦγον, Κορίνθιος δὲ Σωκλέης ἔλεξε τάδε. 5.92 τοῦτο μὲν δὴ τοῖσι Βακχιάδῃσι πρότερον γενόμενον ἦν ἀτέκμαρτον· τότε δὲ τὸ Ἠετίωνι γενόμενον ὡς ἐπύθοντο, αὐτίκα καὶ τὸ πρότερον συνῆκαν ἐὸν συνῳδὸν τῷ Ἠετίωνος. συνέντες δὲ καὶ τοῦτο εἶχον ἐν ἡσυχίῃ, ἐθέλοντες τὸν μέλλοντα Ἠετίωνι γίνεσθαι γόνον διαφθεῖραι. ὡς δʼ ἔτεκε ἡ γυνὴ τάχιστα, πέμπουσι σφέων αὐτῶν δέκα ἐς τὸν δῆμον ἐν τῷ κατοίκητο ὁ Ἠετίων ἀποκτενέοντας τὸ παιδίον. ἀπικόμενοι δὲ οὗτοι ἐς τὴν Πέτρην καὶ παρελθόντες ἐς τὴν αὐλὴν τὴν Ἠετίωνος αἴτεον τὸ παιδίον· ἡ δὲ Λάβδα εἰδυῖά τε οὐδὲν τῶν εἵνεκα ἐκεῖνοι ἀπικοίατο, καὶ δοκέουσα σφέας φιλοφροσύνης τοῦ πατρὸς εἵνεκα αἰτέειν, φέρουσα ἐνεχείρισε αὐτῶν ἑνί. τοῖσι δὲ ἄρα ἐβεβούλευτο κατʼ ὁδὸν τὸν πρῶτον αὐτῶν λαβόντα τὸ παιδίον προσουδίσαι. ἐπεὶ ὦν ἔδωκε φέρουσα ἡ Λάβδα, τὸν λαβόντα τῶν ἀνδρῶν θείῃ τύχῃ προσεγέλασε τὸ παιδίον, καὶ τὸν φρασθέντα τοῦτο οἶκτός τις ἴσχει ἀποκτεῖναι, κατοικτείρας δὲ παραδιδοῖ τῷ δευτέρῳ, ὁ δὲ τῷ τρίτῳ. οὕτω δὴ διεξῆλθε διὰ πάντων τῶν δέκα παραδιδόμενον, οὐδενὸς βουλομένου διεργάσασθαι. ἀποδόντες ὦν ὀπίσω τῇ τεκούσῃ τὸ παιδίον καὶ ἐξελθόντες ἔξω, ἑστεῶτες ἐπὶ τῶν θυρέων ἀλλήλων ἅπτοντο καταιτιώμενοι, καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ πρώτου λαβόντος, ὅτι οὐκ ἐποίησε κατὰ τὰ δεδογμένα, ἐς ὃ δή σφι χρόνου ἐγγινομένου ἔδοξε αὖτις παρελθόντας πάντας τοῦ φόνου μετίσχειν. 5.92 ‘ἦ δὴ ὅ τε οὐρανὸς ἔνερθε ἔσται τῆς γῆς καὶ ἡ γῆ μετέωρος ὑπὲρ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ἄνθρωποι νομὸν ἐν θαλάσσῃ ἕξουσι καὶ ἰχθύες τὸν πρότερον ἄνθρωποι, ὅτε γε ὑμεῖς ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἰσοκρατίας καταλύοντες τυραννίδας ἐς τὰς πόλις κατάγειν παρασκευάζεσθε, τοῦ οὔτε ἀδικώτερον ἐστὶ οὐδὲν κατʼ ἀνθρώπους οὔτε μιαιφονώτερον. εἰ γὰρ δὴ τοῦτό γε δοκέει ὑμῖν εἶναι χρηστὸν ὥστε τυραννεύεσθαι τὰς πόλις, αὐτοὶ πρῶτοι τύραννον καταστησάμενοι παρὰ σφίσι αὐτοῖσι οὕτω καὶ τοῖσι ἄλλοισι δίζησθε κατιστάναι· νῦν δὲ αὐτοὶ τυράννων ἄπειροι ἐόντες, καὶ φυλάσσοντες τοῦτο δεινότατα ἐν τῇ Σπάρτῃ μὴ γενέσθαι, παραχρᾶσθε ἐς τοὺς συμμάχους. εἰ δὲ αὐτοῦ ἔμπειροι ἔατε κατά περ ἡμεῖς, εἴχετε ἂν περὶ αὐτοῦ γνώμας ἀμείνονας συμβαλέσθαι ἤ περ νῦν. 5.93 Σωκλέης μὲν ἀπὸ Κορίνθου πρεσβεύων ἔλεξε τάδε, Ἱππίης δὲ αὐτὸν ἀμείβετο τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἐπικαλέσας θεοὺς ἐκείνῳ, ἦ μὲν Κορινθίους μάλιστα πάντων ἐπιποθήσειν Πεισιστρατίδας, ὅταν σφι ἥκωσι ἡμέραι αἱ κύριαι ἀνιᾶσθαι ὑπʼ Ἀθηναίων. Ἱππίης μὲν τούτοισι ἀμείψατο οἷα τοὺς χρησμοὺς ἀτρεκέστατα ἀνδρῶν ἐξεπιστάμενος· οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ τῶν συμμάχων τέως μὲν εἶχον ἐν ἡσυχίῃ σφέας αὐτούς, ἐπείτε δὲ Σωκλέος ἤκουσαν εἴπαντος ἐλευθέρως, ἅπας τις αὐτῶν φωνὴν ῥήξας αἱρέετο τοῦ Κορινθίου τὴν γνώμην, Λακεδαιμονίοισί τε ἐπεμαρτυρέοντο μὴ ποιέειν μηδὲν νεώτερον περὶ πόλιν Ἑλλάδα.
5.97 νομίζουσι δὲ ταῦτα καὶ διαβεβλημένοισι ἐς τοὺς Πέρσας, ἐν τούτῳ δὴ τῷ καιρῷ ὁ Μιλήσιος Ἀρισταγόρης, ὑπὸ Κλεομένεος τοῦ Λακεδαιμονίου ἐξελασθεὶς ἐκ τῆς Σπάρτης, ἀπίκετο ἐς Ἀθήνας· αὕτη γὰρ ἡ πόλις τῶν λοιπέων ἐδυνάστευε μέγιστον. ἐπελθὼν δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν δῆμον ὁ Ἀρισταγόρης ταὐτὰ ἔλεγε τὰ καὶ ἐν τῇ Σπάρτῃ περὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἀσίῃ καὶ τοῦ πολέμου τοῦ Περσικοῦ, ὡς οὔτε ἀσπίδα οὔτε δόρυ νομίζουσι εὐπετέες τε χειρωθῆναι εἴησαν. ταῦτά τε δὴ ἔλεγε καὶ πρὸς τοῖσι τάδε, ὡς οἱ Μιλήσιοι τῶν Ἀθηναίων εἰσὶ ἄποικοι, καὶ οἰκός σφεας εἴη ῥύεσθαι δυναμένους μέγα· καὶ οὐδὲν ὅ τι οὐκ ὑπίσχετο οἷα κάρτα δεόμενος, ἐς ὃ ἀνέπεισε σφέας. πολλοὺς γὰρ οἶκε εἶναι εὐπετέστερον διαβάλλειν ἢ ἕνα, εἰ Κλεομένεα μὲν τὸν Λακεδαιμόνιον μοῦνον οὐκ οἷός τε ἐγένετο διαβάλλειν, τρεῖς δὲ μυριάδας Ἀθηναίων ἐποίησε τοῦτο. Ἀθηναῖοι μὲν δὴ ἀναπεισθέντες ἐψηφίσαντο εἴκοσι νέας ἀποστεῖλαι βοηθοὺς Ἴωσι, στρατηγὸν ἀποδέξαντες αὐτῶν εἶναι Μελάνθιον ἄνδρα τῶν ἀστῶν ἐόντα τὰ πάντα δόκιμον· αὗται δὲ αἱ νέες ἀρχὴ κακῶν ἐγένοντο Ἕλλησί τε καὶ βαρβάροισι.
5.105 Ὀνήσιλος μέν νυν ἐπολιόρκεε Ἀμαθοῦντα. βασιλέι δὲ Δαρείῳ ὡς ἐξαγγέλθη Σάρδις ἁλούσας ἐμπεπρῆσθαι ὑπό τε Ἀθηναίων καὶ Ἰώνων, τὸν δὲ ἡγεμόνα γενέσθαι τῆς συλλογῆς ὥστε ταῦτα συνυφανθῆναι τὸν Μιλήσιον Ἀρισταγόρην, πρῶτα μὲν λέγεται αὐτόν, ὡς ἐπύθετο ταῦτα, Ἰώνων οὐδένα λόγον ποιησάμενον, εὖ εἰδότα ὡς οὗτοί γε οὐ καταπροΐξονται ἀποστάντες, εἰρέσθαι οἵτινες εἶεν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι, μετὰ δὲ πυθόμενον αἰτῆσαι τὸ τόξον, λαβόντα δὲ καὶ ἐπιθέντα δὲ ὀιστὸν ἄνω πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀπεῖναι, καί μιν ἐς τὸν ἠέρα βάλλοντα εἰπεῖν “ὦ Ζεῦ, ἐκγενέσθαι μοι Ἀθηναίους τίσασθαι,” εἴπαντα δὲ ταῦτα προστάξαι ἑνὶ τῶν θεραπόντων δείπνου προκειμένου αὐτῷ ἐς τρὶς ἑκάστοτε εἰπεῖν “δέσποτα, μέμνεο τῶν Ἀθηναίων.”
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. 6.65 ὁρμηθεὶς ὦν ἀποτίνυσθαι ὁ Κλεομένης συντίθεται Λευτυχίδῃ τῷ Μενάρεος τοῦ Ἄγιος, ἐόντι οἰκίης τῆς αὐτῆς Δημαρήτῳ, ἐπʼ ᾧ τε, ἢν αὐτὸν καταστήσῃ βασιλέα ἀντὶ Δημαρήτου, ἕψεταί οἱ ἐπʼ Αἰγινήτας. ὁ δὲ Λευτυχίδης ἦν ἐχθρὸς τῷ Δημαρήτῳ μάλιστα γεγονὼς διὰ πρῆγμα τοιόνδε· ἁρμοσαμένου Λευτυχίδεω Πέρκαλον τὴν Χίλωνος τοῦ Δημαρμένου θυγατέρα, ὁ Δημάρητος ἐπιβουλεύσας ἀποστερέει Λευτυχίδεα τοῦ γάμου, φθάσας αὐτὸς τὴν Πέρκαλον ἁρπάσας καὶ σχὼν γυναῖκα. κατὰ τοῦτο μὲν τῷ Λευτυχίδῃ ἡ ἔχθρη ἡ ἐς τὸν Δημάρητον ἐγεγόνεε, τότε δὲ ἐκ τῆς Κλεομένεος προθυμίης ὁ Λευτυχίδης κατόμνυται Δημαρήτῳ, φὰς αὐτὸν οὐκ ἱκνεομένως βασιλεύειν Σπαρτιητέων οὐκ ἐόντα παῖδα Ἀρίστωνος· μετὰ δὲ τὴν κατωμοσίην ἐδίωκε, ἀνασώζων ἐκεῖνο τὸ ἔπος τὸ εἶπε Ἀρίστων τότε ὅτε οἱ ἐξήγγειλε ὁ οἰκέτης παῖδα γεγονέναι, ὁ δὲ συμβαλόμενος τοὺς μῆνας ἀπώμοσε φὰς οὐκ ἑωυτοῦ μιν εἶναι. τούτου δὴ ἐπιβατεύων τοῦ ῥήματος ὁ Λευτυχίδης ἀπέφαινε τὸν Δημάρητον οὔτε ἐξ Ἀρίστωνος γεγονότα οὔτε ἱκνευμένως βασιλεύοντα Σπάρτης, τοὺς ἐφόρους μάρτυρας παρεχόμενος κείνους οἳ τότε ἐτύγχανον πάρεδροί τε ἐόντες καὶ ἀκούσαντες ταῦτα Ἀρίστωνος. 6.66 τέλος δὲ ἐόντων περὶ αὐτῶν νεικέων, ἔδοξε Σπαρτιήτῃσι ἐπειρέσθαι τὸ χρηστήριον τὸ ἐν Δελφοῖσι εἰ Ἀρίστωνος εἴη παῖς ὁ Δημάρητος. ἀνοίστου δὲ γενομένου ἐκ προνοίης τῆς Κλεομένεος ἐς τὴν Πυθίην, ἐνθαῦτα προσποιέεται Κλεομένης Κόβωνα τὸν Ἀριστοφάντου, ἄνδρα ἐν Δελφοῖσι δυναστεύοντα μέγιστον, ὁ δὲ Κόβων Περίαλλαν τὴν πρόμαντιν ἀναπείθει τὰ Κλεομένης ἐβούλετο λέγεσθαι λέγειν. οὕτω δὴ ἡ Πυθίη ἐπειρωτώντων τῶν θεοπρόπων ἔκρινε μὴ Ἀρίστωνος εἶναι Δημάρητον παῖδα. ὑστέρῳ μέντοι χρόνῳ ἀνάπυστα ἐγένετο ταῦτα, καὶ Κόβων τε ἔφυγε ἐκ Δελφῶν καὶ Περίαλλα ἡ πρόμαντις ἐπαύσθη τῆς τιμῆς.
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. 6.83 Ἄργος δὲ ἀνδρῶν ἐχηρώθη οὕτω ὥστε οἱ δοῦλοι αὐτῶν ἔσχον πάντα τὰ πρήγματα ἄρχοντές τε καὶ διέποντες, ἐς ὃ ἐπήβησαν οἱ τῶν ἀπολομένων παῖδες· ἔπειτα σφέας οὗτοι ἀνακτώμενοι ὀπίσω ἐς ἑωυτοὺς τὸ Ἄργος ἐξέβαλον· ἐξωθεύμενοι δὲ οἱ δοῦλοι μάχῃ ἔσχον Τίρυνθα. τέως μὲν δή σφι ἦν ἄρθμια ἐς ἀλλήλους, ἔπειτα δὲ ἐς τοὺς δούλους ἦλθε ἀνὴρ μάντις Κλέανδρος, γένος ἐὼν Φιγαλεὺς ἀπʼ Ἀρκαδίης· οὗτος τοὺς δούλους ἀνέγνωσε ἐπιθέσθαι τοῖσι δεσπότῃσι. ἐκ τούτου δὴ πόλεμός σφι ἦν ἐπὶ χρόνον συχνόν, ἐς ὃ δὴ μόγις οἱ Ἀργεῖοι ἐπεκράτησαν. 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.
6.91 ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ὕστερον ἐγίνετο. Αἰγινητέων δὲ οἱ παχέες ἐπαναστάντος τοῦ δήμου σφι ἅμα Νικοδρόμῳ ἐπεκράτησαν, καὶ ἔπειτα σφέας χειρωσάμενοι ἐξῆγον ἀπολέοντες. ἀπὸ τούτου δὲ καὶ ἄγος σφι ἐγένετο, τὸ ἐκθύσασθαι οὐκ οἶοί τε ἐγένοντο ἐπιμηχανώμενοι, ἀλλʼ ἔφθησαν ἐκπεσόντες πρότερον ἐκ τῆς νήσου ἤ σφι ἵλεον γενέσθαι τὴν θεόν. ἑπτακοσίους γὰρ δὴ τοῦ δήμου ζωγρήσαντες ἐξῆγον ὡς ἀπολέοντες, εἷς δέ τις τούτων ἐκφυγὼν τὰ δεσμὰ καταφεύγει πρὸς πρόθυρα Δήμητρος θεσμοφόρου, ἐπιλαμβανόμενος δὲ τῶν ἐπισπαστήρων εἴχετο· οἳ δὲ ἐπείτε μιν ἀποσπάσαι οὐκ οἷοί τε ἀπέλκοντες ἐγίνοντο, ἀποκόψαντες αὐτοῦ τὰς χεῖρας ἦγον οὕτω, αἱ χεῖρες δὲ ἐκεῖναι ἐμπεφυκυῖαι ἦσαν τοῖσι ἐπισπαστῆρσι.
6.97 ἐν ᾧ δὲ οὗτοι ταῦτα ἐποίευν, οἱ Δήλιοι ἐκλιπόντες καὶ αὐτοὶ τὴν Δῆλον οἴχοντο φεύγοντες ἐς Τῆνον. τῆς δὲ στρατιῆς καταπλεούσης ὁ Δᾶτις προπλώσας οὐκ ἔα τὰς νέας πρὸς τὴν Δῆλον προσορμίζεσθαι, ἀλλὰ πέρην ἐν τῇ Ῥηναίῃ· αὐτὸς δὲ πυθόμενος ἵνα ἦσαν οἱ Δήλιοι, πέμπων κήρυκα ἠγόρευέ σφι τάδε. “ἄνδρες ἱροί, τί φεύγοντες οἴχεσθε, οὐκ ἐπιτήδεα καταγνόντες κατʼ ἐμεῦ; ἐγὼ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπὶ τοσοῦτό γε φρονέω καὶ μοι ἐκ βασιλέος ὧδε ἐπέσταλται, ἐν τῇ χώρῃ οἱ δύο θεοὶ ἐγένοντο, ταύτην μηδὲν σίνεσθαι, μήτε αὐτὴν τὴν χώρην μήτε τοὺς οἰκήτορας αὐτῆς. νῦν ὦν καὶ ἄπιτε ἐπὶ τὰ ὑμέτερα αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν νῆσον νέμεσθε.” ταῦτα μὲν ἐπεκηρυκεύσατο τοῖσι Δηλίοισι, μετὰ δὲ λιβανωτοῦ τριηκόσια τάλαντα κατανήσας ἐπὶ τοῦ βωμοῦ ἐθυμίησε. 6.98 Δᾶτις μὲν δὴ ταῦτα ποιήσας ἔπλεε ἅμα τῷ στρατῷ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἐρέτριαν πρῶτα, ἅμα ἀγόμενος καὶ Ἴωνας καὶ Αἰολέας. μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον ἐνθεῦτεν ἐξαναχθέντα Δῆλος ἐκινήθη, ὡς ἔλεγον Δήλιοι, καὶ πρῶτα καὶ ὕστατα μέχρι ἐμεῦ σεισθεῖσα. καὶ τοῦτο μέν κου τέρας ἀνθρώποισι τῶν μελλόντων ἔσεσθαι κακῶν ἔφαινε ὁ θεός. ἐπὶ γὰρ Δαρείου τοῦ Ὑστάσπεος καὶ Ξέρξεω τοῦ Δαρείου καὶ Ἀρτοξέρξεω τοῦ Ξέρξεω, τριῶν τουτέων ἐπεξῆς γενεέων, ἐγένετο πλέω κακὰ τῇ Ἑλλάδι ἢ ἐπὶ εἴκοσι ἄλλας γενεὰς τὰς πρὸ Δαρείου γενομένας, τὰ μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν Περσέων αὐτῇ γενόμενα, τὰ δὲ ἀπʼ αὐτῶν τῶν κορυφαίων περὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς πολεμεόντων. οὕτω οὐδὲν ἦν ἀεικὲς κινηθῆναι Δῆλον τὸ πρὶν ἐοῦσαν ἀκίνητον. καὶ ἐν χρησμῷ ἦν γεγραμμένον περὶ αὐτῆς ὧδε. κινήσω καὶ Δῆλον ἀκίνητόν περ ἐοῦσαν. δύναται δὲ κατὰ Ἑλλάδα γλῶσσαν ταῦτα τὰ οὐνόματα, Δαρεῖος ἐρξίης, Ξέρξης ἀρήιος, Ἀρτοξέρξης μέγας ἀρήιος. τούτους μὲν δὴ τοὺς βασιλέας ὧδε ἂν ὀρθῶς κατὰ γλῶσσαν τὴν σφετέρην Ἕλληνες καλέοιεν.
7.140 πέμψαντες γὰρ οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἐς Δελφοὺς θεοπρόπους χρηστηριάζεσθαι ἦσαν ἕτοιμοι· καί σφι ποιήσασι περὶ τὸ ἱρὸν τὰ νομιζόμενα, ὡς ἐς τὸ μέγαρον ἐσελθόντες ἵζοντο, χρᾷ ἡ Πυθίη, τῇ οὔνομα ἦν Ἀριστονίκη, τάδε. ὦ μέλεοι, τί κάθησθε; λιπὼν φεῦγʼ ἔσχατα γαίης δώματα καὶ πόλιος τροχοειδέος ἄκρα κάρηνα. οὔτε γὰρ ἡ κεφαλὴ μένει ἔμπεδον οὔτε τὸ σῶμα, οὔτε πόδες νέατοι οὔτʼ ὦν χέρες, οὔτε τι μέσσης λείπεται, ἀλλʼ ἄζηλα πέλει· κατὰ γάρ μιν ἐρείπει πῦρ τε καὶ ὀξὺς Ἄρης, Συριηγενὲς ἅρμα διώκων. πολλὰ δὲ κἆλλʼ ἀπολεῖ πυργώματα κοὐ τὸ σὸν οἶον, πολλοὺς δʼ ἀθανάτων νηοὺς μαλερῷ πυρὶ δώσει, οἵ που νῦν ἱδρῶτι ῥεούμενοι ἑστήκασι, δείματι παλλόμενοι, κατὰ δʼ ἀκροτάτοις ὀρόφοισι αἷμα μέλαν κέχυται, προϊδὸν κακότητος ἀνάγκας. ἀλλʼ ἴτον ἐξ ἀδύτοιο, κακοῖς δʼ ἐπικίδνατε θυμόν. 7.141 ταῦτα ἀκούσαντες οἱ τῶν Ἀθηναίων θεοπρόποι συμφορῇ τῇ μεγίστῃ ἐχρέωντο. προβάλλουσι δὲ σφέας αὐτοὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ κακοῦ τοῦ κεχρησμένου, Τίμων ὁ Ἀνδροβούλου, τῶν Δελφῶν ἀνὴρ δόκιμος ὅμοια τῷ μάλιστα, συνεβούλευέ σφι ἱκετηρίην λαβοῦσι δεύτερα αὖτις ἐλθόντας χρᾶσθαι τῷ χρηστηρίῳ ὡς ἱκέτας. πειθομένοισι δὲ ταῦτα τοῖσι Ἀθηναίοισι καὶ λέγουσι “ὦναξ, χρῆσον ἡμῖν ἄμεινόν τι περὶ τῆς πατρίδος, αἰδεσθεὶς τὰς ἱκετηρίας τάσδε τάς τοι ἥκομεν φέροντες, ἢ οὔ τοι ἄπιμεν ἐκ τοῦ ἀδύτου, ἀλλʼ αὐτοῦ τῇδε μενέομεν ἔστʼ ἂν καὶ τελευτήσωμεν,” ταῦτα δὲ λέγουσι ἡ πρόμαντις χρᾷ δεύτερα τάδε. οὐ δύναται Παλλὰς Δίʼ Ὀλύμπιον ἐξιλάσασθαι λισσομένη πολλοῖσι λόγοις καὶ μήτιδι πυκνῇ. σοὶ δὲ τόδʼ αὖτις ἔπος ἐρέω ἀδάμαντι πελάσσας. τῶν ἄλλων γὰρ ἁλισκομένων ὅσα Κέκροπος οὖρος ἐντὸς ἔχει κευθμών τε Κιθαιρῶνος ζαθέοιο, τεῖχος Τριτογενεῖ ξύλινον διδοῖ εὐρύοπα Ζεύς μοῦνον ἀπόρθητον τελέθειν, τὸ σὲ τέκνα τʼ ὀνήσει. μηδὲ σύ γʼ ἱπποσύνην τε μένειν καὶ πεζὸν ἰόντα πολλὸν ἀπʼ ἠπείρου στρατὸν ἥσυχος, ἀλλʼ ὑποχωρεῖν νῶτον ἐπιστρέψας· ἔτι τοι ποτε κἀντίος ἔσσῃ. ὦ θείη Σαλαμίς, ἀπολεῖς δὲ σὺ τέκνα γυναικῶν ἤ που σκιδναμένης Δημήτερος ἢ συνιούσης. 7.142 ταῦτα σφι ἠπιώτερα γὰρ τῶν προτέρων καὶ ἦν καὶ ἐδόκεε εἶναι, συγγραψάμενοι ἀπαλλάσσοντο ἐς τὰς Ἀθήνας. ὡς δὲ ἀπελθόντες οἱ θεοπρόποι ἀπήγγελλον ἐς τὸν δῆμον, γνῶμαι καὶ ἄλλαι πολλαὶ γίνονται διζημένων τὸ μαντήιον καὶ αἵδε συνεστηκυῖαι μάλιστα. τῶν πρεσβυτέρων ἔλεγον μετεξέτεροι δοκέειν σφίσι τὸν θεὸν τὴν ἀκρόπολιν χρῆσαι περιέσεσθαι. ἡ γὰρ ἀκρόπολις τὸ πάλαι τῶν Ἀθηναίων ῥηχῷ ἐπέφρακτο. οἳ μὲν δὴ κατὰ τὸν φραγμὸν συνεβάλλοντο τοῦτο τὸ ξύλινον τεῖχος εἶναι, οἳ δʼ αὖ ἔλεγον τὰς νέας σημαίνειν τὸν θεόν, καὶ ταύτας παραρτέεσθαι ἐκέλευον τὰ ἄλλα ἀπέντας. τοὺς ὦν δὴ τὰς νέας λέγοντας εἶναι τὸ ξύλινον τεῖχος ἔσφαλλε τὰ δύο τὰ τελευταῖα ῥηθέντα ὑπὸ τῆς Πυθίης, ὦ θείη Σαλαμίς, ἀπολεῖς δὲ σὺ τέκνα γυναικῶν ἤ που σκιδναμένης Δημήτερος ἢ συνιούσης. κατὰ ταῦτα τὰ ἔπεα συνεχέοντο αἱ γνῶμαι τῶν φαμένων τὰς νέας τὸ ξύλινον τεῖχος εἶναι· οἱ γὰρ χρησμολόγοι ταύτῃ ταῦτα ἐλάμβανον, ὡς ἀμφὶ Σαλαμῖνα δεῖ σφεας ἑσσωθῆναι ναυμαχίην παρασκευασαμένους.
8.62 σημαίνων δὲ ταῦτα τῷ λόγῳ διέβαινε ἐς Εὐρυβιάδην, λέγων μᾶλλον ἐπεστραμμένα. “σὺ εἰ μενέεις αὐτοῦ καὶ μένων ἔσεαι ἀνὴρ ἀγαθός· εἰ δὲ μή, ἀνατρέψεις τὴν Ἑλλάδα· τὸ πᾶν γὰρ ἡμῖν τοῦ πολέμου φέρουσι αἱ νέες. ἀλλʼ ἐμοὶ πείθεο. εἰ δὲ ταῦτα μὴ ποιήσῃς, ἡμεῖς μὲν ὡς ἔχομεν ἀναλαβόντες τοὺς οἰκέτας κομιεύμεθα ἐς Σῖριν τὴν ἐν Ἰταλίῃ, ἥ περ ἡμετέρη τε ἐστὶ ἐκ παλαιοῦ ἔτι, καὶ τὰ λόγια λέγει ὑπʼ ἡμέων αὐτὴν δέειν κτισθῆναι· ὑμεῖς δὲ συμμάχων τοιῶνδε μουνωθέντες μεμνήσεσθε τῶν ἐμῶν λόγων.”
8.77 χρησμοῖσι δὲ οὐκ ἔχω ἀντιλέγειν ὡς οὐκ εἰσὶ ἀληθέες, οὐ βουλόμενος ἐναργέως λέγοντας πειρᾶσθαι καταβάλλειν, ἐς τοιάδε πρήγματα 1 ἐσβλέψας. ἀλλʼ ὅταν Ἀρτέμιδος χρυσαόρου ἱερὸν ἀκτήν νηυσὶ γεφυρώσωσι καὶ εἰναλίην Κυνόσουραν ἐλπίδι μαινομένῃ, λιπαρὰς πέρσαντες Ἀθήνας, δῖα δίκη σβέσσει κρατερὸν κόρον, ὕβριος υἱόν, δεινὸν μαιμώοντα, δοκεῦντʼ ἀνὰ πάντα πίεσθαι. χαλκὸς γὰρ χαλκῷ συμμίξεται, αἵματι δʼ Ἄρης πόντον φοινίξει. τότʼ ἐλεύθερον Ἑλλάδος ἦμαρ εὐρύοπα Κρονίδης ἐπάγει καὶ πότνια Νίκη. ἐς τοιαῦτα μὲν καὶ οὕτω ἐναργέως λέγοντι Βάκιδι ἀντιλογίης χρησμῶν πέρι οὔτε αὐτὸς λέγειν τολμέω οὔτε παρʼ ἄλλων ἐνδέκομαι.
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.”
9.33 ὡς δὲ ἄρα πάντες οἱ ἐτετάχατο κατὰ ἔθνεα καὶ κατὰ τέλεα, ἐνθαῦτα τῇ δευτέρῃ ἐθύοντο καὶ ἀμφότεροι. Ἕλλησι μὲν Τισαμενὸς Ἀντιόχου ἦν ὁ θυόμενος· οὗτος γὰρ δὴ εἵπετο τῷ στρατεύματι τούτῳ μάντις· τὸν ἐόντα Ἠλεῖον καὶ γένεος τοῦ Ἰαμιδέων Κλυτιάδην Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἐποιήσαντο λεωσφέτερον. Τισαμενῷ γὰρ μαντευομένῳ ἐν Δελφοῖσι περὶ γόνου ἀνεῖλε ἡ Πυθίη ἀγῶνας τοὺς μεγίστους ἀναιρήσεσθαι πέντε. ὃ μὲν δὴ ἁμαρτὼν τοῦ χρηστηρίου προσεῖχε γυμνασίοισι ὡς ἀναιρησόμενος γυμνικοὺς ἀγῶνας, ἀσκέων δὲ πεντάεθλον παρὰ ἓν πάλαισμα ἔδραμε νικᾶν Ὀλυμπιάδα, Ἱερωνύμῳ τῷ Ἀνδρίῳ ἐλθὼν ἐς ἔριν. Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ μαθόντες οὐκ ἐς γυμνικοὺς ἀλλʼ ἐς ἀρηίους ἀγῶνας φέρον τὸ Τισαμενοῦ μαντήιον, μισθῷ ἐπειρῶντο πείσαντες Τισαμενὸν ποιέεσθαι ἅμα Ἡρακλειδέων τοῖσι βασιλεῦσι ἡγεμόνα τῶν πολέμων. ὁ δὲ ὁρέων περὶ πολλοῦ ποιευμένους Σπαρτιήτας φίλον αὐτὸν προσθέσθαι, μαθὼν τοῦτο ἀνετίμα, σημαίνων σφι ὡς ἤν μιν πολιήτην σφέτερον ποιήσωνται τῶν πάντων μεταδιδόντες, ποιήσει ταῦτα, ἐπʼ ἄλλῳ μισθῷ δʼ οὔ. Σπαρτιῆται δὲ πρῶτα μὲν ἀκούσαντες δεινὰ ἐποιεῦντο καὶ μετίεσαν τῆς χρησμοσύνης τὸ παράπαν, τέλος δὲ δείματος μεγάλου ἐπικρεμαμένου τοῦ Περσικοῦ τούτου στρατεύματος καταίνεον μετιόντες. ὁ δὲ γνοὺς τετραμμένους σφέας οὐδʼ οὕτω ἔτι ἔφη ἀρκέεσθαι τούτοισι μούνοισι, ἀλλὰ δεῖν ἔτι τὸν ἀδελφεὸν ἑωυτοῦ Ἡγίην γίνεσθαι Σπαρτιήτην ἐπὶ τοῖσι αὐτοῖσι λόγοισι τοῖσι καὶ αὐτὸς γίνεται. 9.34 ταῦτα δὲ λέγων οὗτος ἐμιμέετο Μελάμποδα, ὡς εἰκάσαι βασιληίην τε καὶ πολιτηίην αἰτεομένους. καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ Μελάμπους τῶν ἐν Ἄργεϊ γυναικῶν μανεισέων, ὥς μιν οἱ Ἀργεῖοι ἐμισθοῦντο ἐκ Πύλου παῦσαι τὰς σφετέρας γυναῖκας τῆς νούσου, μισθὸν προετείνατο τῆς βασιληίης τὸ ἥμισυ. οὐκ ἀνασχομένων δὲ τῶν Ἀργείων ἀλλʼ ἀπιόντων, ὡς ἐμαίνοντο πλεῦνες τῶν γυναικῶν, οὕτω δὴ ὑποστάντες τὰ ὁ Μελάμπους προετείνατο ἤισαν δώσοντές οἱ ταῦτα. ὁ δὲ ἐνθαῦτα δὴ ἐπορέγεται ὁρέων αὐτοὺς τετραμμένους, φάς, ἢν μὴ καὶ τῷ ἀδελφεῷ Βίαντι μεταδῶσι τὸ τριτημόριον τῆς βασιληίης, οὐ ποιήσειν τὰ βούλονται. οἱ δὲ Ἀργεῖοι ἀπειληθέντες ἐς στεινὸν καταινέουσι καὶ ταῦτα. 9.35 ὣς δὲ καὶ Σπαρτιῆται, ἐδέοντο γὰρ δεινῶς τοῦ Τισαμενοῦ, πάντως συνεχώρεόν οἱ. συγχωρησάντων δὲ καὶ ταῦτα τῶν Σπαρτιητέων, οὕτω δὴ πέντε σφι μαντευόμενος ἀγῶνας τοὺς μεγίστους Τισαμενὸς ὁ Ἠλεῖος, γενόμενος Σπαρτιήτης, συγκαταιρέει. μοῦνοι δὲ δὴ πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἐγένοντο οὗτοι Σπαρτιήτῃσι πολιῆται. οἱ δὲ πέντε ἀγῶνες οἵδε ἐγένοντο, εἷς μὲν καὶ πρῶτος οὗτος ὁ ἐν Πλαταιῇσι, ἐπὶ δὲ ὁ ἐν Τεγέῃ πρὸς Τεγεήτας τε καὶ Ἀργείους γενόμενος, μετὰ δὲ ὁ ἐν Διπαιεῦσι πρὸς Ἀρκάδας πάντας πλὴν Μαντινέων, ἐπὶ δὲ ὁ Μεσσηνίων ὁ πρὸς Ἰθώμῃ, ὕστατος δὲ ὁ ἐν Τανάγρῃ πρὸς Ἀθηναίους τε καὶ Ἀργείους γενόμενος· οὗτος δὲ ὕστατος κατεργάσθη τῶν πέντε ἀγώνων.
9.43 τοῦτον δʼ ἔγωγε τὸν χρησμόν, τὸν Μαρδόνιος εἶπε ἐς Πέρσας ἔχειν, ἐς Ἰλλυριούς τε καὶ τὸν Ἐγχελέων στρατὸν οἶδα πεποιημένον, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐς Πέρσας. ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν Βάκιδι ἐς ταύτην τὴν μάχην ἐστὶ πεποιημένα, τὴν δʼ ἐπὶ Θερμώδοντι καὶ Ἀσωπῷ λεχεποίῃ Ἑλλήνων σύνοδον καὶ βαρβαρόφωνον ἰυγήν, τῇ πολλοὶ πεσέονται ὑπὲρ λάχεσίν τε μόρον τε τοξοφόρων Μήδων, ὅταν αἴσιμον ἦμαρ ἐπέλθῃ, ταῦτα μὲν καὶ παραπλήσια τούτοισι ἄλλα Μουσαίῳ ἔχοντα οἶδα ἐς Πέρσας. ὁ δὲ Θερμώδων ποταμὸς ῥέει μεταξὺ Τανάγρης τε καὶ Γλίσαντος. ' None | 5.72 When Cleomenes had sent for and demanded the banishment of Cleisthenes and the Accursed, Cleisthenes himself secretly departed. Afterwards, however, Cleomenes appeared in Athens with no great force. Upon his arrival, he, in order to take away the curse, banished seven hundred Athenian families named for him by Isagoras. Having so done he next attempted to dissolve the Council, entrusting the offices of government to Isagoras' faction. ,The Council, however, resisted him, whereupon Cleomenes and Isagoras and his partisans seized the acropolis. The rest of the Athenians united and besieged them for two days. On the third day as many of them as were Lacedaemonians left the country under truce. ,The prophetic voice that Cleomenes heard accordingly had its fulfillment, for when he went up to the acropolis with the intention of taking possession of it, he approached the shrine of the goddess to address himself to her. The priestess rose up from her seat, and before he had passed through the door-way, she said, “Go back, Lacedaemonian stranger, and do not enter the holy place since it is not lawful that Dorians should pass in here. “My lady,” he answered, “I am not a Dorian, but an Achaean.” ,So without taking heed of the omen, he tried to do as he pleased and was, as I have said, then again cast out together with his Lacedaemonians. As for the rest, the Athenians imprisoned them under sentence of death. Among the prisoners was Timesitheus the Delphian, whose achievements of strength and courage were quite formidable. "
1.50 After this, he tried to win the favor of the Delphian god with great sacrifices. He offered up three thousand beasts from all the kinds fit for sacrifice, and on a great pyre burnt couches covered with gold and silver, golden goblets, and purple cloaks and tunics; by these means he hoped the better to win the aid of the god, to whom he also commanded that every Lydian sacrifice what he could. ,When the sacrifice was over, he melted down a vast store of gold and made ingots of it, the longer sides of which were of six and the shorter of three palms' length, and the height was one palm. There were a hundred and seventeen of these. Four of them were of refined gold, each weighing two talents and a half; the rest were of gold with silver alloy, each of two talents' weight. ,He also had a figure of a lion made of refined gold, weighing ten talents. When the temple of Delphi was burnt, this lion fell from the ingots which were the base on which it stood; and now it is in the treasury of the Corinthians, but weighs only six talents and a half, for the fire melted away three and a half talents. " 1.62 So after ten years they set out from Eretria and returned home. The first place in Attica which they took and held was Marathon: and while encamped there they were joined by their partisans from the city, and by others who flocked to them from the country—demesmen who loved the rule of one more than freedom. These, then, assembled; ,but the Athenians in the city, who while Pisistratus was collecting money and afterwards when he had taken Marathon took no notice of it, did now, and when they learned that he was marching from Marathon against Athens, they set out to attack him. ,They came out with all their force to meet the returning exiles. Pisistratus\' men encountered the enemy when they had reached the temple of Pallenian Athena in their march from Marathon towards the city, and encamped face to face with them. ,There (by the providence of heaven) Pisistratus met Amphilytus the Acarian, a diviner, who came to him and prophesied as follows in hexameter verses:
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: ,1.66 Thus they changed their bad laws to good ones, and when Lycurgus died they built him a temple and now worship him greatly. Since they had good land and many men, they immediately flourished and prospered. They were not content to live in peace, but, confident that they were stronger than the Arcadians, asked the oracle at Delphi about gaining all the Arcadian land. ,She replied in hexameter: 1.67 In the previous war the Lacedaemonians continually fought unsuccessfully against the Tegeans, but in the time of Croesus and the kingship of Anaxandrides and Ariston in Lacedaemon the Spartans had gained the upper hand. This is how: ,when they kept being defeated by the Tegeans, they sent ambassadors to Delphi to ask which god they should propitiate to prevail against the Tegeans in war. The Pythia responded that they should bring back the bones of Orestes, son of Agamemnon. ,When they were unable to discover Orestes\' tomb, they sent once more to the god to ask where he was buried. The Pythia responded in hexameter to the messengers: ,1.68 It was Lichas, one of these men, who found the tomb in Tegea by a combination of luck and skill. At that time there was free access to Tegea, so he went into a blacksmith's shop and watched iron being forged, standing there in amazement at what he saw done. ,The smith perceived that he was amazed, so he stopped what he was doing and said, “My Laconian guest, if you had seen what I saw, then you would really be amazed, since you marvel so at ironworking. ,I wanted to dig a well in the courtyard here, and in my digging I hit upon a coffin twelve feet long. I could not believe that there had ever been men taller than now, so I opened it and saw that the corpse was just as long as the coffin. I measured it and then reburied it.” So the smith told what he had seen, and Lichas thought about what was said and reckoned that this was Orestes, according to the oracle. ,In the smith's two bellows he found the winds, hammer and anvil were blow upon blow, and the forging of iron was woe upon woe, since he figured that iron was discovered as an evil for the human race. ,After reasoning this out, he went back to Sparta and told the Lacedaemonians everything. They made a pretence of bringing a charge against him and banishing him. Coming to Tegea, he explained his misfortune to the smith and tried to rent the courtyard, but the smith did not want to lease it. ,Finally he persuaded him and set up residence there. He dug up the grave and collected the bones, then hurried off to Sparta with them. Ever since then the Spartans were far superior to the Tegeans whenever they met each other in battle. By the time of Croesus' inquiry, the Spartans had subdued most of the Peloponnese . " "
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. " 1.155 When Cyrus heard of this on his journey, he said to Croesus, “What end to this business, Croesus? It seems that the Lydians will never stop making trouble for me and for themselves. It occurs to me that it may be best to make slaves of them; for it seems I have acted like one who slays the father and spares the children. ,So likewise I have taken with me you who were more than a father to the Lydians, and handed the city over to the Lydians themselves; and then indeed I marvel that they revolt!” So Cyrus uttered his thought; but Croesus feared that he would destroy Sardis, and answered him thus: ,“O King, what you say is reasonable. But do not ever yield to anger, or destroy an ancient city that is innocent both of the former and of the present offense. For the former I am responsible, and bear the punishment on my head; while Pactyes, in whose charge you left Sardis, does this present wrong; let him, then, pay the penalty. ,But pardon the Lydians, and give them this command so that they not revolt or pose a danger to you: send and forbid them to possess weapons of war, and order them to wear tunics under their cloaks and knee-boots on their feet, and to teach their sons lyre-playing and song and dance and shop-keeping. And quickly, O king, you shall see them become women instead of men, so that you need not fear them, that they might revolt.” ' "
1.157 After giving these commands on his journey, he marched away into the Persian country. But Pactyes, learning that an army sent against him was approaching, was frightened and fled to Cyme . ,Mazares the Mede, when he came to Sardis with the part that he had of Cyrus' host and found Pactyes' followers no longer there, first of all compelled the Lydians to carry out Cyrus' commands; and by his order they changed their whole way of life. ,After this, he sent messengers to Cyme demanding that Pactyes be surrendered. The Cymaeans resolved to make the god at Branchidae their judge as to what course they should take; for there was an ancient place of divination there, which all the Ionians and Aeolians used to consult; the place is in the land of Miletus, above the harbor of Panormus . " 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. " 3.64 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.”
3.124 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. " 4.1 After taking Babylon, Darius himself marched against the Scythians. For since Asia was bursting with men and vast revenues were coming in, Darius desired to punish the Scythians for the wrong they had begun when they invaded Media first and defeated those who opposed them in battle. ,For the Scythians, as I have said before, ruled upper Asia for twenty-eight years; they invaded Asia in their pursuit of the Cimmerians, and ended the power of the Medes, who were the rulers of Asia before the Scythians came. ,But when the Scythians had been away from their homes for twenty-eight years and returned to their country after so long an absence, as much trouble as their Median war awaited them. They found themselves opposed by a great force; for the Scythian women, when their husbands were away for so long, turned to their slaves.
5.32 When Aristagoras heard that, he went away to Miletus in great joy. Artaphrenes sent a messenger to Susa with the news of what Aristagoras said, and when Darius himself too had consented to the plan, he equipped two hundred triremes and a very great company of Persians and their allies in addition. For their general he appointed Megabates, a Persian of the Achaemenid family, cousin to himself and to Darius. This was he whose daughter (if indeed the tale is true) Pausanias the Lacedaemonian, son of Cleombrotus, at a later day betrothed to himself, since it was his wish to possess the sovereignty of Hellas. After appointing Megabates general, Artaphrenes sent his army away to Aristagoras.
5.36 With this intent, then, Histiaeus sent his messenger, and it chanced that all these things came upon Aristagoras at one and the same time. He accordingly took counsel with the members of his faction, stating his own opinion as well as the message which had come to him from Histiaeus. ,All the rest spoke their minds to the same effect, favoring revolt, with the exception of Hecataeus the historian who, listing all the nations subject to Darius and all his power, advised them that they should not make war on the king of Persia. When, however, he failed to persuade them, he counselled them that their next best plan was to make themselves masters of the sea. ,This, he said, could only be accomplished in one way (Miletus, he knew, was a city of no great wealth), namely if they took away from the temple at Branchidae the treasure which Croesus the Lydian had dedicated there. With this at their disposal, he fully expected them to gain the mastery of the sea. They would then have the use of that treasure and their enemies would not be able to plunder it. ,The treasure was very great, as I have shown in the beginning of my account. This plan was not approved, and they resolved that they would revolt. One out of their number was to sail to Myus, to the army which had left Naxos and was there, and attempt to seize the generals who were aboard the ships.' "
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.” " "5.50 At that time, then, they got so far. When, on the day appointed for the answer, they came to the place upon which they had agreed, Cleomenes asked Aristagoras how many days' journey it was from the Ionian sea to the king. ,Till now, Aristagoras had been cunning and fooled the Spartan well, but here he made a false step. If he desired to take the Spartans away into Asia he should never have told the truth, but he did tell it, and said that it was a three months' journey inland. ,At that, Cleomenes cut short Aristagoras' account of the prospective journey. He then bade his Milesian guest depart from Sparta before sunset, for never, he said, would the Lacedaemonians listen to the plan, if Aristagoras desired to lead them a three months' journey from the sea. " "5.51 Cleomenes went to his house after this exchange, but Aristagoras took a suppliant's garb and followed him there. Upon entering, he used a suppliant's right to beg Cleomenes to listen to him. He first asked Cleomenes to send away the child, his daughter Gorgo, who was standing by him. She was his only child, and was about eight or nine years of age. Cleomenes bade him say whatever he wanted and not let the child's presence hinder him. ,Then Aristagoras began to promise Cleomenes from ten talents upwards, if he would grant his request. When Cleomenes refused, Aristagoras offered him ever more and more. When he finally promised fifty talents the child cried out, “Father, the stranger will corrupt you, unless you leave him and go away.” ,Cleomenes was pleased with the child's counsel and went into another room while Aristagoras departed from Sparta, finding no further occasion for telling of the journey inland to the king's palace. " "
5.63 These men, as the Athenians say, established themselves at Delphi and bribed the Pythian priestess to bid any Spartans who should come to inquire of her on a private or a public account to set Athens free. ,Then the Lacedaemonians, when the same command was ever revealed to them, sent Anchimolius the son of Aster, a citizen of repute, to drive out the sons of Pisistratus with an army despite the fact that the Pisistratidae were their close friends, for the god's will weighed with them more than the will of man. ,They sent these men by sea on shipboard. Anchimolius put in at Phalerum and disembarked his army there. The sons of Pisistratus, however, had received word of the plan already, and sent to ask help from the Thessalians with whom they had an alliance. The Thessalians, at their entreaty, joined together and sent their own king, Cineas of Conium, with a thousand horsemen. When the Pisistratidae got these allies, they devised the following plan. ,First they laid waste the plain of Phalerum so that all that land could be ridden over and then launched their cavalry against the enemy's army. Then the horsemen charged and slew Anchimolius and many more of the Lacedaemonians, and drove those that survived to their ships. Accordingly, the first Lacedaemonian army drew off, and Anchimolius' tomb is at Alopecae in Attica, near to the Heracleum in Cynosarges." "
5.70 Isagoras, who was on the losing side, devised a counter-plot, and invited the aid of Cleomenes, who had been his friend since the besieging of the Pisistratidae. It was even said of Cleomenes that he regularly went to see Isagoras' wife. ,Then Cleomenes first sent a herald to Athens demanding the banishment of Cleisthenes and many other Athenians with him, the Accursed, as he called them. This he said in his message by Isagoras' instruction, for the Alcmeonidae and their faction were held to be guilty of that bloody deed while Isagoras and his friends had no part in it. " "5.71 How the Accursed at Athens had received their name, I will now relate. There was an Athenian named Cylon, who had been a winner at Olympia. This man put on the air of one who aimed at tyranny, and gathering a company of men of like age, he attempted to seize the citadel. When he could not win it, he took sanctuary by the goddess' statue. ,He and his men were then removed from their position by the presidents of the naval boards, the rulers of Athens at that time. Although they were subject to any penalty save death, they were slain, and their death was attributed to the Alcmaeonidae. All this took place before the time of Pisistratus." "
5.72.3 The prophetic voice that Cleomenes heard accordingly had its fulfillment, for when he went up to the acropolis with the intention of taking possession of it, he approached the shrine of the goddess to address himself to her. The priestess rose up from her seat, and before he had passed through the door-way, she said, “Go back, Lacedaemonian stranger, and do not enter the holy place since it is not lawful that Dorians should pass in here. “My lady,” he answered, “I am not a Dorian, but an Achaean.” 5.72 When Cleomenes had sent for and demanded the banishment of Cleisthenes and the Accursed, Cleisthenes himself secretly departed. Afterwards, however, Cleomenes appeared in Athens with no great force. Upon his arrival, he, in order to take away the curse, banished seven hundred Athenian families named for him by Isagoras. Having so done he next attempted to dissolve the Council, entrusting the offices of government to Isagoras' faction. ,The Council, however, resisted him, whereupon Cleomenes and Isagoras and his partisans seized the acropolis. The rest of the Athenians united and besieged them for two days. On the third day as many of them as were Lacedaemonians left the country under truce. ,The prophetic voice that Cleomenes heard accordingly had its fulfillment, for when he went up to the acropolis with the intention of taking possession of it, he approached the shrine of the goddess to address himself to her. The priestess rose up from her seat, and before he had passed through the door-way, she said, “Go back, Lacedaemonian stranger, and do not enter the holy place since it is not lawful that Dorians should pass in here. “My lady,” he answered, “I am not a Dorian, but an Achaean.” ,So without taking heed of the omen, he tried to do as he pleased and was, as I have said, then again cast out together with his Lacedaemonians. As for the rest, the Athenians imprisoned them under sentence of death. Among the prisoners was Timesitheus the Delphian, whose achievements of strength and courage were quite formidable. " 5.74 Cleomenes, however, fully aware that the Athenians had done him wrong in word and deed, mustered an army from the whole of the Peloponnesus. He did not declare the purpose for which he mustered it, namely to avenge himself on the Athenian people and set up Isagoras, who had come with him out of the acropolis, as tyrant. ,Cleomenes broke in as far as Eleusis with a great host, and the Boeotians, by a concerted plan, took Oenoe and Hysiae, districts on the borders of Attica, while the Chalcidians attacked on another side and raided lands in Attica. The Athenians, who were now caught in a ring of foes, decided to oppose the Spartans at Eleusis and to deal with the Boeotians and Chalcidians later. 5.75 When the armies were about to join battle, the Corinthians, coming to the conclusion that they were acting wrongly, changed their minds and departed. Later Demaratus son of Ariston, the other king of Sparta, did likewise, despite the fact that he had come with Cleomenes from Lacedaemon in joint command of the army and had not till now been at variance with him. ,As a result of this dissension, a law was made at Sparta that when an army was despatched, both kings would not be permitted to go with it. Until that time they had both gone together, but now one of the kings was released from service and one of the sons of Tyndarus too could be left at home. Before that time, both of these also were asked to give aid and went with the army. ,So now at Eleusis, when the rest of the allies saw that the Lacedaemonian kings were not of one mind and that the Corinthians had left their host, they too went off. 5.76 This was the fourth time that Dorians had come into Attica. They had come twice as invaders in war and twice as helpers of the Athenian people. The first time was when they planted a settlement at Megara (this expedition may rightly be said to have been in the reign of Codrus), the second and third when they set out from Sparta to drive out the sons of Pisistratus, and the fourth was now, when Cleomenes broke in as far as Eleusis with his following of Peloponnesians. This was accordingly the fourth Dorian invasion of Athens. 5.77 When this force then had been ingloriously scattered, the Athenians first marched against the Chalcidians to punish them. The Boeotians came to the Euripus to help the Chalcidians and as soon as the Athenians saw these allies, they resolved to attack the Boeotians before the Chalcidians. ,When they met the Boeotians in battle, they won a great victory, slaying very many and taking seven hundred of them prisoner. On that same day the Athenians crossed to Euboea where they met the Chalcidians too in battle, and after overcoming them as well, they left four thousand tet farmers on the lands of the horse-breeders. ,Horse-breeders was the name given to the men of substance among the Chalcidians. They fettered as many of these as they took alive and kept them imprisoned with the captive Boeotians. In time, however, they set them free, each for an assessed ransom of two minae. The fetters in which the prisoners had been bound they hung up in the acropolis, where they could still be seen in my time hanging from walls which the Persians\' fire had charred, opposite the temple which faces west. ,Moreover, they made a dedication of a tenth part of the ransom, and this money was used for the making of a four-horse chariot which stands on the left hand of the entrance into the outer porch of the acropolis and bears this inscription: 5.78 So the Athenians grew in power and proved, not in one respect only but in all, that equality is a good thing. Evidence for this is the fact that while they were under tyrannical rulers, the Athenians were no better in war than any of their neighbors, yet once they got rid of their tyrants, they were by far the best of all. This, then, shows that while they were oppressed, they were, as men working for a master, cowardly, but when they were freed, each one was eager to achieve for himself.
5.90.2 Furthermore, they were spurred on by the oracles which foretold that many deeds of enmity would be perpetrated against them by the Athenians. Previously they had had no knowledge of these oracles but now Cleomenes brought them to Sparta, and the Lacedaemonians learned their contents. It was from the Athenian acropolis that Cleomenes took the oracles, which had been in the possession of the Pisistratidae earlier. When they were exiled, they left them in the temple from where they were retrieved by Cleomenes. ' "
5.90 As they were making ready for vengeance, a matter which took its rise in Lacedaemon hindered them, for when the Lacedaemonians learned of the plot of the Alcmaeonids with the Pythian priestess and of her plot against themselves and the Pisistratidae, they were very angry for two reasons, namely that they had driven their own guests and friends from the country they dwelt in, and that the Athenians showed them no gratitude for their doing so. ,Furthermore, they were spurred on by the oracles which foretold that many deeds of enmity would be perpetrated against them by the Athenians. Previously they had had no knowledge of these oracles but now Cleomenes brought them to Sparta, and the Lacedaemonians learned their contents. It was from the Athenian acropolis that Cleomenes took the oracles, which had been in the possession of the Pisistratidae earlier. When they were exiled, they left them in the temple from where they were retrieved by Cleomenes. 5.91 Now the Lacedaemonians, when they regained the oracles and saw the Athenians increasing in power and in no way inclined to obey them, realized that if the Athenians remained free, they would be equal in power with themselves, but that if they were held down under tyranny, they would be weak and ready to serve a master. Perceiving all this, they sent to bring Pisistratus' son Hippias from Sigeum on the Hellespont, the Pisistratidae's place of refuge. ,When Hippias arrived, the Spartans sent for envoys from the rest of their allies and spoke to them as follows: “Sirs, our allies, we do acknowledge that we have acted wrongly, for, led astray by lying divinations, we drove from their native land men who were our close friends and promised to make Athens subject to us. Then we handed that city over to a thankless people which had no sooner lifted up its head in the freedom which we gave it, than it insolently cast out us and our king. Now it has bred such a spirit of pride and is growing so much in power, that its neighbors in Boeotia and Chalcis have really noticed it, and others too will soon recognize their error. ,Since we erred in doing what we did, we will now attempt with your aid to avenge ourselves on them. It is on this account and no other that we have sent for Hippias, whom you see, and have brought you from your cities, namely that uniting our counsels and our power, we may bring him to Athens and restore that which we took away.” " '5.92 These were the words of the Lacedaemonians, but their words were ill-received by the greater part of their allies. The rest then keeping silence, Socles, a Corinthian, said, ,“In truth heaven will be beneath the earth and the earth aloft above the heaven, and men will dwell in the sea and fishes where men dwelt before, now that you, Lacedaemonians, are destroying the rule of equals and making ready to bring back tyranny into the cities, tyranny, a thing more unrighteous and bloodthirsty than anything else on this earth. ,If indeed it seems to you to be a good thing that the cities be ruled by tyrants, set up a tyrant among yourselves first and then seek to set up such for the rest. As it is, however, you, who have never made trial of tyrants and take the greatest precautions that none will arise at Sparta, deal wrongfully with your allies. If you had such experience of that thing as we have, you would be more prudent advisers concerning it than you are now.” ,The Corinthian state was ordered in such manner as I will show.There was an oligarchy, and this group of men, called the Bacchiadae, held sway in the city, marrying and giving in marriage among themselves. Now Amphion, one of these men, had a crippled daughter, whose name was Labda. Since none of the Bacchiadae would marry her, she was wedded to Eetion son of Echecrates, of the township of Petra, a Lapith by lineage and of the posterity of Caeneus. ,When no sons were born to him by this wife or any other, he set out to Delphi to enquire concerning the matter of acquiring offspring. As soon as he entered, the Pythian priestess spoke these verses to him: 5.93 These were the words of Socles, the envoy from Corinth, and Hippias answered, calling the same gods as Socles had invoked to witness, that the Corinthians would be the first to wish the Pisistratidae back, when the time appointed should come for them to be vexed by the Athenians. ,Hippias made this answer, inasmuch as he had more exact knowledge of the oracles than any man, but the rest of the allies, who had till now kept silence, spoke out when they heard the free speech of Socles and sided with the opinion of the Corinthians, entreating the Lacedaemonians not to harm a Greek city.
5.97.2 This he said adding that the Milesians were settlers from Athens, whom it was only right to save seeing that they themselves were a very powerful people. There was nothing which he did not promise in the earnestness of his entreaty, till at last he prevailed upon them. It seems, then, that it is easier to deceive many than one, for he could not deceive Cleomenes of Lacedaemon, one single man, but thirty thousand Athenians he could.
5.97.3 The Athenians, now persuaded, voted to send twenty ships to aid the Ionians, appointing for their admiral Melanthius, a citizen of Athens who had an unblemished reputation. These ships were the beginning of troubles for both Greeks and foreigners.
5.97 It was when the Athenians had made their decision and were already on bad terms with Persia, that Aristagoras the Milesian, driven from Sparta by Cleomenes the Lacedaemonian, came to Athens, since that city was more powerful than any of the rest. Coming before the people, Aristagoras spoke to the same effect as at Sparta, of the good things of Asia, and how the Persians carried neither shield nor spear in war and could easily be overcome. ,This he said adding that the Milesians were settlers from Athens, whom it was only right to save seeing that they themselves were a very powerful people. There was nothing which he did not promise in the earnestness of his entreaty, till at last he prevailed upon them. It seems, then, that it is easier to deceive many than one, for he could not deceive Cleomenes of Lacedaemon, one single man, but thirty thousand Athenians he could. ,The Athenians, now persuaded, voted to send twenty ships to aid the Ionians, appointing for their admiral Melanthius, a citizen of Athens who had an unblemished reputation. These ships were the beginning of troubles for both Greeks and foreigners.
5.105 Onesilus, then, besieged Amathus. When it was reported to Darius that Sardis had been taken and burnt by the Athenians and Ionians and that Aristagoras the Milesian had been leader of the conspiracy for the making of this plan, he at first, it is said, took no account of the Ionians since he was sure that they would not go unpunished for their rebellion. Darius did, however, ask who the Athenians were, and after receiving the answer, he called for his bow. This he took and, placing an arrow on it, and shot it into the sky, praying as he sent it aloft, ,“O Zeus, grant me vengeance on the Athenians.” Then he ordered one of his servants to say to him three times whenever dinner was set before him, “Master, remember the Athenians.”
6.57.4 They keep all oracles that are given, though the Pythians also know them. The kings alone judge cases concerning the rightful possessor of an unwedded heiress, if her father has not betrothed her, and cases concerning public roads.
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. ' "6.65 Cleomenes wanted revenge, so he made a deal with Leotychides son of Menares son of Agis, of the same family as Demaratus. The deal was that Leotychides would go with Cleomenes against the Aeginetans if he became king. ,Leotychides had already become strongly hostile to Demaratus for the following reason: Leotychides was betrothed to Percalus, daughter of Demarmenus, but Demaratus plotted and robbed him of his marriage, stealing Percalus and marrying her first. ,From this affair Leotychides was hostile toward Demaratus, so at Cleomenes' instigation he took an oath against him, saying that he was not king of the Spartans by right, since he was not Ariston's son. After making this oath, he prosecuted him, recalling that utterance which Ariston had made when the servant told him he had a son, and he counted up the months and swore that it was not his. ,Taking his stand on this remark, Leotychides declared that Demaratus was not Ariston's son and that he was not rightly king of Sparta, bringing as witnesses the ephors who had been sitting beside Ariston and heard him say this. " "6.66 Disputes arose over it, so the Spartans resolved to ask the oracle at Delphi if Demaratus was the son of Ariston. ,At Cleomenes' instigation this was revealed to the Pythia. He had won over a man of great influence among the Delphians, Cobon son of Aristophantus, and Cobon persuaded the priestess, Periallus, to say what Cleomenes wanted her to. ,When the ambassadors asked if Demaratus was the son of Ariston, the Pythia gave judgment that he was not. All this came to light later; Cobon was exiled from Delphi, and Periallus was deposed from her position. " 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. " '6.83 But Argos was so wholly deprived of men that their slaves took possession of all affairs, ruling and governing until the sons of the slain men grew up. Then they recovered Argos for themselves and cast out the slaves; when they were driven out, the slaves took possession of Tiryns by force. ,For a while they were at peace with each other; but then there came to the slaves a prophet, Cleander, a man of Phigalea in Arcadia by birth; he persuaded the slaves to attack their masters. From that time there was a long-lasting war between them, until with difficulty the Argives got the upper hand.' "
6.84.3 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. 6.84 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." 6.91 But this happened later. The rich men of Aegina gained mastery over the people, who had risen against them with Nicodromus, then made them captive and led them out to be killed. Because of this a curse fell upon them, which despite all their efforts they could not get rid of by sacrifice, and they were driven out of their island before the goddess would be merciful to them. ,They had taken seven hundred of the people alive; as they led these out for slaughter one of them escaped from his bonds and fled to the temple gate of Demeter the Lawgiver, where he laid hold of the door-handles and clung to them. They could not tear him away by force, so they cut off his hands and carried him off, and those hands were left clinging fast to the door-handles. ' "
6.97 While they did this, the Delians also left Delos and fled away to Tenos. As his expedition was sailing landwards, Datis went on ahead and bade his fleet anchor not off Delos, but across the water off Rhenaea. Learning where the Delians were, he sent a herald to them with this proclamation: ,“Holy men, why have you fled away, and so misjudged my intent? It is my own desire, and the king's command to me, to do no harm to the land where the two gods were born, neither to the land itself nor to its inhabitants. So return now to your homes and dwell on your island.” He made this proclamation to the Delians, and then piled up three hundred talents of frankincense on the altar and burnt it. " '6.98 After doing this, Datis sailed with his army against Eretria first, taking with him Ionians and Aeolians; and after he had put out from there, Delos was shaken by an earthquake, the first and last, as the Delians say, before my time. This portent was sent by heaven, as I suppose, to be an omen of the ills that were coming on the world. ,For in three generations, that is, in the time of Darius son of Hystaspes and Xerxes son of Darius and Artaxerxes son of Xerxes, more ills happened to Hellas than in twenty generations before Darius; some coming from the Persians, some from the wars for preeminence among the chief of the nations themselves. ,Thus it was no marvel that there should be an earthquake in Delos when there had been none before. Also there was an oracle concerning Delos, where it was written:
7.140 The Athenians had sent messages to Delphi asking that an oracle be given them, and when they had performed all due rites at the temple and sat down in the inner hall, the priestess, whose name was Aristonice, gave them this answer: ,7.141 When the Athenian messengers heard that, they were very greatly dismayed, and gave themselves up for lost by reason of the evil foretold. Then Timon son of Androbulus, as notable a man as any Delphian, advised them to take boughs of supplication and in the guise of suppliants, approach the oracle a second time. ,The Athenians did exactly this; “Lord,” they said, “regard mercifully these suppliant boughs which we bring to you, and give us some better answer concerning our country. Otherwise we will not depart from your temple, but remain here until we die.” Thereupon the priestess gave them this second oracle: ,7.142 This answer seemed to be and really was more merciful than the first, and the envoys, writing it down, departed for Athens. When the messengers had left Delphi and laid the oracle before the people, there was much inquiry concerning its meaning, and among the many opinions which were uttered, two contrary ones were especially worthy of note. Some of the elder men said that the gods answer signified that the acropolis should be saved, for in old time the acropolis of Athens had been fenced by a thorn hedge, ,which, by their interpretation, was the wooden wall. But others supposed that the god was referring to their ships, and they were for doing nothing but equipping these. Those who believed their ships to be the wooden wall were disabled by the two last verses of the oracle:
8.62 Next he turned his argument to Eurybiades, saying more vehemently than before, “If you remain here, you will be an noble man. If not, you will ruin Hellas. All our strength for war is in our ships, so listen to me. ,If you do not do this, we will immediately gather up our households and travel to Siris in Italy, which has been ours since ancient times, and the prophecies say we must found a colony there. You will remember these words when you are without such allies.”
8.77 I cannot say against oracles that they are not true, and I do not wish to try to discredit them when they speak plainly. Look at the following matter:
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.” ' "
9.33 On the second day after they had all been arrayed according to their nations and their battalions, both armies offered sacrifice. It was Tisamenus who sacrificed for the Greeks, for he was with their army as a diviner; he was an Elean by birth, a Clytiad of the Iamid clan, and the Lacedaemonians gave him the freedom of their city. ,This they did, for when Tisamenus was inquiring of the oracle at Delphi concerning offspring, the priestess prophesied to him that he should win five great victories. Not understanding that oracle, he engaged in bodily exercise, thinking that he would then be able to win in similar sports. When he had trained himself for the Five Contests, he came within one wrestling bout of winning the Olympic prize, in a match with Hieronymus of Andros. ,The Lacedaemonians, however, perceived that the oracle given to Tisamenus spoke of the lists not of sport but of war, and they attempted to bribe Tisamenus to be a leader in their wars jointly with their kings of Heracles' line. ,When he saw that the Spartans set great store by his friendship, he set his price higher, and made it known to them that he would do what they wanted only in exchange for the gift of full citizenship and all of the citizen's rights. ,Hearing that, the Spartans at first were angry and completely abandoned their request; but when the dreadful menace of this Persian host hung over them, they consented and granted his demand. When he saw their purpose changed, he said that he would not be content with that alone; his brother Hegias too must be made a Spartan on the same terms as himself. " '9.34 By so saying he imitated Melampus, in so far as one may compare demands for kingship with those for citizenship. For when the women of Argos had gone mad, and the Argives wanted him to come from Pylos and heal them of that madness, Melampus demanded half of their kingship for his wages. ,This the Argives would not put up with and departed. When, however, the madness spread among their women, they promised what Melampus demanded and were ready to give it to him. Thereupon, seeing their purpose changed, he demanded yet more and said that he would not do their will except if they gave a third of their kingship to his brother Bias; now driven into dire straits, the Argives consented to that also. 9.35 The Spartans too were so eagerly desirous of winning Tisamenus that they granted everything that he demanded. When they had granted him this also, Tisamenus of Elis, now a Spartan, engaged in divination for them and aided them to win five very great victories. No one on earth save Tisamenus and his brother ever became citizens of Sparta. ,Now the five victories were these: one, the first, this victory at Plataea; next, that which was won at Tegea over the Tegeans and Argives; after that, over all the Arcadians save the Mantineans at Dipaea; next, over the Messenians at Ithome; lastly, the victory at Tanagra over the Athenians and Argives, which was the last won of the five victories.
9.43 Now for this prophecy, which Mardonius said was spoken of the Persians, I know it to have been made concerning not them but the Illyrians and the army of the Enchelees. There is, however, a prophecy made by Bacis concerning this battle: ,
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