 Volume 3 Part 1 of Herodotus' Histories. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Rachel Klippenstein. Histories Volume 3 by Herodotus of Halakarnassus, translated by E.D. Godly, Part 1. When the message concerning the fight at Marathon came to Darius, son of Histaspis, already greatly angry against the Athenians for their attack upon Sardis, he was now much more angry and eager to send an expedition against Helus. Immediately he sent messengers to all the cities and commanded them to equip an army, instructing each to provide many more ships and horses and provisions and transport vessels than they had before. Asia was in commotion with these messages for three years, as the best men were enrolled for service against Helus and made preparations. In the fourth year the Egyptians, whom Cambyses had enslaved, revolted from the Persians. Thereupon Darius was even more eager to send expeditions against both. But while Darius was making preparations against Egypt and Athens, a great quarrel arose among his sons concerning the chief power in the land. They held that before his army marched he must declare an heir to the kingship according to Persian law. Three sons had been born to Darius before he became king by his first wife, the daughter of Gobrius, and four more after he became king by Athosus, daughter of Cyrus. Artobazines was the oldest of the earlier sons, Xerxes of the later, and as sons of different mothers they were rivals. Artobazines pleaded that he was the oldest of all Darius's offspring and that it was everywhere customary that the eldest should rule. Xerxes argued that he was the son of Cyrus's daughter, Athosus, and that it was Cyrus who had won the Persians their freedom. While Darius delayed making his decision, it chanced that at this time demeritous son of Aristan had come up to Sousa in voluntary exile from Lacodimonia after he had lost the kingship of Sparta. Learning of the contention between the sons of Darius, this man as the story goes, came and advised Xerxes to add this to what he said, that he had been born when Darius was already king and ruler of Persia, but Artobazines when Darius was yet a subject. Therefore it was neither reasonable nor just that anyone should have the royal privilege before him. At Sparta too advised demeritus it was customary that if sons were born before their father became king, and another son born later when the father was king, the succession to the kingship belongs to the later born. Xerxes followed demeritus's advice and Darius judged his plea to be just and declared him king. But to my thinking Xerxes would have been made king even without this advice, for Athosus held complete sway. After declaring Xerxes king, Darius was intent on his expedition. But in the year after this and the revolt of Egypt, death came upon him in the midst of his preparations, after a reign of six and thirty years in all, and it was not granted to him to punish either the revolted Egyptians or the Athenians. After Darius's death the royal power descended to his son Xerxes. Now Xerxes was at first by no means eager to march against Helus, it was against Egypt that he mustered his army. But Mordonia's son of Gobrius, Xerxes's cousin and the son of Darius's sister, was with the king and had more influence with him than any Persian. He argued as follows, Master it is not fitting that the Athenians should go unpunished for their deeds after all the evil they have done to the Persians. For now you should do what you have in hand, then when you have tamed the insolence of Egypt lead your armies against Athens so that you may have fair fame among men and others may beware of invading your realm in the future. This argument was for vengeance, but he kept adding that Europe was an extremely beautiful land, one that bore all kinds of orchard trees, a land of highest excellence, worthy of no mortal master but the king. He said this because he desired adventures and wanted to be governor of Helus. Finally he worked on Xerxes and persuaded him to do this, and other things happened that helped him to persuade Xerxes. Messengers came from Thessaly from the Elloa Dai, who were princes of Thessaly, and invited the king into Helus with all earnestness. The Pisistradai, who had come up to Sousa, used the same pleas as the Elloa Dai, offering Xerxes even more than they did. They had come up to Sardis with Onomacritus, an Athenian diviner who had set in order the oracles of Musaias. They had reconciled their previous hostility with him. Onomacritus had been banished from Athens by Pisistratus' son Hipparchus, when he was caught by losses of Hermione in the act of interpolating into the writings of Musaias and Oracle, showing that the islands off Lemnos would disappear into the sea. Because of this Hipparchus banished him, though they had previously been close friends. Now he had arrived at Sousa with the Pisistradai, and whenever he came into the king's presence they used lofty words concerning him, and he recited from his oracles. All that pretended disaster to the Persian he left unspoken, choosing and reciting such prophecies as were most favourable, telling how the Hellas pont must be bridged by a man of Persia and describing the expedition. So he brought his oracles to bear while the Pisistradai and the Alawadai gave their opinions. After being persuaded to send an expedition against Hellas, Xerxes first marched against the rebels in the year after Darius' death. He subdued them and laid Egypt under a much harder slavery than in the time of Darius, and he handed it over to Achaemenes, his own brother and Darius' son. While governing Egypt, this Achaemenes was at a later time slain by a Libyan, Inaros, son of Sameticus. After the conquest of Egypt, intending now to take in hand the expedition against Athens, Xerxes held a special assembly of the Novelists among the Persians, so he could learn their opinions and declare his will before them all. When they were assembled, Xerxes spoke to them as follows, Men of Persia, I am not bringing in and establishing a new custom, but following one that I have inherited. As I learned from our elders, we have never yet remained at peace ever since Cyrus deposed Astayagis, and we won this sovereignty from the Medes. It is the will of heaven, and we ourselves win advantage by our many enterprises. No one needs to tell you who will already know them well, which nations, Cyrus and Cumbicis and Darius my father subdued and added to our realm. Ever since I came to this throne, I have considered how I might not fall short of my predecessors in this honour, and not add less power to the Persians. And my considerations persuade me that we may win not only renown, but a land neither less nor worse, and more fertile than that which we now possess, and we would also gain vengeance and requital. For this cause I have now summoned you together, that I may impart to you what I intend to do. It is my intent to bridge the Hellespont and lead my army through Europe to Hellas, so that I may punish the Athenians for what they have done to the Persians and to my father. You saw that Darius my father was set on making an expedition against these men, but he is dead, and it was not granted to him to punish them. On his behalf, and that of all the Persians, I will never rest until I have taken Athens and burnt it, for the unprovoked wrong that its people did to my father and me. First they came to Sardis with our slave Aristagoras the Melisian, and burnt the groves and the temples. Next, how they dealt with us when he landed on their shores when Datus and Artaphonies were our generals, I suppose you all know. For these reasons I am resolved to send an army against them, and I reckon that we will find the following benefits among them. If we subdue those men and their neighbours who dwell in the land of Pelops the Phrygian, we will make the borders of Persian territory and of the Firmament of Heaven be the same. No land that the sun beholds will border ours, but I will make all into one country when I have passed over the whole of Europe. I learned that this is the situation. No city of men or any human nation which is able to meet us in battle will be left, if those of whom I speak are taken out of our way. Thus the guilty and the innocent will alike bear the yoke of slavery. This is how you would best please me. When I declare the time for your coming, every one of you must eagerly appear, and whoever comes with his army best equipped will receive from me such gifts as are reckoned most precious among us. Thus it must be done. But so that I not seem to you to have my own way, I lay the matter before you all, and bid whoever wishes to declare his opinion. So spoke Xerxes and ceased. After him Mardonius said, Master, you surpass not only all Persians that have been, but also all that shall be. Besides having dealt excellently and truly with all other matters, you will not suffer the Ionians who dwell in Europe to laugh at us, which they have no right to do. It would be strange indeed if we who have subdued and made slaves of Sakai and Indians and Ethiopians and Assyrians and many other great nations, for no wrong done to the Persians but of mere desire to add to our power will not take vengeance upon the Greeks for unprovoked wrongs. What have we to fear from them? Have they a massive population or abundance of wealth? Their manner of fighting we know, and we know how weak their power is. We have conquered and hold their sons, those who dwell in our land and are called Ionians and Aeolians and Dorians. I myself have made trial of these men when by your father's command I marched against them. I marched as far as Macedonia and almost to Athens itself, yet none came out to meet me in battle. Yet the Greeks are accustomed to wage wars, as I learn, and they do it most senselessly in their wrong-headedness and folly. When they have declared war against each other, they come down to the fairest and most level ground that they can find and fight there, so that the victors come off with great harm, of the vanquished, I say not so much as a word, for they are utterly destroyed. Since they speak the same language, they should end their disputes by means of heralds or messengers, or by any way rather than fighting. If they must make war upon each other, they should each discover where they are in the strongest position and make the attempt there. The Greek custom, then, is not good, and when I marched as far as the land of Macedonia, it had not come into their minds to fight. But against you, O king, who shall make war? You will bring the multitudes of Asia and all your ships. I think there is not so much boldness in Hell us as that. But if time should show me wrong in my judgment, and those men prove foolhardy enough to do battle with us, they would be taught that we are the greatest warriors on earth. Let us leave nothing untried, for nothing happens by itself, and all man's gains are the fruit of adventure. Thus Mardonia smoothed Xerxes' resolution and stopped. The rest of the Persians held their peace, not daring to utter any opinion contrary to what had been put forward. Then Artabanus, son of Histaspis, the king's uncle, spoke. Relying on his position, he said, O king, if opposite opinions are not uttered, it is impossible for someone to choose the better. The one which has been spoken must be followed. If they are spoken, the better can be found, just as the purity of gold cannot be determined by itself. But when gold is compared to gold by rubbing, we then determine the better. Now, I advise Darius, your father and my brother, not to leave his army against the Scythians, who have no cities anywhere to dwell in. But he hoped to subdue the nomadic Scythians and would not obey me. He went on the expedition and returned after losing many gallant men from his army. You, O king, are proposing to lead your armies against far better men than the Scythians, men who are said to be excellent warriors by sea and land. It is right that I should show you what danger there is in this. You say that you will bridge the Hellespont and march your army through Europe to Hellas. Now, suppose you happen to be defeated, either by land or by sea, or even both. The men are said to be valiant, and we may well guess that it is so, since the Athenians alone destroyed the great army that followed Datus and Artaphanes to Attica. Suppose they do not succeed in both ways. But if they attack with their ships and prevail in a sea fight, then sail to the Hellespont and destroy your bridge, that, O king, is the hour of peril. It is from no wisdom of my own that I thus conjecture. It is because I know what disaster once almost overtook us. When your father, making a highway over the Thracian Bosporus and bridging the river Ister, crossed over to attack the Scythians. At that time the Scythians used every means of entreating the Ionians who had been charged to guard the bridges of the Ister to destroy the way of passage. If Histiaeus, the tyrant of Miletus, had consented to the opinion of the other tyrants instead of opposing it, the power of Persia would have perished. Yet it is dreadful even in the telling that one man should hold in his hand all the king's fortunes. So do not plan to run the risk of any such danger when there is no need for it. Listen to me instead. For now dismiss this assembly. Consider the matter by yourself, and whenever you so please declare what seems best to you. A well-laid plan is always to my mind most profitable. Even if it is thwarted later, the plan was no less good, and it is only chance that has baffled the design. But if fortune favour one who has planned poorly, then he has gotten only a prize of chance, and his plan was no less bad. You see how the gods mites with his thunderbolt creatures of greatness and does not suffer them to display their pride, while little ones do not move him to anger. And you see how it is always on the tallest buildings and trees that his bolts fall, for the god loves to bring low all things of surpassing greatness. Thus a large army is destroyed by a smaller, when the jealous god sends panic or the thunderbolt among them, and they perish unworthily. For the god suffers pride in none but himself. Now haste is always the parent of failure, and great damages are likely to arise. But in waiting there is good, and in time this becomes clear, even though it does not seem so in the present. This, O king, is my advice to you. But you, Mardonia's son of Gobrius, cease your foolish words about the Greeks, for they do not deserve to be maligned. By slandering the Greeks you incite the king to send this expedition. That is the end to which you press all eagerness. Let it not be so. Slander is a terrible business. There are two in it who do wrong, and one who suffers wrong. The slanderer wrongs another by accusing an absent man, and the other does wrong in that he is persuaded before he has learned the whole truth. The absent man does not hear what is said of him, and suffers wrong in the matter, being maligned by the one and condemned by the other. If an army must by all means be sent against these Greeks, hear me now, let the king himself remain in the Persian land, and let us two stake our children's lives upon it. You lead out the army, choosing whatever men you wish, and taking as great an army as you desire. If the king's fortunes fair as you say, let my sons be slain, and myself with them. But if it turns out as I foretell, let your sons be so treated, and you likewise if you return. But if you are unwilling to submit to this, and will at all hazards lead your army overseas to Hellas, then I think that those left behind in this place will hear that Mardonia's has done great harm to Persia, and has been torn apart by dogs and birds in the lands of Athens or of Lacodimon, if not even before that on the way there. And that you have learned what kind of men you persuade the king to attack. Thus spoke Artabanus, Xerxes answered angrily, Artabanus, you are my father's brother, that will save you from receiving the fitting reward of foolish words. But for your cowardly lack of spirit I lay upon you this disgrace, that you will not go with me and my army but will stay here with the women. I myself will accomplish all that I have said with no help from you. May I not be the son of Darius, son of Hestaspis, son of Arsamis, son of Ari Araminis, son of Taspis, son of Cyrus, son of Cambyses, son of Taspis, son of Achaemenis, if I do not have vengeance on the Athenians. I well know that if we remain at peace they will not. They will assuredly invade our country if we may infer from what they have done already, for they burnt Sardis and marched into Asia. It is not possible for either of us to turn back, to do or to suffer as our task, so that what is ours be under the Greeks or what is theirs under the Persians, there is no middle way in our quarrel. Honor then demands that we avenge ourselves for what has been done to us. Thus will I learn what is this evil that will befall me when I march against these Greeks, men that even Pelops, the Phrygian, the slave of my forefathers, did so utterly subdue that to this day they in their country are called by the name of their conqueror. Volume 3 Part 2 of Herodotus' Histories This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Rachel Klippenstein Histories Volume 3 by Herodotus of Hala Karnassus Translated by Ed Godly Part 2 The discussion went that far. Then night came, and Xerxes was pricked by the advice of Artabanus. Thinking it over at night, he saw clearly that to send an army against Helas was not his affair. He made this second resolve and fell asleep. Then, so the Persians say, in the night he saw this vision. It seemed to Xerxes that a tall and handsome man stood over him and said, Are you then changing your mind, Persian, and will not lead the expedition against Helas? Although you have proclaimed the mustering of the army, it is not good for you to change your mind, and there will be no one here to pardon you for it. Let your course be along the path you resolved upon yesterday. So the vision spoke, and seemed to Xerxes to vanish away. When day dawned, the king took no account of this dream, and he assembled the Persians whom he had before gathered together and addressed them thus. Persians, forgive me for turning and twisting in my purpose. I have not yet come to the fullness of my wisdom, and I am never free from people who exhort me to do as I said. It is true that when I heard Artabanus's opinion, my youthful spirit immediately boiled up, and I burst out with an unseemly and wrongful answer to one older than myself. But now I see my fault and will follow his judgment. Be at peace, since I have changed my mind about marching against Helas. When the Persians heard that, they rejoiced and made obeisance to him. They began over Xerxes as he slept and said, Son of Darius, have you then plainly renounced your army's march among the Persians and made my words of no account as though you had not heard them? Know for certain that if you do not lead your army out immediately, this will be the outcome of it. As you became great and mighty in a short time, so in a moment will you be brought low again. Greatly frightened by the vision, Xerxes leapt up from his bed and sent out messenger to summon Artabanus. Xerxes said, Artabanus, for a moment I was of unsound mind and I answered your good advice with foolish words. But after no long time I repented and saw that it was right for me to follow your advice. Yet, though I desire to, I cannot do it. Ever since I turned back and repented a vision keeps coming to haunt my sight and it will not allow me to do as you advise. Just now it has threatened me and gone. Now if a god is sending the vision and it is his full pleasure that there the vision against Hellas take place that same dream will hover about you and give you the same command as it gives me. I believe that this is most likely to happen if you take all my apparel and sit wearing it upon my throne and then lie down to sleep in my bed. Xerxes said this but Artabanus would not obey the first command thinking it was not right for him to sit on the royal throne. At last he was compelled and did as he was bid, saying first O king, I judge it of equal worth whether a man is wise or willing to obey good advice. To both of these you have attained but the company of bad men trips you up. Just as they say that C of all things the most serviceable to man is hindered from following its nature by the blasts of wind that fall upon it. It was not that I heard harsh words from you that stung me so much as that when two opinions were laid before the Persians one tending to the increase of pride and abatement, showing how evil a thing it is to teach the heart continual desire of more than it has of these two opinions you preferred that one which was more fraught with danger to yourself and to the Persians. Now when you have turned to the better opinion you say that while intending to abandon the expedition against the Greeks, you are haunted by a dream sent by some god which forbids you to disband the expedition. But this is none of heaven's working my son the roving dreams that visit man of such nature as I shall teach you since I am many years older than you. Those visions that rove about us in dreams are for the most part the thoughts of the day and in these recent days we have been very busy with this expedition. But if this is not as I determine and it has something divine to it then you have spoken the conclusion of the matter let it appear to me just as it has to you and utter its command. If it really wishes to appear it should do so to me no more by virtue of my wearing your dress instead of mine and my sleeping in your bed rather than in my own. Whatever it is that appears to you in your sleep surely it has not come to such folly as to infer from your dress that I am you when it sees me. We must now learn if it will take no account of me and not deign to appear and haunt me whether I am wearing your robes or my own but will come to you. If it comes continually I myself would say that it is something divine. If you were determined that this must be done and there is no averting it then I must lie down to sleep in your bed so be it. This duty I will fulfill and let the vision appear also to me but until then I will keep my present opinion. So spoke Artabanus and did as he was bid hoping to prove Xerxes words vain. He put on Xerxes robes and sat on the king's throne. Then while he slept there came to him in his sleep the same dream that had haunted Xerxes. It stood over him and spoke thus. Are you the one who dissuades Xerxes tell us because you care for him? Neither in the future nor now will you escape with impunity for striving to turn aside what must be. To Xerxes himself it has been declared what will befall him if he disobeys. With this threat so it seemed to Artabanus the vision was about to burn his eyes with hot irons. He leapt up with a loud cry then sat by Xerxes and told him the whole story of what he had seen in his dream and next he said O king, since I have seen as much as a man may, how the greater has often been brought low by the lesser I forbade you to always give reign to your youthful spirit knowing how evil a thing it is to have many desires and remembering the end of Xerxes' expedition against the Masa Getai and of Kambises against the Ethiopians and I myself marched with Tharius against the Scythians. Knowing this I judged that you had only to remain in peace for all men to deem you fortunate but since there is some divine motivation and it seems that the gods mark Helus for destruction I myself change and correct my judgment now declare the gods message to the Persians and bid them obey your first command for all due preparation do this so that nothing on your part be lacking to the fulfilment of the gods commission after this was said they were incited by the vision and when daylight came Xerxes imparted all this to the Persians Artabanus now openly encouraged that course which he alone had before openly discouraged Xerxes was now intent on the expedition and then saw a third vision in his sleep which the Magi interpreted to refer to the whole earth and to signify that all men should be his slaves this was the vision Xerxes thought that he was crowned with an olive bow of which the shoots spread over the whole earth and then the crown vanished from off his head where it was set the Magi interpreted it in this way and immediately every single man of the Persians assembled rode away to his own province and there used all zeal to fulfil the king's command each desiring to receive the promised gifts thus it was that Xerxes mustered his army searching out every part of the continent for a full four years after the conquest of Egypt he was equipping his force and preparing all that was needed for it before the fifth year was completed he set forth on his march with the might of a great multitude this was by far the greatest of all the expeditions that we know of the one that Darius led against the Scythians is nothing compared to it neither is the Scythian expedition when they burst into media in pursuit of the Cimmerians and subdued and ruled almost all the upper lands of Asia it was for this that Darius afterwards attempted to punish them according to the reports the expedition led by the sons of Atreus against Troy is also nothing by comparison neither is the one of the Mycenaeans and Tuqueans which before the Trojan war crossed the Bosporus into Europe subdued all the Thracians and came down to the Ionian sea marching southward as far as the river Penaeus all these expeditions and whatever others have happened in addition could not together be compared with this single one for what nation did Xerxes not lead from Asia against Helus what water did not fail when being drunk up except only the greatest rivers some people supplied him with ships some were enrolled in his infantry some were assigned the provision of horsemen others of horse bearing transports to follow the army and others again of warships for the bridges or of food and ships since those who had earlier attempted to sail around Athos and suffered shipwreck for about three years preparations had been underway there triremes were anchored off Elias and the Kersenis with these for their headquarters all sorts of men in the army were compelled by whippings to dig a canal coming by turns to the work the inhabitants about Athos also dug Bubbares son of Megabasus and Artacais son of Artaeus both Persians were the overseers of the workmen Athos is a great and famous mountain running out into the sea and inhabited by men at the mountain's landward end it is in the form of a peninsula and there is an isthmus about 12 stadia wide here is a place of level ground or little hills from the sea by a canthus to the sea opposite to Rhone on this isthmus which is at the end of Athos there stands a greek town Sanay there are other situated seaward of Sanay and landward of Athos and the persian now intended to make them into island and not mainland towns they are Dion, Olifixus, Acrothum Thysus and Cleoni these are the towns situated on Athos the foreigners dug as follows dividing up the ground by nation they made a straight line near the town of Sanay when the channel had been dug to some depth some men stood at the bottom of it and dug others took the dirt as it was dug out and delivered it to yet others that stood higher on stages and they again to others as they received it until they came to those that were highest these carried it out and threw it away for all except the Phoenicians the steep sides of the canal caved in doubling their labour since they made the span the same bread that its mouth and at the bottom this was bound to happen but the Phoenicians showed the same skill in this what else they do taking in hand the portion that fell to them they dug by making the topmost span of the canal as wide again as the canal was to be and narrowed it as they worked lower until at the bottom their work was of the same span as that of the others there is a meadow there where they made a place for buying and marketing much ground grain frequently came to them from Asia as far as I can judge by conjecture Xerxes gave the command for this digging out of pride wishing to display his power and leave a memorial with no trouble they could have drawn their ships across the ithsmas yet he ordered them to dig a canal from sea to sea wide enough to float two triremes rowed abreast the same men who were assigned the digging were also assigned to join the banks of the river Strymon by a bridge thus Xerxes did this he assigned the Phoenicians and Egyptians to make ropes of papyrus and white flax for the bridges and to store provisions for his army so that neither the army nor the beasts of burden would starve on the march to Helas after making inquiry he ordered them to store it in the most fitting places carrying it to the various places from all parts of Asia in cargo ships and transports they brought most of it to the white headland as it is called in Thrace some were dispatched to Tarodiza in the Perinthian country or to Doriscus others to Aeon on the Strymon or to Macedonia while these worked at their appointed task all the land force had been mustered and was marching with Xerxes to Sardis setting forth from Kretala in Cappadocia which was the place appointed for gathering all the army that was to march with Xerxes himself by land now which of his governors received the promised gifts from the king for bringing the best-equipped army I cannot say I do not even know if the matter was ever determined when they had crossed the river Halas and entered Phrygia they marched through that country to Kalinai where arises the source of the river Myander and another river no smaller which is called Kataraktis it rises right in the marketplace of Kalinai and issues into the Myander the skin of Marcius the Silenus also hangs there the Phrygian story tells that it was flayed off him and hung up by Apollo in this city Pythias son of Attis a Lydian sat awaiting them he entertained Xerxes himself and all the king's army with the greatest hospitality and declared himself willing to provide money for the war when Pythias offered the money Xerxes asked the Persians present who this Pythias was and how much wealth he possessed in making the offer they said O King, this is the one who gave your father Darius the gift of a golden plane tree and vine he is now the richest man we know of after you Xerxes marveled at this last saying and next himself asked Pythias how much wealth he had O King said Pythias I will not conceal the quantity of my property from you nor pretend that I do not know I know and will tell you the exact truth as soon as I had learned that you were coming down to the Greek sea I wanted to give you money for the war so I inquired into the matter and my reckoning showed me that I had two thousand talents of silver and four million direct status of gold lacking seven thousand all this I freely give to you for myself I have sufficient livelihood from my slaves and my farms thus he spoke Xerxes was pleased with what he said and replied my Lydian friend since I came out of Persia I have so far met with no man who was willing to give hospitality to my army nor who came into my presence unsummoned and offered to furnish money for the war besides you but you have entertained my army nobly and offer me great sums in return for this I give you these privileges I make you my friend and out of my own wealth I give you seven thousand status which will complete your total of four million so that your four million not lack the seven thousand and the even number be reached by my completing it remain in possession of what you now possess and be mindful to be always such as you are neither for the present nor in time will you regret what you now do Xerxes said this and made good his words then journeyed ever onward passing by the Phrygian town called Anawa and the lake from which salt is obtained he came to Colossae a great city in Phrygia where the liver Lycus plunges into a cleft in the earth and disappears until it reappears about five stadia away this river issues into the myander from Colossae the army held its course for the borders of Phrygia and Lydia and came to the city of Qaidrara where there stands a pillar set up by Croesus which marks the boundary with an inscription passing from Phrygia into Lydia he came to the place where the roads part the road on the left leads to Caria the one on the right to Sardis on the latter the traveller must cross the river myander and pass by the city of Calatibus where craftsmen make honey out of wheat and tamarisks Xerxes went by this road and found a plain tree which he adorned with gold because of its beauty and he assigned one of his immortals to guard it on the next day he reached the city of the Lydians after he arrived in Sardis he first sent heralds to Helas to demand earth and water and to command the preparation of meals for the king he sent demands for earth everywhere except to Athens and Lacodimon the reason for his sending for earth and water the second time was this he fully believed that whoever had not previously given it to Darius's messengers would now be compelled to give by fear so he sent out of desire to know this for certain after this he prepared to march to Abidus meanwhile his men were bridging the helispont from Asia to Europe on the Cresonace which is on the helispont between the city of Cestus and Madytus there is a broad headland running out from the sea opposite Abidus it was here that not long afterward the Athenians when Xanthippus son of Arafron was their general took Artaictes a Persian and the governor of Cestus and crucified him alive he had been in the habit of bringing women right into the temple of Protossilaus at Elias and doing impious deeds there the men who had been given this assignment made bridges starting from Abidus across to that headland the Phoenicians one of flaxen cables and the Egyptians a papyrus one from Abidus to the opposite shore it is a distance of seven stadia but no sooner had the straight been bridged than a great storm swept down breaking and scattering everything when Xerxes heard of this he was very angry and commanded that the helispont be whipped with 300 lashes and a pair of fetters be thrown into the sea they have even heard that he sent branders with them to brand the helispont he commanded them while they whipped to utter words outlandish and presumptuous bitter water our master thus punishes you because you did him wrong though he had done you none Xerxes the king will pass over you whether you want it or not in accordance with justice no one offers you sacrifice for you are a turbid and briny river he commanded that the sea receive these punishments and that the overseers of the bridge should be beheaded so this was done by those who were appointed to the thankless honour and new engineers set about making the bridges they made the bridges as follows in order to lighten the strain of the cables they placed 50 oared ships and triremes alongside each other 360 to bear the bridge nearest the Eucsene sea and 314 to bear the other all lay obliquely to the line of the pontis and parallel with the current of the helispont after putting the ships together they let down very great anchors both from the end of the ships on the pontis side to hold fast against the winds blowing from within that sea and from the other end towards the west in the Aegean to hold against the west and south winds they left a narrow opening to sail through in the line of 50 oared ships and triremes so that whoever wanted to could sail by small craft to the pontis or out of it after doing this they stretched the cables from the land twisting them taut with wooden windlasses they did not as before keep the two kinds apart but assigned for each bridge two cables of flax and four of papyrus all these had the same thickness and fine appearance but the flaxen were heavier in proportion for a cubit of them weighed a talent when the strait was thus bridged they sawed logs of wood to a length equal to the breadth of the floating supports and laid them in order on the taut cables after placing them together they then made them fast after doing this they carried brushwood onto the bridge when this was all laid in order they heaped up earth on it and stamped it down then they made a fence on either side so that the beasts of burden and horses not be frightened by the sight of the sea below them and of volume 3 part 2 recording by Rachel Klippenstein here please visit LibriVox.org recording by Anna Simon histories volume 3 by Herodotus of Helacarnassus translated by Edie Gottlie part 3 when the bridges and the work at Athas were ready and both the dykes of the canal's entrances built to prevent the surf from silting up the entrances of the duck passage and the canal itself were reported to be now completely finished the army then wintered. At the beginning of spring the army made ready and set forth from Sardis to march to Aberdas as it was setting out the sun left his place in the heaven and was invisible although the sky was without clouds and very clear and the day turned into night when Xerxes saw and took note of that he was concerned and asked the magi what the vision might signify they declared to him that the god was showing the Greeks the abandonment of their cities for the sun they said was the prophet of the Greeks as the moon was their own Xerxes rejoiced exceedingly to hear that and continued on his march as Xerxes led his army away Pythias the Lydian frightened by the heavenly vision and encouraged by the gifts that he had received came to Xerxes and said master ask that I desire of you easy for you to grant and precious for me to receive Xerxes supposed that Pythias would demand anything rather than what he did ask and answered that he would grant the request bidding him declare what he desired when Pythias heard this he took courage and said master I have five sons and all of them are constrained to march with you against Hellos O king take pity on me in my advanced age and release one of my sons the eldest from service so that he may take care of me and of my possessions take the four others with you and may you return back with all your plans accomplished Xerxes became very angry and thus replied villain you see me marching against Hellos myself and taking with me my friends do you my slave who should have followed me with all your household and your very wife speak to me of your son be well assured of this that a man's spirit dwells in his ears when it hears good words it fills the whole body with delight but when it hears the opposite it swells with anger when you did me good service and promised more you will never boast that you outdid your king and now that you have turned aside to the way of shamelessness you will receive a lesser acquittal than your merit you and four of your sons are saved by your hospitality but you shall be punished by the life of that one you most desire to keep with that reply he immediately ordered those who were assigned to do these things to find the Elders of Pythias sons and cut him in half then to set one half of his body on the right side of the road and the other on the left so that the army would pass between them this they did and the army passed between first went the baggage train and the beasts of burden and after them a mixed army of all sorts of nations not according to their divisions but all mingled together when more than half had passed there was a space left and these did not come near the king after that first came a thousand horsemen chosen out of all persians next a thousand spearmen picked men like the others carrying their spears reversed and after them ten horses of the breed called Nessian equipped most splendidly the horses are called Nessian because there is in Medea a wide plain of that name where the great horses are bred behind these ten horses was the place of the sacred chariot of Zeus drawn by eight white horses with the charioteer following the horses on foot and holding the reins for no mortal man may mount into that seat after these came Xerxes himself in a chariot drawn by Nessian horses beside him was his charioteer whose name was Pater Amphis the son of Athanas a Persian in this way Xerxes rode out from Sardis but whenever the thought took him he would alight from the chariot into a carriage behind him came a thousand spearmen of the best and noblest blood of Persia carrying their spears in the customary manner after them a thousand picked Persian horsemen and after the horse ten thousand that were foot soldiers chosen out of the rest of the Persians one thousand of these had golden pomegranates on their spear shafts instead of a spike and surrounded the rest the nine thousand who were inside them had silver pomegranates those who held their spears reversed also carried golden pomegranates and those following nearest to Xerxes had apples of gold after the ten thousand came ten thousand Persian horsemen in a ray after these there was a space of two stadia and then the rest of the multitude followed all mixed together from Lydia the army took its course to the river Caicos and the land of Misia leaving the Caicos they went through Aeternius to the city of Carine keeping the mountain of Cain on the left from there they journeyed over the plain of Thebes passing the city of Adramitium and the Plescian city of Atandos then they came into the territory of Ilium with Aida on their left when they had hold it for the night at the foot of Aida their lightening fell upon them killing a great crowd of them there when the army had come to the river Scamander which was the first river after the beginning of their march from Sardis that fell short of their needs and was not sufficient for the army and the cattle to drink arriving at this river Xerxes ascended to the citadel of Prium having a desire to see it after he saw it and asked about everything there he sacrificed a thousand cattle to Athena of Ilium and the magi offered libations to the heroes after they did this a panic fell upon the camp in the night when it was day they journeyed on from there keeping on their left the cities of Rhaetium and Ofrinium and Dardanus which borders Ebedus and on their right the Tucrian Gerchite when they were at Ebedus Xerxes wanted to see the whole of his army the city seat of Whitestone had been set up for him on a hill there for this very purpose built by the people of Ebedus of the king's command there he sat and looked down on the seashore viewing his army and his fleet as he viewed them he desired to see the ships contend in a race they did so and the Phoenicians of Sidon won Xerxes was pleased with the race and with his expedition when he saw the whole helispond covered with ships and all the shores and plains of Ebedus full of men Xerxes first declared himself blessed and then wept his uncle Artabanus perceived this he when the beginning had spoken his mind freely and advised Xerxes not to march against Helus marking how Xerxes wept he questioned him and said oh king what a distance there is between what you are doing now and a little while ago after declaring yourself blessed you weep Xerxes said I was moved to compassion when I considered the shortness of all human life since of all this multitude of men not one will be alive a hundred years from now Artabanus answered in one life we have deeper sorrows to bear than that short as our lives are there is no human being either here or elsewhere so fortunate that it will not occur to him often and not just once to wish himself dead rather than human life misfortunes fall upon us and sicknesses trouble us so that they make life though short seem long life is so miserable a thing that death has become the most desirable refuge for humans the god is found to be envious in this giving us only a taste of the sweetness of living Xerxes answered and said Artabanus human life is such as you define it to be no more of that nor remember evils in our present prosperous estate but tell me this if you had not seen the vision in your dream so clearly would you still have held your former opinion and advised me not to march against Hellos or would you have changed your mind come tell me this truly Artabanus answered and said oh king may the vision that appeared in my dream bring such an end as we both desire that I am even now full of fear and beside myself for many reasons especially when I see that the two greatest things in the world are your greatest enemies Xerxes made this response are you possessed what are these two things that you say are my greatest enemies is there some fault with the numbers of my land army does it seem that the Greek army will be many times greater than ours or do you think that our navy will fall short of theirs or that the fault is in both if our power seems to you to lack anything in this regard it would be best to muster another army as quickly as possible Artabanus answered and said oh king there is no fault that any man of sound judgment could find either with this army or with a number of your ships and if you gather more those two things I speak of become even much more your enemies these two are the land and the sea the sea has nowhere any harbor as I conjecture that will be able to receive this navy and save your ships if a storm arrives yet there has to be not just one such harbor but many of them all along the land you're sailing by since there are no harbors able to receive you understand that men are the subjects and not the rulers of their accidents I've spoken of one of the two and now I will tell you of the other the land is your enemy in this way if nothing is going to stand in your way and hinder you the land becomes more your enemy the further your advance constantly unaware of what lies beyond no man is ever satisfied with success so I say that if no one opposes you the increase of your territory and the time passed in getting it will breed famine the best man is one who is timid while making plans because he takes into account all that may happen to him but is bold in action Xerxes answered Artabanus you define these matters reasonably but do not fear everything nor take account of all alike if you wanted to take everything equally into account on every occasion that happens you would never do anything it is better to do everything boldly and suffer half of what you dread than to fear all chances and so never suffer anything but if you quarrel with whatever is said yet cannot put forth a secure position you must be proved as wrong on your part as he who holds the contrary opinion in this both are alike how can someone who is only human know where there is security I think it is impossible those who have the will to act most often win the rewards not those who hesitate and take account of all chances you see what power Persia has attained now if those kings who came before me had held such opinions as yours or if they had not held them but had had advisors like you you would never have seen our fortunes at their present height but as it is those kings ran the risks and advanced them to this height great successes are not won except by great risks so we will do as they did and we will return home the conquerors of all Europe without suffering famine or any other harm anywhere first we carry ample provisions with us on our march second we will have the food of those whose land and nation we invade for we are marching against men who are tillers of the soil not nomads then said Artabanus oh king I see that you will not allow us to fear any danger but take from me this advice as there is need for much speaking when our affairs are so great Cyrus son of Cambus subdued and made tributary to Persia all Ionians except only the Athenians I advise you by no means to lead these Ionians against the land of their fathers since even without their aid we are well able to overcome our enemies if they come with our army they must either behave very unjustly by enslaving their mother city or very justly by aiding it to be free if they deal very unjustly they bring us no great advantage but by dealing very justly they may well do great harm to your army take to heart the truth of that ancient saying that the end of every matter is not revealed at its beginning Cyrus answered Artabanus in all your pronouncements you are most mistaken when you fear that the Ionians might change sides we have the surest guarantee for them and you and all who marched with Darius against the Skitians can bear witness they had the power to destroy or to save the whole Persian army and they gave proof of their justice and faithfulness with no evil intent moreover since they have left their children and wives and possessions in our country we need not consider it even possible that they will make any violent change so be rid of that fear keep a stout heart and guard my household and tyranny to you alone I entrust the symbols of my kingship Cyrus spoke thus and sent Artabanus away to Sousa he next sent for the most notable among the Persians and when they were present he said Persians I have assembled you to make this demand that you bear yourselves bravely and never sully the great and glorious achievements of the Persians let us each and all be zealous for the good that we seek is common to all for these reasons I bid you set your hands to the war strenuously I know that we march against valiant man and if we overcome them it is certain that no other human army will ever withstand us let us now cross over after praying to the gods who hold Persia for their allotted realm all that day they made preparations for the crossing on the next they waited until they could see the sunrise burning all kinds of incense on the bridges and strewing the road with myrtle bows at sunrise Cyrus poured a libation from a golden file into the sea praying to the sun that no excellent might befool him which would keep him from subduing Europe before he reached its farthest borders after the prayer he cast a file into the helispond and along with it a golden bowl and a Persian sword which they call arxianasis as for these I cannot rightly determine whether he cast them into the sea for offerings to the sun or repented having whipped the helispond and gave gifts to the sea as atonement when they had done this they crossed over the foot and horse all by the bridge nearest to the Pontus a service train by the bridge towards the Aegean the 10,000 Persians all wearing garlands led the way and after them came the mixed army of diverse nations all that day these crossed on the next first crossed the horsemen and the ones who carried their spears reversed these also wore garlands after them came the sacred horses and the sacred chariot then Cyrus himself and the spearmen and the thousand horse and after them the rest of the army meanwhile the ships put out and crossed to the opposite shore but I've also heard that the king crossed last of all when Cyrus had passed over to Europe he viewed his army crossing under the lash seven days and seven nights it was in crossing with no pause it is said that when Cyrus had now crossed the helispond a man of the helispond cried oh Zeus why have you taken a likeness of a Persian man and changed your name to Cyrus leading the whole world with you to remove Helos from its place you could have done that without these means when all had passed over and were ready for the road a great portent appeared among them Cyrus took no account of it although it was easy to interpret a mare gave birth to a hare the meaning of it was easy to guess Cyrus was to march his army to Helos with great pump and pride but to come back to the same place fleeing for his life there was another portent that was shown to him at Sardis a mule gave birth to a mule that had double genitals both male and female the male above the other but he took no account of either sign and journeyed onward the land army was with him his navy sailed out of the helispond and travelled along the land going across from the land army the ships sailed westwards laying their course for the headland of Sarpidon where Xerxes had ordered them to go and wait for him the army of the mainland travelled towards the east and the sunrise through the Chersonesi with the tomb of Athamas daughter Heli on its right and the town of Cardia on its left marching through the middle of a city called Agora from there they rounded the head of the black bay as it is called and crossed the black river which could not hold its own then against the army but gave out crossing this river which gives its name to the bay they went westwards past the Iolian city of Enus and the marsh of Stento until they came to Doriscus the territory of Doriscus is in Thrace a wide plain by the sea and through it flows a great river the hebras here had been built that royal fortress called Doriscus and a Persian guard had been posted there by Darius ever since the time of his march against Chitya it seemed to Xerxes to be a fit place for him to arrange and number his army and he did so all the ships had now arrived at Doriscus and the captains at Xerxes command brought them to the beach near Doriscus where stands the Semothracian city of Seini and Zoni at the end is Seriam and this country was in former days possessed by the Sikonis to this beach they brought in their ships and hold them up for rest meanwhile Xerxes made a reckoning of his forces at Doriscus I cannot give the exact number that each part contributed to the total for there is no one who tells us that but the total of the whole land army was shown to be one million and seven hundred thousand they were counted in this way ten thousand men were collected in one place and when they were packed together as closely as could be a line was drawn around them when this was drawn the ten thousand were sent away and the wall of stones was built on a line reaching up to a man's naval when this was done the others were brought into the world space until in this way all were numbered when they had been numbered they were marshaled by nations end of volume 3 part 3 volume 3 part 4 of Herodotus's histories this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Jason Tierney histories volume 3 by Herodotus of Halle Carnassus translated by E.D. Godly part 4 the men who served in the army were the following the Persians were equipped in this way they wore on their heads loose caps called tiaras and on their bodies embroidered sleeved tunics with scales of iron like the scales of fish in appearance and trousers on their legs for shields they had wicker bucklers with quivers hanging beneath them they carried short spears long bows and reed arrows and daggers that hung from the girdle by the right thigh their commander was Atonis, son of Amestris and father of Xerxes's wife they were formerly called by the Greeks Saphonis by themselves and their neighbors Artaea when Perseus, son of Denai and Zeus had come to Saphius son of Belos and married his daughter Andromeda a son was born to him whom he called Perses and he left him there for Saphius had no male offspring it was from this Perses that the Persians took their name the Medes in the army were equipped like the Persians indeed, that fashion of armor is Median, not Persian their commander was Tigranis and Achaemenid the Medes were formerly called by everyone Arians but when the Colchian woman Medea came from Athens to the Arians they changed their name like the Persians this is the Medes own account of themselves the Sisyons in the army were equipped like the Persians but they wore turbans instead of caps their commander was Anaphis, son of Atenis the Hurcanians were armed like the Persians their leader was Megaponus who was afterwards the governor of Babylon the Assyrians in the army wore on their heads helmets of twisted bronze made in an outlandish fashion not easy to describe they carried shields and spears and daggers of Egyptian fashion and also wooden clubs studded with iron and they wore linen breastplates they are called by the Greeks Syrians but the foreigners called them Assyrians with them were the Chaldeans their commander was Ataspis son of Artaquis the Bactrians in the army wore a headgear very similar to the Median carrying their native reed bows and short spears the Sakai who are Scythians had on their heads tall caps erect and stiff and tapering to a point they wore trousers and carried their native bows and daggers and also axes which they called Sagaris these were Amyrgian Scythians but were called Sakai that is the Persian name for all Scythians the commander of the Bactrians and Sakai was Histaspis son of Darius and Cyrus's daughter Atasa the Indians wore garments of tree wool and carried reed bows and iron tipped reed arrows such was their equipment they were appointed to march under the command of Farnizathri's son of Artabatis the Aryans were equipped with Median bows but in all else like the Bactrians their commander was Sasamni's son of Hadarnis the Parthians, Charasmians Sogdeans, Gondarians and Dadaqai in the army had the same equipment as the Bactrians the Parthians and Charasmians had for their commander Artabasis son of Farnakis the Sogdeans, Azani's son of Artaios the Gondarians and Dadaqai son of Artabanis the Caspians in the army wore cloaks and carried their native reed bows and short swords such was their equipment their leader was Aryomardus brother of Artifius the Sarangai were conspicuous in their dyed garments and knee-high boots carrying bows and Median spears their commander was Ferendati's son of Megabasus the Pactiis wore cloaks and carried their native bows and daggers their commander was Artainti's son of Ithamitris the Uthians and Miccians and Paracanians were equipped like the Pactiis the Uthians and Miccians had for their commander Arsamini's son of Darius the Paracanians Seromitris's son of Boyabasus the Arabians wore mantles girded up and carried at their right side long bows curving backwards the Ethiopians were wrapped in skins of leopards and lions and carried bows made of palm wood strips no less than four cubits long and short arrows pointed not with iron but with a sharpened stone that they used to carve seals furthermore they had spears pointed with a gazelle's horn sharpened like a lance and also studded clubs when they went into battle they painted half their bodies with gypsum and the other half with vermilion the Arabians and the Ethiopians who dwell above Egypt had as commander Arsamini's the son of Darius an artistinie daughter of Cyrus whom Darius loved best of his wives he had an image made of her of hammered gold the Ethiopians above Egypt and the Arabians had Arsamis for commander while the Ethiopians of the east for there were two kinds of them in the army served with the Indians they were not different in appearance from the others only in speech and hair the Ethiopians from the east are straight haired but the ones from Libya have the wolliest hair of all men these Ethiopians of Asia were for the most part armed like the Indians but they wore on their heads the skins of horses foreheads stripped from the head with ears and mane the mane served them for a crest and they wore the horses ears stiff and upright for shields they had bucklers of the skin of cranes the Libyans came in leather garments using javelins of burnt wood their commander was Masagi's son of Orizus the pathologonians in the army had woven helmets on their heads and small shields and short spears and also javelins and daggers they wore their native shoes that reached midway to the knee the Ligueese and Matieni and Mariantini and Syrians were equipped like the pathologonians these Syrians are called by the Persians Cappadocians Dodes son of Megasidrus was commander of the pathologonians and Matieni, Gobrius son of Darius and Artistini of the Mariantini and Ligueese and Syrians the Phrygian equipment was very similar to the pathologonian with only a small difference as the Macedonians say these Phrygians were called Brigace as long as they dwelt in Europe where they were neighbors of the Macedonians but when they changed their home to Asia they changed their name also and were called Phrygians the Armenians who were settlers from Phrygia were armed like the Phrygians both these together had as their commander Artachmi's who had married a daughter of Darius the Lydian armor was most similar to the Greek the Lydians were formerly called Mayones until they changed their name and were called after Lydus son of Attis the Mizzians wore on their heads their native helmets carrying small shields and javelins of burnt wood they are settlers from Lydia and are called Olympieni after the mountain Olympus the commander of the Lydians and Mizzians was that Artifrenes son of Artifrenes who attacked Marathon with Datus the Thracians in the army they wore fox skin caps on their heads and tunics on their bodies over these they wore embroidered mantles they had shoes of fond skin on their feet and legs they also had javelins and little shields and daggers they took the name of Bithynians after they crossed over to Asia before that they were called as they themselves say Stremonians since they lived by the Stremon they say that they were driven from their homes by Tukrians and Mizzians the commander of the Thracians of Asia was Basakis son of Artifrenes the Pesitians had little shields of raw oxide each man carried two wolf hunters spears they wore helmets of bronze and on these helmets were the ears and horns of oxen wrought in bronze and also crests their legs were wrapped around with strips of purple rags among these men is a place of divination sacred to Ares the Kabbalis who are Mayones and are called Lasanii had the same equipment as the Solitians when I come in my narrative to the place of the Solitians I will then declare what it was the Milii had short spears and garments fastened by brooches some of them carried licky and bows and wore caps of skin on their heads the commander of all these was Badre's son of Histanis the Mosque wore wooden helmets on their heads and carried shields and small spears with long points the Tibereni and Macrones and Masanoike in the army were quipped like the Mosque the commanders who marshaled them were for the Mosque and Tibereni are Yomardis son of Darius and Parmus the daughter of Cyrus' son Smeridus for the Macrones and Masanoike are Tyukti's son of Charasmus who was governor of Cestis on the Helismont the Marais wore on their heads their native woven helmets and carried javelins and small hide shields the Kolkians had wooden helmets and small shields of raw oxide and short spears and also swords the commander of the Marais and Kolkians was Farandati's son of Teaspus the Alerodians and Saspiris in the army were armed like the Kolkians Massassistius son of Cerometres was their commander the island tribes that came from the Red Sea and from the islands where the king settles those who were called exiles wore dress and armor very similar to the Median the commander of these islanders was Mardonte's son of Bagaius who in the next year was general who died in the battle these are the nations that marched by the mainland and had their places in the infantry the commanders of this army were those whom I have mentioned and they were the ones who marshaled and numbered them and appointed captains of thousands and ten thousands the captains of ten thousands appointed the captains of hundreds and of tens there were others who were leaders of companies and nations these were the commanders as I have said the generals of these and of the whole infantry were Mardonte's son of Gobrius Titan Tachemis son of that Artabanus who deliver the opinion that there should be no expedition against Helas Smer Domini's son of Atenis these two latter were sons of Darius's brothers and thus they were Cerksis's cousins Massistius son of Darius and Otasa Gergis son of Ariasus and Megabaisus son of Zopyrus these were the generals of the whole infantry except the ten thousand Hedarnes son of Hedarnes was general of these picked ten thousand Persians who were called immortals for this reason when any one of them was forced to fall out of the number by death or sickness another was chosen so that they were never more or fewer than ten thousand the Persians showed the richest adornment of all and they were the best men in the army their equipment was such as I have said beyond this they stood out by the abundance of gold that they had they also brought carriages bearing concubines and many well equipped servants camels and beasts of burden carried food for them apart from the rest of the army there are horsemen in these nations but not all of them furnished cavalry only the following did so the Persians equipped like their infantry except that some of them wore head gear of hammered bronze and iron there are also certain nomads called Sigartian they are Persian in speech and the fashion of their equipment is somewhat between the Persian and the Pactian they furnished eight thousand horsemen it is their custom to carry no armor of bronze or iron except only daggers and to use ropes of twisted leather they go to battle relying on these this is the manner of fighting of these men when they are at close quarters with their enemy they throw their ropes which have a noose at the end whatever he catches horse or man each man drags to himself and the enemy is entangled in the coils and slain such as their manner of fighting they were marshaled with the Persians the Median cavalry were equipped like their infantry and the Ciccians similarly the Indians were armed in the same manner as their infantry they rode swift horses and drove chariots drawn by horses on wild asses the Bactrians were equipped as were their foot and the Caspians in the same manner the Libyans too were armed like the men of their infantry and all of them also drove chariots in the same manner the Caspians and Paracanians were armed as the men of their infantry the Arabians had the same equipment as the men of their infantry and all of them rode on camels no less swift than horses these nations alone were on horseback the number of the horsemen was shown to be 80,000 besides the camels and the chariots all the rest of the horsemen were ranked with their companies but the Arabians were posted last since horses cannot endure camels so that the horses would not be frightened the captains of Calvary were Harma Mithris and Tithaeus sons of Datus the third who was captained with them Farnucians had been left behind Cic at Sardis as they set forth from Sardis an unwelcome mishap befell him a dog ran under the feet of the horse he was riding and the horse was taken by surprise and frightened so it reared up and threw Farnucians after his fall he vomited blood the horse was immediately dealt with according to Farnucians command his servants let it away to the place where it had thrown their master and cut off its legs at the knee thus it was that Farnucians lost his command the number of the triremes was 1200 and 7 and they were furnished by the following the Phoenicians with the Syrians of Palestine furnished 300 for their equipment they had on their heads helmets very close to the Greek in style they wore linen breast plates and carried shields without rims and javelins these Phoenicians formerly dwelt as they themselves say by the Red Sea they crossed from there and now inhabit the sea coast of Syria this part of Syria as far as Egypt is all called Palestine the Egyptians furnished 200 ships they wore woven helmets and carried hollow shields with broad rims and spears for sea warfare and great battle axes most of them wore cuirasses and carried long swords such was their armor the Cyperians furnished 150 ships for their equipment their princes wore turbans wrapped around their heads and the people wore tunics but in all else they were like the Greeks these are their tribes some are from Salimus and Athens some from Arcadia some from Kithness some from Finike and some from Ethiopia as the Cyperians themselves say the Salishians furnished 100 ships they also wore on their heads their native helmets carried bucklers of raw oxide for shields and were clad in woolen tunics each had two javelins and a sword very close in style to the knives of Egypt these Salishians were formerly called Hippokai and took their name from Kilik's son of Aginor of Phoenician the Pamphylians furnished 100 ships they were armed like the Greeks these Pamphylians these Pamphylians are descended from the Trojans of the Diaspora who followed Amphilicus and Calcus the Lycians furnished 50 ships they wore kyrasses and greaves and carried Cornell wood, bows and unfeathered arrows and javelins goat skins hung from their shoulders and they wore on their heads caps crowned with feathers they also had daggers and scimitars the Lycians are from Crete and were once called Tirmuli they took their name from Lyco's son of Pandion an Athenian the Dorians of Asia furnished 30 ships their armor was Greek they are of Peloponnesian descent the Kerians furnished 70 ships they had scimitars and daggers but the rest of their equipment was Greek I have said in the beginning of my history what they were formerly called the Ionians furnished 100 ships their equipment was like the Greek these Ionians as long as they were in the Peloponnes dwelt in what is now called Achaia and before Danos and Suthis came to the Peloponnes as the Greeks say they were called Igiallian Pelasgians they were named Ionians after Ion the son of Suthis the Islanders provided 17 ships and were armed like the Greeks they were also of Pelasgian stock which was later called Ionian for the same reason as were the Ionians of the 12 cities who came from Athens the Iolians furnished 60 ships and were equipped like Greeks formerly they were called Pelasgian as the Greek story goes of the people of the Hellespont the people of Abedos had been charged by the king to remain at home and guard the bridges the rest of the people from Pontus who came with the army furnished 100 ships and were equipped like Greeks they were settlers from the Ionians and Dorians Persians and Medes and Sakhai served as soldiers on all the ships the most sea-worthy ships were furnished by the Phoenicians and among them by the Sidonians all of these, as with those who were marshaled in the infantry each had their native leaders whose names I do not record since it is not necessary for the purpose of my history the leaders of each nation are not worthy of mention and every city of each nation had a leader of its own these came not as generals but as slaves like the rest of the expedition who were the generals of supreme authority and the Persian commanders of each nation the admirals of the navy were Aria-Bignes son of Dorias Prexaspis son of Aspathines Megabasus son of Megabatis and Achaemenes son of Dorias Aria-Bignes son of Dorias and Golbrius' daughter was admiral of the Ionian and Carian fleet the admiral of the Egyptians was Achaemenes, full brother of Xerxes and the two others were admirals of the rest the ships of 30 and of 50 oars the light galleys and the great transports for horses came to a total of 3,000 all together after the admirals the most famous of those on board were these from Sidon Tetromnestus son of Anises from Tyre Maten son of Siromas from Moradus Merbalus son of Agbulus from Cilicia Ciberniskus son of Sikas from Cyprus Gorgas son of Caerces and Timonax son of Timagoras and from Caria Histiaeus son of Timnace Pigres son of Hisaldimus and Damacithimos son of Candales I see no need to mention any of the other captains except Artemisia I find it a great marvel that a woman went on the expedition against Helas after her husband died she took over his tyranny although she had a young son and followed the army from youthful spirits and manliness under no compulsion Artemisia was her name and she was the daughter of Ligdomus on her father's side she was of Halicarnassian lineage and on her mother's Cretan she was the leader of the men of Halicarnassus and Caus and Nisiris and Calidnos and provided five ships her ships were reputed to be the best and the whole fleet after the ships of Sidon and she gave the king the best advice of all his allies the cities that I said she was the leader of are all of Dorian stock as I can show since the Halicarnassians are from Troizin and the rest are from Epidaurus End of Volume 3 Part 4 Recording by Jason Tierney Volume 3 Part 5 of Herodotus's Histories This is a Librivox recording all Librivox recordings in the public domain For more information or to volunteer, please visit Librivox.org Recording by Jason Tierney Histories Volume 3 by Herodotus of Halicarnassus Translated by E.D. Godly Part 5 Here ends what I have said of the fleet When his army had been numbered and marshaled, Xerxes desired to ride through and view it Then he did this As he rode in a chariot past the men of each nation, he questioned them while his scribes wrote it all down until he had gone from one end to the other of the Calvary and infantry After he had done this the ships were drawn down and launched into the sea Xerxes alighted from his chariot into a Sidonian ship and sat under a golden canopy while he was carried past the prowls of the ships questioning the men in the same way as the army and having the answers written down The captains put out an anchored in line 400 feet from the shore with their prowls turned landward and the marines armed for war Xerxes viewed them by passing between the prowls and the land After he passed by all his fleet and disembarked from the ship he sent for Demaratus, son of Aristan who was on the expedition with him against Helas He summoned him and said Demaratus, it is now my pleasure to ask you what I wish to know You are a Greek and, as I am told both by you and by other Greeks whom I have talked to a man from neither the least nor the weakest of Greek cities So tell me, will the Greeks offer battle and oppose me? I think that even if all the Greeks and all the men of the western lands were assembled together they are not powerful enough to withstand my attack unless they are united Still, I want to hear from you what you say of them To this question Demaratus answered O King, should I speak the truth or try to please you? Xerxes bade him speak the truth and said that it would be no more unpleasant for him than before Demaratus heard this and said O King, since you bid me by all means to speak the whole truth and to say what you will not later prove to be false Hellas poverty is always endemic but courage is acquired as the fruit of wisdom and strong law By use of this courage Hellas defends herself from poverty and tyranny Now I praise all the Greeks who dwell in those Dorian lands yet I am not going to speak these words about all of them but only about the lack of demonians First, they will never accept conditions from you that bring slavery upon Hellas and second, they will meet you in battle even if all the other Greeks are on your side Do not ask me how many these men are who can do this They will fight with you whether they have an army of a thousand men or more than that or less When he heard this, Xerxes smiled and said What a strange thing to say, Demaratus that a thousand men would fight with so great an army Come now, tell me this You say that you were King of these men Are you willing right now to fight with ten men? Yet if your state is entirely as you define it you as their King should by right encounter twice as many according to your laws If each of them is a match for ten men of my army then it is plain to me that you must be a match for twenty In this way you would prove that what you say is true But if you Greeks who so exalt yourselves are just like you and the others who come to speak with me of size then beware lest the words you have spoken be only idle boasting Let us look at it with all reasonableness How could a thousand or ten thousand or even fifty thousand men if they are all equally free and not under the rule of one man withstand so great an army as mine If you Greeks are five thousand we still would be more than a thousand to one If they were under the rule of one man according to our custom they might out of fear of him become better than they naturally are and under compulsion of the lash they might go against greater numbers of inferior men But if they are allowed to go free they would do neither I myself think that even if they were equal in numbers it would be hard for the Greeks to fight just against the Persians What you are talking about is found among us alone and even then it is not common but rare There are some among my Persian spearmen who will gladly fight with three Greeks at once You have no knowledge of this and are spouting a lot of nonsense To this Demaratus answered Oh King I knew from the first that the truth would be unwelcome to you but since you compelled me to speak as truly as I could I have told you how it stands with the Spartans You yourself best know what love I bear They have robbed me of my office and the privileges of my house and made me a cityless exile Your father received me and gave me a house and the means to live on It is not reasonable for a sensible man to reject good will when it appears Rather he will hold it in great affection I myself do not promise that I can fight with ten men or with two and I would not even willingly fight with one Yet if it were necessary or if some great contest spurred me I would most gladly fight with one of those men who claim to be each a match for three Greeks So is it with the Lachodimonians fighting singly they are as brave as any man living and together they are the best warriors on earth They are free yet not wholly free Law is their master whom they fear much more than your men fear you They do whatever it bids and its bidding is always the same that they must never flee from the battle before any multitude of men but must abide at their posts and there conquer or die If I seem to you to speak foolishness when I say this then let me hereafter hold my peace It is under constraint that I have now spoken but may your wish be fulfilled king Thus Demoratus answered Xerxes made a joke of the matter and showed no anger but sent him away kindly After he had conversed with Demoratus and appointed Moschemi son of Megadosti's governor of this Doriscus deposing the governor Darius had appointed Xerxes marched his army through Thrace towards Hellas Xerxes left behind this Moschamis who so conducted himself that to him alone Xerxes always sent gifts as being the most valiant of all the governors that he or Darius appointed He sent these gifts every year and so did Artaxerxes son of Xerxes to Moschamis' descendants Before this march governors had been appointed everywhere in Thrace and on the Hellasmont All of these in Thrace and the Hellasmont except the governor of Doriscus were after this expedition captured by the Greeks but no one could ever drive out Moschamis in Doriscus though many tried For this reason gifts are sent by the success of kings of Persia The only one of those who were driven out by the Greeks Xerxes considered a valiant man was Boghys from whom they took Aeon He never ceased praising this man and gave very great honor to his sons who were left alive in Persia Indeed Boghys proved himself worthy of all praise When he was besieged by the Athenians under Kaimon's son of Miltiades he could have departed under treaty from Aeon and returned to Asia but he refused lest the king think that he had saved his life from the cowardice Instead he resisted to the last When there was no food left within his walls he piled up a great pyre and slew his children and wife and concubines and servants and cast them into the fire After that he took all the gold and silver from the city and scattered it from the walls into the Strymon After he had done this he cast himself into the fire from the Persians to this day From Doriscus Xerxes went on his way towards Helas compelling all that he met to go with his army As I have shown earlier all the country as far as Thessaly had been enslaved and was tributary to the king by the conquest of Megabazus and Mardonius after him On his road from Doriscus he first passed the Samothration Fortresses Of these the city built far this to the west is called Mesambria Next to it is the Thessian city of Strymon Between them runs the River Lysus which now could not furnish water enough for Xerxes's army but was exhausted All this region was once called Galaic but it is now called Briantic However, by rights it also belongs to the Caconians After he had crossed the dried up bed of the River Lysus he passed by the Greek cities Moronea, Dicaya, and Obdura He passed by these and along certain well known lakes near them The Ismarid lake that lies between Moronea and Stryme and near Dicaya the Bistonian lake into which the rivers Travis and Compasantus discharge Near Obdura Xerxes passed no well known lake but crossed the river Nestus where it flows into the sea From these regions he passed by the cities of the mainland one of which has near it a lake of about 30 stadia in circuit full of fish and very salty This was drained dry by watering the beasts of burden alone This city is called Pisteris Xerxes marched past these Greek cities of the coast keeping them on his left Thracian tribes through whose lands he journeyed were the Paiti, Cacones Bistones, Sapai Dercei, Edoni, and Satrai By these the ones who dwelt by the sea followed his army on shipboard The ones living inland whose names I have recorded were forced to join with his land army all of them except the Satrai The Satrai as far as we know have never yet been subject to any man They alone of the Thracians have continued living in freedom to this day They dwell on high mountains covered with forests of all kinds and snow and they are excellent warriors It is they who possess the place of divination sacred to Dionysus This place is in their highest mountains The Bessi, a clan of the Satrai are the prophets of the shrine There is a priestess who utters the Oracle as at Delphi It is no more complicated here than there After passing through the aforementioned land Xerxes next passed the fortresses of the Pyreans One called Fagres and the other Puyamus By going this way he marched right under their walls, keeping on his right the great and high Pangean range where the Pyreans and Atamanti and especially the Satrai have gold and silver mines Marching past the Pionians Doberes and Paioplai who dwell beyond and northward of the Pangean mountains he kept going westwards until he came to the river Strymon and the city of Aeon was then still alive whom I mentioned just before this All this region about the Pangean range is called Phyllis It stretches westward to the river Anjites which issues into the Strymon and southwards to the Strymon itself At this river the Magi sought good omens by sacrificing white horses After using these enchantments and many others besides on the river they passed over it at the nine ways of the Pangean country by the bridges which they found thrown across the Strymon When they learned that nine ways was the name of the place they buried alive that number of boys and maidens, children of the local people To bury people alive is a Persian custom I have learned by inquiry that when Xerxes's wife Amestris reached old age she buried twice seven sons of notable Persians beneath the earth Journeying from the Strymon the army passed by Argulis a Greek town standing on a stretch of coast further westwards The territory of this town and that which lies inland of it are called Visaltia From there, keeping on his left hand the Gulf of Poseidon Xerxes traversed the plain of Cilius as they call it passing by the Greek town of Stagurus and came to Acanthus along with him all these tribes and those that dwelt about the Pangean range just as he did those previously mentioned the men of the coast serving in his fleet and the inland men in his land army The entire road along which King Xerxes led his army the Thracians neither break up nor so but they hold it in great reverence to this day When Xerxes came to Acanthus he declared the Acanthians his guests and friends and gave them median clothing praising them for the zeal with which he saw them furthering his campaign and for what he heard of the digging of the canal While Xerxes was at Acanthus it happened that Artaquies overseer of the digging of the canal died of an illness He was high in Xerxes' favor an achaemenid by lineage and the tallest man in Persia lacking four finger breaths of five royal cubits in stature and his voice was the loudest on earth For this reason Xerxes mourned him greatly and gave him a funeral and burial of great pomp and the whole army poured libations on his tomb The Acanthians hold Artaquies a hero and sacrifice to him calling upon his name this they do at the command of an oracle King Xerxes then mourned for the death of Artaquies but the Greeks who received Xerxes' army and entertained himself were brought to such a degree of misery that they were driven from house and home Witness the case of the Thaetians who received and feasted Xerxes' army on behalf of their towns on the mainland Antipatrus son of Orgius as notable a man as any of his townsmen chosen by them for this task rendered them an account of 400 silver talents expended on the dinner Similar accounts were returned by the officers in the other towns Now the dinner about which a great deal of fuss had been made and for the preparation of which orders had been given long ago proceeded as I will tell As soon as the townsmen had word from the heralds proclamation they divided corn among themselves in their cities and all of them for many months ground it to wheat and barley meal Moreover they fed the finest beast that money could buy and kept their fowl in cages and ponds for the entertaining of the army They also made gold and silver cups and bowls and all manner of service for the table These things were provided for the king himself and those that ate with him For the rest of the army they provided only food At the coming of the army there was always a tent ready for Xerxes to take his rest in while the men camped out in the open air When the hour came for dinner the people for the host began When they had eaten their fill and passed the night there the army tore down the tent on the next day and marched off with all the movables leaving nothing but carrying all with them It was then that a very apt saying was uttered by one megacreon of Abdu'ra He advised his townsmen men and women alike to gather at their temples and there in all humility to entreat the gods to defend them of every threatened ill They should also, he said thank the gods heartily for their previous show of favour for it was Xerxes's custom to take a meal only once a day Otherwise they would have been commanded to furnish a breakfast similar to the dinner The people of Abdu'ra would then have had no choice but to flee before Xerxes's coming or to perish most miserably if they awaited him So the townsmen, oppressed as they were nevertheless did as they were commanded Upon leaving Acanthus Xerxes sent his ships on their course away from him giving orders to his generals that the fleet should await him at Therma the town on the Thermaeic Gulf which gives the Gulf its name for this he learned was his shortest way The order of the army's march from Doriscus to Acanthus had been such as I will show Dividing his entire land army into three parts Xerxes appointed one of them to provide his fleet along the coast Mardonius and Massistes were the generals of this segment while another third of the army marched as appointed further inland under Tritontochemes and Gurgus The third part with which Xerxes himself went marched between the two and its generals were Smerdomenys and Megabisus Now when the fleet had left Xerxes it sailed through the Aethos Canal which reached to the Gulf and created the towns of Asa, Pilarus, Singus and Sartae The fleet took on board troops from all these cities and then headed for the Thermaeic Gulf Then rounding Ampolis, the headland of Tyrone it passed the Greek towns of Tyrone, Galepsus, Sirmilae, Mechaberna and Olintus all of which gave them ships and men This country is called Sithonia The fleet held a straight course from the headland of Ampolis to the Canaestrian headland where Pelene runs farthest out to sea and received ships and men from the towns of what is now Pelene but was formerly called Phlegra namely Potidaea, Aphitis, Neapolis, Aegae, Therambus, Scyone, Mende and Sane Sailing along this coast they made for the appointed place taking troops from the towns adjacent to Pelene and near the Thermaeic Gulf of which the names are Lepaksus, Cumbria, Aysa, Gigonus, Kamsa, Smeela, Aenea The territory of these cities is called Krasae to this day From Aenea, the last named in my list of the towns the course of the fleet lay from the Thermaeic Gulf itself and the Macdonian territory until its voyage ended at Therma the place appointed and the towns of Sindus and Calestra where it came to the river Axeus this is the boundary between the Macdonian and the Botiaean territory in which are located the towns of Iknai and Pella on the narrow strip of coast so the fleet lay there off the river Axeus in the city of Thermae and the towns between them awaiting the king but Xerxes and his land army marched from Macanthus by the straightest inland course making for Thermae the fleet lay through the Pionian and the Crestonian country to the river Chydorus which, rising in the Crestonian land flows through the Macdonian country and issues by the marshes of the Axeus as Xerxes marched by this route lions attacked the camels which carried his provisions nightly they would come down out of their lairs and made havoc of the camels alone seizing nothing else, man or beast of burden I wonder what prevented the lions from touching anything but the camels creatures which they had not seen and had no knowledge of until then in these parts there are many lions and wild oxen whose horns are those very long ones which are brought into Helos the boundary of the lions country is the river Nestus which flows through Abdura and the river Achalus which flows through Acarnania neither to the east of the Nestus anywhere in the nearer part of Europe of the Achalus and the rest of the mainland is any lion to be seen but they are found in the country between those rivers when he had arrived at Therma Xerxes courted his army there its encampment by the sea covered all the space from Therma and the Macdonian country to the rivers Lydias and Haleachon which unite their waters in one stream and so make the border between the Bottian and the Macedonian territory in this place the foreigners lay encamped of the rivers just mentioned the Cydorus which flows from the Crestenian country was the only one which could not suffice for the army's drinking but was completely drained by it end of volume 3 part 5 recording by Jason Tierney volume 3 part 6 of Herodotus Histories this is a Librivox recording all Librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit Librivox.org Histories volume 3 by Herodotus of Haleachon translated by Edie Godley part 6 when Xerxes saw from Therma the very great height of the Thessalian mountains Olympus and Ossa and learned that the Peneas flows through them in a narrow pass which was the way that led into Thessaly he desired to view the mouth of the Peneas because he intended to march by the upper road through the highland people of Macedonia to the country of the Perheba and the town of Ghanis this it was told him was the safest way he did exactly as he desired he embarked on a Cydonian ship which he always used when he had some such business in hand and hoisted his signal for the rest also to put out to sea leaving his land army where it was great wonder took him when he came and viewed the mouth of the Peneas and calling his guides he asked them if it were possible to turn the river from its course and lead it into the sea by another way Thessaly as tradition has it was in old times a lake enclosed all round by high mountains on its eastern side it is fenced in by the joining of the lower parts of the mountains Pelion and Ossa to the north by Olympus to the west by Pindus towards the south and the southerly wind by Othras in the middle then of this ring of mountains lies the veil of Thessaly a number of rivers pour into this veil the most notable of which are Peneas Apidannas Onoconus Anapias Pemesis these five while they flow towards their meeting place from the mountains which surround Thessaly have their several names until their waters all unite and issue into the sea by one narrow passage as soon as they are united the name of the Peneas prevails making the rest nameless in ancient days it is said there was not yet this channel and outfall but those rivers and the Bobean lake which was not yet named had the same volume of water as now and thereby turned all Thessaly into a sea now the Thessalians say that Poseidon made the passage by which the Peneas flows this is reasonable for whoever believes that Poseidon is the shaker of the earth and that rifts made by earthquakes are the work of that god will conclude upon seeing the passage that it is of Poseidon's making it was manifest to me that it must have been an earthquake which forced the mountains apart Xerxes asked his guides if there were any other outlet for the Peneas into the sea and they with their full knowledge of the matter answered him the river, O king, has no other way into the sea but this alone this is so because there was a ring of mountains around the whole of Thessaly upon hearing this Xerxes said these Thessalians are wise men this then was the primary reason for their precaution long before when they changed to a better mind for they perceived that their country would be easily and speedily conquerable it would only have been necessary to let the river out over their land by barring the channel with a dam and to turn it from its present bed so that the whole of Thessaly with the exception of the mountains might be underwater this he said with regard in particular to the sons of Eluus the Thessalians who were the first Greeks to give themselves to the king Xerxes supposed that when they offered him friendship they spoke for the whole of their nation after delivering this speech and seeing what he had come to see he sailed back to Therma Xerxes stayed for many days in the region of Peria while a third part of his army was clearing a road over the Macedonian mountains so that the whole army might pass by that way to the Perhebian country now it was that the heralds who had been sent to Helus to demand earth some empty-handed some bearing earth and water returned among those who paid that tribute were the Thessalians Dullopes, Enians Perhebians, Lucrians Magnesians, Melians Achaeans of Pythia Thebans and all the Bocians except the men of Thespia and Plataea against all of these the Greeks who declared war with the foreigner entered into a sworn agreement which was this they would dedicate to the god of Delphi the possessions of all Greeks who had a free will surrender themselves to the Persians such was the agreement sworn by the Greeks to Athens and Sparta Xerxes sent no heralds to demand earth and this he did for the following reason when Darius had previously sent men with this same purpose those who made the request were cast at the one city into the pit and at the other into a well and bidden to obtain their earth and water for the king from these locations what calamity befell the Athenians for dealing in this way with the heralds I cannot say save that their land and their city were laid waste I think however that there was another reason for this and not the aforesaid be that as it may the anger of Talthybius Agamemnon's herald fell upon the Lachodimonians at Sparta there is a shrine of Talthybius and descendants of Talthybius called Talbithidae who have the special privilege of conducting all embassies from Sparta now there was a long period after the incident I have mentioned above during which the Spartans were unable to obtain good omens from sacrifice the Lachodimonians were grieved and dismayed by this and frequently called assemblies making a proclamation inviting some Lachodimonian to give his life for Sparta then two Spartans of noble birth and great wealth Sphertheus son of Aneristus and Boulis son of Nicholas undertook of their own free will to make atonement to Xerxes for Darius's heralds who had been killed at Sparta there upon the Spartans sent these men to Medea for execution worthy of admiration was these men's deed of daring and so also were their sayings on their way to Sousa they came to Hedarnus, a Persian who was general of the coast of Asia he entertained and feasted them as his guests and as they sat at his board he asked Lachodimonians why do you shun the king's friendship you can judge from what you see of me and my condition how well the king can honor men of worth so might it be with you if you would but put yourself in the king's hands being as you are of proven worth in his eyes and every one of you might by his commission be a ruler of Hellas to this the Spartans answered your advice to us Hedarnes is not completely sound one half of it rests on knowledge but the other on ignorance you know well how to be a slave but you who have never tasted freedom do not know whether it is sweet or not were you to taste of it not with spears you would counsel us to fight for it no but with axes this was their answer to Hedarnes from there they came to Sousa into the king's presence and when the guards commanded and would have compelled them to fall down about the king they said they would never do it this they would refuse even if they were thrust down headlong for it was not their custom, say they to bow to mortal men nor was that the purpose of their coming having averted that they next said the Lachodemonians have sent us O king of the Mettis in requital for the slaying of your heralds at Sparta to make atonement for their death and more to that effect to this Xerxes with great magnanimity replied that he would not intimate the Lachodemonians you said he made havoc of all human law by slaying heralds but I will not do that for which I censor you nor by putting you in turn to death will I set the Lachodemonians free from this guilt this conduct on the part of the Spartans succeeded for a time in allaying the anger of Talthibias in spite of the fact that Spurtheus and Boulas returned to Sparta long after that however it rose up again in the war between the Peloponnesians and Athenians as the Lachodemonians say that seems to me to be an indication of something divine it was just that the wrath of Talthibias descended on ambassadors nor abated until it was satisfied the venting of it however on the sons of those men who went up to the king to appease it namely on Nicholas son of Boulas and Anaristus son of Spurtheus that Anaristus who landed a merchant sips crew at the Ternithian settlement of Halea and took it makes it plain to me that this was the divine result of Talthibias' anger these two had been sent by the Lachodemonians as ambassadors to Asia and betrayed by the Thracian king Siltalcus son of Tyrius and Nymphodorus son of Pythias of Abdura they were made captive at Byzanta on the Hell's Pond and carried away to Attica where the Athenians put them and with them Aristis son of Atamanthus a Corinthian to death this happened many years after the king's expedition and I return now to the course of my history the professed intent of the king's march was to attack Athens but in truth all Hellas was his aim this the Greeks had long since learned but not all of them regarded the matter alike those of them who had paid the tribute of earth and water to the Persian were of good courage thinking that the foreigner would do them no harm but they who had refused tribute were afraid since there were not enough ships in Hellas to do battle with their invader furthermore the greater part of them had no stomach for grappling with the war but were making haste to side with the Persian here I am forced to declare an opinion which will be displeasing to most but I will not refrain from saying what seems to me to be true had the Athenians been panic struck by the threatened peril and left their own country or had they not indeed left it but remained and surrendered themselves to Xerxes none would have attempted to withstand the king by sea what would have happened on land if no one had resisted the king by sea is easy enough to determine although the Peloponnesians had built not one but many walls across the Isthmus for their defence they would nevertheless have been deserted by their allies these having no choice or free will in the matter but seeing their cities taken one by one by the foreign fleet until at last they would have stood alone they would then have put up quite a fight and perished nobly such would have been their fate perhaps however when they saw the rest of Hellas siding with the enemy they would have made terms with Xerxes in either case Hellas would have been subdued by the Persians for I cannot see what advantage could accrue from the walls built across the Isthmus while the king was the master of the seeds as it is to say that the Athenians were the saviours of Hellas is to hit the truth it was the Athenians who held the balance whichever side they joined was sure to prevail choosing that Greece should preserve her freedom the Athenians roused to battle the other Greek states which had not yet gone over to the Persians and after the gods were responsible for driving the king off nor were they moved to desert Hellas with the threatening oracles which came from Delphi and sorely dismayed them but they stood firm and had the courage to meet the invader of their country the Athenians had sent messages to Delphi asking that an oracle be given them and when they had performed all due rights at the temple and sat down in the inner hall the priestess whose name was Aristanis gave them this answer wretches why do you linger here rather flee from your houses and city flee to the ends of the earth from the circle and battled of Athens the head will not remain in its place nor in the body nor the feet beneath nor the hands nor the parts between but all is ruined for fire and the headlong god of war speeding in a Syrian chariot will bring you low many a fortress too not yours alone will he shatter many a shrine of the gods will he give to the flame for devouring sweating for fear they stand and quaking for dread of the enemy running with gore are their roofs for seeing the stress of their sorrow therefore I bid you depart from the sanctuary have courage to lighten your evil 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's son of Enderbulus as notable a man as any Delphian advised them to take bowels of supplication and in the guise of suppliance approached the oracle a second time the Athenians did exactly this Lord they said regard mercifully these suppliant bows which we bring you and give us some better answer concerning our country otherwise we will not depart from your temple but remain here until we die there upon the priestess gave them this second oracle vainly does palace strive to appease great Zeus of Olympus words of entreaty are vain and so too cunning councils of wisdom nevertheless I will speak to you again of strength adminteen all will be taken in loss that the sacred border of kekrops hold in keeping today and the dales divine of Catheryn yet a wood-built wall will by Zeus all seeing be granted to the tritoborne a stronghold for you and your children await not the host of horse and foot coming from Asia nor be still but turn your back and withdraw from the foe truly a day will come when you will meet him face to face divine Salamis you will bring death to woman's sons when the corn is scattered or the harvest gathered in the second 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 God's 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 suppose 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 last two verses of the oracle divine Salamis you will bring death to women's sons when the corn is scattered or the harvest gathered in these verses confounded the opinion of those who said that their ships were the wooden wall for the readers of oracles took the verses to mean that they should offer battle by sea near Salamis and be there overthrown now there was a certain Athenian by name and title themosticles son of Neocles who had lately risen to be among their chief men he claimed that the readers of oracles had incorrectly interpreted the whole of the oracle and reasoned that if the verse really pertained to the Athenians it would have been formulated in less mild language calling Salamis cruel rather than divine seeing that its inhabitants were to perish correctly understood the God's oracle was spoken not of the Athenians but of their enemies and his advice was that they should believe their ships to be the wooden wall and so make ready to fight by sea when themosticles put forward this interpretation the Athenians judged him to be a better counsellor than the readers of oracles who would have had them prepare for no sea fight and in short offer no resistance at all but leave Attica and settle in some other country the advice of themosticles had prevailed on a previous occasion the revenues from the mines at Larium had brought great wealth into the Athenians' treasury and when each man was to receive ten drachma for his share themosticles persuaded the Athenians to make no such division but to use the money to build two hundred ships for the war that is for the war with Agena this was in fact the war the outbreak of which saved Telus by compelling the Athenians to become seamen the ships were not used for the purpose for which they were built but later came to serve Helus in her need these ships then had been made and were already there for the Athenian service and now they had to build yet others in their debate after the giving of the oracle they accordingly resolved that they would put their trust in the God and meet the foreign invader of Helus with the whole power of their fleet, ships and men and with all other Greeks who were so minded these oracles then had been given to the Athenians all the Greeks who were concerned about the general welfare of Helus met in conference and exchanged guarantees they resolved in debate to make an end of all their feuds and wars against each other whatever the cause from which they arose among others that were in course at that time the greatest was the war between the Athenians and the Agenitans presently learning that Xerxes was at Sardis with his army they planned to send men into Asia to spy out the king's doings and to dispatch messengers some to Argos who should make the Argives their brothers in arms against the Persian some to Gellon son of Denomenes in Sicily some to Corsera praying aid for Helus and some to Crete this they did in the hope that since the danger threatened all Greeks alike all of Greek blood might unite and work jointly for one common end now the power of Gellon was said to be very great surpassing by far any power in Helus being so resolved and having composed their quarrels they first sent three men as spies into Asia these came to Sardis and took note of the king's army they were discovered however and after examination by the generals of the land army were led away for execution they were condemned to die but when Xerxes heard of it he blamed the judgment of his generals and sent some of his guards charging them to bring the spies before him if they should be found alive they were found still living and brought into the king's presence then Xerxes having inquired of them the purpose of their coming ordered his guards to lead them around and show them his whole army when the spies had seen all to their hearts content they were to send them away unharmed to whatever country they pleased the reason alleged for his command was this had the spies been put to death the Greeks would not so soon have learned the unspeakable greatness of his power and the Persians would have done their enemy no great harm by putting three men to death Xerxes said that if they should return to Helus the Greeks would hear of his power and would surrender their peculiar freedom before the expedition with the result that there would be no need to march against them this was like that other saying of Xerxes when he was at Abidos and saw ships laden with corn sailing out of the Pontus through the Helus Pont on their way to Agena and the Peloponnes his counselors perceiving that they were enemy ships were for taking them and looked to the king for orders to do so Xerxes however asked them where the ships were sailing and they answered to your enemies sire carrying corn Xerxes then answered and are not we too sailing to the same places as they with corn among all our other provisions what wrong are they doing us in carrying food there End of volume 3 part 6