 Book 3 Part 4 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 David Leeson. Histories Volume 1 by Herodotus of Helicarnassus, translated by A.D. Godley. Book 3 Part 4, Paragraph 61-79. Now after Cambyses, son of Cyrus, had lost his mind, while he was still in Egypt, two Magus brothers rebelled against him. One of them had been left by Cambyses as steward of his house. This man now revolted from him, perceiving that the death of Smyrtus was kept secret and that few knew of it, most believing him to be still alive. Therefore he plotted to gain the royal power. He had a brother, his partner, as I said, in rebellion. This brother was, in appearance, very like Cyrus' son, Smyrtus, whom Cambyses' brother had killed. Nor was he like him in appearance only, but he bore the same name, too, Smyrtus. Patazaeathes the Magus persuaded this man that he would manage everything for him. He brought his brother and set him on the royal throne. Then he sent heralds to all parts, one of whom was to go to Egypt and proclaim to the army that henceforth they must obey not Cambyses, but Smyrtus, the son of Cyrus. So this proclamation was made everywhere. The herald appointed to go to Egypt, finding Cambyses and his army at Ekbatana in Syria, came out before them all and proclaimed the message given him by the Magus. When Cambyses heard what the herald said, he supposed that it was the truth and that Prexaspis, when sent to kill Smyrtus, had not done it but had played Cambyses' false. And he said, fixing his eyes on Prexaspis, Is it thus Prexaspis that you carried out my instructions? No, said Prexaspis. This is not true, Sire, that your brother Smyrtus has rebelled against you. He cannot have any quarrel with you small or great. I myself did as you instructed, and I buried him with my own hands. If then the dead can rise, you may expect to see Astyages, the mead, rise up against you. But if things are as usual, assuredly no harm to you will arise from Smyrtus. Now then, this is my opinion, that we pursue this herald and interrogate him, to learn from whom he comes with his proclamation that we must obey Smyrtus as our king. Cambyses liked Prexaspis' advice. The herald was pursued at once and brought, and when he came Prexaspis put this question to him, fellow, you say that your message is from Cyrus' son, Smyrtus. Tell me this now, and you may go away unpunished. Was it Smyrtus who appeared to you and gave you this charge, or was it one of his servants? Since King Cambyses marched to Egypt, answered the herald, I have never seen Smyrtus the son of Cyrus. The magus whom Cambyses made overseer of his house gave me the message, saying that it was the will of Smyrtus, son of Cyrus, that I should make it known to you. So spoke the herald, telling the whole truth. And Cambyses said, Prexaspis, having done what you were told like a good man, you are free of blame. But who can this Persian be who rebels against me, and usurps the name of Smyrtus? Prexaspis replied, I think, Cyrus, that I understand what has been done here. The rebels are the magi, Patizayethes, whom you left steward of your house, and his brother Smyrtus. The truth of the words and of a dream struck Cambyses the moment he heard the name Smyrtus, for he had dreamt that a message had come to him that Smyrtus, sitting on the royal throne, touched heaven with his head. And perceiving that he had killed his brother without cause, he wept bitterly for Smyrtus. Having wept, and grieved by all his misfortune, he sprang upon his horse with intent to march at once to Sousa against the magus. As he sprang upon his horse, the cap fell off the sheath of his sword, and the naked blade pierced his thigh, wounding him in the same place where he had once wounded the Egyptian god Apis. And believing the wound to be mortal, Cambyses asked what was the name of the town where he was. They told him it was Ekbetana. Now a prophecy had before this come to him from Buto that he would end his life at Ekbetana. Cambyses supposed this to signify that he would die an old age at the median Ekbetana, his capital city. But as the event proved, the oracle prophesied his death at Ekbetana of Syria. So when he now inquired and learned the name of the town, the shock of his wound, and of the misfortune that came to him from the magus, brought him to his senses, he understood the prophecy and said, Here, Cambyses, son of Cyrus, is to die. At this time he said no more. But about twenty days later he sent for the most prominent of the Persians that were about him and thus addressed them. Persians, I had to make known to you something which I kept most strictly concealed. When I was in Egypt, I had a dream which I wish I had not had. It seemed to me that a messenger came from home to tell me that Smurtus, sitting on the royal throne, touched heaven with his head. Then I feared that my brother would take away my sovereignty from me. And I acted with more haste than wisdom, for it is not in the power of human nature to run away from what is to be. But I, blind as I was, sent prexaspis to Susa to kill Smurtus. When that great wrong was done I lived without fear, for I never thought that when Smurtus was removed another man might rise against me. But I mistook altogether what was to be. I have killed my brother when there was no need, and I have lost my kingdom none the less, for it was the magus Smurtus that the divinity forewarned in the dream would revolt. Now he has been done for by me, and I would have you believe that Smurtus Cyrus' son no longer lives, the magi rule the kingdom, the one that I left caretaker of my house, and his brother Smurtus. So then the man is dead of an unholy destiny at the hands of his relations, who ought to have been my avenger for the disgrace I have suffered from the magi. And as he is no longer alive, necessity constrains me to charge you, men of Persia, in his place, with the last desire of my life. In the name of the gods of my royal house I charge all of you, but chiefly those achemenids that are here not to let the sovereignty fall again into median hands. If they have it after getting it by trickery, take it back to trickery of your own. If they have got it away by force, then by force all the stronger get it back. And if you do this, may your land bring forth fruit, and your women and your flocks and herds be blessed with offspring, remaining free for all time. But if you do not get the kingdom back or attempt to get it back, then I pray things turn out the opposite for you, and on top of this that every Persian meet an end of mine. With that Cambyses wept bitterly for all that had happened to him. When the Persians saw their king weep, they all tore the clothing which they wore and wailed loud and long. But when after this the bone rotted and the thigh rapidly putrefied, it carried off Cambyses, son of Cyrus, who had reigned in all seven years and five months, but was altogether childless about male or female issue. To the Persians who were present it was quite incredible that the Magi were masters of the kingdom. They believed that Cambyses intent was to deceive them with his story of Smyrtis' death, so that all Persia might be embroiled in a war against him. So they believed that it was Cyrus' son Smyrtis who had been made king. For Prasaspi stoutly denied that he had killed Smyrtis, since it was not safe for him to say that he had slain the son of Cyrus with his own hands. Cambyses being dead, the Magus, pretending to be the Smyrtis of like name Cyrus' son, reigned without fear for the seven months by which Cambyses had fallen short of reigning eight years. In this time he benefited all his subjects to such an extent that after his death all the Asiatics, except the Persians, wished him back, since to every nation he ruled and proclaimed an exemption for three years from military service and from tribute. Such was his proclamation at the beginning of his reign. But in the eighth month he was exposed in the following manner. There was one Otanis, son of Farnaspis, as well-born and rich a man as any Persian. This Otanis was the first to guess that the Magus was not Cyrus' son Smyrtis, and was. The reason was that he never left the Acropolis nor summoned any notable Persian into his presence. And having formed this suspicion Otanis did as follows. Cambyses had taken his daughter, whose name was Fidime, this same girl the Magus had now, and he lived with her and with all Cambyses' other wives. Otanis sent to this daughter asking at what man side she lay, with this Cyrus' son or with some other. She sent back a message that she did not know, for she said she had never seen Cyrus' son Smyrtis nor did she know who her bedfellow was. Then Otanis sent a second message to this effect. If you do not know Cyrus' son Smyrtis yourself, then find out from Otosa who it is that she and you are living with, for surely she knows her own brother. To this his daughter replied, I cannot communicate with Otosa, nor can I see any other of the women of the household, for no sooner had this man, whoever he is, made himself king, than he sent us to live apart, each in her own appointed place. When Otanis heard that, he saw more clearly how the matter stood, and he sent her this third message. Daughter, your noble birth obliges you to run any risk that your father commands you to face. If this man is not Smyrtis son of Cyrus, but who I think he is, then he must not get away with sleeping with you, and sitting on the throne of Persia, but be punished. Now, then, when he lies with you, and you see that he is sleeping, feel his ears. If he has ears, rest assured that you are living with Smyrtis son of Cyrus. But if he has none, it is Smyrtis the Magus. Fidime answered by messenger that he would run a very great risk by so doing, for if it should turn out that he had no ears, and she were caught feeling for them, he would surely kill her. Nevertheless, she would do it. So she promised to do this for her father. Cyrus son of Cambyses during his reign cut off the ears of this Magus Smyrtis for some grave reason. Sophie Dime, daughter of Otanis, performed her promise to her father. When it was her turn to go to the Magus, for their wives go in sequence to the Persians, she came to his bed and felt for the Magus's ears while he slumbered deeply, and having with no great difficulty assured herself that he had no ears, she sent and told this to her father as soon as it was morning. Otanis then took aside two Persians of the highest rank whom he thought worthiest of trust, Aspathanis Gobrius, and told them the whole story. These, it would seem, had themselves suspected that it was so, and now they readily believed what Otanis revealed to them. They resolved that each should take into his confidence that Persian whom he most trusted. Otanis brought in Intafranis, Gobrius brought Megabizus, and Aspathanis Hydarnis. When they were six, Darius, whose father Heistaspis was a Bordinate Governor of the Persians arrived at Susa. When he came then, the six Persians resolved to include Darius too. The seven then met, and gave each other tokens of good faith, and spoke together, and when it was Darius turned to declare his mind he spoke as follows. I thought that I alone knew that it was the Magus who was king, and that Smurtis' son of Cyrus was dead, and it was for this reason that I made haste to come that I might effect the Magus' death. But since it turns out that you know too, and not only I, I think that we should act at once and not put it off. Otanis replied, son of Histaspis, you have a good father and seem likely yourself to be in no way inferior to your father. Do not hurry this undertaking without thinking, but take it up more prudently. There must be more of us to try it. This Darius answered, you gentlemen who are here, if you do as Otanis says, know that you will die horribly, for someone will inform the Magus looking to enrich himself alone. You ought to have done it by yourselves, but since you decided to confide in others, and have included me, let us either act today, or else understand that if the present day passes nobody else will betray you before I do, for I shall myself betray you to the Magus. To this, Otanis replied, seeing Darius vehemence, since you force us to hurry and will tolerate no delay, tell us now yourself how we shall pass into the palace and attack them. For you know yourself, I suppose, if not because you have seen them, then you have heard that guards are stationed all around. How shall we go past the guards? Otanis answered Darius, there are many things that cannot be described in words, but indeed. And there are other things that can be described in words, but nothing illustrious comes of them. You know well that the guards who are set are easy to go by, there is no one who will not allow us to pass from respect or from fear because of who we are. And further, I have myself the best pretext for entering, for I shall say that I have just arrived from Persia and have a message for the king when it is necessary to lie, lie, for we want the same thing, liars and those who tell the truth, some lie to win credence and advantage by lies, while others tell the truth in order to obtain some advantage by the truth and to be more trusted. Thus we approach the same ends by different means. If the hope of advantage were taken away, the truth teller would be as ready to lie as the liar to tell the truth. And if any of the watchmen willingly let us pass, it will be better for him later. But if any tries to withstand us, let us note him as an enemy and so thrust ourselves in and begin our work. Then Gobrius said, Friends, when shall we have a better chance to win back the kingship, or if we cannot to die, since we who are Persians are ruled by a mead, a magus, and he a man of the gods. Those of you that were with Cambyses at his deathbed of course remember the curse which he pronounced as he died on the Persians if they should not try to get back the kingship, although we did not believe Cambyses then, but thought that he spoke to deceive us. Now therefore, my vote is that we follow Darius' plan and not quit this council to do anything else but attack the magus at once. So spoke Gobrius and they all consented as he said. While they were making these plans, by coincidence the following happened. The magi had resolved after consideration to make a friend of Prexaspes because he had been wronged by Cambyses who had killed his son with an arrow, and because he alone knew of the death of Cyrus son Smyrtus having himself been the slayer, but besides this because he was in great repute among the Persians. For these reasons they summoned him and tried to make him a friend, having bound him by tokens of good faith and oaths to keep to himself and betray to no one their deception of the Persians, and promising to give him all things in great abundance. When Prexaspes agreed to do this, since the magi importuned him, the magi made this second proposal to him, that they should call an assembly of all the Persians before the palace wall and he should go up onto a tower and declare that it was Smyrtus son of Cyrus and no other who was king of Persia. They gave him discharge because they thought him to be the man most trusted by the Persians and because he had often asserted that Cyrus son Smyrtus was alive and had denied the murder. When Prexaspes said that he was ready to do this too, the magi summoned the Persians together and brought him up onto a tower and bade him speak. Then, deliberately forgetting all the magi's instructions, he traced the lineage of Cyrus from Achaemenes downwards. When he came at last to the name of Cyrus, he recounted all the good which that king had done to Persia, and after he had narrated this he revealed the truth, saying that he had concealed it before as it had not been safe for him to tell what had happened but at the present time he forced him to reveal it and he said that he himself forced by Cambyses had killed Smyrtus son of Cyrus and that the magi were in power. Then, invoking a terrible curse on the Persians if they did not win back the throne and take vengeance on the magi, he threw himself headlong down from the tower. So Prexaspes, a man who was always well thought of, perished in this way. The seven Persians when they had decided to attack the magi at once and not delay prayed to the gods and set forth knowing nothing of what had happened to Prexaspes. But when they had gone half way they learned what had happened to Prexaspes. Then they argued there, standing beside the road, Otani's party demanding that they delay and not attack while events were in flux and Darius' party that they go directly and do what they had decided to not put it off. While they were arguing they saw seven pairs of hawks chase and slash and tear to bits two pairs of vultures and seeing this all seven consented to Darius' opinion and went on to the palace encouraged by the birds. When they came to the gate it turned out as Darius had expected. The guards out of respect for the leading men in Persia and never suspecting any trouble from them allowed them to pass who enjoyed divine guidance and no one asked any questions. And when they came to the court they met the eunuchs that carry messages who asked the seven why they had come and while they were questioning these they were threatening the watchmen for letting them pass and restraining the seven who wanted to go on. These gave each other the word drew their knives and stabbing the eunuchs went forward at a run to the men's apartment. Both the Magi were within deliberating about the consequences of Prexaspe's act seeing the eunuchs in confusion and hearing their cries they both sprang up and when they realized what was happening they turned to defending themselves one rushed to take down a bow the other went for a spear then the fighting started the one that had caught up the bow as the antagonists were close and jostling one another but the other defended himself with his spear wounding his spathenies in the thigh and entaphronies in the eye entaphronies lost his eye from the wound but was not killed so one of the magi wounded these the other as the bow was no use to him fled into a chamber adjoining the men's apartment and would have shut its door two of the seven flung into the room with him Darius and Gobrius as Gobrius and the magus wrestled together Darius stood helpless in the darkness afraid of stabbing Gobrius Gobrius, seeing Darius stand helpless asked why he did not lend a hand and he said, because I am afraid for you that I might stab you and Gobrius answered stick your sword even if it goes through us both so Darius complying stabbed with his knife and somehow struck the magus when they had killed the magi and cut off their heads they left their wounded there because of their infirmity and for the sake of guarding the acropolis while five of them carrying the magi's heads ran outside with much shouting and commotion calling all persians to aid telling what they had done and showing the heads at the same time they killed every magus that came in their way the persians when they learned what had been done by the seven and how the magi had tricked them resolved to follow the example set and drew their daggers and killed all the magi they could find and if nightfall had not stopped them they would not have left one magus alive this day is the greatest holy day that all persians alike keep they celebrate a great festival on it which they call the massacre of the magi while the festival lasts the magus may go outdoors but during this day the magi remain in their houses end of book 3 part 4 paragraph 80 through 101 how far it went and you had your share of the insolence of the magi's how can monarchy be a fit thing when the ruler can do what he wants with impunity give this power to the best man on earth and it would stir him to unaccustomed thoughts insolence is created in him by the good things to hand while from birth envy is rooted in man acquiring the two he possesses complete evil for being satiated he does many reckless things some from insolence some from envy and yet an absolute ruler ought to be free of envy having all good things but he becomes the opposite of this towards his citizens he envies the best to thrive and live and is pleased by the worst of his fellows and he is the best confidant of slander of all men he is the most inconsistent for if you admire him modestly he is angry that you do not give him excessive attention but if he gives him excessive attention because one is a flatterer but I have yet worse to say of him than that he upsets the ancestral ways and rapes women and kills indiscriminately but the rule of the multitude has in the first place the loveliest name of all equality and does in the second place none of the things that a monarch does it determines offices by lot and holds power accountable and conducts all deliberating publicly therefore I give my opinion that we make an end of monarchy and exalt the multitude for all things are possible for the majority such was the judgment of Autonies but Megabasis urged that they resort to oligarchy I agree said he with all that Autonies says against the rule of one but when he tells you to give the power to the multitude his judgment strays from the best nothing is more foolish and violent than a useless mob for men fleeing the insolence of the tyrant to fall victim to the insolence of the unguided populace is by no means to be tolerated whatever the one does he does with knowledge but for the other knowledge is impossible how can they have knowledge who have not learned or seen for themselves what is best but always rush headlong and drive blindly onward like a river and flood let those like democracy who wish ill to Persia but let us choose a group of the best men and invest those with the power for we ourselves shall be among them and among the best men it is likely that there will be the best councils such was the judgment of Megabasis Darius was the third to express his opinion it seems to me he said that Megabasis speaks well concerning democracy but not concerning oligarchy for if the three are proposed and all are at their best for the sake of argument the best democracy in oligarchy and monarchy I hold that monarchy is by far the most excellent one could describe nothing better than the rule of the one best man using the best judgment he will govern the multitude with perfect wisdom and best concealed plans made for the defeat of enemies but in an oligarchy the desire of many to do the state good service often produces bitter hate among them for because each one wishes to be first and to make his opinions prevail violent hate is the outcome from which comes faction and from faction killing and from killing it reverts to monarchy and by this is shown how much better monarchy is then again when the people rule it is impossible that wickedness will not occur and when wickedness towards the state occurs hatred does not result among the wicked but strong alliances for those that want to do the state harm conspire to do it together this goes on until one of the people rises to stop such men he therefore becomes the people's idol and being their idol is made their monarch and thus he also proves that monarchy is best but to conclude the whole matter in one word tell me where did freedom come from for us and who gave it from the people or an oligarchy or a single ruler I believe therefore that we who were liberated through one man should maintain such a government and besides this that we should not alter our ancestral ways that are good that would not be better having to choose between these three options four of the seven men preferred the last then Ottenes whose proposal to give the Persians equality was defeated spoke thus among them all fellow partisans it is plain that one of us must be made king whether by lot or entrusted with the office by the choice of the Persians or in some other way but I shall not compete with you I desire neither to rule nor to be ruled but if I wave my claim to be king that neither I nor any of my descendants shall be subject to any one of you to these terms the six others agreed Ottenes took no part in the contest but stood aside and to this day his house and no other in Persia remains free and is ruled only so far as it is willing to be so long as it does not transgress Persian law the rest of the seven then considered what was the fairest way of making a king and they decided that if another of the seven then Ottenes should gain the royal power that Ottenes and his descendants should receive a yearly gift of Median clothing and everything else that the Persians hold most valuable the reason for this decision was that it was he who had first planned the matter and assembled the conspirators for Ottenes then they chose this particular honor but with regard to all of them they decreed that any one of the seven should if he wished enter the king's palace unannounced except when the king was sleeping with a woman and that the king should be forbidden to take a wife except from the households of the conspirators as for the making of a king they decided that he should be elected whose horse after they were all in their saddles in the suburb of the city should first be heard to nay at sunrise now Darius had a clever groom whose name was Oberys when the council broke up Darius said to him Oberys we have resolved to do as follows about the kingship we shall be elected whose horse after we are all mounted on our horses in the suburb of the city nays first at sunrise now if you have any cunning figure out how we and no one else can win this prize master Oberys answered if this is to determine whether you become king or not be confident for this reason and have an easy mind for no one else shall be king before you such are the tricks I have then said Darius if you have any such as you say use it and don't put it off for tomorrow is the day of decision when Oberys heard that he did as follows at nightfall he brought one of the mares which Darius's horse particularly favored and tethered her in the suburb of the city then bringing Darius's horse he repeatedly led him near the horse bumping against the mare and at last let the horse mount at dawn of the day the six came on horseback as they had agreed as they rode out through the suburb and came to the place where the mare had been tethered in the past night Darius's horse trotted forward and winnied and as he did so there came lightning and thunder out of a clear sky these signs given to Darius were thought to be foreordained and made his election perfect his companions leapt from their horses and bowed to him some say that this was Oberys plan but there is another story in Persia besides this that he rubbed this mare's vulva with his hand which he then kept inside his clothing until the six were about to let go their horses at sunrise when he took his hand out and held it to the nostrils of Darius's horse which at once snorted and winnied so Darius, son of Histophus was made king and the whole of Asia which Cyrus first and Cambysus after him had conquered was subject to him except the Arabians these did not yield as slaves of the Persians but were united to them by friendship having given Cambysus passage into Egypt which the Persians could not enter without the consent of the Arabians Darius took wives from the noblest houses of Persia marrying Cyrus's daughters, Atosia and Artestone Atosia had been wife of her brother Cambysus and afterward of the Magis Aristone was a virgin he also married a daughter of Cyrus's son Smeridus whose name was Parmus and the daughter of Autonies and everything was full of his power first he made and set up a carved stone upon which was cut the figure of a horseman with this inscription Darius son of Histophus aided by the excellence of his horse here followed the horse's name and of Oberus his groom got possession of the kingdom of Persia having done these things in Persia he divided his dominions into twenty provinces which they call stratopies dominions and appointed governors he instructed each people to pay him tribute consolidating neighboring peoples and distributing outlying peoples among different provinces passing over those adjoining I will now show how he divided his provinces and the tributes which were paid him yearly those that paid in silver were required to render the weight of a Babylonian talent those that paid in gold of a Euboic talent in the reigns of Cirrus and Cambysus after him there was no fixed tribute but payment was made in gifts it is because of this fixing of tribute and other similar ordinances that the Persians called Darius the merchant Cambysus the master and Cyrus the father for Darius made petty profit out of everything Cambysus was harsh and arrogant Cyrus was merciful and always worked for their well-being Ionians, Magnesians of Asia Aeolians, Carians Lycians, Millions and Pemphylians on whom Darius laid one joint tribute paid a revenue of 400 talents of silver this was established as his first province the Mycians, Lydians Lasonians, Caballians and Hytenians paid 500 talents this was the second province the third comprised the Hellespontians on the right of the entrance of the straits the Phrygians, Thracians of Asia Paphlegonians, Myriandinians and Syrians these paid 360 talents of tribute the fourth province was Cilicia this rendered 360 white horses one for each day in the year and 500 talents of silver 140 of these were expended on the horsemen who were the guard of Cilicia the 360 that remained the fifth province was the country except the part belonging to the Arabians which paid no tribute between Pasidian a city founded on the Cilician and Syrian border by Amphilacus son of Amphiaris and Egypt this paid 350 talents in this province was all Phoenicia and the part of Syria called Palestine and Cyprus the sixth province was Egypt and the neighboring parts of Libya and Cyrene and Barca which were included in the province of Egypt from here came 700 talents besides the income in silver from the fish of the lake Moeris besides that silver and the assessment of grain that was given also 700 talents were paid for 120,000 bushels of grain were assigned to the Persians quartered at the white wall of Memphis and their allies the Sate Gidei, Ganderi Dedike and Aperate paid together 170 talents this was the seventh province the eighth was Sousa and the rest of the Sicilian country paying 300 talents from Babylon and the rest of Assyria came to Darius a thousand talents of silver and 500 castrated boys this was the ninth province Ekbetana and the rest of Medea with the Pericanians and Ortho-Cori Bantians paid 450 talents and was the tenth province the eleventh comprised the Caspiai, Pasacai Pantimati and Derite paying jointly 200 the twelfth the Batreans as far as the land of the Egli, these paid 360 the thirteenth the Pactic country and Armenia and the lands adjoining as far as the Yuxin Sea these paid 400 the fourteenth province was made up of the Sagartii, Serangues Thamenea, Utki Missi and the inhabitants of those islands of the southern sea on which the king settles the so-called displaced people these together paid a tribute of 600 talents the Sakkai and Caspiai were the fifteenth paying 250 the Parthians, Chorasmians Sagdi and Eri were the sixteenth paying 300 the Pericaniai and the Ethiopians of Asia the seventeenth paid 400 the Matieni, Caspiri and Alaradi were the eighteenth and two hundred talents were the appointed tribute the Mashi, Tiborini, Macrones Masiniochi and Maris the nineteenth province were ordered to pay 300 the Indians made up the twentieth province these are more in number than any nation of which we know and they paid a greater tribute than any other province namely 360 talents of gold dust now if these Babylonian civil talents be calculated in Euboic money the sum is seen to be 9,880 Euboic talents and the gold coin being thirteen times the value of the silver the gold dust is found to be worth 4,680 Euboic talents therefore it is seen by adding together all that Darius collected a yearly tribute of 14,560 talents I take no account of figures less than ten this was Darius' revenue from Asia and a few parts of Libya but as time went on he drew tribute also from the islands and the dwellers in Europe as far as Thessaly the tribute is stored by the king in this fashion he melts it down and pours it into earthen vessels when the vessel is full he breaks the earthenware away and when he needs money coins as much as serves his purpose these were the governments and the governments of tribute the Persian country is the only one which I have not recorded as tributary for the Persians live free from all taxes as for those on whom no tribute was laid but who rendered gifts instead they were firstly the Ethiopians nearest to Egypt whom Cambys is conquered in his march towards the long-lived Ethiopians and also those who dwell about the holy city Nisa where Dionysus is the god of their festivals these Ethiopians and their neighbors use the same seed as the Indian Calentai and they live underground these together brought every year and still bring a gift of two shonixes of unrefined gold two hundred blocks of ebony five Ethiopian boys and twenty great elephants tusks gifts were also required of the Kalkians and their neighbors as far as the Caucasus Mountains which is as far as the Persian rule reaches the country north of the Caucasus and the Persians these were rendered every four years and are still rendered, namely a hundred boys and as many maids the Arabians rendered a thousand talents way to frankincense yearly such were the gifts of these peoples to the king besides the tribute all this abundance of gold from which the Indians send the aforementioned gold dust to the king they obtain in the following way to the east of the Indian country of whom we know even those about whom something is said with precision the Indians dwell nearest to the dawn and the rising sun for on the eastern side of India all is desolate because of the sand there are many Indian nations none speaking the same language some of them are nomads some not some dwell in the river marshes and live on raw fish which they catch from reed boats each boat is made from one joint of reed they wear clothes of bull rushes they mow and cut these from the river then weave them crosswise like a mat and wear them like a breastplate other Indians to the east of these are nomads and eat raw flesh they are called patie it is said to be their custom that when any one of their fellows whether man or woman is sick a man's closest friends kill him saying that if wanted by disease he will be lost to them as meat though he denies that he is sick but kill and eat him when a woman is sick she is put to death like the men by the women who are her closest acquaintances as for one that has come to old age they sacrifice him and feast on his flesh but not many reach this reckoning for before that everyone who falls ill they kill there are other Indians again who kill no living creature nor plant anything nor are accustomed to have houses they eat grass and they have a grain about the size of a millet seed which they gather with the husk and boil and eat when any one of them falls sick he goes into the desert and lies there and no one notices whether he is sick or dies these Indians who might have described have intercourse openly like cattle they are all black skinned like Ethiopians their semen too which they ejaculate into the women is not white like other men's but black like their skin and resembles in this respect that of the Ethiopians these Indians dwell far away from the persian southwards and were not subjects of king Darius end of book 3 part 5 book 3 part 6 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 Anne Chang histories volume 1 by Herodotus of Helica Nassus translated by A. D. Godly book 3 part 6 paragraphs 102 to 125 other Indians dwell near the town of Caspatiras and the Pactaic country north of the rest of India these live like the Bactrians they are of all Indians the most warlike and it is they who are sent for the gold for in these parts all is desolate because of the sand in this sandy desert are ants not as big as dogs but bigger than the foxes the persian king has some of these which have been caught there these ants live underground digging out the sand in the same way as the ants in Greece to which they are very similar in shape and the sand which they carry from the holes is full of gold it is for this sand that the Indians set forth into the desert they harness three camels apiece males on either side sharing the drawing and a female in the middle the man himself rides on the female that when harnessed has been taken away from as young an offspring as may be their camels are swift as horses and much better able to bear burdens besides I do not describe the camel's appearance to Greeks for they know it but I shall tell them something that they do not know concerning it the hind legs of the camel have four thigh bones and four knee joints its genitals are turned towards tail between the hind legs thus and with teams so harnessed the Indians ride after the gold being careful to be engaged in taking it when the heat is greatest for the ants are then out of sight underground now in these parts the sun is hottest in the morning not at midday as elsewhere but from sunrise to the hour of market closing through these hours it is much hotter than in Hellas at noon so that men are said to sprinkle themselves with water at this time at midday the sun's heat is nearly the same in India as elsewhere as it goes to afternoon the sun of India has the power of the morning sun in other lands as day declines it becomes ever cooler until that sunset it is exceedingly cold so when the Indians come to the place of their sex they fill these with the sand and drive back as fast as possible for the ants at once sent them out the Persians say and give chase they say nothing is equal to them for speed so that unless the Indians have a head start while the ants were gathering not one of them would get away they cut loose the male trace camels which are slower than the females as they begin to lag one at a time the mayors never tire for they remember the young that they have left such is the tale most of the gold of the Persians is got in this way by the Indians they dig some from mines in their country too but it is less abundant the most outlying nations of the world have somehow drawn the finest things as their lot exactly as Greece has drawn the possession of far the best seasons as I have lately said India lies at the world's most distant eastern limit and in India all living creatures forefooted and flying much bigger than those of other lands except the horses which are smaller than the Median horses called Nessian the gold there where the dug from the earth or brought down by rivers or god as I have described is very abundant there too wool more beautiful and excellent than the wool of sheep grows on wild trees these trees supply the Indians with clothing again Arabia is the most distant of all inhabited countries and this is the only country which produces frankincense and myrrh and cassia and cinnamon and gum mastic all these except myrrh are difficult for the Arabians to get they gather frankincense by burning that Storax which Venetians carried to Hevas they burn this and so get the frankincense for the spice bearing trees are guarded by small winged snakes of varied colour many around this tree these are the snakes that attack Egypt nothing except the spoke of Storax will drive them away from the trees the Arabians also say that the whole country would be full of these snakes if the same thing did not occur among them that I believe occurs among ripers somehow the forethought of god just as is reasonable being wise has made all creatures prolific that are timid and ennable so that they do not become extinct through being eaten whereas few young are born to hardy and vexatious creatures on the one hand because the hair is hunted by every beast and bird and man therefore it is quite prolific alone of all creatures it conceives during pregnancy some of the unborn young are hairy some still naked some are still forming in the womb while others are just conceived on the one hand there is this sort of thing but on the other hand the lioness that is so powerful and so bold once in her life bears one cub for in the act of bearing she casts her uterus out with her cub the explanation of this is that when the cub first begins to stir in the mother its claws much sharper than those of any other creature tear the uterus and the more it grows the more it scratches and tears so that when the hour of birth is near there is any of the uterus left intact so too if the vipers and the winged serpents of Arabia were born in the natural manner of serpents life would be impossible for men but as it tears when they copulate while the male is in the act of procreation and as soon as he has ejected his seed the female seizes him by the neck and does not let go until she has bitten them through the male dies in the way described but the female suffers in return for the following punishment avenging their father the young while they are still within the womb nor their mother and eating through her bowels thus make their way out other snakes that do no harm to men lay eggs and hatch out a vast number of young the Arabian winged serpents do indeed seem to be numerous but that is because although they are vipers in every land these are all in Arabia and are found nowhere else the Arabians get frankincense in the foregoing way and Cassia in the following way when they go after it they bind ox hides and other skins all over their bodies and faces except for the eyes Cassia grows in their shallow lake around this and in it they live to winged creatures very like bats that squeak similarly and make a fierce resistance these have to be kept away from the eyes in order to take the Cassia as for cinnamon they gather it in an even stranger way where it comes from and what land produces it they cannot say except that it is reported reasonably enough to grow in the places where Dionysus was reared they are great birds it is said that take these dry sticks which we have learned from the Phoenicians to call cinnamon and carry them off to nests stuck with mud to precipitous cliffs where man has no means of approach the Arabian solution to this is to cut dead oxen and asses and other beasts of burden into the largest possible pieces then to set these near the iris and withdraw far off the birds then fly down it is said and carry the pieces of the beasts up to their nests while these not being able to bear the weight break and fall down the mountainside and then the Arabians come and gather them up thus is cinnamon said to be gathered and so to come from Arabia to other lands but Ladanan which Arabians call Ladanan is produced yet more strangely than this for it is the most fragrant thing produced in the most melodious for it is found in he goats beards forming in them like gum among timber this is used in the manufacture of many perfumes there is nothing that Arabians burn so often as incense enough of marvels and yet the land of Arabia gives off a scent as sweet as if divine they have besides two marvellous kinds of sheep found nowhere else one of these has tails no less than nine feet long with a sheep to trail these after them they would suffer by the chafing of the tails on the ground but every shepherd there knows enough of carpentry to make little carts fixed under the tails binding the tail of each sheep on its own cart the other kind of sheep has a tail a full three feet abroad where south in Plains westwards the part of the world stretching far this towards the sunset is Ethiopia this produces gold in abundance and huge elephants and all sorts of wild trees and ebony and the tallest and handsomest lived people these then are the most distant lands in Asia and Libya but concerning those in Europe that are the farthest away towards evening I cannot speak with assurance for I do not believe that there is a river called by foreigners Eridanus issuing into the northern sea where Arambay said to come from nor do I have any knowledge of tin islands where our tin is brought from the very name Eridanus not a foreign but a Greek name invented by some poet nor for all my diligence have I been able to learn from one who has seen it that there is a sea beyond Europe all we know is that our tin and amber come from the most distant parts but in the north of Europe there is by far the most gold in this matter again I cannot say with assurance how the gold is produced but it is said that one eyed men called Arimaspians steal it from Gryphins but I do not believe this that they are one eyed men who have a nature otherwise the same as other men the most outlying lands though as they enclose and wholly surround all the rest of the world are likely to have those things which we think the finest and the rarest there is a plane in Asia shut in on all sides by mountains through which there are five passes this plane was once the Charasmians being at the boundaries of the Charasmians the Hercanians, Parthians Serangians and Thamene but since the Persians have held power it has been the kings now from the encircling mountains flows a great river whose name is the Aces its stream divides into five channels and formerly watered the lands of the above mentioned peoples going to each through a different pass but since the beginning of the Persian rule the king has blocked the mountain passes and closed each passage with a gate with the water barred from outlet the plane within the mountains becomes a lake seeing that the river pours into it and finds no way out those therefore who before were accustomed to use the water endure great hardship in not being able to use it for during the winter for them just as for the rest of mankind but in the summer they are in need of the water for their sown millet and sesame so whenever no water is given to them they come into Persia with their women and cry and howl before the door of the king's palace until the king commands that the river gate should be opened for those whose need is greatest then when this land has drunk its fill of water that gate is shut and the king has another opened so the rest who most require it and no by here say that he gets a lot of money over and above the tribute for opening the gates so much for these matters of the seven men who revolted against the magus one in taffany's got his death through his own violence immediately after the rebellion he wanted to enter the palace and speak with the king and in fact the law was that the rebels against the magus would come into the king's presence unannounced if the king were not having intercourse with one of his wives in taffany's as one of the seven claimed his right to enter unannounced but the gatekeeper and the messenger forbade him telling him that the king was having intercourse with one of his wives in taffany's thought that they were lying drawing his skimmeter he cut off their noses and ears then strung these on his horse's bridle and hung it around the men's necks and so let them go they showed themselves to the king and told him why they had been treated so Darius fearing that the six had done this by common consent sent for each and asked his opinion whether they approved what had been done and being assured that they had no part in it he seized in taffany's with his sons and all his household for he strongly suspected that the man was plotting a rebellion with his kinsmen and imprisoned them with the intention of putting them to death then in taffany's wife began coming to the palace gates weeping and lamenting and by continuing to do this same thing she persuaded Darius to pity her and he sent a messenger to tell her woman, king Darius will allow one of your unprisoned relative to survive whomever you prefer of them all after considering she answered if indeed the king gives me the life of one I choose from them all my brother Darius was astonished when he heard her answer and sent someone who asked her woman, the king asks you with what in mind you abandon your husband and your children and choose to save the life of your brother who is less close to you than your children and less dear than your husband oh king she answered I may have another husband if a god is willing and other children if I lose these but since my father and mother are no longer living there is no way that I can have another brother I said what I did with that in mind Darius thought that the woman answered well and for her sake he released the one for whom she had asked and the eldest of her sons as well he put to death all the rest thus immediately perished one of the seven while Cambusis was still ill the following events occurred the governor of Sardis appointed by Cyrus was Orotes a person this man had an impious desire for although he had not been injured or spoken badly of by perliquities of Seimos and had in fact never even seen him before he desired to seize and kill him for the following reason most people say as Orotes and another person whose name was Mitrobartis governor of the province at Dasalaium sat at the king's door they fell from talking to Quauling and as they compared their achievements Mitrobartis said to Orotes you are not to be reckoned a man the island of Seimos lies close to your province yet you have not added it to the king's dominion an island so easy to conquer that some native of it revolted against his rulers with 15 hoplites and is now lord of it some say that Orotes angered by this reproach did not so much desire to punish the source of it as to destroy perliquities utterly the occasion of the reproach a few people however say that when Orotes sent a herald to Seimos with some request it is not said what this was the herald found perliquities lying in the men's apartments in the company of a necrion of Tios and whether on purpose to show contempt for Orotes or by mere chance when Orotes, herald, entered and addressed him perliquities then lying with his face to the wall never turned or answered him these are the two reasons alleged for perliquities death believe whichever you like but the consequence was that Orotes, then at Polynesia which is above the river Mayanda sent a merciless son of Geiges a Lydian with a message to Seimos having learned perliquities' intention for perliquities was the first of the Greeks whom we know to aim at the mastery of the sea leaving out of account a minus of Kossos and any others who before him may have ruled the sea of what may be called the human race perliquities was the first and he had great hope of ruling Ionia and the islands learning then that he had this intention Orotes sent him this message Orotes addresses perliquities as follows I find that you aim at great things but that you have not sufficient money for your purpose do then as I direct and you will succeed yourself and will save me King Cambusis aims at my death of this I have clear intelligence now if you will transport me and my money you may take some yourself and let me keep the rest thus you shall have it wealth enough to rule all Elas if you mistrust what I tell you about the money send someone who is most trusted by you and I will prove it to him hearing this perliquities was pleased and willing and since he had a great desire for money he first sent one of his townsmen Myandrius son of Myandrius to have a look this man was his scribe a T who not long afterwards dedicated in the harem all the splendid furnishings of the men's apartment in perliquities house when Orotes heard that an inspection was imminent he filled eight chests with stones leaving only a very shallow space at the top then he laid gold on top of the stones locked the chests and kept them ready Myandrius came and saw and brought word back to his master perliquities then prepared to visit Orotes despite the strong of his diviners and friends and a vision seen by his daughter in a dream she dreamt that she saw her father in the air overhead being washed by Zeus and anointed by Helios after this vision she used all means to persuade him not to go on this journey to Orotes even as he went to his 50 year old ship she prophesied evil for him when perliquities threatened her that if he came back safe and unmarried she answered with a prayer that his threat might be fulfilled for she would rather she said long remain unmarried than lose her father but perliquities would listen to no advice he sailed to meet Orotes with a great retinue of followers among whom was Democides son of Caliphon a man of Croton and the most skillful physician of his time but no sooner had perliquities come in the way unworthy of him and of his aims for except for the sovereigns of Syracuse no sovereign of Greek race is fit to be compared with perliquities for magnificence having killed him in some way not fit to be told Orotes then crucified him as for those who had accompanied him he let the Samians go telling them to thank him that they were free those who are not Samians or servants of perliquities followers he kept for slaves perliquities hanging in the air fulfilled his daughter's vision in every detail for he was washed by Zeus when it rained and he was anointed by Helios as he exuded sweat from his body end of book 3 part 6 book 3 part 7 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 1 by Herodotus of Heliconarsus translated by A. D. Godly book 3 part 7 paragraphs 126 through 143 this was the end of Polycrotus' string of successes as Amasus king of Egypt had forewarned him but not long after atonement for Polycrotus overtook Orotes after the death of Cambysus and the rule of the Magi Orotes stayed in Sardis where he did not help the Persians in any way to regain the power taken from them by the Medes but to the contrary in this confusion killed two prominent Persians Mitrobates the governor from Dacillium who had taunted him about Polycrotis and Mitrobates' son Cranuspes and on top of many other violent acts he set an ambush down the road after a messenger from Darius came with a message which displeased him and killed that messenger on his homeward journey and concealed the man's body and horse so when Darius became king he wanted to punish Orotes for all his wrongdoing and especially for killing Mitrobates and his son but he thought it best not to send an army openly against the Satrap seeing that everything was still in confusion and he was still new to the royal power moreover he heard that Orotes was very powerful having a guard of a thousand Persian spearmen and being governor of the Phrygian Ionian province he had recourse then to the following expedient having summoned an assembly of the most prominent Persians he addressed them as follows Persians, which of you will promise to do this for me not with force and numbers but by cunning where there is need for cunning force has no business so then which of you would either bring me Orates alive or kill him for he has done the Persians no good but much harm Mitrobates and his son and his killing my messengers that are sent to recall him displaying an insolence that is not to be borne so then before he does the Persians some greater harm he has to be punished by us with death Darius asked this and thirty men promised each wanting to do it himself Darius told them not to argue but draw lots they did and the lot fell to Bagheus son of Artantis Bagheus having drawn the lot as follows he had many letters written concerning many things and put the seal of Darius on them and then went with them to Sardis when he got there and came into Orates presence he took out each letter in turn and gave it to one of the royal scribes to read all of the governors of the king have scribes Bagheus gave the letters to test the spearmen whether they would consent to revolt against Orates seeing that they were greatly affected by the rolls and yet more than what was written in them he gave another in which were these words Persians king Darius forbids you to be Orates guard hearing this they lowered their spears for him when Bagheus saw that they obeyed the letter so far he was encouraged and gave the last roll to the scribe in which was written king Darius instructs the Persians in Sardis to kill Orates hearing this the spearmen drew their scimitars and killed him at once thus atonement for Polycrates Orates the Summian overtook Orates the Persian Orates slaves and other possessions were brought to Sousa not long after this it happened that Darius twisted his foot in dismounting from his horse while hunting so violently that the ball of the ankle joint was dislocated from its socket Darius called in the best physicians of Egypt whom he had until now kept near his person but by violently twisting the foot they made the injury worse and for seven days and nights the king could not sleep because of the pain on the eighth day when he was doing poorly someone who had heard in Sardis of the skill of Democides of Krautin told Darius of him and he told them to bring him as quickly as possible when they found him among the slaves of Orates where he was forgotten they brought him along dragging his chains and dressed in rags Darius asked him when he was brought in if he were trained he refused to admit it for he was afraid that if he revealed himself he would be cut off from Hellas for good it was clear to Darius however that he was trained in deceit and he ordered those who had brought him to bring along scourges and goads then he confessed saying that his training was not exact but that he had associated with the physician and had a passing acquaintance with medicine but when Darius turned the case over to him and Democides applied Greek remedies and used gentleness to the physician's violence he enabled him to sleep and in a short time had him well although Darius had no hope of regaining the use of his foot after this Darius rewarded him with a gift of two pairs of golden fetters is it your purpose Democides asked to double my pains for making you well pleased by the retort Darius sent him to his own wives the eunuchs who conducted him told the women that this was the man who had given the king his life back one of them took a bowl and dipped it in a chest full of gold so richly rewarding Democides that the servant accompanying him whose name was Sitten collected a very great sum of gold by picking up the stators that fell from the bowls now this is how Democides had come from Croton to live with Polycrotis he was oppressed by a harsh tempered father at Croton since he could not stand him he left him and went to Ijina within the first year after settling there he excelled the rest of the physicians although he had no equipment nor any medical implements in his second year the adjutinans paid him a talent to be their public physician in the third year the Athenians hired him for a hundred mine and Polycrotis in the fourth year for two talents thus he came to Samos and not least because of this man the physicians of Croton were well respected for at this time the best physicians in Greek countries were those of Croton and next to them were those of Cyrene about the same time the archives had the name of being the best musicians so now because he had healed Darius at Susa Democides had a very grand house and ate at the king's table he had everything except permission to return to the Greeks when the Egyptian physicians who until now had attended the king were about to be impaled for being less skillful than a Greek Democides interceded with the king for them and saved them and he saved two who had been a retainer of Polycrotis and was forgotten among the slaves Democides was a man of considerable influence with the king a short time after this something else occurred there was a swelling on the breast of Atosa the daughter of Cyrus and the wife of Darius which broke and spread further as long as it was small she hid it out of shame and told no one but when it got bad she sent for Democides and showed it to him he said he would cure her but made her clear that she would repay him by granting whatever he asked of her and said that he would ask nothing shameful and after he treated her and did cure her Atosa addressed Darius in their chamber as she had been instructed by Democides O king although you have so much power you are idle acquiring no additional people or power for the Persians the right thing for a man who is both young and the master of great wealth is to be seen aggrandizing himself so that the Persians know too that they are ruled by a man on two counts it is in your interest to do this both so that the Persians know their leader is a man and so that they be occupied by war and not have time to plot against you you should social industry now while you are still young for sense grows with the growing body but grows too old with the aging body and loses its edge for all purposes she said this as instructed but he replied with this woman what you have said exactly what I had in mind to do for I have planned to make a bridge from this continent to the other continent and lead an army against the Scythians and this will be done in a short time look Atosa said let the Scythians go for the present you shall have them whenever you like I tell you march against Helus I have heard of Laconian and Argyve and Attic and Corinthian women and would like to have them as servants you have a man who is fitter than any other to instruct and guide you in concerning Helus I mean the physician who healed your foot Darius answered woman since you think that we should make an attempt on Greece first it seems to me best that we send Persian spies with the man whom you mention who shall tell us everything that they learn and observe and then when I am fully informed I shall rouse myself against them he said this and no sooner said than did it for the next day at dawn he summoned fifteen prominent Persians and instructed them to go with Demosities and sail along the coast of Helus telling them to by all means to bring the physician back and not let him escape having given these instructions to them he then sent for Demosities and asked of him that when he had shown and made clear all of Greece to the Persians he would come back and he told him to take all his movable goods to give his father and siblings saying that he would give him many times as much in return and would send him a ship with cargo of all good things Darius I think made this promise without a treacherous intent but Demosities was afraid that Darius was testing him therefore he was in no hurry to accept all that was offered but answered that he would leave his own possessions where they were so as to have them when he returned the ship which Darius promised him to carry the gifts for his siblings he said he would accept having given the same instructions to Demosities too Darius sent them all to the coast they came down to the city of Sidon in Phoenicia and there chartered two triremes as well as a great galley laid in with all good things and when everything was ready they set sail for Helus where they surveyed and mapped the coast to which they came until having viewed the greater and most famous parts they reached Tarentum in Italy their astrophilates king of the Tarentines out of sympathy for Demosities took the steering gear off the Median ships and put the Persians under a guard calling them spies while they were in this plight Demosities made his way to Croton and Aresphilates did not set the Persians free and give them back what he had taken from their ships until the physician was in his own country the Persians sailed from Tarentum and pursued Demosities to Croton where they found him in the marketplace and tried to seize him some Crotonians who feared the war would have given him up but others resisted and beat the Persians with their sticks men of Croton watch what you do said the Persians you are harboring an escaped slave of the kings how do you think King Darius will like this insolence what good will it do you if he gets away from us what city will we attack first here which will we try to enslave first but the men of Croton paid no attention to them so the Persians lost Temosities and the galley with which they had come and sailed back for Asia making no attempt to visit and learn of the further parts of Helus now that their guide was taken from them but Demosities gave them a message as they were setting sail they should tell Darius, he said that Demosities was engaged to the daughter of Mylon for Darius held the name of Mylon the wrestler in great honor and to my thinking Demosities sought this match and paid a great sum for it to show Darius that he was a man of influence in his own country in Persia the Persians then put out from Croton but their ships were wrecked on the coast of Eupigia and they were made slaves in the country until Gillis, an exile from Tarentum, released and restored them to Darius who was ready to give him whatever he wanted in return Gillis chose to be restored to Tarentum and told the story of his misfortune but so is not to be the occasion of agitating Greece if on his account a great expedition sailed against Italy he said that it was enough that the Snidians alone be his escort for he supposed that the Tarentines would be the readyer to receive him back as the Snidians were their friends Darius kept his word and sent a messenger to the men of Snidus telling them to take Gillis back to Tarentum they obeyed Darius but they could not persuade the Tarentines and were not able to apply force this is what happened and these Persians were the first who came from Asia Gillis and they came to view the country for this reason after this King Darius conquered Samos the greatest of all city states Greek or Barbarian the reason for his conquest being this when Cambysus son of Cyrus invaded Egypt many Greeks came with the army some to trade as was natural and some to see the country itself among them was Silicin son of Achus who was Polycrotus' brother and an exile from Samos he had a struck of good luck he was in the market at Memphis wearing a red cloak when Darius at that time one of Cambysus' guard and as yet a man of no great importance saw him and coveting the cloak came and tried to buy it when Silicin saw Darius' eagerness by good luck he said I will not sell this for any money but I give it to you free if you must have it so much extolling this Darius accepted the garment Silicin suppose he lost his cloak out of foolish good nature but in time Cambysus died the seven rebelled against the magis and Darius of the seven came to the throne Silicin then learned that the successor to the royal power was the man to whom he had given the garment in Egypt so he went up to Sousa and sat in the king's antechamber saying that he was one of Darius' benefactors when the doorkeeper brought word of this to the king Darius asked but to what Greek benefactor can I owe thanks in the little time since I've been king hardly one of that nation has come to us and I have I may say no use for any Greek nevertheless bring him in so that I may know what he means the doorkeeper brought Silicin in and the interpreters asked him as he stood there who he was and what he had done to call himself the king's benefactor then Silicin told the story of the cloak and said that it was he who had given it most generous man said Darius he gave me a present when I had as yet no power I was nonetheless grateful then than I am now when I get a big one in return I give you gold and silver in abundance so you may never be sorry that you did Darius son of Histapis good Silicin answered do not give me gold o king or silver but Samos my country which our slave has now that my brother Polycratus has been killed by Orates give me this without killing or enslaving having heard this Darius sent an army and Autonies one of the seven to command it instructing him to do whatever Silicin asked so Autonies went down to the coast and got his army ready now Samos was ruled by man Darius son of man Darius who had authority delegated by Polycratus he wanted to be the justice of men but that was impossible for when he learned of Polycratus death first he set up an altar to Zeus the liberator and marked out around it that sacred enclosure which is still to be seen in the suburb of the city when this had been done he called an assembly of all the citizens and addressed them thus to me as you know have come Polycratus Scepter and all of his power and it is in my power now to rule you but I so far as it lies in me shall not do myself what I blame in my neighbor I always disliked it that Polycratus or any other man should lord it over men like himself Polycratus has fulfilled his destiny and inviting you to share his power I proclaim equality only I claim from my own privilege that six talents of Polycratus wealth be set apart from my use and that I in my descendants keep the priesthood of Zeus the liberator whose temple I have founded and now I give you freedom such was man Darius's promise to the Samyans but one of them arose and answered but you are not even fit to rule us lowborn and vermin but you had better give an account of the monies you have handled this was the speech of Telasarchus a man of consequence among the citizens but man Darius realizing that if he let go of the sovereignty someone else would make himself sovereign instead resolved not to let it go withdrawing into the Acropolis he sent for the citizens individually as if he would give an account of the money then he seized and bound them so they were imprisoned and afterwards man Darius fell sick and Darius the Lycaretus thought him likely to die and so that he might the more easily make himself master of Samos he put all the prisoners to death they had it would seem no desire to be free end of book three part seven book three part eight 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 history's volume one by Herodotus of Heliconarsus translated by A. D. Godly book three part eight paragraphs 144 through 160 so when the Persians brought Silasen back to Samos no one raised a hand against them but man Darius and those of his faction offered to evacuate the island under a flag of truce Autonies agreed to this and after the treaty was made the Persians sat down on seats facing the Acropolis now man Darius the Sovereign had a crazy brother named Carolus who lay bound in the dungeon for some offense this man heard what was going on and by peering through the dungeon window saw the Persians sitting there peaceably whereupon he cried with a loud voice that he wanted to talk to me and Darius his brother hearing him had Carolus loosed and brought before him no sooner had he been brought surrounded with reviling and abuse to persuade me andrius to attack the Persians although I am your brother you coward he said and did no wrong deserving of prison you have bound and imprisoned me but when you see the Persians throwing you out of house and home you have no courage to avenge yourself though you could so easily beat them if you are yourself afraid of them give me your foreign guards and I will punish them for coming here as for you I will give you back to the island this was what Carolus said and may Andrius took his advice to my thinking not because he was so foolish as to suppose that he would be strong enough to defeat the king but because he did not want Silasen to recover Samos safe and sound with no trouble he wanted therefore by provoking the Persians to weaken Samos as much as he could before surrendering it for he was well aware that if the Persians were hurt they would be furiously angry with the besides he knew that he could get himself safely off the island whenever he liked having built a secret passage leading from the Acropolis to the sea may Andrius then set sail from Samos but Carolus armed all the guards opened the Acropolis's gates and attacked the Persians these supposed that a full agreement had been made and were taken unawares the guard fell upon them and killed the Persians of highest rank those who were carried in litters were engaged in this when the rest of the Persian force came up in reinforcement and hard pressed the guards retreated into the Acropolis the Persian captain Atenes seeing how big a loss the Persians had suffered deliberately forgot the command given at him at his departure by Darius not to kill or enslave any Samyan but to deliver the island intact to Silasen and he commanded his army to kill everyone they took men and boys alike then while some of the Persians laid siege to the Acropolis the rest killed everyone they met inside the temples and outside the temples alike may Andrius sail to Lacedaemon escaping from Samos and after he arrived there and brought up the possessions with which he had left his country it became his habit to make a display of silver and gold drinking cups while his servants were cleaning these he would converse with the king of Sparta Cleomenes son of Anaxandrides gave him to his house as Cleomenes marveled greatly at the cups whenever he saw them may Andrius would tell him to take as many as he liked may Andrius made this offer two or three times Cleomenes showed his great integrity in that he would not accept but realizing that there were others in Lacedaemon from whom may Andrius would get help by offering them the cups he went to the F. Wars and told them that it would be best for Sparta if this Samyan stranger quit the country for the sake of Cleomenes himself or some other Spartan to do evil the F. Wars listened to his advice and banished may Andrines by proclamation as for Samos the Persians swept it clear and turned it over uninhabited to Silason but afterwards the Persian general helped to settle the land prompted by a dream and a disease that he contracted in his genitals while the fleet was away at Samos the Babylonians revolted they had made very good preparation for doing the reign of the Magus and the rebellion of the Seven they had taken advantage of the time and the confusion to provision themselves against the siege and I cannot tell how this went undetected at last they revolted openly and did this sending away all the mothers each chose one woman whomever he liked of his domestics as bread maker as for the rest they gathered them together and strangled them so they would not consume their bread when Darius heard of this he collected all his forces and led them against Babylon and he marched up to the town and laid siege to it but the Babylonians thought nothing of the siege they came up onto the ramparts of the wall and taunted Darius and his army with gesture and word and one of them uttered this mot why loiter here Persians and not go away you will take us when mules give birth one of the Babylonians said this by no means expecting that a mule would give birth the year and seven months passed and Darius and his whole army were bitter because they could not take Babylon yet Darius had used every trick and every device against it he tried the stratagem by which Cyrus took it and every other stratagem and devised yet with no success for the Babylonians kept a vigilant watch and he could not take them but in the twentieth month of the siege a marvelous thing befell Zulphurus son of that megabysis who was one of the seven destroyers of the magis one of his food carrying mules gave birth Zulphurus would not believe the news but when he saw the fulphur himself he told those who had seen it to tell no one then reflecting he recalled the Babylonians word at the beginning of the siege that the city would be taken when mules gave birth and having this utterance in mind he conceived that Babylon might be taken for the hand of heaven he supposed was in the man's word and the birth from his own mule as soon as he thought that it was Babylon's fate to fall he came and inquired of Darius if taking Babylon were very important to him and when he was assured that it was he then cast about for a plan by which the city's fall would be accomplished by him alone for good service among the Persians is very much esteemed and rewarded by high preferment he could think of no other way to bring the city down than to mutilate himself and then to desert the Babylonians so making light of it he mutilated himself beyond repair and after cutting off his nose and ears and cropping his hair as a disfigurement and scourging himself he came before Darius the king reacted very violently to seeing a man so well respected mutilated and springing from the throne he uttered a cry and asked Sophyrus who it was who had mutilated him and why there is no man he said except you who has enough power to do this to me and no one but I myself did this, oh king because I felt it terribly that Assyrians were laughing at Persians Darius answered unfeeling man you give a pretty name to an ugly act if you say that it was on account of those besieged that you did for yourself past cure why you poor fool will the enemy surrender sooner because you mutilated yourself how could you not have been out of your mind to disfigure yourself had I told you, said Sophyrus what I intended to do you have let me but now I have done it on my own now then if you do your part we shall take Babylon I shall desert to the city as I am and I shall say to them that I suffered this at your hands and I think that I shall persuade them and thus gain a command now on the tenth day after I enter the city take a thousand men from the part of your army about which you will care least if it is lost and post them before the gate called the gate of Semiramis on the seventh day after that post two thousand more before the gate called the gate of the Ninevites and when twenty days are passed after that seventh lead out four thousand more and post them before the Chaldean gate as they call it allow neither these nor the others that go before them to carry any weapons except daggers leave them these but immediately after the twentieth day command the rest of your army to assault the whole circuit of the walls and post the Persians before the gate of Belis and the gate called the Sisyon for I think that once I have done conspicuous things the Babylonians will give me among other things the keys of their gates then it will depend on me and the Persians to do what is necessary having given these instructions he went to the gates turning and looking back as though he were in fact a deserter when the watch posted on the tower saw him they ran down and opening half the gate a little asked him who he was and why he came he told them that he was Zophirus converting to them when they heard this the gatekeepers brought him before the general assembly of the Babylonians where he made a pitiful sight saying that he had suffered at the hands of Darius what he had suffered at his own because he had advised the king to lead his army away since they could find no way to take the city now he said in his speech to them I come as a great boon to you men of Babylon and as a great bane to Darius and to his army and to the Persians for he shall not get away with having mutilated me so and I know all the issues of his plans this was what he said when the Babylonians saw the most well respected man in Persia without his nose and ears and all lurid with blood from the Scorging they were quite convinced that he was telling them the truth and came as their ally and were ready to give him all that he asked and he asked for a command when he got this from them he did exactly as he had arranged with Darius on the tenth day he led out the Babylonian army surrounded and slaughtered the thousand whom he had instructed Darius to put on the field first seeing that he produced works equal to his words the Babylonians were overjoyed and ready to serve him in every way when the agreed number of days was passed he led out once more a chosen body of Babylonians and slaughtered the two thousand men of Darius's army when the Babylonians saw this work too the praise of Zophirus was on everyone's lips the agreed number of days once again passing he led out his men to the place he had named where he surrounded the four thousand and slaughtered them and when he had done this Zophirus was the one man for Babylon he was made the commander of their armies and guard of the walls so when Darius assaulted the whole circuit of the walls according to the agreed plan then Zophirus's treason was fully revealed for while the townsmen were on the wall defending it against Darius's assault he opened the gates called Caescian and Belian and let the Persians inside the walls those Babylonians who saw what he did fled to the temple of that Zeus whom they called Belos those who had not seen it remained in position until they too discovered how they had been betrayed thus Babylon was taken a second time and when Darius was master of the Babylonians he destroyed their walls and tore away all their gates neither of which Cyrus had done at the first taking of Babylon moreover he impaled about three thousand men that were prominent among them as for the rest he gave them back their city to live in further as the Babylonians fearing for their food had strangled their own women as I described above Darius provided wives to give them a posterity by appointing that each of the neighboring nations should send a certain number of women to Babylon the sum of the women thus collected was fifty thousand others of those who now inhabit the city there never was in Darius's judgment any Persian before or after who did better service than Zophyrus except Cyrus with whom no Persian could compare himself many times Darius is said to have declared that he would rather Zophyrus were free of disfigurement than have twenty Babylonians on top of the one he had he honored him very much every year he sent him such gifts as the Persians hold most precious and let him govern Babylon all his life with no tribute to pay giving him many other things besides this Zophyrus was the father of Megabysis who was a general of an army in Egypt against the Athenians and their allies and Megabysis son was that Zophyrus who deserted from the Persians to Athens end of book three end of histories volume one by Herodotus of Heliconarsus translated by Ed godly