 Volume 3, Part 19 of Herodotus' Histories. After this inquiry about Oracles and Mardonius's exhortation, night fell, and the armies posted their sentries. Now when the night was far advanced, and it seemed that all was still in the camps, and the men were sleeping deeply, at that hour Alexander, son of Amintus, the general and king of the Macedons, rode up to the Athenian outposts and wanted to speak to their generals. The greater part of the sentries remained where they were, but the rest ran to their generals and told them that a horseman had ridden in from the Persian camp, imparting no other word save that he desired to speak to the generals and called them by their names. Hearing that, the generals straightaway went with the man to the outposts. When they had come, Alexander said to them, Men of Athens, I give you this message in trust as a secret which you must reveal to no one but Pausanias, or else you will be responsible for my undoing. In truth I would not tell it to you if I did not care so much for all Hellas. I myself am by ancient descent a Greek, and I would not willingly see Hellas change her freedom for slavery. I tell you, then, that Mardonius and his army cannot get omens to his liking from the sacrifices, otherwise you would have fought long before this. Now, however, it is his purpose to pay no heed to the sacrifices and to attack at the first glimmer of dawn, for he fears as I surmise that your numbers will become greater. Therefore I urge you to prepare, and if as may be Mardonius should delay and not attack, wait patiently where you are, for he has but a few days provisions left. If, however, this war ends as you wish, then you must take thought how to save me too from slavery, who have done so desperate a deed as this for the sake of Hellas, in my desire to declare to you Mardonius's intent so that the barbarians may not attack you suddenly before you yet expect them. I who speak am Alexander the Macedonian. With that he rode away back to the camp and his own station there. The Athenian generals went to the right wing and told Pausanius what they had heard from Alexander. At the message Pausanius was terrified by the Persians and said, Since therefore the battle is to begin at dawn, it is best that you Athenians should take your stand opposite the Persians, and we opposite the Bocians and the Greeks who are posted opposite you. For you have fought with the Medes at Marathon and know them in their manner of fighting, while we have no experience or knowledge of those men. We Spartans have experience of the Bocians and Thessalians, but not one of us has experience with the Medes. No rather let us take up our equipment and change places, you to this wing and we to the left. We too, the Athenians answered, even from the moment when we saw the Persians posted opposite you, had it in mind to make that suggestion which now has first come from you. We feared, however, that we would displease you by making it. But since you have spoken the wish yourselves, we too hear your words very gladly and are ready to do as you say. Since both were satisfied with this, they exchanged their places in the ranks at the first light of dawn. The Bocians noticed that and made it known to Mardonius. When he heard this, he straightaway attempted to make a change for himself also, by moving the Persians opposite the Lachodemonians. When Pausanias perceived what was being done, he saw that his action had been discovered and led the Spartans back to the right wing. Mardonius did the same thing on the left of his army. When all were at their former posts again, Mardonius sent a herald to the Lachodemonians with this message. Men of Lachodemon, you are said by the people of these parts to be very brave men. It is their boast of you that you neither flee from the field nor leave your post, but remain there and either slay your enemies or are yourselves killed. It would seem, however, that there is no truth in all this. For before we could attack and fight hand to hand, we saw you even now fleeing and leaving your station, using Athenians for the first trial of your enemy and arraying yourselves opposite those who are but our slaves. This is not the action of brave men. No, we have been grievously mistaken about you. For in accordance with what we had heard about you, we expected that you would send us a herald challenging the Persians and none other to fight with you. That we were ready to do, but we find you making no such offer, but rather quailing before us. Now, therefore, since the challenge comes not from you, take it from us instead. What is there to prevent us from fighting with equal numbers on both sides, you for the Greeks, since you have the reputation of being their best, and we for the barbarians. If it is desirable that the others fight also, let them fight after us. But if on the contrary the opinion prevails that we alone suffice, then let us fight it out. Let the winner in this contest determine victory for the whole army. This is the proclamation made by the herald, and when he had waited a while and no one answered him, he went back again, and at his return told what had happened to him. Mardonius was overjoyed and proud of this semblance of victory, and sent his cavalry to attack the Greeks. The horsemen rode at them and shot arrows and javelins among the whole Greek army to its great hurt, since they were mounted archers and difficult to deal with in an encounter. They spoiled and blocked the Gargaphion spring, from which the entire Greek army drew its water. None indeed but the Lachodimonians were posted near the spring, and it was far from the several stations of the other Greeks, whereas the Osopus was near, and nevertheless they would always go to the spring, since they were barred from the Osopus, not being able to draw water from that river because of the horsemen and the arrows. When this happened, seeing that their army was cut off from water and thrown into confusion by the horsemen, the generals of the Greeks went to Poissanius on the right wing, and debated concerning this and other matters, for there were other problems which troubled them more than what I have told. They had no food left, and their followers whom they had sent into the Peloponnese to bring provisions had been cut off by the horsemen and could not make their way to the army. So they resolved in their council that if the Persians held off during that day from giving battle, they would go to the island. This is ten furlongs distant from the Osopus and the Gargaphion spring, near which their army then lay, and in front of the town of Plateia. It is like an island on dry land, because the river in its course down from Catherin into the plain is parted into two channels, and there is about three furlongs space in between till presently the two channels unite again, and the name of that river is Oro, who, as the people of the country say, was the daughter of Osopus. To that place then they planned to go so that they might have plenty of water for their use and not be harmed by the horsemen, as now when they were face to face with them, and they resolved to change places in the second watch of the night, lest the Persians should see them setting forth and the horsemen press after them and throw them into confusion. Furthermore, they resolved that when they had come to that place, which is encircled by the divided channels of Osopus's daughter Oro as she flows from Catherin, they would in that night send half of their army to Catherin to remove their followers who had gone to get the provisions, for these were cut off from them on Catherin. Having made this plan, all that day they suffered constant hardship from the cavalry which continually pressed upon them. When the day ended, however, and the horsemen stopped their onslaught, then at that hour of the night at which it was agreed they should depart, most of them rose and departed, not with intent to go to the place upon which they had agreed. Instead of that, once they were on their way, they joyfully shook off the horsemen and escaped to the town of Plataea. In the course of their flight they came to the temple of Hera, which is outside of that town, twenty furlongs distant from the Gargafian spring, and piled their arms in front of the temple. So they encamped around the temple of Hera. Posanias, however, seeing their departure from the camp, gave orders to the Lachodemonians to take up their arms likewise and follow the others who had gone ahead, supposing that these were making for the place where they had agreed to go. Thereupon all of the rest of the captains being ready to obey Posanias, Amon Faretas, son of Palliades, the leader of the Pitanate battalion, refused to flee from the barbarians, or, saved by compulsion, bring shame on Sparta. The whole business seemed strange to him, for he had not been present in the council recently held. Posanias and Euryanics were outraged that Amon Faretas disobeyed them. Still more, however, they disliked that his refusing would compel them to abandon the Pitanate battalion, for they feared that if they fulfilled their agreement with the rest of the Greeks and abandoned him, Amon Faretas and his men would be left behind to perish. Bearing this in mind, they kept the Lachonian army where it was and tried to persuade Amon Faretas that he was in the wrong. So they reasoned with Amon Faretas, he being the only man left behind of all the Lachodemonians and Tigians. As for the Athenians, they stood unmoved at their post, well aware that the purpose and the promises of Lachodemonians were not alike. But when the army left its station, they sent a horseman of their own to see whether the Spartans were attempting to march or whether they were not intending to depart, and to ask Posanias what the Athenians should do. When the messenger arrived among the Lachodemonians, he saw them arrayed where they had been, and their chief men now in hot dispute. For though Euryanics and Posanias reasoned with Amon Faretas, that the Lachodemonians should not be endangered by remaining there alone, they could in no way prevail upon him. At last when the Athenian messenger came among them, angry words began to pass. In this wrangling Amon Faretas took up a stone with both hands and threw it down before Posanias's feet, crying that it was the pebble with which he voted against fleeing from the strangers, meaning thereby the barbarians. Posanias called him a madman. Then when the Athenian messenger asked the question with which he had been charged, Posanias asked the man to tell the Athenians of his present condition, and begged them to join themselves to the Lachodemonians and, as for departure, to do as they did. The messenger then went back to the Athenians. When dawn found the dispute still continuing, Posanias, who had up to this point kept his army where it was, now gave the word and led all the rest away between the hillocks, the Tagians following, for he supposed that Amon Faretas would not stay behind when the rest of the Lachodemonians left him. This was, in fact, exactly what happened. The Athenians marshaled themselves and marched, but not by the same way as the Lachodemonians, who stayed close to the broken ground and the lower slopes of Catherin in order to stay clear of the Persian horse. The Athenians marched down into the plain instead. Now Amon Faretas at first supposed that Posanias would never have the heart to leave him and his men, and he insisted that they should remain where they were and not leave their post. When Posanias's men had already preceded some distance he thought that they had really left him. He accordingly bade his battalion take up its arms and led it in marching a step after the rest of the column, which, after going a distance of ten furlongs, was waiting for Amon Faretas by the stream Molois and the place called Argeopium, where there is a shrine of Ellucinian Demeter. The reason for their waiting was that, if Amon Faretas and his battalion should not leave the place where it was posted, but remain there, they would then be able to assist him. No sooner had Amon Faretas's men came up than the barbarians' cavalry attacked the army, for the horsemen acted as they always had. When they saw no enemy on the ground where the Greeks had been on the days before this, they kept riding forward and attacked the Greeks as soon as they overtook them. When Mardonius learned that the Greeks had departed under cover of night, and saw the ground deserted, he called to him Thorax of Lorissa and his brothers Eropylus and Thracidius, and said, What will you say now, sons of Elluus, when you see this place deserted? For you, who are their neighbors, kept telling me that Lachydemonians fled from no battlefield and were the masters of warfare. These same men, however, you just saw changing their post, and now you and all of us see that they have fled during the night. The moment they had to measure themselves in battle with those that are in very truth the bravest on earth, they plainly showed that they are no men of account and all other Greeks likewise. Now you, for your part, were strangers to the Persians, and I could readily pardon you for praising these fellows who were in some sort known to you. But I marveled much more that Artibasus, be he ever so frightened, should give us a coward's advice to strike our camp, and march away to be besieged in thieves. Of this advice the king will certainly hear from me, but it will be discussed elsewhere. Now we must not permit our enemies to do as they want. They must be pursued till they are overtaken and pay the penalty for all the harm they have done the Persians. With that he led the Persians with all speed across the Asopas in pursuit of the Greeks, supposing that they were in flight. It was the army of Lachydemon and Taghia alone which was his goal, for the Athenians marched another way over the broken ground and were out of his sight. Seeing the Persians setting forth in pursuit of the Greeks, the rest of the barbarian battalions straightway raised their standards and also gave pursuit, each at top speed, no battalion having order in its ranks nor place assigned in the line. So they ran pale-mell and shouting as though they would utterly make an end of the Greeks. Pausanias, however, when the cavalry attacked him, sent a horseman to the Athenians with this message. Men of Athens, in this great contest which must give freedom or slavery to hell us, we Lachydemonians and Euthenians have been betrayed by the flight of our allies in the night that has passed. I have accordingly now resolved what we must do. We must protect each other by fighting as best we can. If the cavalry had attacked you first, it would have been the duty of both ourselves and the Taghians, who are faithful to hell us, to aid you. But now, seeing that the whole brunt of their assault falls on us, it is right that you should come to the aid of that division which is hardest pressed. But if, as may be, anything has befallen you which makes it impossible for you to aid us, do as the service of sending us your archers. We are sure that you will obey us, knowing that you have been by far more zealous than all the others in this present war. When the Athenians heard that, they attempted to help the Lachydemonians and defend them with all their might. But when their march had already begun, they were set upon by the Greeks posted opposite them, who had joined themselves to the king. For this reason, being now under attack by the foe which was closest, they could at the time send no aid. The Lachydemonians and Taghians accordingly stood alone, men at arms and light arm together. There were of the Lachydemonians fifty thousand and of the Taghians who had never been parted from the Lachydemonians three thousand. These offered sacrifice so that they would fare better in battle with Mardonius and the army which was with him. They could get no favourable omen from their sacrifices, and in the meanwhile many of them were killed and by far more wounded, for the Persians set up their shields for a fence and shot showers of arrows. Since the Spartans were being hard-pressed and their sacrifices were of no avail, Pausanias lifted up his eyes to the Temple of Hera at Platea and called on the goddess, praying that they might not be disappointed in their hope. While he was still in the act of praying, the men of Taghia left out before the rest and charged the barbarians, and immediately after Pausanias' prayer the sacrifices of the Lachydemonians became favourable. Now they too charged the Persians, and the Persians met them, throwing away their bows. First they fought by the fence of shields, and when that was down there was a fierce and long fight around the Temple of Demeter itself, until they came to blows at close quarters. For the barbarians laid hold of the spears and broke them short. Now the Persians were neither less valorous nor weaker, but they had no armor. Moreover, since they were unskilled and no match for their adversaries in craft, they would rush out singly and in tents or groups great or small, hurling themselves on the Spartans and so perishing. Where Mardonius was himself, riding a white horse in the battle and surrounded by a thousand picked men who were the flower of the Persians, there they pressed their adversaries' hardest. So long as Mardonius was alive, the Persians stood their ground and defended themselves, overthrowing many Lachydemonians. When, however, Mardonius was killed and his guards, who were the strongest part of the army, had also fallen, then the rest two yielded and gave ground before the men of Lachydemon. For what harmed them the most was the fact that they wore no armor over their clothes and fought, as it were, naked against men fully armed. On that day the Spartans, as the Oracle had foretold, gained from Mardonius their full measure of vengeance for the slaying of Leonidas, and the most glorious victories of all which we know was won by Personius, the son of Cleombrotus, who was the son of Anaxandrides. I have named the rest of Personius's ancestors in the lineage of Leonidas, for they are the same for both. As for Mardonius, he was killed by Imonestris, a Spartan of note who long after the Persian business led three hundred men to battle at St. Eccleris against the whole army of Mycenaea, and was there killed, he and his three hundred. At Plataea, however, the Persians, routed by the Lachydemonians, fled in disorder to their own camp and inside the wooden walls which they had made in the territory of Thebes. It is indeed a marvel that, although the battle was right by the grove of Demeter, there was no sign that any Persian had been killed in the precinct or entered into it. Most of them fell near the temple in unconsecrated ground. I think if it is necessary to judge the ways of the gods that the goddess herself denied the Mentri, since they had burnt her temple, the shrine at Ilusis. End of Volume 3, Part 19 Volume 3, Part 20 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 Haleconarsus. Translated by E. D. Godly, Part 20. This, then, is what happened in this battle. But Artibasus, son of Furnasus, had from the very first disapproved of the king's leaving Mardonius, and now all his counseling not to join battle had been of no avail. In his displeasure at what Mardonius was doing he himself did as I will show. He had with him a great army, as many as forty thousand men. He knew full well what the outcome of the battle would be, and no sooner had the Greeks and Persians met than he led these with a fixed purpose, telling them to follow him all together wherever he should lead them, whatever they thought his intent might be. With that command he pretended to lead them into battle. As he came farther on his way he saw the Persians already fleeing and accordingly led his men no longer in the same array, but took to his heels and fled with all speed not to the wooden fort nor to the walled city of Thebes, but to Phosas, so that he might make his way with all haste to the Hellespont. So Artibasus and his army turned out that way. All the rest of the Greeks who were on the king's side fought badly on purpose, but not so the Boshans. They fought for a long time against the Athenians. For those Thebans who were on the Persian side had a great enthusiasm in the battle, and did not want to fight in a cowardly manner. As a result of this three hundred of their first and best were killed there by the Athenians. At last, however, the Boshans, too, yielded and they fled to Thebes, but not by the way which the Persians had fled, and the multitude of the Allies which had fought no fight to the end nor achieved any feat of arms. This flight of theirs which took place before the actual closing of battle, and was prompted because they saw the Persians flee, proves to me that it was on the Persians that the fortune of the barbarians hung. They accordingly all fled, save the cavalry, Boshan, and other. This helped the fleeing men insofar as it remained between them and their enemies, and shielded its friends from the Greeks in their flight. So the Greeks, now having the upper hand, followed Xerxes's men, pursuing and slaying. During this steadily growing rout there came a message to the rest of the Greeks, who were by the Temple of Hera and stayed out of the fighting, that there had been a battle and that Pausanias's men were victorious. When they heard this, they set forth in no ordered array, those who were with the Corinthians keeping to the spurs of the mountain and the hill country, by the road that led upward straight to the Temple of Demeter, and those who were with the Magarians and Phalacians taking the most level route over the plain. However, when the Magarians and Phalacians had come near the enemy, the Theban horsemen, whose captain was Asopodorus, son of Tommander, caught sight of them approaching in haste in disorder, and rode at them. In this attack they trampled six hundred of them, and pursued and drove the rest to Catheryn. So these perished without any one noticing, but when the Persians and the rest of the multitude had fled within the wooden wall, they managed to get up on the towers before the coming of the Lachodemonians. They then strengthened the wall as best they could. When the Athenians arrived, an intense battle for the wall began. For as long as the Athenians were not there, the Barbarians defended themselves and had a great advantage over the Lachodemonians, who had no skill in the assault of walls. When the Athenians came up, however, the fight for the wall became intense and lasted for a long time. In the end the Athenians, by valor and constant effort, scaled the wall and breached it. The Greeks poured in through the opening they had made. The first to enter were the Tagians, and it was they who plundered the tent of Mardonius, taking from it besides everything else the feeding trough of his horses, which was all full of bronze, and a thing well worth looking at. The Tagians dedicated this feeding trough of Mardonius in the Temple of Athena Alia. Everything else which they took they brought into the common pool, as did the rest of the Greeks. As for the Barbarians, they did not form a united body again once the wall was down, nor did anyone think of defense because the terrified men in the tiny space and the many myriads herded together were in great distress. Such a slaughter were the Greeks able to make, that of two hundred and sixty thousand who remained after Artabasis had fled with his forty thousand, scarcely three thousand were left alive. Of the Lachodemonians from Sparta ninety-one altogether were killed in battle, of the Tagians seventeen, and of the Athenians fifty-two. Among the Barbarians the best fighters were the Persian infantry in the cavalry of the Sase, and of men it is said the bravest was Mardonius. Among the Greeks the Tagians and Athenians conducted themselves nobly, but the Lachodemonians excelled in all Valor. Of this my only clear proof is, for all those conquered the foes opposed to them, the fact that the Lachodemonians fought with the strongest part of the army and overcame it. According to my judgment the bravest man by far was Aristodemus, who had been reviled and dishonored for being the only man of the three hundred that came alive from Thermopylae. Next after him in Valor were Posidonius, Fala Sion, and Amonferetus. Nevertheless when there was a general discussion about who had borne himself most bravely, those Spartans who were there judged that Aristodemus, who plainly wished to die because of the reproach hanging over him, and so rushed out and left the battle-column behind, had achieved great deeds, but that Posidonius, who had no wish to die, proved himself a courageous fighter, and so in this way he was the better man. This they may have said merely out of jealousy, but all the aforesaid who were killed in that fight received honor, save Aristodemus. He, because he desired death because of the reproach previously mentioned, received none. Those won the most redown of all who fought at Plateia. For Calacrates, who, when he came to the army, was the finest not only of the Lachodemonians, but also of all the other Greeks, died away from the battle. Calacrates, who was sitting in his place when Posonius was offering sacrifice, was wounded in the side by an arrow. While his comrades were fighting, he was carried out of the battle and died a lingering death, saying to Hermonestes, a Plateian, that it was not a source of grief to him to die for Helus's sake. His sorrow was rather that he had struck no blow and achieved no deed worthy of his merit, despite all his eager desire to do so. Of the Athenians, Sophanes, son of Eutychides, is said to have won renown, a man from the town of Declea, whose people once did a deed that was of eternal value, as the Athenians themselves say. For in the past when the sons of Tindaris were trying to recover Helan, after breaking into Attica with a great host, they turned the towns upside down because they did not know where Helan had been hidden. Then it is said, the Decleans, and as some say, Decellus himself, because he was angered by the pride of Theseus and feared for the whole land of Attica, revealed the whole matter to the sons of Tindaris, and guided them to Aphidne, which Tatakus, one of the Atokhthanai, one of the Atokhthanoi, handed over to the Tindaride. For that deed the Decleans have always had and still have freedom at Sparta from all dews and chief places at feasts. In fact, even as recently as the war which was waged many years after this time, between the Athenians and Peloponnesians, the Lachodemonians laid no hand on Decalea when they harried the rest of Attica. From that town was Sophanes, who now was the best Athenian fighter in the battle, and about him two tales are told. According to the first, he bore an iron anchor attached to the belt of his curas with the chain of bronze. He would cast this anchor whenever he approached his enemies in an attack, so that the enemy, as they left their ranks, might not be able to move him from his place. When they were put to flight, it was his plan that he would pull up his anchor and so pursue them. So runs this tale. The second which contradicts with the first and relates that he wore no iron anchor attached to his curas, but that his shield, which he constantly whirled around and never held still, had on it an anchor as a device. There is yet another glorious deed which Sophanes did. When the Athenians were besieging Agena, he challenged and killed Eurybades, the Argyve, a victor in the five contests. Long after this Sophanes met his death when he was general of the Athenians with Ligras, son of Glaucon. He was killed at Dottus by the Edonians in a battle for the gold mines. Immediately after the Greeks had devastated the barbarians at Plateia, a woman who was the concubine of Frenedates, a Persian, son of Teapas, deserting from the enemy came to them. She, learning that the Persians were ruined and the Greeks victorious, decked herself, as did also her attendants, with many gold ornaments and the fairest clothing that she had, and alighting thus from her carriage came to the Lachodemonians while they were still in the midst of slaughtering. When she saw Pausanias, whose name and country she had often heard of, directing everything, she knew that it was he, and supplicated him, clasping his knees. Save me, your suppliant, O King of Sparta, from captive slavery, for you have aided me till now, by making an end of those men who hold sacred nothing of the gods or any of the divinities. Cohen, I am by birth, the daughter of Hegatorides, son of Antigorus. In Coes the Persian seized me by force and held me prisoner. Take heart, lady, Pausanias answered, for you are my suppliant, and furthermore if you are really the daughter of Hegatorides, of Coes, he is my closest friend of all who dwell in those lands. For the present he then entrusted her to those of the effers who were present. Later he sent her to Agena, where she herself desired to go. Day after the arrival of this woman, the men of Mataniak came when everything was already over. Upon learning that they had come too late for the battle, they were extremely upset, and said that they ought to punish themselves for that. When they heard that those Mettis with Artebezes were fleeing, they would have pursued them as far as Thessaly. The Lachodimonians, however, would not permit them to pursue the fleeing men. So when they returned to their own land, the Matanians banished the leaders of their army from the country. After the Matanias came the men of Elis, who also went away extremely upset, and after their departure they too banished their leaders. Such were the doings of the Matanians and Elians. There was at Plataea in the army of the Achniatans one Lampun, son of Pythias, a leading man of Agena. He hastened to Pausanias with really outrageous counsel, and coming upon him said to him, Son of Cleombrutus, you have done a deed of surpassing greatness and glory. The God has granted to you in saving Elis to have won greater renown than any Greek whom we know. But now you must finish what remains for the rest, so that your fame may be still greater, and so that no barbarian will hereafter begin doing reckless things against the Greeks. When Leonidas was killed at Thermopylae, Mordonius and Xerxes cut off his head and set it on a pole. Make them alike return, and you will win praise from all Spartans and the rest of Elis besides. For if you impale Mordonius, you will be avenged for your father's brother, Leonidas. This is what Lampun, thinking to please, said. Pausanias, however, answered him as follows. A genatin. I thank you for your goodwill and forethought, but you have missed the mark of right judgment. First you exalt me in my fatherland in my deeds, yet next you cast me down to mere nothingness when you advise me to insult the dead, and say that I shall win more praise if I do so. That would be an act more proper for barbarians than for Greeks, and one that we consider worthy of censure even in barbarians. No, as for myself, I would prefer to find no favor, either with the people of Agena or anyone else who is pleased by such acts. It is enough for me if I please the Spartans by righteous deeds in speech. As for Leonidas, whom you would have me avenge, I think that he has received a full measure of vengeance. The uncounted souls of these that you see have done honour to him and the rest of those who died at Thermopylae. But to you this is my warning. Do not come again to me with words like these, nor give me such counsel. Be thankful now that you go unpunished. With that lamp undeparted. Then Pausanius made a proclamation that no man should touch the spoils, and ordered the helots to gather all the stuff together. They, spreading all over the camp, found tents there adorned with golden silver, and couches, gilden, and silver-plated, and golden bowls, and cups, and drinking vessels, and sacks they found on wagons, in which were seen cauldrons of gold and silver. They stripped from the dead who lay there their armlets and torques, and golden daggers. As for the embroidered clothing it was disregarded. Much of all this the helots showed, as much as they could not conceal, but much they stole and sold to the Agenitans. As a result the Agenitans laid the foundation of their great fortunes by buying gold from the helots as though it were bronze. Having brought all the loot together they set apart a tithe for the God of Delphi. From this was made and dedicated that tripod which rests upon the bronze three-headed serpent, nearest to the altar. Another they set apart for the God of Olympia, from which was made and dedicated a bronze figure of Zeus, ten cubits high, and another for the God of the Ismus, from which was fashioned a bronze Poseidon seven cubits high. When they had set all this apart they divided what remained, and each received according to his worth, concubines of the Persians and gold and silver, and all the rest of the stuff in the beasts of burden. How much was set apart and given to those who had fought best at Plateia no man says. I think that they also received gifts, but tenfold of every kind, women, horses, talons, camels, and all other things also, was set apart and given to Pausanias. This other story is also told. When Xerxes fled from Helus he left to Mardonius his own establishment. Pausanias, seeing Mardonius's establishment with its display of gold and silver and gaily-covered tapestry, ordered the bakers and the cooks to prepare a dinner such as they were accustomed to do for Mardonius. They did his bidding, but Pausanias, when he saw gold and silver couches richly covered, and tables of gold and silver, and all the magnificent service of the banquet, was amazed at the splendor before him, and for a joke commanded his own servants to prepare a dinner in Laconian fashion. When that meal, so different from the other, was ready, Pausanias burst out laughing and sent for the generals of the Greeks. When these had assembled, Pausanias pointed to the manner in which each dinner was served and said, Men of Helus, I have brought you here because I desire to show you the foolishness of the leader of the Medes, who with such provisions for life as you see, came here to take away from us our possessions which are so pitiful. In this way it is said Pausanias spoke to the generals of the Greeks. Long after these events many of the Plateans also found chests full of gold and silver and other things. Moreover, when their bodies, which the Plateans gathered into one place, were laid bare of flesh, a skull was found of which the bone was all of one piece without suture. A jawbone also came to light in which the teeth of the upper jaw were one whole, a single bone, front teeth and grinders, and one could see the body of a man of five qubit stature. As for the body of Mardonius, it was removed on the day after the battle, by whom I cannot with certainty say. I have, however, heard of very many countries that buried Mardonius, and I know of many that were richly rewarded for that act by Mardonius's son, Artumtes. Which one of them it was that stole and buried the body of Mardonius I cannot learn for certain. Some report that it was buried by Dionysiphanus, and Ephesian. Such was the manner of Mardonius's burial. But the Greeks, when they had divided the spoils at Platea, buried each contingent of their dead in a separate place. The Lachodemonians made three tombs. There they buried their erins, among whom were Pasodonius, Amempharetus, Phylusian, and Calacratis. In one of the tombs then were the erins, in the second the rest of the Spartans, and in the third the helots. This then is how the Lachodemonians buried their dead. The Tagians, however, buried all theirs together in a place apart, and the Athenians did similarly with their own dead. So, too, did the Magarians and Phylatians, with those who had been killed by the horsemen. All the tombs of these peoples were filled with the dead, but as for the rest of the states whose tombs are to be seen at Platea, their tombs are but empty burrows that they built for the sake of the men who should come after, because they were ashamed to have been absent from the battle. There is one there called the tomb of the Agenitans, which, as I learned by inquiry, was built as late as ten years after, at the Agenitans' desire by their patron and protector, Cleodys, son of Autodicus, of Platea. As soon as the Greeks had buried their dead at Platea, they resolved in counsel that they would march against Thebes and demand surrender of those who had taken the Persian side, particularly of Timogenitus and Atecanus, who were chief among their foremost men. If these men were not delivered to them, they would not withdraw from the area in front of the city till they had taken it. They came with this purpose on the eleventh day after the battle and laid siege to the Thebans, demanding the surrender of the men. When the Thebans refused this surrender, they laid waste to their lands and assaulted the walls. Seeing that the Greeks would not cease from their harrying and nineteen days had passed, Timogenitus spoke as follows to the Thebans. Men of Thebes, since the Greeks have resolved that they will not raise the siege till Thebes is taken, or we are delivered to them, do not let the land of Boscia increase the measure of its ills for our sake. No, rather if it is money they desire and their demand for surrender is but a pretext, let us give them money out of our common treasury, for it was by the common will and not ours alone that we took the Persian side. If, however, they are besieging the town for no other reason than to have us, then we will give ourselves up to be tried by them. This seemed to be said well and at the right time, and the Thebans immediately sent a herald to Pausanias, offering to surrender the men. On these terms they made an agreement, but Ataginas escaped from the town. His sons were seized, but Pausanias held them free of guilt, saying that the sons were not a necessary to the treason. As for the rest of the men whom the Thebans surrendered, they supposed that they would be put on trial, and were confident that they would defeat the impeachment by bribery. Pausanias, however, had that very suspicion of them, and when they were put into his hands he sent away the whole Allied army and carried them into Corinth, where he put them to death. This is what happened at Plateia and Thebes. End of Volume 3, Part XXI. Artabasis, the son of Furnacus, was by now far on his way in his flight from Plateia. The Thessalians, when he came among them, entertained him hospitably and inquired of him concerning the rest of the army, knowing nothing of what had happened at Plateia. Artabasis understood that if he told them the whole truth about the fighting he would endanger his own life and the lives of all those with him, for he thought that every man would set upon him if they heard the story. Therefore, although he had revealed nothing to the Phocians, he spoke as follows to the Thessalians. I myself, men of Thessaly, am pressing on with all speed and diligence to march into Thrace, being dispatched from the army for a certain purpose with the men whom you see. Mardonius and his army are expected marching close on my heels. It is for you to entertain him and show that you do him good service, for if you so do you will not afterwards regret it. So, saying, he used all diligence to lead his army away straight towards Thrace, through Thessaly and Macedonia without any delay, following the shortest inland road. So he came to Byzantium, but he left behind many of his army who had been cut down by the Thracians, or overcome by hunger and weariness. From Byzantium he crossed over in boats. In such a way Artabasis returned to Asia. Now, on the same way when the Persians were so stricken at Plateia, it happened that they suffered a similar fate at Macaulay in Ionia. When the Greeks who had come in their ships, with let a kid as the Lachodemonian, were encamped at Delos, certain messengers came to them there from Samos, Lampen of Thracilus, Athenagoras, son of Archistratides, and Haggisastratus, son of Aristagoras. The Sammians had sent these, keeping their dispatch secret from the Persians and the tyrant Theomester, son of Androdomus, whom the Persians had made tyrant of Samos. When they came before the generals, Haggisastratus spoke long and vehemently. If the Ionians but see you, he said, they will revolt from the Persians, and the barbarians will not remain. But if they do remain, you will have such a praise never again. He begged them in the name of the gods of their common worship to deliver the Greeks from slavery and drive the barbarian away. That, he said, would be an easy matter for them, for if the Persian ships are unseaworthy in no match for yours, and if you have any suspicion that we may be tempting you deceitfully, we are ready to be taken in your ships as hostages. As the Sammian stranger was pleading so earnestly, Luticatus asked him, whether it was that he desired to know for the sake of a presage, or through some happy chance of a god, Sammian stranger, what is your name? Haggisastratus, he replied. When Luticatus cut short whatever else Haggisastratus had begun to say and cried, I accept the omen of your name, Sammian stranger. Now see to it that before you sail from here, you and those who are with you pledge that the Sammians will be our zealous allies. He said this and added deed to word. For straightway the Sammians bound themselves by pledge and oath to alliance with the Greeks. This done, the rest sailed away. But Luticatus sped Haggisastratus to sail with the Greeks, because of the good omen of his name. The Greeks waited through that day, and on the next they sought and received a favourable augury. Their diviner was Defonus, son of Evinius, a man of Apollonia which is in the Ionian Gulf. This man's father Evinius had once fared as I will now relate. There is at Apollonia a certain flock sacred to the sun, which in the daytime is pastured beside the river Chon, which flows from the mountain called Lachman, through the lands of Apollonia, and empties into the sea by the harbour of Oricum. By night those townsmen who are most notable for wealth or lineage are chosen to watch it, each man serving for a year, for the people of Apollonia set great store by this flock, being so taught by a certain oracle. It is kept in a cave far distant from the town. Now at the time of which I speak, Evinius was the chosen watchman. But one night he fell asleep, and wolves, coming past his guard into the cave, killed about sixty of the flock. When Evinius was aware of it he held his peace and told no man, intending to restore what was lost by buying others. This matter was not, however, hidden from the people of Apollonia, and when it came to their knowledge they brought him to judgment and condemned him to lose his eyesight for sleeping at his watch. So they blinded Evinius, but from the day of their so doing their flocks bore no offspring, nor did their land yield fruit as before. Furthermore a declaration was given to them at Dodona and Delphi, when they inquired of the prophets what might be the cause of their present ill. The gods told them, by their prophets, that they had done unjustly in blinding Evinius the guard of the sacred flock. For we ourselves, they said, sent those wolves, and we will not cease from avenging him until you make such a restitution for what you did, as he himself chooses and approved. And we will not cease from avenging him until you make him such a restitution for what you did, as he himself chooses and approves. When that is fully done we ourselves will give Evinius such a gift as will make many men consider him happy. This was the oracle given to the people of Apollonia. They kept it secret and charged certain of their townsmen to carry the business through. They acted as I will now show. Coming and sitting down by Evinius at the place where he sat they spoke of other matters, till at last they fell to commiserating his misfortune. Guiding the conversation in this way they asked him what compensation he would choose if the people of Apollonia should promise to requite him for what they had done. He, knowing nothing of the oracle, said he would choose for a gift the lands of certain named townsmen whom he thought to have the two fairest estates in Apollonia, and a house besides which he knew to be the fairest in the town. Let him, he said, have possession of these, and he would lay aside his anger and be satisfied with that by way of restitution. So he said this, and those who were sitting beside him said in reply, Evinius, the people of Apollonia, hereby make you that restitution for the loss of your sight, obeying the oracle given them. At that he was very angry, for he learned through this the whole story and saw that they had cheated him. They did, however, buy from the possessors and give him what he had chosen, and from that day he had a natural gift of divination, through which he won fame. Defonus, the son of this Evinius, had been brought by the Corinthians, and was the army's prophet. But I have heard it said before now that Defonius was not the son of Evinius, but made a wrongful use of that name and worked for wages up and down Hellas. Having won favourable omens the Greeks put out to see from Delos for Samos. When they were now near Calamisa in the Samian territory, they anchored there near the temple of Hera, which is in those parts, and prepared for a sea-fight. The Persians, learning of their approach, also put out to see and made for the mainland with all their ships save the Phoenicians, whom they sent sailing away. It was determined by them in Council that they would not do battle by sea, for they thought themselves overmatched. The reason of their making for the mainland was that they might be under the shelter of the army at Machela, which had been left by Xerxes' command behind the rest of his host to hold Ionia. There were sixty thousand men in it, and Tigranus, the noblest and tallest man in Persia, was their general. It was the design of the Persian admirals to flee to the shelter of that army, and there to beach their ships and build a fence round them, which should be a protection for the ships and a refuge for themselves. With this design they put to see. So when they came past the temple of the goddesses at Machela, to the Gaysun and Skolapois, where there is a temple of Elucian Demeter, which was built by Philistus, son of Pysilklis, when he went with Nileus, son of Codris, to the founding of Miletus, they beached their ships and fenced them round with stones in the trunks of orchard trees which they cut down. They drove in stakes around the fence and prepared for siege or victory, making ready after consideration for either event. When the Greeks learned that the barbarians had gone off to the mainland, they were not all pleased that their enemy had escaped them, and did not know whether to return back or set sail for the Hell's Pot. At last they resolved that they would do neither, but sail to the mainland. Equipping themselves for this with gangways and everything else necessary for a sea-fight, they held their course for Machela. When they approached the camp no one put out to meet them. Seeing the ships beached within the wall and a great host of men drawn up in array along the strand, Lutikides first sailed along in his ship, keeping as near to the shore as he could, and made this proclamation to the Ionians by the voice of a herald. Men of Ionia, you who hear us, understand what I say, for by no means will the Persians understand anything I charge you with when we join battle. First of all it is right for each man to remember his freedom, and next the battle cry, Hebe, and let him who hears me tell him who has not heard it. The purpose of this act was the same as them Sedokles' purpose at Artemisium. Either the message would be unknown to the barbarians and would prevail with the Ionians, or if it were thereafter reported to the barbarians it would cause them to mistrust their Greek allies. After this council of Lutikides the Greeks brought their ships to land and disembarked on the beach, where they formed a battle column. But the Persians, seeing the Greeks prepare for battle and exhort the Ionians, first of all took away the Sammions armor, suspecting that they would aid the Greeks. For indeed when the barbarians' ships brought certain Athenian captives, who had been left in Attica and taken by Xerxes's army, the Sammians had set them all free and sent them away to Athens with provisions for the journey. For this reason in particular they were held suspect, as having set free five hundred souls of Xerxes's enemies. Furthermore, they appointed the Militians to guard the passes leading to the Heights of Mikayla, alleging that they were the best acquainted with that country. Their true reason, however, for so doing was that the Militians should be separate from the rest of their army. In such a matter the Persians safeguarded themselves from those Ionians who they supposed might turn against them if opportunity were given for themselves. They set their shields close to make a barricade. The Greeks, having made all their preparations, advanced their line against the barbarians. As they went a rumor spread through the army and a herald's wand was seen lying by the waterline. The rumor that ran was to the effect that the Greeks were victors over Mardonius's army at a battle in Boshia. Now there are many clear indications of the divine ordering of things, seeing that a message, which greatly heartened the army and made it ready to face danger, arrived amongst the Greeks the very day on which the Persians' disastrous plateia and that other which was to befall them at Mikayla took place. Moreover, there was the additional coincidence that there were precincts of Aleutian Demeter on both battlefields. For at plateia the fight was near the temple of Demeter, as I have already said, and so it was to be at Mikayla also. It happened that the rumor of a victory won by the Greeks with Pausanias was true, for the defeat at plateia happened while it was yet early in the day, and the defeat of Mikayla in the afternoon. That the two fell on the same day of the same month was proven to the Greeks when they examined the matter not long afterwards. Now before this rumor came they had been faint-hearted, fearing less for themselves than for the Greeks with Pausanias, that Helus should stumble over Mardonius. But when the report spread among them they grew stronger and swifter in their onset. So Greeks and barbarians alike were eager for battle, seeing that the islands and the Hells-pond were the prizes of victory. As for the Athenians and those whose place was nearest them, that is, for about half of the line, their way lay over the beach and level ground. For the Lachodemonians and those that were next to them, their way lay through a ravine and among hills. While the Lachodemonians were making a circuit, those others on the other wing were already fighting. As long as the Persians' shields stood upright, they defended themselves and held their own in the battle. But when the Athenians and their neighbours in the line passed the word and went more zealously to work, that they and not the Lachodemonians might win the victory, immediately the face of the fight changed. Breaking down the shields they charged all together into the midst of the Persians, who received the onset and stood their ground for a long time, but at last fled within their wall. The Athenians and Corinthians and Scyonians and Trozanians, who were next to each other in the line, followed close after and rushed in together. But when the walled place had been raised the barbarians made no further defence, but took to flight, all saved the Persians who gathered into bands of a few men and fought with whatever Greeks came rushing within the walls. Of the Persian leaders two escaped by flight and two were killed. Our Taintees and Athenitres, who were admirals of the fleet, escaped. Mardonius and Tigranis, the general of the land army, were killed fighting. While the Persians still fought, the Lachodemonians and their comrades came up and finished what was left of the business. The Greeks, too, lost many men there, notably the men of Scyon and their general Perulus. As for the Samians who served in the Median army and had been disarmed, they, seeing from the first that victory hung in the balance, did what they could in their desire to aid the Greeks. When the other Ionian saw the Samians set the example, they also abandoned the Persians and attacked the foreigners. The Persians had for their own safety appointed militians to watch the passes, so that if anything should happen to the Persian army, such as did happen to it, they might have guides to bring them safely to the heights of Makayla. This was the task to which the militians were appointed for the reason mentioned above, and so that they might not be present with the army and so turn against it. They acted wholly contrary to the charge laid upon them. They misguided the fleeing Persians by ways that led them among their enemies, and at last they themselves became their worst enemies and killed them. In this way Ionia revolted for the second time against the Persians. In that battle those of the Greeks who fought best were the Athenians, and the Athenian who fought best was one who practiced the pen Crathium, Harmonicus, son of Euthonus. This Harmonicus, on a later day, met his death in a battle at Cernus, in Caristus, during a war between the Athenians and Caristians, and lay dead on Garestus. Those who fought best after the Athenians were the men of Corinth, and Trozan, and Scythian. When the Greeks had made an end of most of the barbarians, either in battle or in flight, they brought out their booty onto the beach, and found certain stores of wealth. Then, after burning the ships in the hull of the wall, they sailed away. When they had arrived at Samos they debated in council over the removal of all Greeks from Ionia, and in what Greek lands under their dominion it would be best to plant the Ionians, leaving the country itself to the barbarians, for it seemed impossible to stand on guard between the Ionians and their enemies forever. If, however, they should not so stand, they had no hope that the Persians would permit the Ionians to go unpunished. In this matter the Peloponnesians who were in charge were for removing the people from the lands of those Greek nations which had sided with the Persians, and giving their land to the Ionians to dwell in. The Athenians disliked the whole plan of removing the Greeks from Ionia, or allowing the Peloponnesians to determine the lot of Athenian colonies, and as they resisted vehemently the Peloponnesians yielded. It accordingly came about that they admitted to their alliance the Samians, Cheyens, Lesbians, and all other islanders who had served with their forces, and bound them by pledge and oaths to remain faithful and not desert their allies. When the oaths had been sworn the Greeks set sail to break the bridges, supposing that these still held fast. So they laid their course for the Hell's Pond. The few barbarians who escaped were driven to the heights of Makayla, and made their way from there to Sardis. While they were making their way along the road, Mesistis, son of Darius, who happened to have been present at the Persian disaster, reviled the admiral Arteintes very bitterly, telling him, with much beside, that such generalship as his proved him worse than a woman, and that no punishment was too severe for the harm he had done the kings of state. Now it is the greatest of all taunts in Persia to be called worse than a woman. These many insults angered Arteintes so much that he drew his sword upon Mesistis to kill him. But Zenogorus, son of Prexilus, of Heliconarsus, who stood behind Arteintes himself, saw him run at Mesistis, and caught him round the middle and lifted and hurled him to the ground. In the meantime Mesistis's guards had also come between them. By doing so, Zenogorus won the gratitude of Mesistis himself and Xerxes for saving the king's brother. For this deed he was made ruler of all Silesia by the king's gift. Then they went on their way without anything further happening, and came to Sardis. End of Volume 3, Part XXI Now what happened that the king had been at Sardis ever since he came there in flight from Athens after his overthrow in the sea-fight? Being then at Sardis he became enamored of Mesistis's wife, who was there also. But as all his messages could not bring her to yield to him, and he would not force her to his will, out of regard for his brother Mesistis, which indeed counted with the woman also, for she knew well that no force would be used against her, Xerxes found no other way to accomplish his purpose than that he should make a marriage between his own son Darius and the daughter of this woman and Mesistis, for he thought that by doing so he would be most likely to win her. So he betrothed them with all due ceremony and rode away to Sousa. But when he had come and taken Darius's bride into his house he thought no more of Mesistis's wife, but changed his mind and wooed and won this girl, Arteinti, Darius's wife and Mesistis's daughter. As time went on, however, the truth came to light, and in such manner as I will show. Xerxes's wife, a Mesistis, wove and gave to him a great gaily covered mantle, marvellous to see. Xerxes was pleased with it, and went to Arteinti wearing it. Being pleased with her, too, he asked her what she wanted in return for her favors, for he would deny her nothing at her asking. Thereupon, for she and all her house were doomed to evil, she said to Xerxes, Will you give me whatever I ask of you? He promised this, supposing that she would ask anything but that. When he had sworn, she asked boldly for his mantle. Xerxes tried to refuse her, for no reason except that he feared that a Mesistis might have clear proof of his doing what she already guessed. He accordingly offered her cities instead and gold and abundance and an army for none but herself to command. Armies are the most suitable of gifts in Persia. But as he could not move her he gave her the mantle, and she, rejoicing greatly in the gift, went flaunting her finery. A mestress heard that she had the mantle, but when she learned the truth it was not the girl with whom she was angry. She supposed rather that the girl's mother was guilty and that this was her doing, and so it was Mesistis's wife whom she plotted to destroy. She waited, therefore, till Xerxes her husband should be giving his royal feast. This banquet is served once a year on the king's birthday. The Persian name for it is Tukta, which is in the Greek language perfect. On that day, and none other, the king anoints his head and makes gifts to the Persians. Waiting for that day, a mestress then asked of Xerxes that Mesistis's wife should be given to her. Xerxes considered it a terrible and wicked act to give up his brother's wife, and that too when she was innocent of the deed, for he knew the purpose of the request. Nevertheless, since a mestress was insistent and the law compelled him, for at this royal banquet in Persia every request must of necessity be granted, he unwillingly consented, and delivered the woman to a mestress. Then bidding her do what she wanted, he sent for his brother and spoke as follows. Mesistis, you are Darius's son and my brother and a good man. Hear me, then. You must no longer live with her who is now your wife. I will give you my daughter in her place. Take her for your own, but do away with the wife that you have, for it is not my will that you should have her. At that Mesistis was amazed. Sire, he said, what is this evil command that you lay upon me, telling me to deal with my wife in this way? I have by her young sons and daughters, of whom you have taken a wife for your own son, and I am very content with her herself. Yet you are asking me to get rid of my wife and wed your daughter? Truly, O king, I consider it a great honour to be accounted worthy of your daughter, but I will do neither the one nor the other. No, rather, do not force me to consent to such a desire. You will find another husband for your daughter as good as I, but permit me to keep my own wife. This was Mesistis's response, but Xerxes was very angry and said, You have come to this past, Mesistis. I will give you no daughter of mine as a wife, nor will you any longer live with her whom you now have. In this way you will learn to accept that which is offered to you. Hearing that, Mesistis said, No, Sire, you have not destroyed me yet, and so departed. In the meantime, while Xerxes talked with his brother, a mestress sent for Xerxes's guards and treated Mesistis's wife very cruelly. She cut off the woman's breasts and threw them to the dogs, and her nose and ears and lips also, and cut out her tongue. Then she sent her home after she had undergone this dreadful ordeal. Seeing nothing of this as yet but fearing evil, Mesistis ran home. Seeing what had been done to his wife, he immediately took counsel with his children and set out for Bactra with his own sons and others too, intending to raise the province of Bactra in revolt and do the king the greatest of harm. This he would have done, to my thinking, had he escaped to the country of the Bactrians and Sacy. They were fond of him, and he was viceroy over the Bactrians. But it was of no use, for Xerxes learned what he intended and sent against him an army which killed him on his way and his sons and his army, such as the story of Xerxes's love and Mesistis's death. The Greeks who had set out from Mikayla for the Hells-Pont first anchored off Lectrum, having been stopped by contrary winds, and came from there to Abidos, where they found the bridges broken which they thought would still be in place. These were in fact the chief cause of their coming to the Hells-Pont. The Peloponnesians who were there with Luticides decided to sail away to Hellas, but the Athenians, with Xanthippus their general, that they would remain there and attack the Chersinesis. So the rest sailed away, but the Athenians crossed over to the Chersinesis and laid siege to Cestus. Now when the Persians heard that the Greeks were at the Hells-Pont, they had come in from the neighboring towns and assembled at this same Cestus, seeing that it was the strongest walled place in that region. Among them there was a Persian name Oabesis from Cardia, and he had carried the equipment of the bridges there. Cestus was held by the Aeolians of the country, but with him were Persians and a great multitude of their allies. This province was ruled by Xerxes's viceroy, Artectes, a cunning man and a wicked one, witnessed the deceit that he practiced on the king at his march to Athens, how he stole away from Aelaus the treasure of Protossilus, son of Iphiclus. This was the way of it. There is at Aelaus in the Chersinesis the tomb of Protossilus, and a precinct around it, which contained much treasure, vessels of gold and silver, bronze, clothing, and other dedications, all of which are Tectes carried off by the king's gift. Sire, he said deceitfully to Xerxes, there is here the house of a certain Greek, who met a just death for invading your territory with an army. Give me this man's house so that all may be taught not to invade your territory. One would think that this plea would easily persuade Xerxes to give him a man's house, since the latter had no suspicion of Artectes' meaning. His reason for saying that Protossilus had invaded the king's country was that the Persians believed all Asia to belong to themselves and whoever is their king. So when the treasure was given to him, he carried it away from Aelaus to Cestus, and planted and farmed the precinct. He would also come from Aelaus to have intercourse with women in the shrine. Now when the Athenians laid siege to him, he had made no preparation for it. He did not think that the Greeks would come, and he had no way of escaping from their attack. Since the siege continued into the late autumn, the Athenians grew weary of their absence from home and their lack of success at taking the fortress. They accordingly entreated their generals to lead them away again, but the generals refused to do that till they should take the place or be recalled by the Athenian state. At that the men endured their plight patiently. But those who were within the walls were by now reduced to the last extremity, so much so that they boiled the thongs of their beds for food. At the last, however, even these failed them, and Artectes and Oabasis and all the Persians made their way down from the back part of the fortress, where the fewest of their enemies were and fled at nightfall. When morning came, the people of the Chersenisi signified from their towers to the Athenians what had happened, and opened their gates. The greater part of the Athenians then went in pursuit, while the rest stayed to hold a town. As Oabasis was making his escape into Thrace, the absinthians of that country caught and sacrificed him in their customary manner to plisterous the god of their land. As for his companions, they did away with them by other means. Artectes and his company had begun their flight later, and were overtaken a little way beyond the goats' rivers, where, after they had defended themselves a long time, some of them were killed and the rest taken alive. The Greeks bound them and carried them to Cestus, together with them Artectes and his son also in bonds. It is related by the people of the Chersenisi that a marvelous thing happened to one of those who guarded Artectes. He was frying dried fish, and these as they lay over the fire began to leap and writhe as though they had just been caught. The rest gathered around, amazed at the sight, but when Artectes saw this strange thing he called the one who was frying the fish and said to him, Athenian, do not be afraid of this potent, for it is not to you that it has been sent. It is to me that Protosyllus of Eleus is trying to signify that, although he is dead and dry, he has power given him by the god to take vengeance on me, the one who wronged him. Now therefore I offer a ransom, the sum of one hundred talents to the god for the treasure that I took from his temple. I will also pay to the Athenians two hundred talents for myself and my son if they spare us. But Xanthippus the general was unmoved by this promise, for the people of Eleus desired that Artectes should be put to death in revenge for Protosyllus, and the general himself was so inclined. So they carried Artectes away to the headland where Xerxes had bridged the Strait, or by another story, to the hill above the town of Metitus, and there nailed him to boards and hanged him. As for his son they stoned him to death before his father's eyes. This done they sailed away to Helus, carrying with them the cables of the bridges to be dedicated in their temples, and all sorts of things in addition. This then is all that was done in this year. This Artectes who was crucified was the grandson of that Artem Beres who instructed the Persians in a design which they took from him and laid before Cyrus. This was its purport. Seeing that Zeus grants lordship to the Persian people, and to use Cyrus among them, let us, after reducing, ask Yagees, depart from the little and rugged land which we possess and occupy one that is better. There are many such lands on our borders, and many further distant. If we take one of these, we will all have more reasons for renown. It is only reasonable that a ruling people should act in this way, for when will we have a better opportunity than now when we are lords of so many men and of all Asia. Cyrus heard them and found nothing to marvel at in their design. Go ahead and do this, he said, but if you do so, be prepared no longer to be rulers but rather subjects. Soft land breeds soft men. Wondrous fruits of the earth and valiant warriors grow not from the same soil. The Persians now realized that Cyrus reasoned better than they, and they departed, choosing rather to be rulers on a barren mountainside than dwelling in tilled valleys to be slaves to others. End of Volume 3, Part 22. End of Volume 3 of Herodotus' Histories.